Just got my new Olympus C5050-need info

I am a new owner of an Olympus C5050, just got the housing tonight. Heading to Cozumel in 2 weeks. As my last underwater camera was a Bonica Snapper, I have a lot to learn!

I am having difficulties getting good shots with the super macro (still on dry land) It does not seem to focus that well on automatic. Is there a trick to it that I am missing? One of the reasons for getting it was to get great close up shots.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Re the housing: is it necessary to take it in on the first dive to depth without the camera to check that it doesn't leak?

Thanks

Well, I guess my question was not challenging enough for all the techies. We all start somewhere y'know, and I was under the impression that this was a really helpful forum.

You should talk to Laz or Herbko, our resident 5050 shooters. I haven't seen Laz around much lately, but Herb is here. If he doesn't respond, shoot him a private message.

Alternatively, try doing a search for "5050" as there has already been a lot of discussion about this topic.

Cheers

James

I am a new owner of an Olympus C5050, just got the housing tonight. Heading to Cozumel in 2 weeks. As my last underwater camera was a Bonica Snapper, I have a lot to learn!

I am having difficulties getting good shots with the super macro (still on dry land) It does not seem to focus that well on automatic. Is there a trick to it that I am missing? One of the reasons for getting it was to get great close up shots.

Any help would be most appreciated.

 

Re the housing: is it necessary to take it in on the first dive to depth without the camera to check that it doesn't leak?

Thanks

On supermacro mode, I use spot focus and continuous autofocus. It's sometimes a little slow depending on the subject. Half press and wait for it to focus and then shoot.

I don't know of anyone who's got a defective housing that leaked the first dive. I'd check at the rinse tank, and go with it if it doesn't leak there. Longer term there may be issues with the on/off/modes knob at the top.

Sometime autofocus acts unreliably in super-macro. You may have to set to manual focus to assure that you get what you want. This is difficult underwater using the LCD

I might suggest using Macro for your first few dives until you get the hang of the camera. You can still get close-within 6" or so

Also, the best advise I can give is practice ALOT on land....learn all of the functions of the camera and get comfortable with them....and then practice with the housing.

My housing was one of the "unlucky" and leaked after 30 dives....back to Olympus it went.

GET INSURANCE....as they say, "It's not IF you leak....it's WHEN you leak"

DEPP or DAN provide good coverage at a reasonable price

As for supermacro on the C5050, I have not done a whole lot of it lately. The problem with supermacro is that you will have to be so close to your subject that it generally frightens it away. I use Macro mode with an additional macro lens. I also change the default iESP focussing to spot focussing to let me choose the focus area. I was shooting some nudibranchs on Veteran's Day and got some good results. Hope that helps...

--John

Thanks everyone - your input is most appreciated. I am off to the pool tonight and will check if the housing is watertight (without the camera this time) If all goes well I will try to use it with the camera in the pool next week.