Little help needed here Opinions? C5050/ C5000/C750

[Tearless Tom]

I am new to diving but not new to photography. Now I really have the bug for both.

I’ve been shooting for nearly 30 years. I am a part time pro on land. Wow didn’t realize how old I’ve gotten!

I presently use a Fuji FinePix S-1, Nikon N90S, and Mamiya 645. Personally I would love to get a housing for either the N90S or S-1 but I am looking for a smaller digital that we (girlfriend that gave me the bug) and I can take on our vacations and excursions with less bulk and weight not to mention I shudder at the thought of loosing either of those cameras.

We want something that will be very versatile on land and also under the seas.

I am trying to narrow down the search.

I have done quite a bit of research and am leaning towards the Olympus C5050 which seems to be highly recommended here. But I was also wondering about the C750. How good is that lens? Also the C5000.

Any guidance or experience with the 750 or 5000 out there would be greatly appreciated.

There is a $200. Difference between the C-5000, and C5050 and $100 between the C750 and C5050.

The difference or additional expenses of the housing for the C750 / C5000 and the XD Cards and priortized battery would more than make up the difference.

Also Do they make a housing for the C5000?

Thanks for any help!!!

Thomas

 

[RICHinNC]

Well...after talking with a couple of big camera bugs on here about a similar question
...
it is my understanding the 5050 has been discontinued. And,
it hasnt been out that long...

I just know I wouldnt buy a discontinued item like that....with my luck it would break the first month and no parts

 

[Mike Newman]

There's a very loyal following here for the Olympus C-5050. It's a great camera. As another person who came to underwater photography from the dry kind, I can tell you that you will enjoy having the vast range of adjustments the C-5050 offers (or you can wing it with auto).

other great advantage of the Olympus range is that they all have dedicated (and, fingers crossed - entirely reliable) underwater housings that give you total access to the camera's features underwater. (Well - almost - changing the batteries or one of the storage cards is definitely out!).

If you search on C-5050 on this Board, you will find abundant posts that discuss settings and so on. But it's true, the model has been superseded.

The follow-on model is an improvement in several ways. It is especially notable that it offers a wide angle capability that you may find highly desirable for underwater work. I have seen advice that the housing (PT-020) is quite versatile, with interchangeable lens elements that allow you to capitalise on the wide angle feature. If you download Edition 16 (a pdf file) from The Underwater Photography Magazine you will be able to read a good review on the camera and housing.

Good luck with your deliberations - you may also find it useful to check out this website - Digideep - advice on underwater photography equipment[

 

[Dee]

The 5050 gets my vote. It can be used as a simple point and shoot in full auto mode or it has the features and capabilities to handle your experience level. I don't let the fact that it's not being produced anymore bother me. It's still an excellent camera and parts for repairs will be available for years to come.

I must disagree with Mike about the 5060. You need to do a search here for the 5060 to see our past discussions but the general gist is it has little to offer for underwater photography. The PT-20 housing really restricts the built in wide angle lens. They did away with the f/1.8 lens, and I think f/8 is the widest aperture, but you better check that out. The way it's designed, the add-on lenses it will accept are land lenses that require their own housing. Same with the strobe. Click here to see what I'm talking about. So you'll have 3 water tight housings you'll have to maintain and worry about flooding. I can't remember all the things that were covered in the discussion, just the fact that none of the underwater photographers I know are interested enough to buy one or make an effort to try one.

The 5000 wasn't an improvement on anything, check out the specs on it. Go to Steve's Digi-cam for camera reviews.

 

[slowhands]

Olympus has indeed discontinued this popular camera, in order to have a new model each year. Unfortunately, the successor 5060 is not as good for UW photography purposes. It has 3 drawbacks: the lens is slower, it uses proprietary batteries instead of AAs, and it's bigger.

The slower lens is a tradeoff, for wide angle. The proprietary lithium batteries supposedly have longer life, but not really compared to the latest NiMh AA batteries, and it is much more expensive ($60 vs. $10). For diving you need a spare that's always charging, so this is a big deal -- and you can't drop in AAs from the neighborhood store. The larger size is due to the more moveable LCD viewfinder and bigger wide angle lens, but neither of these is worth the price.

You can still buy the 5050 new, for about $100 less than the 5060. Housings are available now, unlike the PT-020 for the 5060. All in all, it is still the better buy of the two for now.

 

[tie]

Dee once bubbled...
I must disagree with Mike about the 5060. You need to do a search here for the 5060 to see our past discussions but the general gist is it has little to offer for underwater photography. The PT-20 housing really restricts the built in wide angle lens. They did away with the f/1.8 lens, and I think f/8 is the widest aperture, but you better check that out. The way it's designed, the add-on lenses it will accept are land lenses that require their own housing. Same with the strobe. Click here to see what I'm talking about. So you'll have 3 water tight housings you'll have to maintain and worry about flooding.

Although you don't have to use the Olympus topside strobe, it's just an extra option. The 5060 does have reduced shutter lag, down (I think) to ~.65s from ~.9s. Have there been any image quality comparisons? Could the sensor have improved to offset the worse lens?