Olympus C-4040 x Sony P5 x Nikon Coolpix 5000 x Canon S40

Which one would you choose if you had a chance to buy one???
I'm trying to choose one of them to buy, but I don't have a lot of money...
Because of the housing prices, I think I'll have to get an Olympus C-4040 with the PT-010 housing.
The other ones are too much expensive!!! An example is the Nikon Coolpix 5000 housing. The Ikelite housing for it costs something like US$ 800,00. It's too much expensive! I don't have all this money to spend with it.
And as nobody talks about the Canon S40 + housing, I think maybe I should not risk getting it.

So, as I have something like US$ 900,00 to spend with it, I think I have only 2 choices:
1) Sony P5 + housing (marine pack)
2) Olympus C-4040 + PT-010

This same camera I want to use to take pictures in groud too!!! So it's another thing to think about!!! In this case the Sony P5 would be better because of its size, but under water I think the Olympus C-4040 is much better and maybe faster!!!

What do you think guys??? Please help me!!! I think this thread can help many people here who have the same doubts that I have.

Thank you very much.

keep an eye on the P5 price - it should be coming down now as the P9 is out (well it is here in Japan)

I don't think you can go wrong with either

Look forward to you photos
Jonathan

Have you considered the Oly C40 with PT-012 ? The smaller size makes a lot of difference to me.

Some points to note:

1) Olympus uses Smartmedia. Although not too popular, it is by far the cheapest memory solution by comparison. Memory sticks are almost 1.5 to 2 times more expensive.

2) The PT-012 goes down to 40m instead of 30m (PT-010), the sony one should also be 40m.

3) The PT-012 uses double stainless steel latches instead of a plastic one on the PT-010.

4) Can the sony housing provide 100% control of the cam. Please check that as I'm not too sure. Olympus housing provide 100% full control.

5) Olympus housings come with a flash diffuser. I dunno if that helps but just to let you know.

6) Since you're gonna use the cam on land too, check out the differences between the cams on maybe dpreview. You have to consider the ground capabilties too.

7) The C4040 has a min macro distance of 20cm, C40 is 10cm. Saw that on dpreview. Cause for consideration ?

8) Sizewise, Sony is the smallest of the 3.

9) Wide angle and macro lens add on availability. Sea & Sea, INON and Oly makes these lenses for the Olympus housings. I dunno about the Sony ones. But sony does make a color correction filter that fits their housing.

10) Housing choices. With the C4040 you could choose, L&M, Oly & Ikelite. Not too sure abt Sony, I think only their MPK5 (pls correct me if I'm wrong. C40 - only the PT-012.

11) Buoyancy weight compensator. Oly housings come with a weight attachment that makes it almost neutrally bouyant. I'm not sure if the Sony needs or have one.


I just came back from a dive trip last weekend and like to add a few shots for your reference.

I hope my info helped.

I don't understand. The S40 plus the Canon supplied underwater case meets your financial constraints and the S40 appears to be a far better camera than the Sony, for example (see digital photograhy review).

I wasn't considering the Oly C-40 w/ PT-012 because I didn't know it!

Since you mentioned this camera, I've been researching and it looks a pretty nice!!! Can you tell me something about the prices? Is it much more expensive to buy a C-40 + PT-012 than buying a C-4040 + PT-010??? If it's a small difference I can get it.

Do you know what's the difference between the Oly C-40 and the
C-4040??? Any pro and cons between these two cameras??? Why does many people prefer the Oly C-4040 + PT-010??? For me, the Oly C-40 + PT-012 looks like a better combo.

Can I swich the lenses of any of these two cameras???

I'll be waiting your reply!

Thank you.

Ps: Nice pictures!!! Did you use any kind of strobe???

One difference is that the PT-010 is ratified to 30m and the PT-012 40m. The housings should be much the same price (in Japan the equivalent of about $30) but the camera is more expensive. There are also more accessories for the PT-010 for now but I am sure that is changing all the time

Hope that helps a bit
Jonathan

I'm glad I got you interested in the C40 combo.

Jonathan is right.

The C4040 is more expensive than the C40. However the casing is the other way around. But the difference of the cam and housing is very minimal. The PT-012 goes down to 40m whilst the PT-010 is rated at 30m. I've heard mixed responses when PT-010 goes beyond 30m - some unscaffed, some hairline cracks. Me, I'm just around 20-25m, no worries.

The PT-012 uses double stainless steel latches for the door. The PT-010 uses a single plastic "arm". I feel a lot safer with the stainless steel latch. I think they should use it for all their housing. But I've never heard flooding problems due to this "my stupid" latch problem. Mostly o-rings and dirt - so don't be concerned at all.

One thing I don't like about the PT-012 is the metal ring around the glass port. It is painted, hence the paint chips - even before I dive it's already scratched.

One other cosmetic thing, I don't know why they picked "that" color for the housing. I hate it - the gals love it.

I used to own the C3030 with the PT-005 housing. The one main reason for the switch was SIZE.

Now for the differences between C4040 and C40 (There are several threads regarding this in the Olympus forum on dpreview- you might wanna checkit out).

