Olympus SP-560UZ

[cs]

Hi there,

Anyone currently using this camera for underwater photography? I am thinking of getting one but not sure whether it is good especially for shooting macro U/W. I am new in U/W photography and only did a bit of the research. I also read some of the postings here and found out that its predecessor i.e. SP-550UZ is not good for U/W photography. Can anyone give me some feedback about 560 please?

If this camera is not good for U/W, could you please recommend other recent launched models from another brand, which is a DSLR, good for shooting macro U/W, able to fix macro lense (including Inon) and came with its own housing (not Ikelite)?

Thank you.

 

[gert7to3]

On the second page of the OlyOutlet there is thread about the SP-550UZ. Here's the thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/oly-outlet/196732-olympus-sp-550-pt-037-uw-housing.html

The camera wasn't taken as seriously on the board because there was no hotshoe, Ikelite didn't produce a housing for it and 18x zoom is pretty useless underwater. To its credit the camera does have a 28mm wide angle lens.

Ikelite is "considering" a housing for the SP-560UZ.

Here's a review of the SP-550UZ, the 560 should be slightly better. They liked the supermacro mode, which will be most useful underwater:

Olympus SP-550 UltraZoom Digital Camera Optics - Full Review - The Imaging Resource!

Among DSLR cameras, until very recently, only Oly offered DSLR cameras with the ability to frame shots with the LCD screen as well as the viewfinder. Their current models with this feature are the:E-330, E-410, E-510.

Nikon is apparently coming out with a LCD viewfinder version on one of their new models.

Finally, go to alcina's site for the basics on underwater photography:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ti...ter-photography-buying-your-first-camera.html

 

[xariatay]

Has anyone used the SP 560UZ with PT-037 housing? Or SP 550UZ? Is the housing alot bigger than the camera?
Sample photos would be great, please... Thanks in advance!

 

[Wisnu]

I am not very happy with my SP-550 UZ and PT-37. Yes, the 18 x zoom is useless underwater, the high ISO also useless, slow lag time, 8 second for raw; difficult to focus on macro. The housing is bulky and positive buoyant.
I sold it 2 month ago.

 

[xariatay]

I am not very happy with my SP-550 UZ and PT-37. Yes, the 18 x zoom is useless underwater, the high ISO also useless, slow lag time, 8 second for raw; difficult to focus on macro. The housing is bulky and positive buoyant.
I sold it 2 month ago.

Thanks for your reply! I have figured the 18x zoom won't be useful u/w, just for top-side... & the W/A seems useful... But I don't want to accept slow lag time & slow writing speed, as these are the things on my current Nikon coolpix 4200, that are pushing me to get a new camera system... How abt the flash recharge speed? Thanks!

 

[fairybasslet]

Add a strobe and a focus light and the Oly housing won't be positive any more. Which is what happened with my PT-027. Anyway, I flooded my Oly 7070 and am also looking for a new camera. Olympus offered the 550 as a replacement but like xariatay, I hate the shutter lag. But I like to shoot topside too and the 18x zoom sounds good. Also, the 7070 also had problems focusing in low light (which is why I purchased the focus light) and I'd hate to go through that again. Even shooting topside in the shade (full manual control) AF sucks.

 

[Blox]

How abt the flash recharge speed?

I haven't timed it properly, but it seems like less than a second on mine.

 

[RoyN]

Thanks for letting us know about this model camera, I was planning on getting it, but happy with my SP-320 in the PT-030. Although I want to go back to canon one day.

 

[Madvelazquez]

I just got back from Bonaire and used my new camera Olympus SP560 and was very pleased with it. It seems to work a lot better than the SP550. I will post some pictures soon. Macro worked great!

 

[fairybasslet]

I can't wait to see them. Did you use the UW macro mode or manual settings. I was quite pleased with the shots I got in the UW macro setting.