Replacement for SP-350, Sp-560 or 570?

[merxlin]

If anyone knows of a refurbished SP-350, please let me know. Web search is a bit thin for them right now.

 

[ce4jesus]

The G-9 is a faster more refined camera:

G-9 SP-350
Power on time: 1.5 sec. 2.0 sec.

Shutter Lag
autofocus wide angle: 0.57 sec. 1.22 sec.
autofocus tele: 0.69 sec. 1.17 sec.

Cycle time:
RAW capture: 2.79 sec. 7.00+ sec.
Fine JPEG: 2.12 sec. 2.19 sec.

That lag time is especially annoying. You will capture alot of fish butts with shutter lag so slow.

If you want to shoot RAW, even with the fastest HD/ H cards in the SP-350, it takes over 7.0 seconds to upload from clicking the shutter to being ready for the next shot.

These two factors could drive me into the upgrade cycle sooner rather than later.

Performance sources are from:

Digital Cameras, Digital Camera Reviews - The Imaging Resource!

Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ

is another reference source.

There's no question that the G9's surface performance is better than the SP-350 but as a former owner of the SP-350 it does have a few marks in its favor.
1. The low light performance doesn't seem to affect the shutter/focus speed. This was a subjective test I did in stores prior to buying it. With most other brands of cameras a simple duck below the counter while focusing on the low contrasting carpet and using your body to shade available light seem to fool their systems.
2. The OEM Housing accepts both WA and macro wet lenses in both the screw-on and bayonet style mounts (with cheap adapter). This is a huge drawback of the G7 and G9 with the Canon Housing. Even the more expensive Ike housing the G series won't accept the Inon UWL165 lens without vignetting while the Olympus will.
3. It was very tough to get the Oly housing to fog up. I managed it once in 2 years during a snorkelling adventure on a hot day. The G7 and G9 users have complained of housing fog issues.

 

[ce4jesus]

Brand New Olympus SP-350 8MegaPixel Digital Camera - eBay (item 220223707566 end time Apr-20-08 07:49:58 PDT)

interesting watch on Ebay if you don't mind using that venue

 

[liberato]

The G-9 is a faster more refined camera:

                  G-9          SP-350
RAW capture:      2.79 sec.    7.00+ sec.

That is a very legitimate complaint. That 7 seconds sure feels like 10+ while waiting and makes RAW pretty much unusable on the SP-350 except for still lifes. But for a 3rd generation G-series in its price range the RAW capture on the G-9 should be even better than almost 3 seconds.

 

[merxlin]

Brand New Olympus SP-350 8MegaPixel Digital Camera - eBay (item 220223707566 end time Apr-20-08 07:49:58 PDT)

interesting watch on Ebay if you don't mind using that venue

I don't mind at all. Must be new, I didn't see it earlier. Thanks!

 

[ce4jesus]

That is a very legitimate complaint. That 7 seconds sure feels like 10+ while waiting and makes RAW pretty much unusable on the SP-350 except for still lifes. But for a 3rd generation G-series in its price range the RAW capture on the G-9 should be even better than almost 3 seconds.

In two years of using the SP-350, the issue came up about a half dozen times. Usually because the batteries were getting low or looking up after taking a shot and seeing something swimming by. Even external strobes have a certain amount of recharge time so unless you're into the high end Inon's or Ikelites, your external strobe will take about 4-9 seconds to recharge. The shutter lag was always the biggest complaint I had with the SP-350.

 

[fairybasslet]

Shutter lag on the 560 is definitely improved over the 7070. Never used the 350 so I can't compare.

 

[gert7to3]

liberato, the data I provided was from Digital Cameras, Digital Camera Reviews - The Imaging Resource!. You can look up cameras by manufacturer. Shutter lag times appear in the the "Performance" category for each reviewed camera.

I regard the RAW write response of the SP-350 to be so slow that it is useless for RAW shooting in any sort of dynamic environment. Seven seconds is what I observe with a "H" speed card. It's nearly ten seconds with a "M" card.

 

[Gilligan]

I'm still using my Oly C4000Z but am constantly looking at newer cameras.

The Canon G9 is at the top of my list.

The Oly Sp570UZ is very tempting when the housing becomes available. The 570 has a 24mm equivalent wide angle lens. The G9 can't touch that. A visiting diver here in Bohol had a 560 and I was checking out his photos. They were fine. The 18X zoom is of no use underwater but the wide angle is. The housing is cumbersome and the flash diffuser is very large. Some engineering is needed to attach a fiber optic cable for a slave strobe. Even more creative engineering is needed so as to be able to block the internal strobe and at the same time keep the option of using it as I do now with my Oly C4000Z. A major drawback to his 560 was the write time to the card in RAW mode. It took about 10 to 15 seconds.

The Canon A650IS is the sister camera to the G9. Both have the same CCD. The G9 has RAW, a hot shoe and a 3 inch monitor. The A650 has a 2.5 inch moinitor, no RAW and no hot shoe.
This website has firmware hacks for Canon cameras so as to obtain RAW from them. The hack loads to the cameras card and does not override the cameras firmware:
FAQ - CHDK Wiki
Currently there is no hack there for the A650IS to obtain RAW.

 

[merxlin]

Brand New Olympus SP-350 8MegaPixel Digital Camera - eBay (item 220223707566 end time Apr-20-08 07:49:58 PDT)interesting watch on Ebay if you don't mind using that venue

I actually bid on this and won, so thanks Ce4. Paid $60 more than I paid for the original, but still less than MSRP so I guess I did OK. Buying it was less than what my insurance coverage would cover so I used them to buy my wife a Canon A650is. So now I guess I don't need a replacement