pentax or olympus?

[granitedive]

I'm thinking of buying a digital point and shoot camera for mostly above-water and sometimes underwater use (my wife is not too keen on the idea of my bringing the family camera out on my kayak, etc.). My two main choices are the Pentax Optio s-5i or the Olympus Stylus epic 410, with their respective housings. I know I'm not going to shoot any award-winning photos with these, but the idea is to have a pocket-sized camera that will occasionally go underwater. Has anyone used either of these? Any suggestions? Does anyone know if the Pentax can be turned on and off once inside the housing, or does it have to be on when you insert it (as does the Oly)? Thanks folks.

 

[gorgesjonathan]

I have the Olympus Stylus 400 (same as the 410, but without sound). I've had it for about 2 years and have taken well over 5000 pictures with it.

Here are my likes and dislikes about the camera.

Likes:
Rugged, taken rock climbing, paraguay and brazil, got it rained on hard. Never skipped a beat.
Battery time is amazing. (even more so if you get a high cap. battery)
Takes great Pictures
Easy to use
Colors turn out amazing
Great Micro
Small, pocket sized
and of course has a awesome underwater case!

Dislikes:

No manual settings (you have different settings, but no shutter speed, ISO, etc) but the automatic take good pictures
You loose color in very bright light. The picture is good, but colors are more vivid in like overcast light.
Could have a more powerful flash, and flash settings.
Need to use XD memory sticks (which are faster the CF, and smaller) I like the memory style. but can't use in other devices, without a converter.

I have a lot more likes about this camera then any other camera i used. My next cam will be a canon S60 =) with underwater case, more manual settings =-)

The underwater case works great gives you all the buttons, easy to use. Took it to Catalina a few weeks ago. E-mail me for some pics i took with it.

jonathan@gorgeouscomputers.com

I'm thinking of buying a digital point and shoot camera for mostly above-water and sometimes underwater use (my wife is not too keen on the idea of my bringing the family camera out on my kayak, etc.). My two main choices are the Pentax Optio s-5i or the Olympus Stylus epic 410, with their respective housings. I know I'm not going to shoot any award-winning photos with these, but the idea is to have a pocket-sized camera that will occasionally go underwater. Has anyone used either of these? Any suggestions? Does anyone know if the Pentax can be turned on and off once inside the housing, or does it have to be on when you insert it (as does the Oly)? Thanks folks.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Check out my photos. I turn my pentax s50 off and on underwater to conserve battery life. It seems like the cold sucks them right down if I don't.

 

[gorgesjonathan]

I noticed you said that the Oly. didn't have a switch to turn off.

Yes that is true, but the camera goes to "sleep" after 5 minutes of no use, plus i turn off the screen when taking most pictures. If i'm doing a macro or something i will turn on the screen. I used the camera all day took about 60 - 80 pictures with it. And still had lots of battery life. I can get about 200 - 225 pictures out of a battery if i'm careful. =)

 

[granitedive]

Thanks for the help everyone. The winner is the Olympus, because I hear they take good pics and because of its weather-resistance. The Pentax cameras are sweet, though. I actually found one laying on top of a car in the San Francisco Airport parking lot, and it was EXACTLY what I wanted. My conscience got the better of me, though, and I left a note on the car. The owner was ecstatic at getting his Pentax back, and I felt much better for not doing what I was tempted to do...
I'll try to post some pics when I learn to use the Oly. My goal is to get pics of salmon here in Pacifica while freediving this summer. We'll see...