Olympus SP-350 & PT-030

[Razza]

All, looking to buy my first camera and UW housing, the camera will not be dedicated purely to dive related activity, but also general use - so don't want to go down the DSLR route.

I have been looking at the Olympus SP-350 with PT-030 housing. Any views good bad or indifferent?

Olympus - SP-350
Olympus - PT-030

Cheers

[David A]

The only thing I could find was on Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ. There isn't a full review, but the owner responses seem generally positive about the camera. The only issues seem to be poor battery life, and possibly poor results in low light conditions. Best I can come up with.
Whatever you choose, best of luck, and show us the results.

David

[turbanator]

I had that shortlisted, but am dow looking at the Fuji E900.
There seem to be some good deals around, so I suspect that it may be about to be superceded (it is about a year old).

There is no Fuji housong, but Ike make on that is good to 60m.

hth
Paul

[onthetrain]

Originally Posted by Razza

All, looking to buy my first camera and UW housing, the camera will not be dedicated purely to dive related activity, but also general use - so don't want to go down the DSLR route.

I have been looking at the Olympus SP-350 with PT-030 housing. Any views good bad or indifferent?

Olympus - SP-350
Olympus - PT-030

Cheers

I recently bought this exact set up on the recommendation of Martin Edge who writes on underwater photography for sports diver and has published a number of books on the subject.

The set up is one that sits between digital compact and SLR. The housing will take lenses, filters etc. It is TTL strobe capable, allows you to set the white balance and shoot in RAW mode. All features that are really useful for underwater photography.

In short you can use for happy snaps, but it has a lot of development potential. I'm very much learning but have had some great shots even though I dont have a strobe yet.

I would have no hesitation recommending it.

Alan

[Razza]

Originally Posted by onthetrain

I would have no hesitation recommending it

Gone for it, based on your recomendadtion, so if it all goes wrong.....

Originally Posted by David A

Whatever you choose, best of luck, and show us the results

Will do!

Thanks all for the feedback!

[dave archer]

I bought that setback in April, plus a nonTTL strobe and wide angle lense. Spent a week in Red Sea learning how to use it (a little bit!) and have tried a couple of UK dives with.

Love pretty much everything about it, except for battery life, or more accurately the battery life indicator it seems - will quite often warn of low battery, then go sleep, and then be ok for another 10 shots or so if left alone for 10 mins, then same loop again. I have upgraded firmware wil be looking soon to se if new version out. Failing that ,better rechargeable batteries (using Jessops 2500mA).

Other than that, which is annoying, I'm pretty happy with it - hope you are too.

It was my first UW camera too (in fact my first camera beyond point and shoot film ones) and I found a good intro guide helped a lot. Can't remember author but it is called "Essential Guide to Digital UW Photography" IIRC, and has orange border on front cover. Worth getting if you've always wondered what an F stop is but never got as far as finding out...

HTH

Dave.

[turbanator]

It's like going out to dinner.
Whatever someone else has ordered always looks that little bit more attractive

r
P

[Razza]

Originally Posted by dave archer

It was my first UW camera too (in fact my first camera beyond point and shoot film ones) and I found a good intro guide helped a lot. Can't remember author but it is called "Essential Guide to Digital UW Photography" IIRC, and has orange border on front cover. Worth getting if you've always wondered what an F stop is but never got as far as finding out...

Thanks for the guidance, thats me to a tee! As the underwater realm is more challenging some advice would be good. I have owned an Olympus C-920z for years and i'm sure I have only used about 5% of the functionality.

[turbanator]

Originally Posted by dave archer

Love pretty much everything about it, except for battery life, or more accurately the battery life indicator it seems - will quite often warn of low battery, then go sleep, and then be ok for another 10 shots or so if left alone for 10 mins, then same loop again. I have upgraded firmware wil be looking soon to se if new version out. Failing that ,better rechargeable batteries (using Jessops 2500mA).

Other than that, which is annoying, I'm pretty happy with it - hope you are too.

The 320/350 and the E900 have been on my shortlist (I went for the e900) but while rooting around I saw a pointer to this on the Oly site which has a firmware upgrade to address the battery issue.

I upgraded the f/w on my 5060, and it's not too much of a trauma, just make sure that you are on mains power or have fresh batteries when you power on after writing the u/g to the card (if that's how it's still done).

hth
Paul

[Razza]

Originally Posted by turbanator

I saw a pointer to this on the Oly site which has a firmware upgrade to address the battery issue.

Paul, cheers for the advice. I'll go for the upgrade immediately (when the camera arrives).