Olympus C-720 vs. Sony?

[O-ring]

Ok, go easy on me...I ain't never been in this forum before . I know diddly about underwater photography, but got a decent sized Amazon.com gift certificate for Xmas. I already have all the books I can read at the moment and there aren't any promising new Xbox titles out, so I was thinking of getting a new digital camera (I have a Kodak that doesn't have an available housing other than that plastic bag thing).

What I was wondering is which route would you go? I wanted to get something that would be primarily used underwater, but don't want to break the bank. It seems to me I read somewhere that the Oly C-720 was, unfortunately, one of the models that Oly had decided NOT to make the cheap OEM housing for...is this correct? If that's the case, I would be limited to the Ikelite that costs about as much as the camera, right?

What about the Sony option...I played with one on a dive boat once and it seemed nice enough...housing (OEM) seemed pretty reasonably priced too.

Oh.. another consideration..I already have a couple Smartmedia cards I could use that I bought with the Kodak...I think these would work in the Oly, but not in the Sony since the Sonys are memory stick, right?

 

[divedivedive!]

You're right, the Olympus C-7x0 series doesn't have OEM housings available for them. You have to consider what you're looking for in a camera - for me, I looked at which ones had cheap(ish) housings in the market and I chose from amongst that shortened list. It makes no sense to get a housing that costs as much as if not more than the camera as an afterthought. For that sort of money you might as well just buy a better camera with a ready-made housing.

There is a very good site to see just which housings are available for which cameras - http://www.digideep.com/ - and it only lists a Japanese brand of housings for the C-7x0 series, at http://www.div.co.jp.

If you're going to go down the Olympus route, you could probably get the 5-megapixel C5050z and housing for the cost of the C-7x0 and Ikelite housing (US$500 on their website). To save even more cash, try out the 3- or 4-megapixel ones, since they'll be trying to clear stock, and you don't really lose that much in quality at the strictly non-professional level.

I'm guessing you're referring to the Sony P1/3/5/9 line... I don't have much experience with one, but I wasn't too fond of the very slow shutter lag and lack of optical zoom in the one I tried out. The housing also doesn't have allow for add-on lenses. And Sony Memory Sticks are dead expensive... Smart Medias (as in Olympus, for whose new models also take xD and CF cards I believe) are much cheaper.

Hope some of this helps

 

[O-ring]

divedivedive! once bubbled...
You're right, the Olympus C-7x0 series doesn't have OEM housings available for them. You have to consider what you're looking for in a camera - for me, I looked at which ones had cheap(ish) housings in the market and I chose from amongst that shortened list. It makes no sense to get a housing that costs as much as if not more than the camera as an afterthought. For that sort of money you might as well just buy a better camera with a ready-made housing.

There is a very good site to see just which housings are available for which cameras - http://www.digideep.com/ - and it only lists a Japanese brand of housings for the C-7x0 series, at http://www.div.co.jp.

If you're going to go down the Olympus route, you could probably get the 5-megapixel C5050z and housing for the cost of the C-7x0 and Ikelite housing (US$500 on their website). To save even more cash, try out the 3- or 4-megapixel ones, since they'll be trying to clear stock, and you don't really lose that much in quality at the strictly non-professional level.

I'm guessing you're referring to the Sony P1/3/5/9 line... I don't have much experience with one, but I wasn't too fond of the very slow shutter lag and lack of optical zoom in the one I tried out. The housing also doesn't have allow for add-on lenses. And Sony Memory Sticks are dead expensive... Smart Medias (as in Olympus, for whose new models also take xD and CF cards I believe) are much cheaper.

Hope some of this helps

This is exactly the type of information I was looking for...I know nothing about land photography (strictly a point and shoot type of guy) and don't know much about shutters and apertures, etc. I do know enough to agree with you on the optical zoom business...digital zooms, from my limited experience, only screw up the photos and are useless (I have had 2 digital land cameras and neither worked well).

I don't see myself printing out posters...probably just digital pics to post and email around and some 4x6 printing and possibly a little larger. Maybe I will look at a lesser camera if I go the olympus route. Who else is a player in the 3-5 MP space that has affordable housings? I thought Sony and Oly were it?

 

[Dee]

O-ring once bubbled...
I don't see myself printing out posters...probably just digital pics to post and email around and some 4x6 printing and possibly a little larger. Maybe I will look at a lesser camera if I go the olympus route. Who else is a player in the 3-5 MP space that has affordable housings? I thought Sony and Oly were it?

