Summary Reviews of SP-350

[ejg62]

I currently have a 5060 with the PT-020. I am considering the SP-350 and housing. There are other threads on the board that get into detail on the SP-350 but there are so many pages I do not have time to read them.

In summary what do people think of the SP-350; pros and cons. Has anyone used the 5050 or 5060 prior to SP-350? What are the differences as a dive camera.

Thanks

Jim

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

I am still learning to use mine, I took it on a trip with me the first week in July, and I was very pleased with the results. I considered several cameras before I bought the Olympus, was almost ready to buy the Canon A620.

I went on a trip to Utila and there were a ton of models there and I decided on the SP-350, primairly because it has 3 underwater modes.

Everyone is going to have their pro's and con's likes and dislikes, but given the price point I was looking in and the available choices in that range, I could not be happier.

I did have some trouble shooting in the U/W macro mode (getting the focus right), but I think that was more USER related and the current involved (it was West Palm Beach afterall), not the fault of the camera.

 

[Larry C]

I've been very happy with my SP. I've taken some quite decent pictures. The camera offers great versatility and a ton of features at a very reasonable price. I haven't used the 5060, but I know several divers who do, and there are many on this forum as well. From my understanding, the 5060 offers better picture quality due to a superior lens and possibly a larger sensor. My only disappointments with the SP have been in focus speed and writing speed. The xD cards are not as developed as SD and some other formats, and the camera has a fairly substantial lag in autofocus modes, which means it is best to change to manual focus for action shots such as faster moving fish, seals, etc.

 

[torrey]

I just got rid of my 5050 and bought the SP-350 as well. It just arrived yesterday and I'm currently studying the manuals and I haven't taken it diving yet, but I can easily tell you 3 pro's for the SP-350 and housing - smaller (not as bulky), lighter (both camera and housing), and bigger LCD screen. It also gets to a 'ready' point quicker when powering-up, with faster lens extension and retraction.

 

[Moodiejeff]

I currently have a 5060 with the PT-020. I am considering the SP-350 and housing.
In summary what do people think of the SP-350; pros and cons. Has anyone used the 5050 or 5060 prior to SP-350? What are the differences as a dive camera.

I own both, i bought the SP-350 as a backup camera to my 5060 and, sure enough, I needed it my last trip. One of the springs on a button for the pt-020 was stuck and wouldn't let me change my settings underwter.

They both have their pros and cons but I believe I like the 5060 better. Now I am not a proffessional photog by any stretch, and I'm just getting used to shooting with Manual settings, but I found I would get better results with the 5060. However, I also started shooting RAW this past trip and did NOT do so with the 5060 so I can't compare write times. My preference for the 5060 could come from the fact that I was very unused to the 350 but by the end of the trip I got the hang of it.

Size is also a factor, above water the 350 is much smaller but once underwater the size is negligible. The screen size on the 350 is a nice feature though...

I do not regret buying the 350 but all things equal, next trip with both cameras working, it will be the 5060 that I bring on the dive with me. But, I will be very happy to know that i have that 350 to bail me out if need be.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

I've had one since the end of last year. Love it - small, wide range of functions, great images. I have around 40 dives with it in a PT30 housing and have had no problems.

Only issues have been focussing in low light (fixed with a focus light) and, when in manual mode, the LCD darkening to show depth of field (the screen lightens briefly when the focus button is slightly depressed, but it still makes manual focussing at f8 a pain). I cant remember if anyone found a solution for this later issue?

I'll post some recent images in the coming days but I’m very happy with it.

Cheers,
Rohan.

 

[torrey]

One con I did find going from the 5050 to the SP-350 is the memory. With the 5050, I had the choice of compact flash, smart media, and xd...and you could combine compact flash with one of the others. Therefore, you could have a 512mb compact flash and a 512mb xd in the camera at the same time and flip between them with 1 button. On the other hand, the SP-350 can use the 1gb H xd whereas the 5050 was limited to 512mb.

 

[ejg62]

Everyone

Thanks for the feedback. I do not yet if I get one. I will let you know.

Thaks again.

Jim