OK- so here's the problem. I like the Olympus 4000 - it would suit all my needs including the underwater ones. However, my wife leans towards the Nikon coolpix4300. She doesn't care that much about the UW aspect as she points out that she uses a camera frequently for regular trips, family stuff etc. and I would use only occaisonally for dive trips. The problems are that while the Oly4000 DOES have ext flash ability and the Nikon does not (i.e. no strobe for UW) the OLY4000 uses SmartMedia which is limited to 128k and seems to be on the way out vs. the Nikon which can go up to 512k. This means not having to buy an extra portable hard drive on dive trips or other vacations just to download pics every night. Any thoughts, suggestions, comparisons (I know the Nikon 5700 has a hot shoe but that's a big jump in price) or am I just stuck???
Oly4000 vs. Nikon Coolpix4300
- Thread starter sigelr
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You should not have any problem with using a strobe with Nikon.
If you want to add external strobe, Ikelite and Sea and Sea make strobe with light sensor or fiber optic sensor so they can be triggered off the internal flash of your camera so there is not need for external wired connection (as long as your housing is clear like the Ikelite housing). Comparing Oly C-4000 to Nikon Coolpix 4300, you are going to pay a lot more for housing for the Nikon if it is available. You should still be able to get PT010 housing for C-4000 for around $200-250 where as you most likely will pay at least $500-600 for a 3rd party housing for the Nikon.
If you want to add external strobe, Ikelite and Sea and Sea make strobe with light sensor or fiber optic sensor so they can be triggered off the internal flash of your camera so there is not need for external wired connection (as long as your housing is clear like the Ikelite housing). Comparing Oly C-4000 to Nikon Coolpix 4300, you are going to pay a lot more for housing for the Nikon if it is available. You should still be able to get PT010 housing for C-4000 for around $200-250 where as you most likely will pay at least $500-600 for a 3rd party housing for the Nikon.
Depends on where you live. I guess in the US, for Olympus housing, many people have good luck with ebay or andorama.com, I believe. Since I don't live in the US anymore so I am a bit out of the loop there. If you go with Ikelite, you are pretty much stuck with ikelite dealers only and I am not sure if there is a big discount on the products or not. I would assume that prices would be quite similar all over. Someone else probably can give you a better answer but you also need to let us know if you decide to go Olympus route or Nikon/Ikelite housing route etc.
kdietz
Contributor
try http://www.marinecamera.com for good pricing on Ikelite housings and strobes
IMHO, wide angle is more important than a lot of zoom for underwater photography. I would also look at which camera has the widest lens.
Karl
IMHO, wide angle is more important than a lot of zoom for underwater photography. I would also look at which camera has the widest lens.
Karl
venaraoh
Registered
I myself use an earlier model of the Olympus, the C-3000z. I carry a couple of 128mb smart media cards with me on each trip, and have never had an issue of running out of memory. Even at the highest resolutions the camera is capable of, You still get nearly 200 pictures per Smart Media card.
The price of memory has come down to under $50.00 in most stores for a 128mb card.
When put up against the Nikon with no extended uw flash system, I dont think the Olympus is the better bet for any photography beyond 10'. Above that, flash isnt an issue for most day diving / snorkeling.
The price of memory has come down to under $50.00 in most stores for a 128mb card.
When put up against the Nikon with no extended uw flash system, I dont think the Olympus is the better bet for any photography beyond 10'. Above that, flash isnt an issue for most day diving / snorkeling.
norcaldiver
Guest
I am in the same boat...Oly C4000 or the Nikon4300....hmmm...
I did find this housing from Fantasea, the CP-4 SCUBA Pro tho. Looks like the Oly PT housing and is listed at $180US. It seems to be able control the camera as well as if you were on land.
Fantasea's wesite is opening very slowly tho
Edit. I got it to open and looked at it....you get 1 year of prepaid flood ins with the purchase of the Fatasea housing....what a bargain...or maybe they know something....Either way one of their dealers listed is Cathy Church.
I did find this housing from Fantasea, the CP-4 SCUBA Pro tho. Looks like the Oly PT housing and is listed at $180US. It seems to be able control the camera as well as if you were on land.
Fantasea's wesite is opening very slowly tho
Edit. I got it to open and looked at it....you get 1 year of prepaid flood ins with the purchase of the Fatasea housing....what a bargain...or maybe they know something....Either way one of their dealers listed is Cathy Church.
I disagree. The internal flash in the Olympus C-4000 is very intense and well able to provide enough light at depths way below 10ft. for decent pictures. Yes, an external strobe is best. But as long as you keep the camera to subject distance under 3 ft. the camera flash will do very well. I used my c-4040 with only the internal flash for the first the days of my first trip with it. Here are a few examples of photos taken with the internal flash and no external strobe take between 40 and 75ft. And now 2 years later, there are still times I prefer the internal flash to an external strobe. Don't sell it short!
As a follow up to your thread, there is no problem using the Nikon Coolpix 4300 with any slave strobe. I am posting here images taken using this camera with the Fantasea CP-4 Pro Housing and
a basic Nikonos SB 105 flash. As basic as you can get. http://www.pbase.com/hman/red_sea_images&page=all
For more images visit www.fantasea.com
Howard
a basic Nikonos SB 105 flash. As basic as you can get. http://www.pbase.com/hman/red_sea_images&page=all
For more images visit www.fantasea.com
Howard
Aloysius
Registered
I just ordered a C-4000 and PT-010 along with the YS-90DX strobe. I can't wait to get them, but we won't really get to use them much until our October trip to Roatan.
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