What will you do when C5050 is out of the market???

[clementyn]

as scubatooth pointed out, sony has its own line with housings now in the point and shoot category.

although at a higher price point than the oly 5050 (about $100 more for the camera and no "PT" price point housing) the sony f717 is one heck of an underwater camera.

i am using mine in the 10bar housing and have had great fun and good results with it. the housing allows full access to manual controls, but is also easy to use in straight forward point and shoot manner.

3 of the high points when comparing it to the other 5 MP cameras for under water use are:

the 5x optical carl zeiss lens and 10x digital zoom which anecdotally seems to let in a lot of ambient light even without using my strobe or light, esp with macro.

the hologram AF and nightshot/nightframe modes i am starting to play with at night and in low light conditions are looking very promising.

the 1 second start up after the camera powers itself down.

2 of the low points to weigh with choosing sony in general are the proprietary memory sticks and batteries.

food for thought,
lorien

 

[archman]

The constructive comments posted about the inability to turn off the Canon S-series cameras made me frantically run some new searches... and to my horror (well relative horror) out popped this article.

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/xPR-Canon_Powershot_S50~RD-98327039620

The odd thing is that I missed this review, and now I can't locate the reviews I originally used to base my decision on getting the S50 (which were far more positive of course). Sometimes Google really tickles me the wrong way...

Oh yeah and I if I have offended anyone, my apologies. Online messages have the easiest tendencies to be misinterpreted and blown up (just witness the current threads on banning!), and I am no exception in that regard.

 

[Eli]

The S50 and the 5050 aren't even in the same league, let alone the same ballpark. I'm trying to understand you're angle, but it makes no sense.

The S50 is a purse cam. Its a pocket cam... If you want to go snorkling or play around at the beach, get an S50 and its housing.
K

Im sorry Mo2vation, but the S50 is a serious camera with a full complement of manual adjustments and creativity setting. Its almost identical to the G5, except for a 3X instead of 4X zoom lens, the lack of a hot shoe, and the lack of a built in ND filter. Its electronics are identical, I believe. I own its predecessor, the S40, and I have found it to be a capable camera both in and out of the water.
http://www.pbase.com/elif/virgin_islands_underwater
http://www.pbase.com/elif/nature_photos
http://www.pbase.com/elif/equipment

I admire Olympus as they clearly have the serious underwater photographer in mind in their camera and housing designs. I am considering the 5060, and its underwater system myself. No other camera manufacturer is making a housing for their flash units. I admire the many fine photos taken by oly users. But dont underate Canon, who is currently toppling Sony for leader in wordwide digital camera sales. I did a survey at Pbase for the top 20 digital cameras in terms of images viewed by visitors. This reflects both camera popularity and image quality. Canon dominates the list with 8, the next nearest are Sony, Nikon, Sigma, and Minolta each with 2, and Oly, Kodak, Panasonic, and Fuji each wih one. Clearly Canon is doing something right in the topside category.
PS, I dont work for Canon.

 

[Mo2vation]

Good heavens, I didn't get expect to get flamed, and from a moderator.

Sorry about that, 'nanna dude. It was late - I was cranky, wifie was out so I had to cook for myself (never pretty...) I really apologize if I came off like a jerk.


Eli: I didn't say it was a toy. Its a serious pocket cam. A serious purse cam. A serous peer to the Oly 560. Look at the form factor, look at the shoeless design (I don't believe this cam even supports an external flash - and THAT is the dividing line.) Its intended as a point and shoot for the upper end consumer (there is an emerging market for the 5meg pocket cams for some reason...)

The Oly 50XX line is clearly intended and targeted at the upper end consumer / photo enthusiast. External flash support and the form factor that supports a bracket tells the story.

Different audiences, different purposes, different cameras. Canon is the clear technology leader in Digital cameras. In my mind, there is no question about that - they got it going on. Results (imaging handling, color interpretation, etc.) ease of use - these are all very subjective. The S50 isn't a toy - it just can't be seriously considered for the photo enthusiast looking to do more than point and shoot. Is simply not designed for that. Several others in the Canon line are, but not the S50.

Dee hit it spot on - What Oly did right (among an unprecidented string of bad decisions recently) is Oly brought in the affordable housings for most of the line (Just two years ago we were buyng them from over seas... now Oly US is finally supporting the housings and you can find them almost everywhere) and the rest of the Digicam world is playing catch up right now, in regards to equiping their line (even their P&S stuff) for affordable UW use.

