SP-350 discontinued?

[jbichsel]

I read in another thread where someone mentioned that the SP-350 is going to be discontinued. Has anyone else heard this? I know technology is a constantly moving target, but this seems rather quick after just a year.

Here's my quandry:

I have a Nikon Coolpix 5700 that I was looking to sell or trade for an Oly SP-350 (maybe now) and underwater housing, PT-030.

Ikelite no longer makes the housing for the 5700 and it was $750, not anywhere near the budget.

However, with the possibility of the SP-350 being discontinued and some rather disturbing posts by Bob, NWGratefulDiver, about leaks, sticking buttons and poor customer service, are there other comparable alternatives in the $400-$500 range for camera and housing?

 

[scubaaaronh]

If you look at how quickly oly ditched the C7070(6 months) this one lasted a long time. My wife and i are thinking of getting one from costco as a back up to our c5060 they have a good deal on it right now. for the camera and housing under four hundred with 8 megapixels is a pretty good deal. I was trying to wait to see what the next series was gonna look like but the costco by us is selling them pretty quickly so i am not sure what i am gonna do now. As far as sticking buttons and leaking, i dont know, but if you look in old posts you'll see lots of problems with the pt-020 for the 5060 and i have been diving with that cam and housing for a couple years and never a problem(knock on wood). I read a post from Larry on here that said he had a problem with sticking buttons also and he said he soaked it real well to get rid of salt deposits. Another thing that might help with the sticking buttons is if you can get a large syringe with a larger diameter needle (that will still fit into the slot on the buttons) cut the end off with a dremel tool and buff the edges off so you wont damage the orings. Get some of the pump silicone from the dive shop (not aerosol) and but a couple drops in each button working them a couple times to lube the buttons. Maybe that will work as i have done it with my 020 housing and havent had a problem. We will probably end up with one and the oly housing.

 

[LLKZ16]

I read in another thread where someone mentioned that the SP-350 is going to be discontinued. Has anyone else heard this? I know technology is a constantly moving target, but this seems rather quick after just a year.

Here's my quandry:

I have a Nikon Coolpix 5700 that I was looking to sell or trade for an Oly SP-350 (maybe now) and underwater housing, PT-030.

Ikelite no longer makes the housing for the 5700 and it was $750, not anywhere near the budget.

However, with the possibility of the SP-350 being discontinued and some rather disturbing posts by Bob, NWGratefulDiver, about leaks, sticking buttons and poor customer service, are there other comparable alternatives in the $400-$500 range for camera and housing?

Looking over the competition and what they offer, I only found the Oly SP-350 and Canon A620 to be comparible in price and options. I too saw on this board that the SP-350 was being discontinued but in the end, I bought the SP-350 and PT-030 housing. So far, I am very happy with the set up and I have no regrets.