SP 350 vs 5060

[CaptainBoog]

Sorry if there is a thread on this subject, but I couldn't find it. Anyone have any perspectives on the pros and cons of these two models. I plan on purchasing one of them in the new future and planning on doing ike housing/stobe combo for TTL.

Thanks for the help!

 

[DesertEagle]

The 5060 had a wider native lens, but was a little trickier to house. If you go Ikelite, I would advise the Olympus wide angle converter, plus a dome port. Inon does make a converter lens, but I'm not sure if they have a 67mm threaded one.

Between the two, I'd take the SP-350. It's a newer camera with a better sensor. The image processing is better. I think it's also simpler to operate.

 

[AndyT]

Also the 350 has a larger LCD. The ony downside that I can see is that it uses Xd cards - small capacity.

 

[Gilligan]

The XD card is somewhat of a drawback but Olympus owns it so that's why they use it. The 1 GIG card comes in high speed but the 2 GIG does not.

Before you decide on either of these cameras I strongly suggest you look at the newer SP550UZ. The 18X zoom may not be of much use underwater but I believe the lens on this model is the widest yet for an Olympus point-n-shoot. It also has RAW. The Ike housing won't be out till June.

Another thing I noticed when handling this camera is the zoom feature works in the macro mode. Most of the newer other brand point-n-shoot cameras do not. You have to move the entire camera to and from the subject.

You can also turn the flash off even though it is in the up position. Some other brands, such as the Fuji E900, won't allow you to take a non-flash shot without first closing the pop-up flash.

The SP550UZ would be my choice in a point-n-shoot camera and likely will be my upgrade.

 

[Wolfie2012]

The XD card is somewhat of a drawback but Olympus owns it so that's why they use it. The 1 GIG card comes in high speed but the 2 GIG does not.

2GB High-speed xD-Picture (type H)

 

[Scubatooth]

will that 2gb card work with the 350 as there have been some reports that the fuji cards dont play well with some oly cameras due to some on-card software/hardware?

 

[Gilligan]

2GB High-speed xD-Picture (type H)

I stand corrected. Didn't know they finally made the 2 GIG in high speed. That is good news especially for RAW shooters.

 

[WarChief]

I have the SP 350 and the OLY housing, love them both

 

[snokat]

I've been using a SP320 w/ PT-030 and SeaLife Digi Flash also with 2GB xd H-card and love it to death. For versatility though, the SP550 with the zoom would be the best of both worlds. I already had a Sony DSCII with a 12x zoom so I was not looking for another 'long' lens system.

 

[oly5050user]

The XD card is somewhat of a drawback but Olympus owns it so that's why they use it. The 1 GIG card comes in high speed but the 2 GIG does not.

Before you decide on either of these cameras I strongly suggest you look at the newer SP550UZ. The 18X zoom may not be of much use underwater but I believe the lens on this model is the widest yet for an Olympus point-n-shoot. It also has RAW. The Ike housing won't be out till June.

Another thing I noticed when handling this camera is the zoom feature works in the macro mode. Most of the newer other brand point-n-shoot cameras do not. You have to move the entire camera to and from the subject.

You can also turn the flash off even though it is in the up position. Some other brands, such as the Fuji E900, won't allow you to take a non-flash shot without first closing the pop-up flash.

The SP550UZ would be my choice in a point-n-shoot camera and likely will be my upgrade.

I do not think that the sp550uz has a hot shoe so if the OP wants ttl it could be a problem.