Olympus SP-550 & PT-037 UW housing?

[webgypsy]

Is anyone using the Oly SP-550 for underwater photography yet? I'm considering it seriously for my next upgrade from my C770 since I like a camera that performs well on land too, but wondering how well it performs in the blue, what kind of lagtimes it has in deeper water, etc...

BTW, I did a search on the SP-550 various ways and couldn't find any threads existing on it, guess it's still too new.

Thanks!

 

[RTRski]

There were a couple some time ago. Do a search for "550UZ" from the UW Photography forum and include child forums. Here's one of them:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=188882&highlight=550UZ

The upshot I remember is there wouldn't be an Ikelite housing, and some concern about shutter lag and/or just slow RAW writing times. I remember I was kind of intrigued with this camera or the Panasonic Lumix equivalent (for which there seem to be NO housings period, but has faster RAW write) but ended up going all the way to dSLR instead, and now haven't housed it yet.

So there's a few posts out there about the camera, none to my knowledge about using it in a housing.

 

[ponypix]

ive used it a couple of times so far and like it a lot, i had a coolpix 990 with ikelite housing before but the 550's file size is much better though i am only shooting jpgs, not raw, there is not much time lag. what i dont like is that it sometimes spends time hunting for focus even in clear water. also the underwater macro is unusable. going to have to use an external strobe next time.

 

[f3nikon]

The 550 maybe a land locked camera IMO, the 18 times zoom maybe great for land use but useless for underwater, because shooting with the camera physically as close to the subject as possible is the golden rule in U/W photography.

Plus since it’s a far-reaching lens at 18 times, the macro or close-up shooting mode will suffer, there is always a trade off, cannot always get both. If you look into the bread and butter U/W cameras like the C-5050 or 5060 the zooming range is not that great.

And the 550 is only at 7 mega pixels with a smaller CCD sensor of 1 /2.5
The Canon A640 and the Nikon P5000 both have 10 mega pixels in a larger size CCD sensor of 1 /1.8 with a lower price.

The Canon has a 4 times zoom and the Nikon at 3.5 times, better suited for close-up work. I am not sure if even Ikelite is making an U/W housing for this unit.

 

[webgypsy]

Thanks for all the helpful input!

I might get one anyway for on-land use, and get something a little more UW specific with an external strobe for diving. With that 10X zoom, the UW housing just might be monstrous anyway, even though the camera itself isn't.

 

[maynard.hogg]

The 550 maybe a land locked camera IMO,

I disagree with your conclusion.

the 18 times zoom maybe great for land use but useless for underwater,

But you're right on the money here. I said the same thing here on SB back in April when I bought the camera and before the housing came out.

because shooting with the camera physically as close to the subject as possible is the golden rule in U/W photography.

So true, but I disagree with your conclusion because the SP-550 has, at the opposite end of its zoom range, the equivalent of an 28 mm wide angle lens. I bought the camera for the 18x zoom—for birds and other wildlife—but find myself using the 28 mm end much more—for architecture, in particular.

That said, I'm not about to run out and buy the housing. My current underwater rig already pushed the US$1000 cap on my diver's insurance.

Of course, I may have to reconsider when I take my housing into Olympus on Monday. I damaged its mounting bracket for my modeling light on Sunday.

http://flickr.com/photos/maynard/1111605228/

 

[Wisnu]

Finally I received my PT-037 housing yesterday - big and strange looking as it has to accomodate long zoom. Unfortunately, Brunei water not very friendly at this time, next month already moslem fasting month here and my boss does not approve my leave till november

 

[STOGEY]

I recently bught a olympus 550 and the 37 underwater housing. On the housing comes a flash surpressor. What I learned the very first dive that I took with it. Is that the flash surpressor has to be on just right, or it will float away.

I was entering the water from a chartered boat, and I didn't even step off of the boat. I saw this thing fall of the housing. It was the surpressor. I eneded up chasing it down to the bottom. Luckily I was able to retrieve it.

Now I tape the flash surpressor with duct tape to make sure that it stays on.

 

[maynard.hogg]

On the housing comes a flash surpressor. What I learned the very first dive that I took with it. Is that the flash surpressor has to be on just right, or it will float away.

Bizarre! Screwed-down flash diffusers have been standard on Olympus housing back as long as I can remember—only five years, alas. ("My memory's good. Just short.")

 

[ponypix]

I recently bught a olympus 550 and the 37 underwater housing. On the housing comes a flash surpressor. What I learned the very first dive that I took with it. Is that the flash surpressor has to be on just right, or it will float away.

I was entering the water from a chartered boat, and I didn't even step off of the boat. I saw this thing fall of the housing. It was the surpressor. I eneded up chasing it down to the bottom. Luckily I was able to retrieve it.

Now I tape the flash surpressor with duct tape to make sure that it stays on.

i used the little string that came with it for the lens cap and tied it down with that.