Olympus PTBK-E01 Tray/Strobe Bracket

Hi,

This is the lowest price I've seen for the PTBK-E01:

http://www.videodirect.com/Merchant2/merch...y_Code=OLEUNDWT

But holy-moley, isn't even €125 a lot of money for what is essentially just a piece of bent, drilled, tapped & painted metal?

I've only done some basic metalworking, but I'm sure a DIY version of this bracket could be made up for 1/10th of that cost.

I saw this http://www.digitaldiver.net/lib_docs/build_a_tray.pdf over on digitaldiver.net - basically just what I'm talking about albeit for a different housing.

Has anyone on here done anything similar?

Are there any reasons DIY trays shouldn't be used?

Thanks,

Mark

I'm not sure many folks use the Olympus tray system. You can buy an old ikelite tray and handles for around $65 on ebay. You can get a new Bonica tray with a handle starting at around $55 at B&H photo. They would be great for a P&S.

Yeah, I found the B&H site last night. It seems a Bonica set-up would be great value, or even a mix of Bonica, Aquatica and Sea & Sea components. I'll be reading up on what bits would all go together.

Goes to show that you really need to research as much as you can before jumping, eh?

In fairness, I'm a long way away from actually buying any UW gear, but like I've said before, I just like to know as much as I can as early as I can.

Better informed decisions are usually wiser ones...

Thanks,

Mark