Expandability of C-770

[theatis]

I'm brand new to this so please bear with me. I'm looking for the most basic, rudimentary advice on my C-770. I bought this camera years ago and I wasn't even OW certified. So, it wasn't intended for UW photography anyway. But now that it's starting to show its age, I thought "why not dedicate it for UW use?" I'm a novice with basic skills in photography in general and no experience whatsoever in UW photography.

My main question is: is this a good place to start and potentially build on? I bought the corresponding Olympus casing for my camera (PT-022) and that's it at this point. I see that there are many other accessories that can be used to expand my camera into a system such as underwater macro and wide conversion lenses. I gathered from a cursory search on this Oly dedicated board that many people don't favor the FL-20 flash or use it as a starting point and then add additional strobes.

So, any recommendations? I'm planning to use whatever I put together over the summer. I will be in the Greek islands and possibly the Red Sea. If the whole thing is too costly, I'll just take the camera and housing for now. But if i get some recommendations that this is a good camera to use as starting point, i'll consider my options.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MagnaRyder2]

Not many people admit to using the C-770 underwater. I tried asking similar questions
earlier this year and got about the same response.

However, I can now give you some answers. In mid-June I took my Oly C-770 on an Aggressor trip.

Is it a decent platform for taking underwater photos? Yes, I think so. It has most
of the normal shortcomings of point-and-shoot cameras as well as a short battery
life. But it will take decent photos underwater.

For examples, look at http://community.webshots.com/user/magnaryder2 under
"Caymans, 2006".

You'll want an external flash for a number of reasons. First is to gain more control
over illumination and backscatter. Second is to save on battery life. And third is
so that you can use external lenses without causing shadows as well as using
SuperMacro, which disables the internal strobe. The FL-20 will get you started and
will aid in the problems listed above. You may find, later, that you want a strobe
that you can have more control over.

You should also be able to add external "wet" lenses to your housing. My PT-010
has a 67mm threaded lens port. My IKE housing has the same 67mm port. Your
OLY housing probably has the same port. Look into the INON WAL and the
close focusing lenses for expanding your system.

As for practical shooting information, I'll list a few things that I noticed.

1. I could shoot 60 frames with one battery charge and an external strobe. This
amounted to one dive. After every dive I changed to a fresh battery.
(Hint: Buy extra batteries. Keep one charged. Swap them out between dives.)

2. I had enough memory cards for each day of diving. That would be 165 frames
if I left it in. But, since I had to replace the battery between dives, why not
swap memory cards.
(Hint: You can get by with less cards if you download to a PC or photo-safe
between dives. I actually cycled between two cards for 25 dives and never
used the other 6 cards.)

3. The Ultra Zoom is basically useless underwater. You'll be using the least amount
of zoom. Longer lenses mean longer focal length (more water column to shoot
through), slower lens speed ( less light through the lens), and difficulty in keeping
the camera still enough to eliminate blur. All of the above items are detrimental
to a good photo.

4. As for settings, there are a lot of posts for 5050s and 5060s, indicating their
"preferred" settings. Manual settings, somewhere around f8 @1/120, using
(around) ASA 120 is a good starting point. Feel free to deviate.

Hope this helps.

JimC
BTW: My rig is
OLY C-770 in an IKE housing
IKE DS-125 strobe with hardwired sync cord.
INON WideAngle Lens
Double INON close-up lenses.