Which digital camera to use

[okidoki]

Hello all,

I would your view of your experiance which of these two U/W digital cameras is best.
I was thinking about the Sony DCS P10 or a Olympus. Would like to hear your feed back.

Small Bubbles

Okidoki

 

[Gene F]

I just got a sony DSC-P10 with a housing and fllter kit. I love it it is so small it will fit in my bc pocket, and it takes great pics. I have had 135 cameras with housings as well but they were junk, but i did not give that much for them either. Hope this helps. Happy Diving -Gene

 

[Gilligan]

Sony and Olympus are both good cameras as well as some other brands. I don't think anyone can fairly answer your question unless they have used both cameras underwater and made a thorough comparison.
There are other things to consider besides the camera brand when it comes to underwater use.
Some of those things are:
External strobe compatibility.
Same brand housing for the camera in question (unless you are buying a high end housing).
Strength of the internal strobe if an external strobe will not be purchased.
Strobe diffuser on the housing to reduce backscatter.
All camera controls accessible via the same brand housing (or any other housing).

 

[Westwinds]

Comparing features of the Sony P-10 and the Olympus C5060 (both 5million pixels):

I like the wider angle lens of the Olympus cameras. The C5060 will zoom from 27mm to 105mm. The P-10 will zoom from 39mm to 117mm. This means that without an additional wide angle lens, the Olympus will get just a little closer to the subject and thereby reducing the amount of water / particles in front of the lens (cleaner pictures).

I also like the fact that the Olympus C5060 allows the user to select from 3 different memory cards. On longer trips I will borrow extra cards from friends and colleagues. Because memory sticks are a proprietary media I would be hard pressed to acquire extra cards without making a purchase. I just don’t find memory sticks as widely used or as nicely priced other cards (at least in my part of the world). I think that Sony is also feeling the pressure because their newer models now offer more options in this area.

Lastly, Olympus has consistently stood among the industry leaders when it comes to initial image quality. Photoshop does magic to poor quality originals but it is simply magnificent with high quality originals.

The Sony is more attractively priced but I would still go with an Olympus.

Westwinds

P.S. I currently shoot with a Canon G5 in an Ikelite housing. If I were to start over, I would look at the newer Canon or Olympus models. The availability of a factory housing option would also be a serious factor. They are economical and small.

 

[lukeROB]

I like the wider angle lens of the Olympus cameras.

Totally agree with this comment. The sony is 39mm at 'wide', in U/W you will normally be on the wide end. The 5060 cant add lenses but can have a port added to use topside wide angle. 27mm is a good start. With the Sony you will almost have to buy the S&S WA lens with the camera.

 

[Westwinds]

Wide angle lenses are available for the Olympus C5060 factory housing; it’s just not as easy as some of the other models. Check out the following link:

https://emporium.olympus.com/innards/empproddetails.asp?sku=200434-410
http://www.helixphoto.com/UW/olympus/c5060pk2.html


Olympus seems to have UW photographers in mind, or on staff!

Westwinds

 

[lukeROB]

Wide angle lenses are available for the Olympus C5060 factory housing; it’s just not as easy as some of the other models. Check out the following link:

https://emporium.olympus.com/innards/empproddetails.asp?sku=200434-410
http://www.helixphoto.com/UW/olympus/c5060pk2.html


Olympus seems to have UW photographers in mind, or on staff!

Westwinds

Dont buy this Port - it is crappy plastic and flat (hence will vignette at wide). Yuzo in Japan is selling a Glass Dome which will not have any of these problems 99 degrees UW.

 

[Westwinds]

As lukeROB mentioned. There are better options. Thanks for pointing it out.


http://www.uwdigitalcamera.com/English/eM67lens.htm

 

[orangeBloke]

Some other things I'd add to Gilligan's list:

- Size of the camera, do you want something that'll fit in your BC pocket or do you not mind? The P-10 will fit nicely in a BC, some of the Olympus cameras will too but not the more popular 5050 or 5060....not unless you have very big BC pockets

- Functionality of the camera. Do you want a point and click type camera or one where you get to do more adjusting - being able to adjust aperture, speed and white balance can be very useful underwater. The Sony P-10 does not allow a lot of adjusting

- Proprietary accessories - Sony cameras fairly much only use Sony cards and accessories, the Olympus cameras are a little more flexible in this regard which can reduce your costs a little.

On a personal note I've used the Sony P-8 and now own an Olympus 5060. While I was happy with the P-8 I'm even more happy with the 5060. The 5060 gives me more flexibility, the colours seem better, I can have more storage media in the camera and the marine casing is cheaper - I discovered after the lens of the marine case leaked that the Sony guarantee doesn't include the casing so it can be costly if you have to replace it. As that was the second problem I'd had with it I didn't replace it, I bought the Olympus instead and haven't looked back since

 

[okidoki]

Thanks for all your feed back, it will help me with my camera of choise in the near future.
What I'am looking for is a compact size but also good images and users flexibility U/W all because iI will be traveling a lot.

Thanks again
Small Bubbles
Okidoki