I would go with a minimum of 3MP if you think you'll want prints larger than 4x6. Oly and Canon are the two most used for u/w, with sony dragging up a distant third. There was a discussion on Canons in the last day or so.
Check here for what notabob had to say. If you're on a really strict budget, the Canon is a good choice. If not, an Oly would be my choice with a PT-XXX housing.

 

[divedivedive!]

O-ring once bubbled...
I don't see myself printing out posters...probably just digital pics to post and email around and some 4x6 printing and possibly a little larger. Maybe I will look at a lesser camera if I go the olympus route. Who else is a player in the 3-5 MP space that has affordable housings? I thought Sony and Oly were it?

Alrighty, working with a dive magazine, I can tell you that 4 megapixels and up is good enough for us to publish and at this resolution it's hard to discern between slide scans and digital pics. This doesn't apply to full-page or cover pics, of course, when you'll start to note the slight graininess.

Actually I would suggest that if you're only going to be printing them out for personal purposes, up to 8"x11", a good printer is more important than a high resolution camera. I also have a 2mpx camera which suits me fine for personal or online use. If you don't ever intend to have your pics published, I'd say you don't even need a 4mpx camera... some would disagree...

Basically, buy the best camera you can afford (with housing included in the cost), because not just resolution but features (good lenses, additional modes, etc) are incorporated into the price.

The other option with OEM housings is Canon, with my main gripe about them being that you don't have mechanical access to the on/off buttons in the S40 series, and have to rely on auto-off/sleep modes.

 

[Dee]

So...DDD...what dive mag do you work for/with?

You mention having a good printer...which would you suggest?

 

[divedivedive!]

Dee once bubbled...
So...DDD...what dive mag do you work for/with?

You mention having a good printer...which would you suggest?

Umm about the dive mag, I'll reply in private, keep the spam off the boards

As far as printers go, any one that advertises itself as a photo-quality printer is probably good enough for our purposes; you don't really need actual photo printers. This is normally at the mid to high end of the consumer range and up. Lexmarks give good prints but the ink runs out really fast, Epsons are good for their border-free printing, HPs are pretty ink-efficient, and I really like the vibrancy of colours on Canons (I use the S600 at home). It pretty much comes down to personal preference and needs. Seeing as printing u/w photos is likely to be a peripheral use, you should really choose a printer based more on your other needs.

 

[WreckWriter]

Check with Rax on this Eric.

Tom

 

[raxafarian]

I have a canon s800 printer. Works great. I've heard the epsons are good too.

Here's what I consider most important:

1. macro capability
2. wide angle coverage
3. compatability with various strobes
4. megapixels (I think anything over 3mp will give you good prints up to 8x10)
5. housings available
6. add-on lenses as required (I think all digitals benefit with an addon wide angle adapter.... some will require a macro lens).
7. battery life
8. media type


I love the macro on my nikon, but the housing costs more than most want to spend.
I like the nikon because it does NOT use preflash, therefore any strobe works with a TTL sync cord.
The Nikon 5000 has about the best wide coverage.... again there are not any 'cheap' housing available.

Most seem to like the olympus, with canon being second.

I'd make a list of several cameras (ie. olympus 3040, 4040, 5050, and the canons: s30, s40, etc...) since these are the only ones with cheaper housings, and compare the features .... and read the reviews
HERE .



I would pick my camera using my criteria above, pretty much in the order listed..... so I wouldn't really care about housing cost. But that's just me.... I'll buy a more expensive housing to match a camera I want, and Lisa will just have to eat hotdogs for supper for a couple of months , and not buy new shoes (like she needs any), for awhile. (wait 'til she sees how much trimix fills are since Tom has talked me into taking that class sometime this year).

Everyone is different. Decide what's important to you. List your important criteria, find cameres that match, research the cams, buy one.... then start all over again, because the one you just got home is obsolete.

I'm happy with my 3mp camera until I get an SLR style digital. Not everyone needs or wants one of those, but again, I think anything over 3mp will do you well.

 

[WreckWriter]

raxafarian once bubbled...
But that's just me.... I'll buy a more expensive housing to match a camera I want, and Lisa will just have to eat hotdogs for supper for a couple of months , and not buy new shoes (like she needs any), for awhile. (wait 'til she sees how much trimix fills are since Tom has talked me into taking that class sometime this year).

Bring her to Key Largo during the cold months and she won't need shoes.