Housing for SP-320?

[brucekrymow]

Oly has housings but have been indefinitely backordered for the last year & the flash they provide to work in conjuction w/ the gear is lackluster anyway, so I am seeking alternatives.

1) May anyone recommend manufacturers for an underwater camera housing for the Oly SP-320?

I would like to be able to use the add-on wide-angle lens & blue filter for this digital camera & be accommodated by the housing.

2) What underwater flash might someone recommend for this camera?

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

I believe you can use the same housing for the SP-320 as the SP-350 (which is what I have), from what I can tell they are readily available. I just checked B&H and they are in stock, and that is for the Oly Housing. They are $189, I think if you look around you can get it for a little less (<$10 probably), but for that kind of savings I wanted to go with someone I trusted and had used before so I went with B&H.

I can't answer your quesiton about the flash because I just used what was on the camera and had pretty good results. I only used it a few times and if my first results were any indication, once I get very comfortable with it underwater, I am going to be very pleased.

 

[brucekrymow]

Hi, Linda ~

Thank you for your suggestion. It appears you are correct that the SP-350 & -320 use the same housing.

However, I am not familiar w/ "B&H" - what is that?

I looked around online & found no underware housing vendors - where are you looking?

 

[diversteve]

underware housing vendors

I'd try Victoria's Secret, but that's a different topic...

B&H is a large, established Photo/Video/Electronics retailer in NYC. They have the PT-030 for $189.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=400761&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

They also list a couple of flash options for the PT-030 at the bottom of the page.

Helix also has it for the same price: http://www.helixcamera.com/home.html

And there's Adorama: http://www.adorama.com/

Another pricier option would be Ikelite:
http://www.ikelite.com/web_two/oly_sp310.html

The PT-030 is also sold on Ebay, but I think B&H has a better price.

Other good u/w photo sources are Backscatter - www.backscatter.com and H2OPhotopros. www.h2Ophotopros.com.

I'm sure there's others, but I shoot video so these are off the top of my head. Although I'm thinking about housing my SP350 lately. Esp. since my buddy flooded his Canon last trip.

Probably in the Oly housing for ease of travel, but my (different)buddy has an Ikelite housing and it works great. Allows for more external strobe options as well - you can get one from Ikelite or Inon(I think).

hth,

 

[brucekrymow]

Steve ~

Super! I think this will suit the job.

Thanks to you & Linda!

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

You are most welcome Bruce, I have made 2 purchases from B&H through their website. They have a good on line website, you get an email telling you the order is confirmed and letting you know when it ships then a tracking email. It's great, and they get good reviews on www.Epinion.com (a great place to get information)

http://www.epinions.com/webs-Web_Services-All-Merchants-B_H_Photo_Video_Pro_Audio/display_~reviews

Enjoy your housing, I am very pleased with mine.

 

[RockyHeap]

B&H is a great place.

The SP-310, 3320, and 350 all share the same housing, which gives full functionality of all operations for the camera. Great housing after dealing with the crappy Fantasea brand I've used on past nikon rigs.

I'd pass on the Oly strobe unit and housings, you can do better elsewhere.

The lens port on the housing is 46mm I believe, and you can get thread on Wide Angle lens, which is my next purchase for my housing............my SP-320 REALLY impressed me on my last belize outings..........

 

[brucekrymow]

The SP-320 is a great camera.

There is a 28mm wide-angle available for it, but will the housing accommodate the wide angle lens?

 

[Larry C]

No, you can't use the Oly lenses inside the housing, they're for topside only. You can use Inon's WA and Macro lenses with the Inon bayonet adaptor for the PT-030, or you can find a WA that will adapt and use a step ring like I did (for now) I'm using a Sea & Sea 16mm WA for Nikonos with a 46-58 step ring. It works great, but you have to either crop your pictures a bit or zoom a bit due to a small amount of vignetting. the corners of the picture get a little black image of the edge of the lens.

 

[gert7to3]

Larry C, does the bottom of your 16mm S&S W/A lens sit around 4mm above the lens window of your PT030? About even with the outermost edge of the 46mm bezel?

I just ordered an Oly Sp 350 and a Pt030 housing. Everything has arrived, except the camera.

I have a Sea&Sea 20mm W/A lens. It has a Motor Marine bayonet mount on it. The bayonet lugs fit within the 46mm lens bezel of the PT 030 housing. I was able to machine an adapter mount tube which goes over the PT 030 lens ring; accepts the base ring of the S&S W/A lens and leaves enough room for lugs to engage the S&S W/A lens mount. I'll post photos soon. No camera yet, but I'll be off to a quarry to test the rig.