Oly SP350 -vs- Seas and Sea DX750

[rgee9]

Hello all,

I've been looking at different underwater cameras and I've boiled it down to these two cameras. I know they have a completely different setup and modes and that is where I'm confused. Right now I have an old Canon with no strobe and I think a strobe would really improve my pictures and that is why I have leaned to the Sea and Sea package.

SP350 - I like all the manual and different modes you can set the camera up too, but I'm not sure of what type of strobe and housing and the cost of a good basic set up for this camera. Could you recommend a strobe set up and which housing to use? How does the camera take U/W pics without the strobe and would you recommend the SP350 without a strobe over the DX750 to start as well?

Seas and Sea DX750- Does not appear to have the modes and megs that the SP350 has, but the camera set up and system is clearly identified and the few pictures I have seen have been reasonable. I think the cost of the package ~$750 has also attracted me. However if I can get a similar system for the Olympus in a close price range I would proably lean to it.

I know this is probably a lot of questions that might not be what I need to consider in a camera so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help.
Rob

 

[Larry C]

I don't know much about the Sea & Sea. You might go back a few pages and look for earlier posts. There is an extensive thread on the SP-350 in "Oly Outlet". On your strobe question, one of the cool things about the SP is that it will work well with most strobes. It has settings for slave or external flash. It has a hot-shoe. You can turn the internal flash on and off and adjust the flash settings up and down. If you want ttl, you can get the Oly strobe (FL-20/PFL-01 housing) for about $225 on e-bay. (Oly auctions for the housing, various vendors for the strobe). It works pretty decent but isn't a high end strobe. If you want automatic settings with other strobes, you have to have the Heinrich/Wieskamp bulkhead installed, which will cost extra. Another option is getting the Ikelite housing and Ikelite ttl sender, but that will blow your $750 all to heck. A couple of cheaper strobe options are the Sunpak, which Gilligan has had good luck with, the Sea Life SL960D, which a few people are having preflash issues with, or the lower end models from Epoque.
If you want to see pictures from the SP, check out my gallery, or any of several from people who have responded to the SP-350 thread. Between batteries, memory, filter and two strobes (the Oly and the Sunpak) I currently have about $1200 in my SP. I probably could have saved close to $300 of that, but I seem to have been the first one to use one of these things underwater and did a lot of experimentation that others haven't had to. Also, with the current $50 rebate, the price has gone down substantially. I've seen it fairly commonly in the mid two hundreds with a 512 chip sometimes included. If you haven't shot UW before, you'll probably be quite happy with either camera. The S & S has the advantage of being a package deal with factory matched parts. The Oly has every high end feature imaginable, and the sky is the limit on what you can add to it. A strong consideration might be local suppliers and their service reputation.

 

[oly5050user]

Hello all,

I've been looking at different underwater cameras and I've boiled it down to these two cameras. I know they have a completely different setup and modes and that is where I'm confused. Right now I have an old Canon with no strobe and I think a strobe would really improve my pictures and that is why I have leaned to the Sea and Sea package.

SP350 - I like all the manual and different modes you can set the camera up too, but I'm not sure of what type of strobe and housing and the cost of a good basic set up for this camera. Could you recommend a strobe set up and which housing to use? How does the camera take U/W pics without the strobe and would you recommend the SP350 without a strobe over the DX750 to start as well?

Seas and Sea DX750- Does not appear to have the modes and megs that the SP350 has, but the camera set up and system is clearly identified and the few pictures I have seen have been reasonable. I think the cost of the package ~$750 has also attracted me. However if I can get a similar system for the Olympus in a close price range I would proably lean to it.

I know this is probably a lot of questions that might not be what I need to consider in a camera so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help.
Rob

go with the oly sp350..large lcd screen and you can go maual..ikelite is the housing to get..has ttl capability with a sync cord to their ds50 or ds125..we sell the camera at $349. and yes you get the $50. rebate so it is $300. the ike housing lists at $500,I think,you should be able to get it 10%-12% less..so that puts you at $750 with a system that you can grow with.get the 67 mm adapter from ike to use a wide angle lens when you get the housing so that you have it when you eventually get a wal's. some of the photos in my gallery were done with a oly5050 with ike housing & wal(used a ttl sensor at the time have now upgraded old ike housing to new spec's so a sync cord can be used with ttl-new ones come out upgraded already.)

 

[rgee9]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the help. I think I'm going to go with the SP350 because it will allow more flexibility above the water. I'm still waying my decision on Ikelite vs Olympus housing. I've gone to Ikelite to look at buying, but can only find a few prices and when I've looked at the Olympus website I can't find anything on their flash set up. Any places I could look for this I would greatly appreciate it. Also where is a good website to look for accessories for it.

Thanks,
Rob Gee