Advice:5060/7070/8080?

[CookieMonster]

I am finally ready to buy a new/digital u/w camera. I was still using film and missing out on seeing my pictures until weeks after I dove. Still an amateur but want a camera I can grow with. A friend loves her 5060 -- she gets good shots and particularly likes the macro and supermacro feature -- but it seems they're not made anymore. The newest update is the 8080 which also has that supermacro feature, but I've not heard a lot of u/w mention of it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[hornetplt]

I have used the Olympus C-3040,4040 and just upgraded to the C-7070(heard of some noise issues with the C-8080 & didn't particularly like the huge size). I have used Ikelite housings exclusively and have been quite satisfied. Will post pics from the upcoming weekend with RAW and true TTL with my new DS-125.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board

There is one minor (or major depending on your point of view) problem with the 7070 that does not exist in the 5060 or 8080. The internal flash can not be set to fire in supermacro, on the others it is possible to force it on but not on the 7070. If you intend to do super macro this is something to consider. I like to shoot a lot of SM so the 7070 is not a camera I would choose.

 

[WOODMAN]

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Oh lord, this appears to be the eternal question. They make a good camera which pleases most of us, and then it goes out of production and a "better" model is released. I am using an old 5050, (as are a great many of the folks on this site), and am thoroughly pleased with it:05: . Unfortunately, it has been "obsolete" now for quite awhile, and obtaining one has become problematic. The 5060 is not a bad camera either, but has the same availability problems. Then there is the matter of the housing. Depending on what you buy, you can spend as much for this as the camera (or much, much more:11: ) and then you have something which only works with your chosen model of camera, so if the camera floods or otherwise goes belly up, you have a rather expensive paperweight. What to do? This has been the subject of innumerable discussions on this board, and there is lots of material on this in the archives. But it all comes back down to this- you make your choice, get what you need (somehow) and live with it. If you take care of your equipment carefully, you can probably use it for a long, long time. There are meager supplies of the old cameras available out there, usually as refurbished units, and there are a lot of folks here that use these with no problems. Or, if you must have something new and still in production, watch this forum for ongoing analysis and critique on the new stuff. I hope you find something that can please you as much as my old 5050 has pleased me, and I wish you luck with it . Woody

 

[getwet2]

It doesn't matter what you get because in one or two years IT"S now obsolete and they are marketing the new and improved model, even if there wasn't anything wrong with the old one's. Even when they do IMPROVE on the old one, they always seem to remove that one feature that made the old one so good.

I'm telling you it's just one big conspiracy and you can't win. It's just like Joe Pecsi said in Lethal Weapon 4 "they ******* you and ******* you and then they ******* you some more!!!!!!!!"

So do what WOODMAN said, just buy what you want and enjoy it while it lasts!

 

[hornetplt]

While it is true that the C-7070 INTERNAL flash will not fire in Supermacro mode, my external DS-125 works just fine shooting Supermacro. Were you planning on using your cameras internal flash underwater?

 

[herman]

While it is true that the C-7070 INTERNAL flash will not fire in Supermacro mode, my external DS-125 works just fine shooting Supermacro. Were you planning on using your cameras internal flash underwater?

Yep. It depends on the strobe you are using. My D180 slaves off the internal flash through a fiber optic link so I have to have it. I also find that using both the internal and strobe together helps on some macro and super macro shots. This is also assuming you have a strobe. Many of us buy the camera and housing and have to wait to get the strobe. I took a lot of nice macro and super macro shots with my 5050 before I got a strobe, many of these shots would not have been possible without the ability to force the strobe on. It also opens up the possibility of using some of the less expensive strobes like the Sunpac (<$200). If you already have a strobe that will fire electrically or if you are going to buy an expensive strobe anyway then it may not be a feature you need but if you have an optically fired strobe like mine, you will either have to give up super macro or spend $500-800 on a new strobe.

 

[Solomander]

I looked at the B&H Photo and Adorama websites. Neither of them show any of the models that under discussion. Are the cameras being discussed not made any more? If so, which Olympus would you recommend? The only model being discussed that I have seen is the Stylus (600, I think). I apologize if this is redundant. I have been reading the board and the excellent primers about getting a digital UW camera and would appreciate some advice.

Thanks.

Joel

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I think all the models being discussed are discontinued, but you can surely still find them somewhere. Definately used/refurb'd on ebay. Check out 17photo.com as well.

 

[tkring]

Also Amazon has the C5050 available starting at $449.