Considering upgrading from C-750 + PT-018

Hi all, I hope someone out there can give me a few pointers.

At the moment I have a C-750 with PT-018 Olympus Housing with a sea and sea strobe triggered via a fibre optic cable.

After my recent trip to Egypt I found myself frustrated with the camera. Specifically the flash recycle time, focusing time and shutter lag. I have never really been happy with the bland colours it seems to produce (compared to my old Fuji), and it does not seem to cope with contrast very well.

The two cameras I have been considering are the Fuji F810 or the Canon A620. I can reuse the strobe with either. I have heard good things about the F810, but not much about the A620. Would the step down in features be compensated by the quality of pictures/speed of operation?

This would also be my "best" camera for above ground, so the lack of lens thread on the Fuji is a bit of a worry.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

The more I look, the more confused I get

Hello,

I am in exactly the same situation! Fed up with C750 slow AF, shutter lag etc etc, although I am surprised that I can sometimes get halfway decent results but only under ideal conditions (warm, tropical, shallow, unfortuate really when living in the UK ).

I thought about a better digicam (C7070 or CP8400) but advice from the Wetpixel forums is dSLR is a better bet. Not having loads of cash to slosh around this was a bummer, BUT I think the new Olympus E-500 is a very enticing prospect. Its relatively cheap (allegedly~£650 for the twin lens kit) and if (when-hopefully, and with ttl more hopefully for us photographers with the L-plates on ) Ike can get the housing out (see thread in dSLR section) I reckon it offers a great topside system and a good UW system. More expensive than another digicam sure, but cheaper than D50/70 or RebelXT/350 kits in UK.

Maybe also consider a second hand system such as S2Pro??

Hope this helps!

The E500 looks like a nice camera for macro. Wide angle continues to be lacking with Olympus' 4/3 SLRs. That is unless you have $2000 for the super wide zoom.

The A620 looks nice but I have a few reservations about the Canon housing. The port looks a little strange. I would definitely go Ikelite on that one- when it's available. The A series have had a slave flash setting that should help reduce recycle time.

Olympus' new SP-350 looks to be a nice camera. It has a flash hot shoe. There still are questions about the minimum aperture. If it's F8 then fine, but 4.5 would make me look at something else.

Fair comment, but the kit lens is 28mm equivalent which is a big improvement on the 37mm of the C750 and better than most digicams and the 11-22mm zoom can be had for ~£500 in the UK. The 4/3 system lenses are at least a consistent investment and can be bought without concerns about sensor crop variablity in the model range unlike Canon (will Canon go full frame across the board in 12-18 months?) and Nikon.

This last factor was a big influence in my decision not to go for D70 or DrebelXT and my indecision has for once paid off

I like the thought of starting with an E500, buying glass as my budget and skill improve and being able to use the same lenses on a better Oly body. Other factors are that it is light and can be set into point and shoot mode for topside use by the rest of the family, therefore enabling me to pass it off as a necessary family purchase and nothing to do with my expensive UW hobby!

Hi Peter, welcome to Wetpixel.

If you're going to buy an SLR type underwater camera system, you're making a considerable investment. I urge you to consider that you will be using your kit as a SYSTEM, and not just look at the price of the camera body and two lenses.

How many housings are or will be available for the Olympus E-500? Of course, there are none now, but even after a year, I bet you will have 2 or 3 choices max. If you buy a Canon or Nikon camera you will get something like 8 or 10 housing choices! More choices means more flexibility for you and most importantly, COMPETITION leads to lower housing prices.

I don't think your point about the lens crop being confusing is a valid one. For Nikon, there is a 1.5x crop for all of their cameras. For Canon, any reasonable priced camera has a crop of 1.6. The Oly has a 2.0 crop.

The difference in lenses comes up when you look at the three lines. Currently, Canon and Nikon offer literally hundreds of lenses to choose from, and these are mirrored by Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina. What this means is more COMPETITION leading to lower lens prices. Oly has no competition right now, so they can charge whatever they want. They charge a LOT and offer lens rebates to make their Zuiko lenses look more reasonable, but look at comparably prices lenses by Canon and Nikon and they are much less expensive.

Another comment about the lenses is that Nikon and Canon offer special lenses for topside use that incorporate image stabilization, perspective correction, and other nice features. Canon even makes a macro lens that does 5:1 magnification! These types of lenses may seem like "specialty" items, but just wait until you're shooting a telephoto lens in low light and you'll want that image stabilization. Olympus may try to build this feature into their cameras eventually to get around the patent, but the IS is much more effective when specifically designed and built into the lens.

