help

[zaf88]

ive saved up enough money to get into the digital underwater world! i started underwater with mm2ex with great results, but film is really a hassle. anyway ive narrowed my camera choices down to the olympus c5050 and the c50. people seem very happy with the 5050 but the 50 is getting some mixed reviews. more importantly io havent heard anything about the pt line of underwater housings. are they reliable?has anyone had problems with them? there also is the strobe issue. i found one online but cant get any research for it, it is the Inon D-180 Auto strobe. anyway, i really want to get my purchase over with alredy bc im planning a trip to turks or cayman is. so any opinion would really be appreciated.
ps- can anyone recomend a better camera in the price range of the 2 listed above? also is there a better housing than the pt's for these 2 camera's?

 

[Dee]

There are a lot of reports on the PT-XX cases. There are also discussions on the C-5050 vs. C-50 as well as places to buy them all. Just read through this forum for all kinds of information.

As a user of a PT-10 case, I can highly recommend it. As for better, that's relative to what you want to use it for. There are certainly more expensive metal housings (Tetra) and clear (Ikelite), both with their good and bad points.

Links to camera research....
Digital Camera Reviews
Steve's Digi Cams

One excellent place to get housing, tray, strobe, lens, etc. is...
Underwater Digital

 

[Wreck Ranger]

I agree with Dee. i also have the PT010 housing and I am extremely satisfied with it. i use the 3020 because I couldn't afford the 5050. If I had to choose between the 5050 and the c50 I would go with the 5050 because it's like my 3020 and I love my camera.

The 3020 takes wonderful pictures and I have blown several of them to 8x10 and the quality is superb. i would recommend any of the c-3xxx to c-5xxx to anyone thinking of getting into UW digital. I haven't bought a strobe yet but that's the next thing on my list. I did buy a pelican case to carry all of my camera gear in. I think I went a little overboard though. I bought the 1600 and after putting everything I have in it I still have room for a laptop computer in there. The darn thing is huge. it will be good when I get my strobes though.

Happy Hunting
Nathan