Olympus C-5050Zoom + PT-015

Configuration

This set consists of:

• Olympus C-5050Zoom
• Olympus PT-015 Underwater housing
• Sea&Sea YS-90DX Slave Strobe
• FishEye digicam tray for Olympus

Review

After seeing many photos, reading photograpy literature and comparing various cameras, I decided to buy the Olympus C-5050 Zoom. The literature gave me a beter understanding of the important options (e.g. aperture and shutterspeed) for underwater photograpy, and made me choose for this camera.

The camera provides an extensive set of functions like 3 centimeter macro, 3 times zoom (105 mm), unlimited movie taking, controllable shutterspeed and aperture, various ISO values and multiple memory card support. The 8 programmable user modes can be used to store the camera's settings and make it easy to switch between for example macro and wide angle when under water. The battery consumption is low and enables you to photograph during three dives.

My primary storage card is a 256Mb XD, capable of holding 210 photos at the highest resolution, 2560x1920 pixels. I extend the capactity even further by adding an CompactFlash card, which can be inserted at the same time.

The PT-015 underwater housing is compact, easiliy manageable, can be used to depths of up to 40 meters, and provides access to to all the camera controls.

Because the camera's On/Off and Menu functions are combined in one control, they have a tend to turn at the same time under pressure. This however can be prevented by setting everything on shallower depths.

The rubber lens cap increases readability of the LCD screen under bright conditions, but is also greatly reduces the angles under which the screen can be viewed.

For this reason I've removed the cap as well as the rubber on the inside, thus allowing me (though slightly hindered by the remaining rims) a view on the LCD under "extreme" angles.

I've bought the Sea&Sea YS-90DX strobe for the set to prevent disappointed with lighting (see Sony DSC-P1 review). This flash offers a wide range of settings and can be placed as desired by using the FishEye support tray and flexible arm.

Major advantages:

• Easy setting through the programmable User Modes.
• Very good handling in combination with the FishEye tray.
• Simultaneous usage of multiple storage cards.
• Allows three dives without changing batteries.

Disadvantages:

• On/Off and Menu functions may be accidentally changed at greater depths.
• Bad readability of the LCD screen under certain angles.
• Some settings require two hands (e.g. Super-Macro and aperture).

Review by: Ronald Heus

Add to:     Del.ico.us     Digg     Reddit     StumbleUpon