5050 lenses

[sdwho]

Last Sept, I bought an Oly C50 and a PT 014. Then I discovered this Board and after reading some of the posts, realized that I should've gotten the 5050! Well, after moaning about it for three months, my wife surprised me at Christmas with a new 5050 and PT 015. But now comes my question: am I right that the 5050/PT 015 will accept additional lenses? I've seen some statements that suggest this to be the case, but it never occurred to me that I could do anything with the lens on a camera without upgrading all the way to an SLR. And while I'm displaying my ignorance, is/was there any way to play with the lens on the C50? I never saw any indication that I could, but at this point I'm done assuming anything!!

Seth

 

[MosheDyan]

Hi,
Since noone happens to have answered you yet here are a few answers (all related to the 5050z as I have no clue regarding the C50 ):
You have a couple of supplemental lens choices for U/W use...and to confuse matters...different supplemental lenses are available for surface use!
For U/W specific use there is a dedicated wide angle lens and a macro lens compatible with your housing. If I am not mistaken you should be able to even "hot-swap" them while underwater if you feel confident in your photographic abilities to do so. You may want to think about investing in a dedicated U/W strobe if you get the WA lens as the in-camera flash will probably be partially blocked! For surface use there is a 41-43mm step up adapter (if you look at the base of the 5050 lens assembly you will see the threads) that will support the use of either OLY or Tiffen WA lenses for surface use. It is my understanding that the U/W lenses can be used above water as well (while camera is in your housing), however, doing that with my housing (Tetra 5050) resulted in a fisheye view--almost 180 degrees of coverage-that looked pretty ugly. I have not tried the macro lens above water.
For more detailed info I would suggest checking out www.digitaldiver.net (u/w digital-only site) and www.wrotniak.net (for ALL of your surface-related OLY 5050 queries).
Have fun and hope this helps....

 

[sdwho]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful!!

 

[Dee]

Sea & Sea, Olympus and Inon make lenses for use underwater with the PT-15 housing, or any threaded 67mm port. There may be others that I'm not familiar with. Some can be used topside, some can't....I forget which is which.

The ability to change the lenses underwater means these are wetmate lenses. If you are using the wide angle (WA) lense for scenic shots, you won't be using a strobe. But if you're using it for close focus WA shots, Ted is right that the internal flash will be partially blocked, you'll need an external strobe.

There is also macro lenses available although with the macro and Super macro features of the C-5050, I haven't found a reason to want a macro lens.

Sorry...can't tell you anything about the C-50

 

[ssra30]

Wetmate lens really make the C5050 a very flexible camera to use. You can shoot WAL and macro without too much hazzle. Several manufacturers make external WAL that would fit PT015. Personally I don't think there is a hugh difference between each WAL, all offfer between 90-100 degree field of vision. I generally recommend Inon just because they also make a domeport that can be fit over their wide angle lens to give a little over 130 degree view if you choose to go wider.
Many people find macro lens unneccessary with C5050. Personally I use 2 stacked macro lens and usually ignore the super macro mode on the camera. Super macro lens will let you get very closed but with fixed zoom so it is not very flexible. In macro mode, you can get close to about 8 inches which is fine for regular size nudibranch, shrimp etc. However macro lens will let you get closer than 8 inches and with stacked macro lens, give better magnification which is quite handy for those tiny subjects that are under 2cm long. Just my personal perference!

 

[domino22]

inon 100wd angle real happy

 

[Dee]

ssra....have you ever tried the macro trick to halve that 8" macro focus? Described HERE

It worked great on my C-4040 but I haven't tried it with the 5050.

 

[ssra30]

ssra....have you ever tried the macro trick to halve that 8" macro focus? Described HERE

It worked great on my C-4040 but I haven't tried it with the 5050.

Dee, yes, I did try it when I had my old C4040. Just found it a bit more difficult plus the distance is fixed. With the macro lens, the distance and focal point is a bit more flexible and there is still a matter of stronger magnification ie at the same distance and same zoom setting, I will get better magnification with stacked macro rather than using the macro sweetspot, abide the smaller depth of field. I never sat down and compare both method side by side (getting rather lazy nowaday) but I find the stacked macro quite flexible, of course I always have the option of using only one macro lens as well, depending on size of the subject.

 

[Dee]

I'm getting more interested in the macro lenses, especially stacking them...you know how much I like macro. I wish I could rent a couple lenses to try them out! haha

Your pics are great!

 

[ssra30]

I'm getting more interested in the macro lenses, especially stacking them...you know how much I like macro. I wish I could rent a couple lenses to try them out! haha

Your pics are great!

well, you already joined the C5050 crowd after resisting for so long, I think there are a couple of macro lens with your name on, waiting for you at the store! Afterall, more toys can never hurt (except the bank account, may be!) :colgate:
Just tell Beast that you buy 2 macro lens, one for you and one for him and when you go diving, just steal his lens!