Olympus 5060 vs. Canon A570is

I've been hunting to find the pieces to make an Olympus 5060 setup (camera, ikelite housing and DS-125 strobe), but all I've had any real luck in finding is ths strobe itself. I called backscatter.com to see about the housing, and they steered me towards the canon A570is with an inon z-240 or 2000 strobe. I can't seem to find much information on these forums or the net on the 570s performace underwater. In contrast, I've found a ton of the 5060. I'm leaving to go to Bonaire at the end of the month, so I need to act relatively qucikly. This will be my first U/W photo camera, but I'm looking for a setup that I can grow into over the years. I previsously played around with u/w video. Any thoughts?

The 5060 is a great camera, but it's out of production and hard to find. My brother-in-law has one and flooded it. He had a hard time finding a replacement at a decent price. They go for more than $300 on ebay.

I don't really know what's the best option out there now, but I would go for something newer. If you do find a 5060 and housing now, when and if you have a problem down the road it'll be even harder to replace it.

The 5060 is a great camera, but it's out of production and hard to find. My brother-in-law has one and flooded it. He had a hard time finding a replacement at a decent price. They go for more than $300 on ebay.

 

I don't really know what's the best option out there now, but I would go for something newer. If you do find a 5060 and housing now, when and if you have a problem down the road it'll be even harder to replace it.

Chris's bro-in-law here. What he says is true, 5060's are hard to find and cost as much as a new camera in many cases. I'm sticking with the 5060 "for the moment", but I am keeping my eyes open for future options. Chris's Fuji F31 is certainly in that mix and I am also interested in the new Sea&Sea DX-1G. The Oly 5050/5060 has been a good option for several years, but they are pretty long-in-the-tooth now.

Thanks for the advice yall. I'm looking into the canon a570is and the canon g7 now. This forum has been awesome yet confusing. As soon as I think I've settled on one setup, I read something else that directs me towards another. I really, really appreciate the input though.

I'd agree with Backscatter. The A570is has numerous advantages, the first being that it's faster. It's also got a newer CCD with better noise characteristics. Adding wide angle lenses will be easier, too.

The one big advantage the C-5060 had was the hot shoe. But the Inon D-2000 can mimic and magnify the A570is' preflash, so the small camera's flash will recycle faster.