C4040: f1.8 - f2.6 lens
C40 : f2.8 - 4.8 lens

C4040: Dial switch with 5 modes
C40 : Dial switch with 10 modes (including my favourites)
The 10 modes makes it easy for the novice when taking ground photos. Just pick a mode e.g. landscape, night scene, portrait, etc. The "my favourite" setting is my favourite. It lets you store settings accordingly (init. zoom, a/s/m mode, white bal., etc) and uses them when I pick the my favourite setting on the dial.

I find this feature very useful for underwater photography. I set "my fav" to f8 and 1/500s at widest zoom, manual mode, normal flash, macro, auto white bal. and spot metering. When taking macros underwater, I'll use "my fav". When taking normal shots e.g. my dive buddy, I'll use the A/S/M for these kinda shots where I push up the flash 2 notches and accordingly, set the aperture or shutter priority as desired. The white balance is manually set to my dive slate.

The reason I did this bcos shots other than macros w/o using a strobe usually need more flash power to fill in the colors. The manual white balance helps a little as well.

C4040: Add-on lens/filter capability
C40 : Nope - Too bad. (so interchangeable lens..not a chance) But I figured that I'll probably purchase the C2100 or C700 for extra zoom fitted with my desired filters. That way, I'll have the best of both worlds. Afterall I carry my C40 most of the time. (you never know when that shot of a lifetime comes about). I wouldnt lug around a C2100 - not even a C3030.

However there are wide and macro lens for the housing for both the C4040 and C40. These attach to the camera housing - not the cam. Don't know how they perform top side.

C4040: min macro distance = 20cm (acoording to steve's digicam)
C40 : min macro distance = 10cm

C4040: 4 batteries
C40 : 2 batteries - but note that the C40 dries up the batts faster. This is not a concern for ground shots but not so underwater. So I change freshly charged batts before each dive and use the lcd sparingly. Set to sleep in 30sec. Otherwise, I use the lithium batts. They can really last. I've tried 3 dives continuous - yet to dry up.

C4040: lens cap
C40 : sliding cover (trivial, but I hate lens caps -always dropping them)

C4040: No built-in speaker
C40 : Built-in speaker (so you can hear the sound from your movies, but you can always hear them on a hooked up tv or computer)

C4040: One infra-red sensor
C40 : Two infra-red sensor - 1 front, 1 rear. But frankly, the rear sensor is pathetic. I am almost 1-2cm close before the IR works.

C4040: AE Lock
C40 : None

C4040: Zoom 3x
C40 : Zoom 2.8x (I can't really tell the diff)

C4040: LCD 1.8"
C440 : LCD 1.5" (The 1.5" LCD has a higher resolution - it in fact looks better than the 1.8")

C4040: External Flash hook up capability
C40 : None. For underwater shots, a slave strobe using fiber optic cables does the job. No flooding problems with connecting cables.

C4040: Viewfinder with diopter control adjuster
C40 : Normal Viewfinder


The obvious difference is of course size wise. The C4040 has an extra Multi-Spot metering feature. I don't know anything abt it. You might like to check that. The flash range is slightly different. I've tested the flash side by side - can't seem to see a big diff.

I did not use any strobe except the built-in flash (I cant afford a strobe yet). You are pretty much limited to macros. Anything else usually come out greenish or blueish. I am saving up for a strobe and a macro add-on lens, at the same time brushing up my buoyancy skills. I'm a very new diver with only 10 dives.

I had the dillema of choosing between the C4040 and the C40. I'm glad I took the C40 choice bcos the size is just so sweet. But this is personal preference.

Newhamster is right abt the S40. Don't forgo it just bcos nobody seems to talk abt it. I'm sure its just as great a cam. I didn't pick S40 bcos I had a few SM cards, so dont wanna switch to CF. I also got used to Olympus stuff and menus. The S40 feels larger and heavier. Again just my own preferences. Go to a shop and try them all out. Remember, you'll probably be using the cam 90% top side and 10% down under. Maybe you could try to prioritize the features and your requirements.

My god have I rattled. But I just wanna hopefully spare you the agonies I had when I went researching resources for the ultimate decision.

I hope I helped.

The prices on CF (and other forms of memory) have plummetted.

2.5 years ago, I paid $325 for a 128mb CF card.
Last month, I paid $89 for a 256mb CF card.

From my look around, Memory Sticks (Sony) are the highest priced flash memory around, CF cards the lowest and SM somewhere in between. (From time to time, local conditions may change this order but I suspect it's generally correct).

Memory has become a very small part of the purchase and operating cost of a good digital camera in an underwater housing...

Interesting, from my side of the globe CF costs slightly more than SM. Memory Sticks are way up.

I'm really not sure why Oly has stuck with SmartMedia cards for so long. Smartmedia lost the race for most prevalent handheld device media a long time ago. If you want something where your memory might be usefull in other applications besides your camera then I would go with the canon S40. Plus microdrives are only available on CF. The memory is what brings me over. I think that honestly the Oly is a great camera and the lens is probably even slightly better than the Canon. BUT the canon is smaller, more convenient for land use (it can be pocketed unlike its Oly bretheren), like I sed it uses the right type of media. Dpreview loves the camera and I personally can't think of a good reason why you should eliminate it from your selection pool.