I'd encourage you to broaden your search. You may find that when you look at a D50+kit lenses or a 350D+kit lenses, and then add in the HOUSING cost, you might come out cheaper than the Olympus. You said that you:

like the thought of starting with an E500, buying glass as my budget and skill improve and being able to use the same lenses on a better Oly body.

There's no reason you can't do this with a Canon or Nikon camera. Start with a base body and kit lens, buy a few better lenses, then later upgrade bodies to something better. What's nice is that if you buy a base model Canon, you have at least FOUR other cameras to choose from in the future.

Cheers

James

I feel I have inadvertantly hijacked ScubaMoleys thread!

Should this be moved to the dSLR forum?

Thanks James

I've got reservations about buying into Canon at the moment due to the 2 types of sensor format, the general feeling seems to be that they will lead the way in going to an all full frame line up. Where will that leave the crop sensor range - who knows? My error, Nikon sensor size is consistent - will they stick with DX? Probably. I really dont like the D50 though, it feels like its got the build quality of a Christmas cracker toy.

I am learning budget restrictions are difficult to combine with UW photography but the the D70s kit could be £200 more expensive than the E500 kit....

Bugger. Just worked this out: Nikon D70s kit & Sigma 10-20mm costs ~£1240 (this is down quite a bit on 2 months ago), E500 kit (rumoured street price) & 11-22mm zoom costs ~£1180. My guess is the cost of housing and strobes from Ike are likely to be near identical so I've not included these. Only the D70 iTTL is available now.

Oh well its the Nikypus E570s for me then.................

The E500 looks like a nice camera for macro. Wide angle continues to be lacking with Olympus' 4/3 SLRs. That is unless you have $2000 for the super wide zoom.

 

The A620 looks nice but I have a few reservations about the Canon housing. The port looks a little strange. I would definitely go Ikelite on that one- when it's available. The A series have had a slave flash setting that should help reduce recycle time.

 

Olympus' new SP-350 looks to be a nice camera. It has a flash hot shoe. There still are questions about the minimum aperture. If it's F8 then fine, but 4.5 would make me look at something else.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Olympus has an 11 to 22 F2.8 to 3.5 at B&H $675.00 less $50.00 rebate srarting 1 Oct, a 7 to 14 mm F4 ( the only 14 to 28 mm in 35mm made) at B&H $1650.00 less $125.00 rebate and an 8 mm full frame fisheye coming in January. Please tell me what wide-angle range Oly is not covering?

Phil Rudin

Phil: Just FYI, Sigma makes a 12-24 lens that works on both FF and "cropped" sensor cameras. It's available in Sigma, Canon, and Nikon mounts. I've got one and I like it a lot. It's actually WIDER than the Zuiko lens and at a cost of less than $750.

Cheers

James

I am aware of the lens and I am sure it is wider on a 35mm sensor or film. The topic I thought was the D70 and the E-500 and the angle of view on the sub 35 mm type sensors.

Phil

Ah, I see what you're saying Phil, at 14mm (35mm equivalent) the Olympus lens is the widest. That's correct.

Next up is the Sigma 10-20 on the 1.5x crop Nikon yielding 15mm (35mm equivalent) and then the Sigma and Nikon lenses which yield 16mm 35mm equivalent on the Nikon and Canon bodies.

Cheers

James

I should have added to my post.....I was considering DSLR but cannot warrant spending that kind of money on the underwater kit. (don't want to get thrown out)

So.......I am now the proud owner of a Fuji F810 and the Fuji Housing. I considered the Ikelite housing, but apparently that would require a new tray and maybe arm too. Also in the 2 years I used my PT-018, I never bought or used any add on lenses or filters.

I have not had much of a chance to play, but I am very impressed so far. It even shoots RAW and widescreen!

Also, as I am on a budget, It came in at a very reasonable £363.50 inc next day delivery. More money for a new dive computer.

I get the feeling I should have held on for more feedback, but I am way too impatient for that.

Now who wants to buy a C-750 with PT-018 housing?

Well done!

The F810 is a well regarded choice. Enjoy taking photos with it.

Its easy to get bogged down in choices!

Peter

Agreed, you will get much enjoyment from your new camera system. I hope you have a small strobe too as that will greatly expand your opportunities. There we go again, trying to break the budget! :-)

Cheers

James

l already had a YS25 strobe, fibre optic cable, arm and tray so I won't get in trouble over that one.

Shame I have to wait so long to get underwater and try it all out together...unless I go snorkelling in my pond.

Jules