I was on Catalina today - I saw at least 4 Oly cams out there.

K

 

[ssra30]

as scubatooth pointed out, sony has its own line with housings now in the point and shoot category.

although at a higher price point than the oly 5050 (about $100 more for the camera and no "PT" price point housing) the sony f717 is one heck of an underwater camera.

i am using mine in the 10bar housing and have had great fun and good results with it. the housing allows full access to manual controls, but is also easy to use in straight forward point and shoot manner.

3 of the high points when comparing it to the other 5 MP cameras for under water use are:

the 5x optical carl zeiss lens and 10x digital zoom which anecdotally seems to let in a lot of ambient light even without using my strobe or light, esp with macro.


lorien

I definitely like to hear more about the Sony Camera. For awhile, I think the Sony would make a good choice as a step up from the C5050, especially the new F828. However the review of the F828 I read put a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm. Also consider the Canon Digital Rebel with Ikelite housing would be at similar price point to the Sony (I know I have not include the price of the extra lens and ports yet). My biggest problem with the Sony I think is the inability to use external wetmount lens with it (at least with Ikelite housing).
While the zoom lens make it so that macro lens is not neccessary, the wide angle (forgot whether it is 35mm or 28mm) is not nearly enough for wide angle photography, especially when there are wide angle lens such as the Inon with domeport available. I think Gate housing will let you use an external wetmount wide angle lens but I think if I am going Gate's route, I might as well buy dSLR setup.

 

[clive francis]

I definitely like to hear more about the Sony Camera. For awhile, I think the Sony would make a good choice as a step up from the C5050, especially the new F828. However the review of the F828 I read put a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm. Also consider the Canon Digital Rebel with Ikelite housing would be at similar price point to the Sony .

if i were to upgrade from my 5050 i would look at the rebel as it has a good housing (all be it £1500 plus ports) but i would like to see how the 4/3 system pans out.

i have seen some good reviews on the e-1, perhaps when they up the resoulution the current 5 megs will drop in price a bit.

 

[TedJ]

the S50 is a serious camera with a full complement of manual adjustments and creativity setting.

And you certainly took advantage of them with the great shots that you have. I particularly enjoyed the "Underwater Tango" even though I don't dance!
TEdJ

 

[Scubatooth]

ssra i know what you mean on the 828, the idea looked good, it jsut looks like sony messed up pretty bad, its to bad that the Purple Fringe problems encountered and the zeiss glass didnt help that out, makes you wonder if there even using it at all. the 4/3 system oly is trying is going to be sketcky to make it as its forcing yet another standard into the mix that a person has to use with that camera, and that the 4/3 lens are very expensive, and limited in selection. after the c5050 i will be moving on to probably the next incarnation of the 10D or a 1 Series Digital digital body as i already have canon glass , "L" glass that is.

FWIW

Tooth

 

[Eli]

And you certainly took advantage of them with the great shots that you have. I particularly enjoyed the "Underwater Tango" even though I don't dance!
TEdJ

Thanks Ted, I thoroughly enjoyed your gallery also, your Curacao images are great.
Well said, Mo2vation. The lack of an external flash bracket is a good dividing line between a pocket camera, and a serious camera. I happen to like little. My first camera as a teenager was a Crown Graphic (4X5 plate film camera) I inherited. With a negative that big, and a Schneider lens, it had the ultimate image quality. I used to lug it around. But as Ive gotten older, Ive gone to progresively smaller cameras. I find that I am more likely to bring the camera with me, the smaller it is. I Like Little! But I draw the line if a compact camera lacks manual controls, they are a must for any serious work above or below water.

 

[Mo2vation]

Well said, Mo2vation. The lack of an external flash bracket is a good dividing line between a pocket camera, and a serious camera. I happen to like little.

I think any camera with manual options is a serious cam. But on land, I almost always shoot flash in almost every situation. My first cam was the original Canon AE-1 Program... awesome cam, ground breaking technology.

And I had this huge Vivitar flash.... so I sort of cut my teeth on "big" and "external flash"... so everything since then (even my little Oly 3000) I've added a bracket and an external flash. Even today, I still have my stroboframe and FL40... I've just added it to my E20.

Too funny - we sort of like what we like. Its one of the mistakes of my life, selling my AE-1. I miss that cam.

L