sp-350

[Old Diver]

Epoque makes a wide conversion lens Model DCL-20 that is available in 46mm thread. I just got one and it threads on fine. I took some test shots in the pool and it works very well. The test shots are of a shooting target, so I have a strong grid for contrast and visual reference. If the cold fronts stop passing here every weekend, with 10' seasI'll try it in the atlantic.

 

[donblume]

Larry,

I have been contemplating the SP-350 and SP-500. The 500 is my choice but the added cost of an Ikelight UW housing at $500. makes it unpractical. This anrrows it down to the 350. Looking at the 350 & 500 in stores, it appears that the optical view finder is very blurred. Most other cameras in stores appear decent with optical VF without correction ability. I normally do not need eye-piece correction in most camersa that I have looked at or used. Both 350 & 500 appear to have no optical VF correction capabilities. Have you had problems with your 350 above water with optical view finder?

 

[Larry C]

I just checked my optical viewfinder, and it's fine. This is the first time I've looked through it, as the screen is great, even in sunlight, and I've never needed it before. It won't work in the housing anyway, but with my 52 year old eyes, I prefer the screen. You can also use the framing guide which splits the screen into 9 sectors and allows you to check the the set-up of your shot, which is nice. The camera will also frame your focal point on screen when you half-depress the button, and offers three different focus methods on the menu. It would be nice if Oly made a housing for the SP-500, but for some reason they don't seem to want to build them for any of their cameras that offer a larger lens and a greater optical zoom. Maybe they would need longer ports like the DSLRs or something. It would also be nice if they'd do the 10x zoom on the 8mp camera. How about ALL the good features in a single camera, that would be novel wouldn't it?

 

[donblume]

Thanks for your evaluation of the 350. Olympus makes some really great cameras but for some reason, they would rather change camera models every 6-8 months, making them obsolete quickly. If they would just do fewer models and do it right. They should do a simple point and shoot, another with more refinments, another for semi-pro and another for pro's. They must make 30 or 40 different cameras at any one time. So many, that evaluation and comparison are difficult. Nikon and Canon seem to keep their different models for several years at a time. The only good thing about Olympus is the great quantity of UW housings. One would think they would listen to comments by divers and try to make something to their liking.
I hope this finds it way back to Olympus, even though I have made suggestions to them before.

 

[slowhands]

...Olympus makes some really great cameras but for some reason, they would rather change camera models every 6-8 months, ... If they would just do fewer models and do it right. ....Nikon and Canon seem to keep their different models for several years at a time.

The only good thing about Olympus is the great quantity of UW housings. One would think they would listen to comments by divers and try to make something to their liking....

Olympus did make some really great cameras for underwater use, but time marches on. The competition is tough, and they had a first ever loss in 2004, then laid off 30% of the imaging division workforce starting in May 2005. Running leaner, Olympus seems to have refocused its mid-range and high end strategy into two product lines: a cheaper mid range SP series line, and their high end DSLRs in the E series. Under financial pressure, Olympus seems to have killed the outstanding upper midrange C-x0x0 series abruptly in September 2005, leaving many loyal Olympus midrange customers wondering if it was time to switch to another brand.

The new SP-320 and -350 are usable, but their average lenses, slow operation and limited features are just not in the same league as the C-x0x0 family. To be fair, he SP series is in the $300-400 range, while the C-x0x0 series was in the $600-900 range. Olympus probably decided to try maximize profit by selling higher volumes of the cheaper cameras, and trying to steer mid-range and high end customers to the DSLR line, which has a longer life and lots of add-on potential.

The problem with this strategy is that the competition at the low end is brutal and these SP models are lukewarm entries, while their DSLR line-up is just not yet popular with professionals, who invariable choose Canon or Nikon. It leaves their midrange customers with nowhere to go but to the competition.

 

[Larry C]

Here are some new pics in better visibility. I'm just beginning to use the manual settings, so some aren't that great. I also just replaced my aged P.O.S. computer with one that will actually process raw, so I took advantage of the camera's RAW capabilities using the free "Rawshooter Essentials" program and cleaned up some of my over/under exposed shots. I love the capability of improving the original shot with RAW, but still some of my best shots have been in JPEG with the preset UW macro and UW Wide. Even in good vis, I can see why you need a WA lens. Unless you're right on top of the subject, you don't get a great shot. I also am looking forward to my strobe arriving, so I can get rid of some of the backscatter and use the supermacro setting which doesn't support the onboard flash. Hopefully I can figure out a way to fire the strobe with it. The flash would be really nice as the basic macro only gets down to about 4 inches without blur. The supermacro will sit right on top of it, which would be great with the shrimps and nudies. Maybe a close-up lens would help as well.

 

[tkring]

Larry C - Great shots! Did you edit them before posting? Also, how is the response/delay time between shots? I've been looking at this camera but am afraid that the response/delay is slow?

 

[Larry C]

About 1/3 of the shots are edited. The rest were taken on the camera presets. The ones that are green and blurred were taken with natural light using a filter. For natural light in murky water, you'd better have a tripod, under expose and correct them with a post-editing program. The flash makes a huge difference in freezing the action. The speed depends entirely on the settings. The fastest way to shoot is with manual focus. You can use the 4 "MY" settings to preselect the aperture, speed, focus, file size, flash settings, etc. A lot of my better pictures have been taken in the built in preset modes, especially UW Macro. If you want to shoot RAW or SHQ modes, yeah, you'd better be ready for about a 10 second wait between shots. This is especially true if you do RAW with a SHQ back-up. That hasn't been really a problem for me because if you're doing Macros, you really have plenty of time. The bigger issue for me has been my middle aged vision trying to see what mode I'm in so I can switch out of macro to get a prefocus action shot. So far I've missed whales, seals and dive buddies because a shot comes along and I'm still in Macro autofocus mode. Honestly though, most of this is my ineptitude. Now that I've had a few dives to play with it and get used to the tons of settings, I'm starting to get quicker on the draw. For a complete bozo with zero UW photography experience, this thing has really taken some remarkable pictures despite me. I can't wait to get my strobe and get rid of some of the backscatter.

 

[Ben_ca]

Great shots Larry... Looks like there's a few keepers there... Thanks for the reports....

 

[tkring]

Larry, thanks for your detailed response. I keep leaning toward this camera because of its size and price.

Also ... I took a UW course this past month. I was commenting to the instructor that I was not fast enough to switch between modes. He told me to practice working the settings at my kitchen table while taking pictures of fruit. I've been doing this and it has helped me become more familar.

Thanks again.