continues shooting Olympus C5050 or jump to Canon 20D?

Hi guys,

I have a Olympus C5050, with Olumpus PT-015 housing and Inon 2000 strobe. I began with this camera in 2005 (with Jim Abernethy in Tiger beach !!).

So I'm a beginer in photography (land and UW). I've been able to shoot nice pictures with this gear and the lots of bad pictures were due to my lack of experince than limits of camera capabilities.

My progress on photography is being very slow, due mainly that usually I'm only able to do a dive trip per year, which means an average of 20 dives per year.

Said that, the only inconvenient that I have with my current equipment, as all of you know, is the time of shoot which is very slow with this camera. As I've adquired a Canon 20D (initially for land pictures purposes), I'm considering to jump to DSLR for UW picures also.

So, that's the question. Jump to DSLR or continue with Oly C-5050? In case to change, what could be a good configuration to start with (housing, strobe, lens ...)

Any advice will be welcome.

Thanks and Regards !

Amadeo

Hi amadeo,

i was in the same situation as you 1 1/2 to 2 years ago. I had a nikonos v, then had the c5050, then bought a 20D. I still have the nikonos v and c5050.

I mainly use the c5050 for work as it is small and easy to use. I finally got round to getting a ikelite housing for my 20D (also bought a second body for future proofing my investment).

I havent looked back. While I have been taking photos for a few years, I have really enjoyed the DSLR. Fast, responsive and the images are just awesome. That being said I also achieved some great photos from the c5050. I just out grew the c5050 system - needed greater control and found the shutter lag was becoming an issue.

My kit now includes: 2 x 20D, ikelite housing, 8 inch dome, macro port, 60mm, 17-40L, 10-17 tokina (and 70-200 for topside), 2 x ds-125.

IMHO - i think you need to consider how much you will use the system as while it is good (and i cant fault it) like all underwater photgraphy it soaks up the money. Eventually will upgrade to a better camera, but thats a few years away as I believe (and I think some of the images i have will back this up) the system punches well above its weight.

So after all that: amount of use = need to upgrade (IMHO). Oh, and having your DSLR for awhile before going underwater i think is also a good thing. Helps you learn your camera, making it easier (albeit a little bit) to use when taking it underwater

hope this helps.

cheers dave

Hi guys,

 

I have a Olympus C5050, with Olumpus PT-015 housing and Inon 2000 strobe. I began with this camera in 2005 (with Jim Abernethy in Tiger beach !!).

 

So I'm a beginer in photography (land and UW). I've been able to shoot nice pictures with this gear and the lots of bad pictures were due to my lack of experince than limits of camera capabilities.

 

My progress on photography is being very slow, due mainly that usually I'm only able to do a dive trip per year, which means an average of 20 dives per year.

 

Said that, the only inconvenient that I have with my current equipment, as all of you know, is the time of shoot which is very slow with this camera. As I've adquired a Canon 20D (initially for land pictures purposes), I'm considering to jump to DSLR for UW picures also.

 

So, that's the question. Jump to DSLR or continue with Oly C-5050? In case to change, what could be a good configuration to start with (housing, strobe, lens ...)

 

Any advice will be welcome.

 

Thanks and Regards !

 

Amadeo

I shot a 5050 for a few years and got excellent results. I replaced the 5050 with an Oly E-330 dslr and got excellent results. I was brought down to earth one day when I overheard a friend comment, "Jim's pictures haven't gotten better with his new camera!"

The 5050 is a wonderful camera, but the shutter lag can be frustrating. Like Dave said, if you dive a lot, you might justify the expense of buying a housing for your 20D. If you only dive a few times a year, and like to change lens adapters u/w, then keep the 5050.

I'm sort of in the same situation that you're in. I've been using an olympus 5050 for two years now. My skills definitely haven't outgrown my camera yet, but my wife wants to start taking pictures while we dive as well. That pretty much gives me the green light to purchase a new camera and housing for it before we head down to bonaire next spring. That said, the 5050 is capable of taking some great pictures and I probably would have waited another year or two before upgrading if my wife wasn't constant taking the camera out of my hands. My only complaint with the 5050, which has been said a few times, is the speed when shooting raw.

