Olympus xr-1 housing?

[Funland111]

I was going to upgrade to a Canon S95 with an Ikelite housing, until I read a review concerning the XR-1. I do not have any experience with Olympus housings. If I decide to purchase the XR-1 instead of the S95, should I go with an Olympus housing or wait for an Ikelite housing? I was considering the FIX housing for the S95, but it's hard to justify the cost. I'm heading to Aruba in March, but it looks like the XR-1 might not be available before my trip. Appreciate any thoughts.

Bill

 

[cardog]

I was going to upgrade to a Canon S95 with an Ikelite housing, until I read a review concerning the XR-1. I do not have any experience with Olympus housings. If I decide to purchase the XR-1 instead of the S95, should I go with an Olympus housing or wait for an Ikelite housing? I was considering the FIX housing for the S95, but it's hard to justify the cost. I'm heading to Aruba in March, but it looks like the XR-1 might not be available before my trip. Appreciate any thoughts.

Bill

I think that you're talking about the Olympus XZ-1.....
The XZ-1 and it's housing should be available by the end of January or the first part of February.

 

[crepitus]

Olympus make the best OEM housings, full stop. My PT-020 housing for C5060 has dual o-rings, sync cord bulkhead - unheard of in it's original price range. PT-050 looks even better. Sometimes cheaper is better.

 

[slowhands]

Olympus make the best OEM housings, full stop. My PT-020 housing for C5060 has dual o-rings, sync cord bulkhead - unheard of in it's original price range. PT-050 looks even better. Sometimes cheaper is better.

I too am a fan of Olympus housings. Olympus did use dual O-rings on some inexpensive housings in the past, the PT-015, PT-020, PT023 and PT-030 being examples I have used. Current models use only one, except for the DSLR metal housings. The plastic PT-EPL1 housing for the E-PL1 has one O-ring.

I'm not sure double O-rings adds much. I'm lucky, I've never had a flood. But most of the reports I have read have listed dirty O-rings as a cause, if they knew. The annual replacement of double O-rings is expensive and might make people shirk on replacing them, which could lead to trouble.

I think all of these plastic housings are less reliable than metal ones, no question you get what you pay for.

 

[joebubbles]

The annual replacement of double O-rings is expensive and might make people shirk on replacing them, which could lead to trouble.

I'd rather bear the expense of replacing an O-ring, rather than replacing my O-camera

 

[cardog]

Does anyone know if the PT-050 will take 67mm wet lenses without an adapter?