Where to find a new SP-350 on-line?

[ce4jesus]

I agree with RTR. My rig underwater is almost as neutral as my P&S rig was. Top side it does weigh a ton. Cost wise I paid about $1000 more for camera and housing for the DSLR than I would have a top end P&S. So it really was a natural thing to do.

 

[weaponeer]

I bought my SP350 last year from the Olympus eBay store. Although a refurb, you can't tell by looking at the physical camera or performance. Works great. Put it in an Iklite housing. I didn't see any 350s on the site right now, but you may want to keep an eye on the Olympus ebay store in case any are made available. Not sure how quickly you need to buy one, but you can also email them to see if they still refurb and sell them. I'd definitely buy another 350 this way if they became available.

 

[Byte Me]

I was able to find an SP350 on ebay complete with two batteries, Oly UW housing, XD card the whole thing. Decent price too but more than I wanted to pay. I'm still fiddling so that when I get it underwater the first time I know what I'm doing. The only issue I've found so far is with shutter lag but I'm shooting at max res JPG. I've shot a couple RAW shots but dang it takes forever to write to that XD card in RAW. In order to combat shutter lag I may set it to fire off two or three shots and just hold the shutter release down.

 

[ewong]

I got my second SP-350 from Trusted Dealer:

Trusted Dealer - Power By Blueswitch

Although I was able to get it for about $240 about 6 months ago. It's now listed for over $300 now.

You can still get the housing from Amazon for about $180:

Store - Underwater Photography


Eddy.

 

[Eileentk]

Be a bit careful about buying from 'Trusted Dealer'. They like to try to give a high pressure sales pitch on accessories and extended warranties. I dodged most of it by telling the saleperson that this a back up camera that I was planning to take underwater. The pricing also jumps around a lot. I initially found the camera via a web link to their site, refurbished for $199. I brought it and the next day, the price jumped to $299. Since I already had an invoice, I insisted on them honoring their previously listed price. I did get the camera but they dragged their feet a bit and also tried for the high pressure accessory/ext warranty sales pitch. The camera appears to be fine but I doubt that I'd go back to their site.

 

[ewong]

Be a bit careful about buying from 'Trusted Dealer'. They like to try to give a high pressure sales pitch on accessories and extended warranties. I dodged most of it by telling the saleperson that this a back up camera that I was planning to take underwater. The pricing also jumps around a lot. I initially found the camera via a web link to their site, refurbished for $199. I brought it and the next day, the price jumped to $299. Since I already had an invoice, I insisted on them honoring their previously listed price. I did get the camera but they dragged their feet a bit and also tried for the high pressure accessory/ext warranty sales pitch. The camera appears to be fine but I doubt that I'd go back to their site.

Hmm ... good to know ... I bought mine strictly online, so I had no such problems. This was my backup camera, so I knew what I was getting. The camera arrived fine.

For advise and service, I tend to rely on uwphoto.com (Fred) or reefphoto.com (Ryan). But sometimes, they don't have the inventory I want.


Eddy.

 

[LavaSurfer]

Kind of funny reading through this thread.
Doesn't anyone google anymore?
I found dozens of places selling the 350. I may buy an extra just in case.
Amazon.com: Olympus SP-350 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black): Camera & Photo

Here is one place I trust

 

[LavaSurfer]

Why has Olympus forsaken the underwater P&S community and taken one or our greatest joys? I remember the day when a SP-350 could be obtained for $225 by the bushel (sigh).

Maybe a better question is why not release an improved SP-350 type of camera that is waterproof to 10 ft without a case so that when the case floods it won't automatically ruin the camera?

Pictures from Roatan were taken with SP-350.

Yep, I flooded one. Know what ya mean there,

 

[RockyHeap]

I bought 2 of them for $169 at cosco when they were first discontinued. At least I talked a friend into buying one, so I have a backup to my backup..........I'll just buy it off him for cheap and buy him a new one.

People are gouging on used/refurb prices, these are dated cameras, not 1970 Mopar 'cudas or 1865 mustangs!