SP550UZ - no Ikelite housing

[jigo]

i think the housing is now in the market. anyone tried it underwater yet? am trying to decide between the oly sp-550uz and the Canon G7.

 

[Larry C]

The G7 is a proven commodity. I've seen some really nice pics posted with it and it has everything but RAW, which for some reason known only to them, Canon removed (the G6 had it) The SP-550, who knows? I can tell you, though, that two years ago all the reviews called the SP-350 a slow P.O.S. with an inferior lens. I was one of the first to take a chance on it as an underwater camera-my first-and although it does have its faults I and others have found it to be a very capable and versatile underwater camera. Sometimes you just have to play a hunch and trust your judgment. If the camera is functional, the picture is 90% photographer, 10% camera.

 

[maynard.hogg]

Olympus Japan (http://olympus-imaging.jp/digitalcamera/accessory/protector/pt037/) says that the PT-037 will be available on the 25th.
The good news is that MSRP is down to 36,000 yen (US$300) from the original 45,000; the bad, that that price is still 50% over what I'm used to paying.

 

[maynard.hogg]

...the PT-037 will be available on the 25th.... MSRP is down to 36,000 yen (US$300)...

I checked a few price comparison sites. I don't know about availability, but lots of places list it for 29,800 yen—a "magic number" price equivalent of US$299.99.

 

[Ryan]

We have PT-037 in stock, but I'm really disappointed w/ the size of this housing...

Even if Ikelite built a housing, 67mm wa converters wouldn't be compatible. This is due toe the physical construction of the camera's lens, and has nothing to do w/ the housing.

 

[jigo]

pls give more details on the housing. is it too big? will the skirt in front create a shadow in the picture when using the internal flash?

 

[Gilligan]

We have PT-037 in stock, but I'm really disappointed w/ the size of this housing...

Even if Ikelite built a housing, 67mm wa converters wouldn't be compatible. This is due toe the physical construction of the camera's lens, and has nothing to do w/ the housing.

Thanks for posting this Ryan. I suspected it had to do with the lens design.

 

[Gilligan]

i think the housing is now in the market. anyone tried it underwater yet? am trying to decide between the oly sp-550uz and the Canon G7.

The Canon G7 housings have wet mount lens limitations.

The Ikelite housing for the Canon G7 has a disclaimer for attaching 67mm WAL lenses but they also have an adapter that allows for a 67mm WAL with some limits as quoted on their site:
"Optional Inon UWL-100, Epoque, and the #6420 Ikelite wide angle lenses attach directly to the port, but extreme lens length precludes any advantage".
"SPECIAL #9305.92 Optional Flat Port slightly limits camera's zoom range, but allows for effective use of 67mm threaded external wide-angle lenses ....... $100"

The Canon WP-DC11 housing has a rectangular lens port thereby eliminating the addition of any wet mount lenses.

 

[jigo]

some G7 users like Ed have successfully rigged their wp-dc11 housings for Inon lenses with great results.

 

[gert7to3]

A web site I have found useful is:

www.imaging-resource.com

The 5th entry down in the left column is "Compare Sample Images"

You can select two cameras and look at images of the same subject taken under the same lighting conditions at similar settings. This includes macro and test pattern shots. I use the "Still Life" and macro image comparisons most when looking for lens performance. Also the "Still Life" images are repated at different ISO values.