Finally!

[MAGELLAN]

Ive just bought the C-5060 and the the PT-020 Housing. So, I should be getting it in a few days. Just wondering, any suggestions on accessories? Should I invest in memory, batteries, or anything else right away? I'm hoping to familiarize myself with it this month, since we have a trip planned for the first week of August to Cozumel. Thanks for your suggestions

 

[ReyeR]

Ive just bought the C-5060 and the the PT-020 Housing. So, I should be getting it in a few days. Just wondering, any suggestions on accessories? Should I invest in memory, batteries, or anything else right away? I'm hoping to familiarize myself with it this month, since we have a trip planned for the first week of August to Cozumel. Thanks for your suggestions

You'll need a larger memory card - the xD that comes standard with the 5060 won't hold too many pics at 5MP. Do a search on CF memory cards on this forum for suggestions. A spare battery is recommended too. The Oly one is not cheap. There's a third-party BLM-01 battery by Vidpro but I don't know how good it is:
http://www.digitalphotodiscountclub.com/sc/product-features.asp?id=964592407

There's also a word of caution out for the 5060/PT-020, posted on dd.net:

We have had several C-5060 owners complaining about menu operations not working. Also, sometimes, the focusing option menu continually popping up.

At first, we thought this was an adherent problem with the camera. As it turns out, if the Mode Dial wheel on the PT-020 isn't pulled up when either closing or opening the PT-020 it bends the Mode Dial mechanism on the camera and puts the C-5060 into a multi mode situation and makes it inoperatable. If this happens, invasive surgery is the only solution.

 

[justleesa]

I would highly recommend that you get a 2nd battery, one in the charger - one in the camera. Your are then always ready.

 

[orangeBloke]

As regards the battery the standard one is not bad and I can get 2-3 dives off of it. Also as it's Litium based you can recharge it without decharging it fully so I usually just recharge it after dive 2 and get enough charge in an hour or two for another couple of dives.

For storage I'd go for as much as you can afford as it saves having to open the case after every dive. The two slots are useful as they allow you to switch between the cards when one fills up. I have a 512Mb CF card in one and a 512Mb xD card in the other. Each can hold around 180 shots of super high quality (SHQ) pictures so there's oodles of room. And if you're going on a long trip and don't have a laptop, or you don't ahve that much room on your cards, get a card reader with a hard disc so you can clear down the cards and make more room. I have a an Xs drive with a 40Gb disc which is nice and small and easier to carry than a laptop but I think there are better alternatives around now too - have a look on the board and you'll see mention of some of them.

I'd also look at getting a strobe at some point as the internal flash is okay for very close shots but a strobe will do a better job.

Before you leave for Cozumel I'd just go and take a load of shots with the casing on dry at home or in a pool to get used to it so you don't waste any dive time trying to figure it out. There are a lot of buttons on the casing but you get used to them very quickly and you can make whatever adjustments you like.

Personally I like manual mode (M) as it gives me the most freedom to adjust how the camera uses the light though others would argue with me about what their favourite mode is. Play with it and find out what works for you but programmed mode (P) will rarely get it right on its own

It's a nice camera and I'm very happy with mine. Have fun and let us see your pictures when you get back

 

[Wildcard]

Just got the same set up myself. Got a great deal on line for the camera but got screwed on the memory card. Paid twice what I should have. I now have a 128 in one slot and a 512 in the 2d I got at Costco for $80. Looking at strobes now....
Look at my Fumblings thread and there is a lot of great advice on there from those in the know.

 

[MAGELLAN]

Wildcard,

What did you pay, If you don't mind me asking? I used a company called Digitaletailer. Unfortunately, after ordering, I read some bad reveiws, but so far I've been lucky. I'm looking for a deal on memory now. What started out as a 485 Camera is quickly growing.

 

[MAGELLAN]

Well, I just dropped anther $250 on an additional battery and memory. This is getting expensive! I bought the Lexar Compact flash based on some of the links here to performance tests, etc. The CF card claims to have 80x write speeds for whatever that's worth. Fortunatley it looks like the Olympus c5060 supports the write acceleration technology. Does anyone have any experience with using the "WA" version of CF cards? Does it really help?

http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/product-features.asp?id=964592899

I'm still working on understanding all the features of the camera. So, I'm sure I'll be asking more questions, hope you guys don't mind answering.