options below the oly 5050

[swell]

I'm looking to buy a digital camera, but don't want to shell out the cost of an oly 5050 which seems to be the camera of choice on all diving websites. Can anyone suggest the next-best thing? I'd like manual options, 3.2 or 4 megapixels. The 4040 has been recommended of course, but I hear the housing is out of production. Does anyone have any input on canon's a70 or a80 or the s30, 40 or other?
Also, I've seen a list of cameras owned by members of a divesite, but now I can't find it. Any ideas where that is?

 

[Dee]

I'm sorry I can't help. As an Oly 5050 user, I haven't paid that close attention to the specs on other cameras. The Canon S series has been highly recommended as an alternative to the Oly's but I can't give you specifics.

 

[slowhands]

... don't want to shell out the cost of an oly 5050 which seems to be the camera of choice on all diving websites. Can anyone suggest the next-best thing? I'd like manual options, 3.2 or 4 megapixels. The 4040 has been recommended of course, but I hear the housing is out of production. ... [endquote]

Yes, the 4040 is a good camera, same lens as the 5050. You can find it used for $150.

The housing is the PT-010, and is still available new from some dealers as of now, but the supply of new housings is drying up.

Yuzo in Japan has it at about Y18,000:
http://www.uwdigitalcamera.com/English/euwdigitalindex.htm
Sea Shooters has it at $225:
http://seashooters.com/pt-010.asp

They show up used on ebay from time to time also, and at very reasonable prices. There is a website devoted to this housing and its use:
http://pt010.da-kine.info/

Be aware that this housing is rated to 30M only. I have used mine for brief periods at 40M without problems, but this is not recommended by the manufacturer. For me this has been a dependable and fun tool for a lot of UW photography, and it is still my backup with a c3040.

 

[alcina]

swell -

Have used a Canon A20 in a Canon housing for well over a year and loved it.

Borrowed a friend's A70 and Canon DC700 housing at end of December and shot all of Jan & early Feb with it - and totally love it! Have just bought a new one to use at work.

Allows manual control plus a bunch of shooting modes + auto. Built in flash works well in macro. Batteries last a long time (at least mine do) even with the monitor on all the time. Good macro capabilities.

Housings are good and easy to use & clean.

I haven't had any problems with either the cameras or the housings (except user error!)

 

[chuckrt]

I'm looking to buy a digital camera, but don't want to shell out the cost of an oly 5050 which seems to be the camera of choice on all diving websites. Can anyone suggest the next-best thing? I'd like manual options, 3.2 or 4 megapixels. The 4040 has been recommended of course, but I hear the housing is out of production. Does anyone have any input on canon's a70 or a80 or the s30, 40 or other?
Also, I've seen a list of cameras owned by members of a divesite, but now I can't find it. Any ideas where that is?

I just purchased a Oly 5000 and housing from Olympus. The 5000 goes for$100-150 less than the 5050. The housing allows use of all the camera controls. It might be an option haven't had mine in the water yet but will next month.

chuckrt

 

[Aardal]

Swell,

What price range are you looking to stay in?

 

[swell]

The cameras I mentioned originally are around $500Cdn. Thats ball park $400US. The housing will add another $200 to that.