Ease of operation

Now that my angst over f stop is alleviated thanks to yahsemtough, I'm deciding on my underwater digicam based on strobe compatibility and ease of use in the housing.

So my questions to current owners of CP5000, C5050, and G2 (or G3) are;

-is it easy on your setup to adjust +/- strobe power (using TTL)

-is it easy to review the image long enough to decide if it's OK, and possibly even delete it on the fly without going into review mode

(Of course I realize this also depends on the housing to make these available.)

CP5000 -

You can adjust Exposure compensation by pushing a button and rotating a bezel on top of the camera. I don't have a housing yet, so I'm not sure how easy this could be underwater. Topside, it's a snap.

If you want to change the strobe power options, though, (to balance background, for example) you have to go through the menu - major pain. If anyone knows a shortcut for this, let me know.

As for review, you can set an automatic review for after the shot, which may not be long enough for you. you can go into a quick review mode easily by hitting a button on the camera, then flip back again. It's really quite fast compared to going into review mode; there's no need to do that.

Rob.

C5050 w PT015 housing

To adjust flash compensation you have to simultaneously press two buttons on the left of the camera while rotating a knob at the back. Topside it's easy, underwater (using PT-015) it's OK, but if you had a rig with lots of negative bouyancy I think it'd be a bit of a strain on the left hand supporting all the weight with thumb and two fingers (3rd & 4th) while using two fingers to press those buttons. You have to press quite hard ... (I guess it's because the springs have to be strong enough to return the buttons to rest position against high pressure at 40m, so at shallower depths you need to work harder. But anyway all the buttons on my housing feel slightly "sticky".)

-David