sp-350

[Cudabait]

Larry,

Been looking at your pics. Real good stuff, Am really looking forward to shooting some with my SP350! LaCuda took a peek at some of your pics and said, "that's it, we're going to Isla Mujeres end of the month!" I guess we'll see.

Regards,

 

[Larry C]

Thanks. It's nice being coastal and able to dive pretty much every weekend with a 100 mile each way commute. Right now, it's torture though having to shore dive while I have my RIB back in the driveway waiting for some glue to put two little tube support flaps back on the new transom!
PS: Fixed the picture Gallery so you don't have to look at the same shot 3 times.

 

[winenut]

Hi Everyone. I have been following the discussion of the SP 350. I would like to complement everyone especially Larry C for their comments and helpful advice.
I have a couple fo questions. I an old diver but have never done any U/W
photography. Would you recommend the SP 350 as a first camera for U/W? Most
of my diving is up here in Wa. State and Canada. We dive with enough gear up here
as it is, and I like the small size of the 350 and housing.
Second, after I get the camera what and where should I get the accessories
such as housing, strob etc.? I would like to spend about $1K for the whole package.
Any helpful hints and advice would be greatly appreciated. Winenut.

 

[Larry C]

Thanks and welcome to the is he dead or just a photographer club! The SP is a great choice for a beginner because of the very effective and easy to use UW presets. (UW Macro, UW wide and UW wide 2). Even after owning the camera for several months and playing with manual settings, strobes, photo editing, etc. I still find it easiest to get consistantly good shots with these settings. It also offers bigtime upside as you get better and start using the manual capabilities and photo editing software to improve your pictures. There are lots of discounters on the internet as well as good businesses that will stand behind their products and provide you with help. For cheap, try B&H, Leisure Pro, Adorama, Helix Photo, ebay Olympus auctions, Amazon, etc. For service, try ReefPhoto & Video, Backscatter, Underwater Photo, or many other UW specialists who advertise on this and other forums such as Wetpixel. Have fun and good luck.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Hey winenut,

Another good one to look at is the Fuji e900. Lots of proponents of it on digitaldiver.net and it takes fantastic underwater pics. Fastest shutter speed of any digital point and shoot I think. And a great deal. $325 for the camera and $270 for the Ikelite housing, which is rated to 200 feet and built like a truck. Also, it's 9 megapixels (!!)

Anyway, I always see the Oly mentioned here, but never the Fuji. It's another option to look at. Also, there are a couple of Canons to look at, but they are a bit pricier. For me, the deal sealer was the shutter speed on the Fuji. You push the button and the shutter clicks, just like a regular camera. None of that digital lag.

Good luck finding your new toy! Cheers

 

[Cudabait]

Winenut,

LarryC seems to have the most hands on with the SP350 in this thread. Based, to a great extent to what I read herein, I bought the SP350 and PT-030 housing at 17th Street Camera online. Both for a little over $500.00. Total. I then experimented with a flash/strobe that I already owned. It wouldn't work as it kept preflashing (see previous posts this thread) So, I found a SeaLife 960D internally adjustable strobe/flash online for $266.00. (Leisurepro) Expecting arrival today or tomorrow. I have found everything LarrC has said to be accurate and most helpful. Note: The (960D is a newer model of the flash that I was using with another UW camera. The flash has been a dependable, well built unit.

Regards,

 

[DesertEagle]

I just picked up an SP-310. Amazon had it for $199. Next stop is the PT-030 housing, and an Inon wide angle lens. I'll be using this with a Magic Filter.

Gotta say that I like the camera. I hadn't really looked at it before, but when I saw that it was only $200 I decided to buy one. Shutter lag is way better than my old Coolpix 4300. I'll be picking up a Type H xD card later this week.

 

[Larry C]

Have fun. The lack of a hotshoe flash and RAW will probably simplify your life anyway. You can use a slave strobe if you need one and photoshop works well on JPEGs. Plus, with the JPEGs you'll get about 300 shots on a gig.

 

[DesertEagle]

The SP-310 does have RAW. I'm having some real fun playing with the in-camera editing. The only differences are the 7MP vs 8MP sensor, and no hot shoe.

I haven't bought an xD card yet. Definitely I'll go for a 1GB type H. Do the write times feel any faster than the camera's built-in 25MB memory?

 

[Larry C]

I haven't really used the in camera memory because in RAW, it holds only a couple of pictures. You should get 7-8 seconds for a RAW shot from focus to ready to use. That's great that it does RAW. I doubt you'll notice the missing megapixel and a slave flash should work fine.