C-5050 Users: Help Wanted!

[BuceoMan]

Hello to all users of this camera. I just purchased the Oly 5050 in the PT-015 housing yesterday by fluke. Walked into local camera store to purchase P&S for my mother for xmas and found them selling a good cond., used cam and housing for $150 so i figured it was a good deal as i've heard good things about the camera even though it's about 7 years old now. A few questions from this newbie to this system.

1/The black, rubber seal in the front port has come off and i can't seem to get it back in with a proper seal in the front. Any tips to get this back in?

2/The housing came with 2 sets of dual o-rings. One set is the large, oval shaped variety which are obviously for the main back hatch but there is also a set of 4 small, circular o-rings about 3in diameter. What the heck are these for?

3/Any suggestions for accessories? I would like to add a strobe and WA lens but don't want to spend crazy amounts. Will look for used ones but would like some recommendations for strobes/lenses that have worked well for others.

4/Any tips/tricks in general? Seems every camera has little things you find after playing around and experimenting that greatly improves use. I'm looking for go-to settings for WA photos, macro, filters,etc.,etc.....

Looking forward to getting this system wet soon, thanks!

 

[calypsonick]

BuceoMan,

You are definitely in the right place to get information on using the C-5050. This is where justleesa and alcina helped me figure out how to use mine, a few years back. I've forgotten a lot since but if you do a search in this forum for the C-5050 around 2004-2005 timeframe, you will find a good number of discussions on it.

I never had a problem with the black seal in the front, so can't help you with that but you definitely want to get out of the Program mode as soon as possible to take advantage of the powerful combination of fast shutter speeds with fast apertures that will give you sharper images and richer colors. I really liked the supermacro function, especially since I did not have any additional lighting other than the onboard strobe, and getting close was essential to lighting the subjects.

I hope that helps with your quest.

Nick

 

[BuceoMan]

Thanks for the reply. I will look up that time frame as you mentioned. Hopefully some others will chime in as well. I managed to get the black seal in again, so that problem is solved. Still trying to figure out what the small 3in diameter round, red seals are for.

 

[dgreenh]

I can't think of any place the 3" o-rings would go. I would sure take the housing diving empty and to a pretty normal depth before I tried it with the camera though. Especially since you had an issue with the front seal... which I have never had any issue with in my housing..

 

[jghflash]

I think this will help a lot. I have a 5060 but the settings work wonders and will shorten your learning curve dramatically in making the camera work. Trust me, you can take some really good pictures with the onboard flash alone, the ones in my gallery are done that way. I've since moved on to an Inon flash, a pair of stacked Inon macro lenses and an Inon wide angle lens (I like Inon stuff!). That opens up new horizons but I think you'll be surprised at what you can do with that rig. Good luck!

Splashdown Divers - Boynton Beach, Florida - Underwater Digital Photography - 5050 Settings - 5060 Settings

 

[BuceoMan]

I think this will help a lot. I have a 5060 but the settings work wonders and will shorten your learning curve dramatically in making the camera work. Trust me, you can take some really good pictures with the onboard flash alone, the ones in my gallery are done that way. I've since moved on to an Inon flash, a pair of stacked Inon macro lenses and an Inon wide angle lens (I like Inon stuff!). That opens up new horizons but I think you'll be surprised at what you can do with that rig. Good luck!

Splashdown Divers - Boynton Beach, Florida - Underwater Digital Photography - 5050 Settings - 5060 Settings

Looks like a good article, about to head to sleep so will read it in morning. Thanks. I've been taking some photos above water so far(next dive trip wont be until mid-Feb) but i am really impressed with the quality of the photos. I just purchased the new Fuji F70 about a month ago as a carry around point and shoot and it honestly, IMO, doesn't come close to the C-5050 image quality, even though it is a dinosaur in comparison. Hoping to find a second hand wide-angle lens to go with it and a strobe in near future. I think wide angle will come first for me since i enjoy wide shots more than close ups. Thanks again.

 

[driftwood]

I shoot a 5060 as well. One thing that the Oly housings do not do well is play with other people's strobes. You basically have several choices. First use the Oly strobes, which I hate. Second, use a fiber optic cable to fire your external strobe. This is the most common solution to the problem. Third, I use a digital adapter from Herman Wielkampf (?). There is a sender unit that uses your hot shoe to transmit the data through your housing to a receiver connected to your strobe with a cable. This one has worked well for me.

Another issue you will face is replacing the o rings on the housing. Oly used metric silicon rings. These are tough to find and Oly charges an arm and a leg for them. I was able to get properly sized buna rings and have taken my housing down to 100'+ without a problem. The 5060 uses the PTO-20 housing, but it is a good bet that both housings use the same rings for the rear hatch. If you want, I can sell you a set of my buna rings for less than one Oly ring. If they work, great, if not pay the postage both ways and I will refund the rest of your money. What I would do, is to install the new rings, fill the housing with toilet paper and take it for a test dive.

One feature of the 5050 that you should really work on is the camera's ability to custom "white balance". When you get to depth, take a shot of a "white" slate and the camera will set the white balance. One of the biggest reasons the camera still has a loyal following after so many years.

Hope this helps and merry Christmas.

 

[BuceoMan]

I shoot a 5060 as well. One thing that the Oly housings do not do well is play with other people's strobes. You basically have several choices. First use the Oly strobes, which I hate. Second, use a fiber optic cable to fire your external strobe. This is the most common solution to the problem. Third, I use a digital adapter from Herman Wielkampf (?). There is a sender unit that uses your hot shoe to transmit the data through your housing to a receiver connected to your strobe with a cable. This one has worked well for me.

Another issue you will face is replacing the o rings on the housing. Oly used metric silicon rings. These are tough to find and Oly charges an arm and a leg for them. I was able to get properly sized buna rings and have taken my housing down to 100'+ without a problem. The 5060 uses the PTO-20 housing, but it is a good bet that both housings use the same rings for the rear hatch. If you want, I can sell you a set of my buna rings for less than one Oly ring. If they work, great, if not pay the postage both ways and I will refund the rest of your money. What I would do, is to install the new rings, fill the housing with toilet paper and take it for a test dive.

One feature of the 5050 that you should really work on is the camera's ability to custom "white balance". When you get to depth, take a shot of a "white" slate and the camera will set the white balance. One of the biggest reasons the camera still has a loyal following after so many years.

Hope this helps and merry Christmas.

Thanks, appreciate the help i'm getting here. I still can't figure out what the small set of o-rings are for. Anybody???? I've attached a photo.

 

[driftwood]

Thanks, appreciate the help i'm getting here. I still can't figure out what the small set of o-rings are for. Anybody???? I've attached a photo.

It looks like someone bought a replacement set of rings for the 20 housing. The two rings look like they fit front lens port for the PTO-20. One of the "upgrades" Oly did was to allow the 5060 to install a dry wide angle lens with a special housing. IMHO, they just doubled the number of rings that could fail.

The last time I looked, each ring for the housing was going for around $8. So don't throw them away. I am sure that there are people out there that need them.

Edit: One other thing, you have that plexiglass plate in front of your internal flash. Drill a hole in it to attach a fiber optic cable if that is the route you go with. Beats velcro strips hands down.