sp-350

[JDog]

The ael button feature sounds good. I never use that for it's intended purpose anyway. I have set my menu up with the my mode 1234 on top, the left button is for photo quality (I normaly shoot in HQ, (should I shoot SHQ I have 1 gig card?)) and the lower button for macro mode.
I have been making so may changes to my my mode settings that I sometimes would forget what I had changed them to. So I started taping a 1/2 inch by 1.250 inch slip of paper to the flat oval section on the back of the PT-030 housing. I type in a 5.5 to6.0 font in a word document then print it out cut it to size and insert it before I go diving with my latest settings. It has been a great help to me.

 

[Mike Harmon]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a newbie (O/W dives scheduled for 4/3 & 4/4), but I've tinkered with amateur photography for 30+ years. I've always thought U/W photography would be a lot of fun, so after MUCH reading and research, have just ordered an Oly SP-350, and am getting ready to order an Ikelite housing and strobe package. I originally considered one of the Stylus series cameras, but there were several reasons I decided on the SP-350. One biggie was the fact that I can use convenience-store alkaline AA batteries if I have to. I've had nicads go dead on me before, and there's nothing more frustrating, especially in a remote area. Finding proprietary battery packs is nearly impossible. Another was the recommendation of the helpful sales rep at Ikelite (Sandy?). She told me that the hot combo was the SP-350 and the Ikelite 6132.35 housing. The housing has a built-in interface for the TTL sync cord so you don't have to use a strobe sensor to slave the strobe to the camera. It's one of the few Oly housings (and the ONLY one for current cameras) to have this feature. I plan to use the Ikelite DS-51 strobe with this combo (also uses AA batteries!).

We are going to Puerto Rico for a couple of weeks the end of this month, and will do our O/W checkout dives there. Hopefully, we will have some chances to check out the new camera rig after we get our C-Cards. There are sure plenty of places to dive in PR!

I'll post pix if I can get some fit to show off!

Mike

 

[PermanentlyNarced]

Congrats on your purchase. Definitely post some of your pics when you get back. Even if they are not real good, there are enough experienced people here that they will be able to provide some tips on ways to make your photo skills better.

Be careful with the AA batteries. My SP-350 does not like them very much. I didn't do the firmware update though. After only getting about 20 pictures on a set of AA, I decided just to stay a long way away from them. I got two of the rechargable CRV3 batteries and they last a long time.

If the AA batteries are important to you, then you will definitely have to do the firmware update. I would also suggest you do some testing with the AA batteries before you travel to ensure that you are getting an acceptable amount of life from them. If not, then you still have time to get the CRV3. Thomas Distributing is a good place and they arrived at my door the next day after ordering. Very happy with them.

 

[JDog]

Hey Mike,
I had lot's of issues with using AA batteries in my 350. Brand new ones would last maybe 2 dives. I had taken my camara on a dive trip to Honduras, it was quit the pain in the butt to change batteries 1 to 2 times a day. We were diving 3-5 dive a day and after that trip I took a little advice and bought the rechargable Moby Power batteries online and couldn't have been happier. Yes it's about $60 for two bateries and the charger. But well worth it. Now I keep my camara on for the whole dive and I can shoot the whole day and then swap batteries at the end of the day (when I am down loading pictures), while I'm in the room totally dry. It was so frustrating to have the camara keep shutting down while I was diving. (Yes I have the updated battery software, in case you are wondering.) So if you are interested the info that is on the battery is: Moby Power rechargable Li-Ion 3V 1160mAh MPI-011030 the charger model is MPC-C301 it works for 110AC thru 240AC so it fine world wide.

 

[JDog]

After setting up and using the AEl button to toggle through the My Mode settings. I kind of like it that way. I don't think it is too much quicker than the other way which was to select menu and have the My Mode selected as one of my short cut buttons. But I am going to keep it this way for a while.

 

[Bbarnes]

We left our 5060 for the sp350. We are getting better focus and color and are enjoying the higher pixel count for cropping etc. We loved our 5060 but had to have the mode dial replaced twice. Also, we have used the Oly housing with both and much prefer the size of the 350 housing. Besides, the 350 is much easier to drop in your purse/pocket for topside picks.

 

[Moodiejeff]

We left our 5060 for the sp350. We are getting better focus and color and are enjoying the higher pixel count for cropping etc. We loved our 5060 but had to have the mode dial replaced twice. Also, we have used the Oly housing with both and much prefer the size of the 350 housing. Besides, the 350 is much easier to drop in your purse/pocket for topside picks.

I'm not exactly sure that the pixel count makes that much of a difference as I've heard the 5060 has a better sensor. Ha ha... I'm no expert though! Maybe somone who knows can confirm.

I have both a 5060 and a 350, I keep the 350 as a backup camera just in case. 2 trips ago a button was stuck on my housing for the 5060 so i used the 350 and really liked the bigger screen. Since I'm kind of an amateur, having fewer functions on the 350 actually makes it a bit easier. Writes RAW files a bit quicker too.

This past trip i used the 5060 exclusively and blew a few shots that I thought I had (a juvenile seahorse as a matter of fact). Maybe if i had the bigger screen i would have seen the focus was off... the killer is i found the little guy all on my own. That hurts!

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Working in Manual and Raw, managed to snap off a few photos last weekend in Santa Barbara Island

http://picasaweb.google.com/shark.byte.usa/SantaBarbaraIslandCAUS

What RAW editors do you use? I'm using the Oly Raw image importer for Adobe Photoshop [CS], wondering if there is something better out there to look at

-Garrett

 

[phunk]

I second the recommendation to stay away from AA batteries. I had to borrow some AA because I forgot to bring a spare crv3 on the boat last week, and they were dead after a handful of shots. Of course this happened on one of the best dives of the week.

 

[LLKZ16]

I did a test a week ago with AA batteries.

Basically, I tested the batteries to make sure they were at full before the dive. During the dive I got about 20 to 30 pictures before the battery level meter went into the red.

After the dive, I tested the batteries and the charge was almost full which I thought was VERY strange.

Basically, my test showed that the AA are problematic so I will only use the CRV-3 from now on.