c-5050 dated?

[diver_pirate]

I have a c-5050 and just spent the week in Bonaire. Good focus pictures with proper lighting are few and far between. The latency of the shutter and flash recharge time allows the fish to completly swim away once I push the button to take a picture. And Second shots are an eternity away. I am also using an inon wide angle lens on a PT-15 housing that puts a shadow on the image. My DS-125 strobe provide enough light but using the PT-15 housing there is a partial obstruction of the camera flash. Is Duct tape on the flash difuser the answer? There is also the complete reprogramming the date, time and manual mode settings every battery change.

Any recommendations? I have 2 cameras in case of flood. Is it time to replace? The housing has been a dream. Auto focus is not that reliable. Where should I go with this? New camera and housing? Any recommendations, suggestions?

DP

 

[jlyle]

You need to cover the flash on the housing when using external strobes. No more shadow.

Shutter lag is a drag, but the camera has an excellent lens system and is capable of taking fantastic pictures.

If you half-press the shutter, you can achieve autofocus lock. If the camera to subject distance doesn't change, you can then snap a picture without lag.

The loss of settings when you change batteries is symptomatic of a bad capacitor - it would cost almost as much to replace the camera as to fix it.

 

[herman]

The other way around the bad cap is to plug in an AC adapter in the camera while replacing the batteries, not an ideal fix but easy to do. Flash recharge time can be cut by reducing the flash level to 1, no need for it being higher if your using a strobe. I cover the flash diffuser with a piece of plastic cut to fit the diffuser and held in place with one of the existing screws. The plastic I use came from the lid of a coffee container. I use one screw to allow me to swing it out of the way if I want both flashes, mainly for a different light direction on macro shots.

 

[livewire]

On the bad capacitor issue, if you're interested in fixing it yourself, I posted a thread previously on this here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ol...repair-internal-memory-capacitor-battery.html

As far as whether or not the camera is dated, well, uh, yeah, there's definitely newer technology out there. You can't do much to speed up the AF, and yes, it's slower than lots of current cameras, but as others have said, prefocusing is the best solution.

What I can tell you is that just the same, this camera has produced great images and proven itself to be an award winner for myself and others. It's super bright lens is really great, and for macro, it's an outstanding camera. Okay, it's at the low end of the megapixel range by today's standards, but it's still pretty decent for a lot of enlargements.

As far as your question on whether to keep it or replace it, that's a semi-religious question that I think only you can answer, involving things like how much cash you have, how often you dive, how often you shoot, who you shoot for, etc. As for me, for the moment, I'm using it in a L&M housing and doing well with it. While I could go drop $5k I don't have on a rig that would expand my horizons tremendously, I just don't need to go there yet, that and the fact that soon enough a good used rig will show up on eBay.