Some c-5050 Questions

[mccabejc]

Considering buying a c-5050 and a PT-015 housing. A couple of questions:

1. Good or bad move to buy them, now that they are discontinued?
2. Is there a "buoyancy compensator" associated with the PT-015? What is it? The one I'm looking at doesn't have it.

 

[jakubson]

Considering buying a c-5050 and a PT-015 housing. A couple of questions:

1. Good or bad move to buy them, now that they are discontinued?
2. Is there a "buoyancy compensator" associated with the PT-015? What is it? The one I'm looking at doesn't have it.

Smart***** answers:

1. Depends on price
2. Don't know where shoulder straps would go.

Real answers:


1. Depends on price (lol). There was a full setup on sale (used) on this board for $900, including WA lens and INON D-180 strobe. Good price - it sold fast.
Non-scientific study - people seem to have less flooding problems with PT-015 than with PT-020 (for the 5060). On the other hand, there is an issue with bending the mode dial on inserting the camera that can cause the mode dial to "weep". Search this forum for some ideas.
2. there is a weight that goes on the bottom of the housing to make the setup negative when used without a strobe. It comes with the housing.

 

[dbh]

IMHO the 5050 is still the best digicam for u/w use. If the price is right....go for it!


Dave

 

[herman]

Considering buying a c-5050 and a PT-015 housing. A couple of questions:

2. Is there a "buoyancy compensator" associated with the PT-015? What is it? The one I'm looking at doesn't have it.

The weight that comes with the housing can be bought at several places, I saw one at B&W website the other day. You can always make one or if you add a tray you may not need it anyway. I would suggest you get a tray even if you don't get a strobe at this time. It makes handling the camera a lot easier, or at least it does for me. Here is one I made a while back. The red item is the weight you are talking about.

http://www.scubaboard.com/t51263-.html

 

[montyb]

I've got a 5050 and PT-015 housing and love it. In fact just picked up another 5050 for a topside camera as well as having a spare uw.

I think the bending mode dial problem can be solved by watching veryclosely when you insert the camera and then making sure the mode dial is centered on the camera's mode dial...if it isnt then reposition the camera.

montyb

 

[DrSteve]

I've got a 5050 and PT-015 housing and love it. In fact just picked up another 5050 for a topside camera as well as having a spare uw.

I think the bending mode dial problem can be solved by watching veryclosely when you insert the camera and then making sure the mode dial is centered on the camera's mode dial...if it isnt then reposition the camera.

montyb

It's a good camera, the only gripe I have for topside is the lack of optical zoom (3x?). My wife has a c5050 and after her first couple of dives her photos have been excellent. I figure that if my housing floods and my camera dies then DEPP will replace at least the dead camera and if the 5050 is no longer available I can move to another model like the 5060 and get a new housing for under 200.

 

[calypsonick]

Get one it is great!! For supermacro it is awesome as the internal flash gives enough light for subjects in the 4cm to 60cm range and allows you to adjust flash intensity for a range of uses.

I just got the C8080 - very nice and much more potential for wide angle scenes but it requires additional light from external strobes to get good wide angle shots.

You can take a look at my gallery. All the shots taken before February 2005 were taken with the 5050.

I hope that helps in your decision.

Nick

 

[justleesa]

I find the 5050 is a good UW and topside camera, so good that I have 2 .
If you are lucky to get a housing, be sure that you get a back up right away (or asap) before you don't get any at all.

 

[gkndivebum]

Considering buying a c-5050 and a PT-015 housing.[...]

Hey Jim --

It's a lot of camera for the money; my wife shoots one. Bought one new when it came
out, and a spare camera and housing on eBay for not a lot of money when they were
discontinued.

Olympus still services the 5050. My wife's rig is a 5050, PT-015 housing, Inon wide
angle lense, two YS90-DX strobes, an Ultralight tray and assorted arms. We figure
that when it's time to upgrade it'll be DSLR time, probably a D70, which is going to
be a significant chunk-o-change. So she's sticking with the 5050.

It's a capable enough camera that she walked away with two 1st place awards from
last year's Kona Classic (best reef check and best macro (open)) :

2004 Kona Classic winners

Have a good time in Bonaire!

 

[justleesa]

beautiful pics!