Which setup would you choose?

Well, I have finally completed my underwater setup. I can't believe that it took me over two months to decide on what setup to go with and then purchase all of the equipment. If you live in an area like I do, where there is very little if any underwater photo equipment dealers, deciding what you need and want is a daunting task for a newbie. Fortunately in this day and age we have forums such as wetpixel for people to share their ideas and experiences.

That being said, I chose to go with the Olympus 5050, because for me personally it was the best value. I decided not to house my D60 because it would cost a significant amount more for the housing, the ports, the additional lenses I would just "have" to buy, etc.

To help others putting together their system for the first time, I have laid out exactly what I purchased to complete my system, what it cost, and where I got it. All purchase amounts include shipping.

Component/Cost/Store

Camera - Oly 5050 / $629 / d-buys.com

Housing - PT-015 / $269 / ebay

Sea & Sea YS-90DX Strobe - used / $365 / ebay

Sea & Sea YS-90DX Strobe - new / $425 / naturephoto in Japan

TLC Arms - two sets 4",8",8", handle / $263 / bhphoto

Custom Tray / $170 / Ron on digitaldiver

2 Fiber Optic Cables for Strobes / $83 / naturephoto in Japan

Olympus Wide-angle lens for PT-015 / $267 / naturephoto in Japan

512MB CF Card / $140 / buy.com

2 extra sets of o-rings for PT-015 / $35 / naturephoto in Japan

Tube of lubricant for PT-015 o-rings / $7 / naturephoto in Japan

2 extra o-rings for strobes / $13 / naturephoto in Japan

extra diffuser panel for strobe / $14 / naturephoto in Japan

TLC strobe adapters / $43 / Helix Camera

Total $2,723

Anyway, I can't wait to get the system wet, and my wife can't wait for me to stop talking about it. Now I just have to buy something to put it all in and about 100 Ni-MH batteries! Thanks for all of the advice everyone has given, directly and indirectly.

Chris

I assume you will be using 2000 mHa rechargable batteries.............www.thomasdistributing.com

Chris, I presume you've ordered stuff from naturephoto in Japan.

What was your experience in dealing with them?

And have you seen the price of the PT-015 on their site? If the prices are correct it's 18,900 Yen or USD162 approx.

Chris, I presume you've ordered stuff from naturephoto in Japan.

 

What was your experience in dealing with them?

 

And have you seen the price of the PT-015 on their site? If the prices are correct it's 18,900 Yen or USD162 approx.

My experience has been very good so far. I just placed my order with them yesterday, and everything shipped today with a tracking number. They accepted PayPal and wire transfers into a US bank account. Because I used PayPal, the exchange rate I got wasn't as good as the market rate. I think I got an exchange rate of 113.626 when the market rate was closer to 117 at the time I ordered, but I still felt that I got a good deal on the items I purchased. Shipping for everything came to around $40, which was included in the prices I gave.

If you are interested in ordering from them, you can contact them via email at: info@naturephoto.co.jp

Chris

One last note on NaturePhoto, I received everything I ordered from them within a week, which is pretty good considering it is coming from Japan. Also, the pre- and post-sales support has been very good. They were very prompt and helpful in answering all of my questions. I would do business with them again.

Hi Chris. Glad to see you got your setup. I've been thinking about getting something similar, but as for the tray and strobes, I was considering the Epoque ES 150 Dual Hardwired/Slave Strobe Package---$999 from Ocean Brite. Not sure if anybody has any comments about it, but it seems like a good deal and accomodates the pre-flash from the Olympus 5050. What do you think about it? I'm also not sure what people think about the Epoque ES 150 strobes.