Kodak DX7590

Hi all.

Sorry if this is a repeat question, I did a search for kodak and for 7590 as well as DX7590 and couldn't find any posts relating to this camera. And bear with me, I tend to be long winded.

I've owned the DC280 since it came out, and although I know Kodak isn't known for the "best" cameras, they have world class customer support. I don't want to get long winded, but let's just say I've done some stupid things with my camera and Kodak has bent over backwards to help me out with free replacement parts and shipping...multiple times.

So, naturally when looking for a new camera, espically one that will be put in a very unnatural environment for electronics, Kodak is my first choice.

Not knowing as much about photography as many others on this site, I've gathered a few things that I'm trying to factor into my purchasing decision:

1) Plan for expansion. I'm sure that I will want to get strobes after I get the hang of using the camera and see what the pictures look like as I've been told that strobes are the only real way to get good lighting. I'm not going to start out with strobes, but will move to them shortly after my first underwater photo session I'm sure.

2) Ease of use. I don't want to have to fiddle with too many settings every time I take a picture. I dont' mind changing some settings, but I want to be able to go "Ohh, that's pritty". Take a picture, and move on.

3) Shutter/Autofocus speed. This seems to be a big factor, and after looking into it I would want a camera that could take pictures almost immediately after I pushed the button.

----EDIT----

Found the specs on the Kodak, oddly enough on the specs page:

click to capture <0.2 seconds (preview on); 1.6 seconds shot-to-shot

shot to shot <1.8 seconds (preview on)

---END EDIT---

4) Storage/access time. I'm not sure of the importance of this as once I put strobes on (and I'm sure I will) I know they have a recharge time.

5) Housing availability. For my DC280 the only thing available for an underwater housing is basically a glorified plastic bag. I would like a good quality housing that I can be reasonably sure won't spring a leak and kill the camera.

6) Cost. It's always a factor. The lower the better. If I could get the best DSLR for under a dollar, I would. I'm not that stupid though, I know quality costs money. I'd like to get a complete setup, camera and housing, for AROUND $1000 (read up to $1200).

So, based on that I looked around and found the following:

A) Housing: Ikelite is the best choice from what I've read. You can clearly see your O-rings, helping to prevent leaks, and it's expandable. I could add the DS-125 (or 2 of them) when I decide to fork out the extra money for a strobe.

B) Camera: I'm up in the air. I can pick up a Referb Olympus 8080 from the manufacturer with a 90 day warrenty for around $500-550. I know that this camera has some supporters and some retractors, however most of the folks who don't like it tend to recommend pricier models like the Cannon Rebel series, which I know is out of my price range.

The other camera I have been looking at is the Kodak DX7590. Kodak has the advantage in price (About $150-$200 less) and customer service. It also has a 10X optical zoom compared to a 5X on the Olympus. It is only 5 MP compared to Olympus's 8 MP, however. I'm currently assuming this to be about equal as the Kodak will take a "closer" telephoto however the Olympus can be cropped back on land for a similar effect without loss of Resolution due to it's higher MP count.

Ikelite DOES make housings for both cameras. The housing for the Kodak is about $100 less then the housing for the Olympus, $500 vs. $600..

So, I was hoping someone had some info regarding the Kodak DX7590 to help me make a decision. I tried to look into this as much as I could and put together what I did already find so you can see where I'm coming from on this decision.

Thanks!

Will White