Olympus FE-280

[Anti-Hero]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Olympus FE-280, with the PT-038 housing? Is this a decent beginner setup? Also, can I attach external strobes, etc.?

Sports Chalet is selling this setup right now for ~$350.00 and I'm curious to know if this is a good deal for something that I can grow into.

thanks!

 

[gravity]

Hi Anti-Hero,
I have the Olympus FE-280 with the underwater housing. I recently posted some pictures from it
here and here

It takes nice pictures, but totally lacks any kind of manual controls. It works well as a beginner camera, but doesn't give a lot of room to grow. I now wish I had purchased a beginner camera that gives more room to grow in to manual controls such as the Canon A570IS or A720IS.

 

[pickens_46929]

Grab it quick... the PT-038 is in short supply and no more will be made... $350 is a decent price but not super... for a while Amazon had the PT-038 + FE-280 bundle for $310 incl. shipping. Since the PT-038 is getting scarce, $350 isn't too bad.

 

[Anti-Hero]

Gravity - Thanks for the info! Those pics are a lot nicer than I expected without strobes, etc.

 

[Dannybot]

I have the older model, the FE-230. It's a good starter, but there is significant shutter lag. I have gotten lots of good shots. It is very small (I carry it in my pocket a lot), and durable, it has been dropped many times on tile and concrete without any problems. The bigges down sides are there are no manual controls for anything, and raw is not an option, so getting the right color is frustrating, along with the shutter lag. The housing is easy to use and straightforward, but has a 46 mm port, so you will have limited choices for filters and wide angle adaptors.

It also takes video, about an hour with a 2 gb XD card. If you get it, I reccommend a second battery, it takes 5 hours to charge, so I swap it out every other dive. Also Fantasea makes a color correction filter, which I used in Cancun a couple months ago, getting pretty good results.

If you are looking, Sea and Sea has come out with a new system: SEA & SEA DX1200 HD Camera reviews and discounts, Sea & Sea which looks interesting.