Thoughts on upgrading from my C5050...

[WOODMAN]

Thought provoking comments all....One of the things that I don't really see addressed is the increase in zoom capacity. The G9 has twice the zoom, and I have found myself using the C5050's zoom out to the max on most of my shots. Logic would say that more would be helpful, but once or twice I have seen it said here that the zoom is not really of much use underwater. ??? Am I missing something here? Woody

 

[jlyle]

The less water you have between you and the subject, the better! Light from your strobes has to travel twice the distance to the subject - with the water sucking color, starting with red, every foot of the way. In addition, even in clear water, there is shmutz in the water that will cloud the image. While it's tempting to use the zoom, it's better to get closer. When you think you are close enough, get closer...

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Another thing about zoom is it reduces the amount of light getting to the sensor. As I understand it, the lens description (1:1.8-2.6 for 5050) relates to the max brightness at either end of the zoom. With no zoom the lens can be 1.8, at full zoom (3x) it can only be 2.6. That 1.8 number is the reason we still rave about the 5050! For close-up use a wet close up lens (or 2), with wide angle wet lens get even closer than jlyle said. I have never knowingly used zoom underwater in 10's of thousands of images.

 

[Kim]

With no zoom the lens can be 1.8, at full zoom (3x) it can only be 2.6. That 1.8 number is the reason we still rave about the 5050!

The Canon only STARTS at f2.8 (f4.8 at the long end) - although it does have higher ISO settings 1600 vs 400. But I'll take 400 @ 1.8 thanks! (although I hardly ever use 400 either)

 

[saholz]

I always keep mine at ISO 100 for underwater shots. Regarding zoom....I will use it very sparingly to help frame a shot, but I clearly understand its limitations, especially in an underwater environment. I find it much better to just crop my shots when doing my post processing.

 

[jlyle]

There is one situation where the zoom feature comes in handy underwater, shooting a fish in a hole! It's very difficult to get strobe light into a tight space. If you position the strobe as close to the lens a possible and zoom you can often get a shot that would be impossible otherwise.

Have we hijacked the original post?

 

[saholz]

Have we hijacked the original post?

Probably. :11:

 

[WOODMAN]

Well, well, well- much to consider....Hokay, I guess I will keep trying with my trusty C5050 for awhile longer, and will resist the siren call from the dark side of newer technology (ITS YOUR DESTINY, LUKE...). Lord knows I can find better uses for the thousand bucks it would cost me to convert over. I will just have to try harder with what I have. Thanks for your comments, All. Woody

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

does anyone know how old your olypus PT 015 housing has to be to have theall the o rings ect replaced ect mine is three years old getting little worried ect about it.I have replaced the main two o rings several times but what about all the buttons ect.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I have 2 pt-015's and after thousands of dives the buttons started feeling sluggish. Upon closer inspection it was obvious the most used buttons were very un-clean and even the never used ones were not like new clean. I got 2 full sets of o-rings and went to work on one housing. Probably would have been fine just cleaning everything and putting it back together. Never figured out how to get the shutter button apart, no new o-ring there, still sluggish. Still need a new spring on the mode dial, does not change mode in water. Never did the second housing, it's the one I use most of the time (ambient rig), thousands of pics later same same, no floods. I plan on figuring out the shutter button and doing the second housing, hopefully before catastrophy! Anyone have any tips on the shutter and spring? Ebay is my savior!