If someone can come out with a compact that shoots raw at a decent rate with a sensor larger than a postage stamp, I'd probably pick it up even if it were pricier than the lower end dslr's. If that doesn't happen, I'll probably go with an olympus 520 or maybe one of the new micro 4/3's depending on when they come out and their image quality. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to step up to such a huge rig while I'm diving.

First of all, thanks for your comments guys.

Well, its good to me to see that every one had the same dilemma, due to the same reason. That means that I'm walking the same way that people more experineced than me.

As all of you know, the background of all of this is the money. Dive equipment, photography gear, dive trips ... are not specially chip. Nothing new for you.

Objectively, in terms of use (I've only done about 50 dives in 3 years with this gear), it seems clear that is too soon to renew. However, as has been said, shutter lag is really frustating.

I'm going to share with you an anecdote even though its a little bit humiliating to me:

First time I used my C5050 was in Tiger Beach with Jim (I suppose all of you know Jim and Tiger Beach as they are very famous on this forum). Probably is not the better site for a beginner to start to shoot, you know, to many things to control while a lot of hughe sharks are arond you. Since I wasted som dozens of pictures because I only shot in 'P' mode, some colleagues had the patience to explain to me some concepts about aperture, and shutter speed and then I was able to take som acceptable pictures. BUT, lot of times when I turn the camera after to shoot to see the picture on the screen I only found an out of focus picture of the hite sand (?). It took to me sometime to find out that what was happening is that I was turning the camera to quick after to press the sutter and the picture was taken when the camera was pointing to the bottom.

Obviously this doesn't happen now but still I can show you some nice pictures, very well focused, first plane of the shark body but without the head ....

Jlyle, After to change to E-330, what kind of pictures were you be able to do that you cannot do before? What I really try to know is if I will expereince a big difference in case to use the 20d.

On another hand guys, how many dives or dive trip do you do at year? I'm from Spain and the average of rates for dive trips (the really good ones)is about 3000€, its difficult to me to manage enoguh budget to do more than one at year, having in account that I also like other kind of trips like land safaris, go to ski ...

Best regards

Amadeo

"Jlyle, After to change to E-330, what kind of pictures were you be able to do that you cannot do before? What I really try to know is if I will expereince a big difference in case to use the 20d."

There aren't any pictures you can take with a dslr that I couldn't get with the 5050. Some pictures are just easier with the dslr: fast motion where shutter lag on the 5050 means you have to push the shutter before the action; skittish or shy critters where the dslr lenses will allow you to take the image from father away; and sequential shots where you want to take more than one image in a short period of time.

Thanks for your response Jlyle, doyou know if I could use the Inon 2000 strobe with canon 20d?

Thanks for your response Jlyle, doyou know if I could use the Inon 2000 strobe with canon 20d?

I'll have to leave that question to others. I use Ikelite DS-125s.

"Jlyle, After to change to E-330, what kind of pictures were you be able to do that you cannot do before? What I really try to know is if I will expereince a big difference in case to use the 20d."

 

There aren't any pictures you can take with a dslr that I couldn't get with the 5050. Some pictures are just easier with the dslr: fast motion where shutter lag on the 5050 means you have to push the shutter before the action; skittish or shy critters where the dslr lenses will allow you to take the image from father away; and sequential shots where you want to take more than one image in a short period of time.

I don't know that I would agree with this. I just made the switch from a 5050 to a used D200 before a trip to Indonesia. The fast autofocus and lack of shutter lag together with the ability to take multiple shots quickly which results from this allowed me to get any number of shots I couldn't have taken with my 5050. They just weren't possible. That's not to say these shots are all brilliant or that they are better than anything I shot with my 5050, but they are shots I wanted and couldn't have gotten without the DSLR.

I shot a 5050 for a few years and got excellent results. I replaced the 5050 with an Oly E-330 dslr and got excellent results. I was brought down to earth one day when I overheard a friend comment, "Jim's pictures haven't gotten better with his new camera!"

 

The 5050 is a wonderful camera, but the shutter lag can be frustrating. Like Dave said, if you dive a lot, you might justify the expense of buying a housing for your 20D. If you only dive a few times a year, and like to change lens adapters u/w, then keep the 5050.

Jim: The problem was that your 5050 pictures were too good. If you had only shown the bad ones everyone would have said the new camera makes a huge difference.

Cheers

Bill