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Bonaire Photography & Videography: Olympus C5050 vs C5060
Bonaire Talk: Bonaire Photography & Videography: Archives: Archives 2005: Archives - 2005 01-01 to 2005- 05-01: Olympus C5050 vs C5060
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Whitney (BonaireTalker - Post #39) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 9:56 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Last year I purchased a Sealife DC300 underwater digital camera hoping to get good pics while snorkeling Bonaire but I was disappointed with the quality of my pictures. They were not much better than an underwater disposable. The only advantage was being digital.

With a new trip coming up I have been looking for a better alternative and have seen many positive comments on the Olympus C5050 with P-015 housing. I have looked for a P-015 housing and it seems they are no longer in production. I know I could probably get one off Ebay or elsewhere but was wondering if a better choice would be the Olympus C5060 with P-020 housing. My budget is in the $500 - $600 range. I am not planning on getting a strobe at this time but would like to have that option in the future. Can an external digital strobe be added to these cameras/housings?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Tom

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By herman mowery (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #469) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 10:32 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Tom,

Both cameras have been used with good success in uw photography. I own a 5050/pt15. At the time I bought the 5060 had just came out so I had a choice between the 2. I choose the 5050 for several reasons but the main one was that it used standard AA batteries. Digital cameras eat batteries and you will want at least 3 sets. This makes the 5060 very expensive to keep in batteries. In addition, I am confident that in 4 or 5 years I can still get AA batteries at almost any store, the custom battery for the 5060 will be hard to find and expensive. Another reason I wanted AA's is because almost all strobes use them and having my camera and strobe using the same batteries is an advantage.
The 5060 does have one advantage I see and that is the 4x optical lens as opposed to the 3x on the 5050. For UW use it's not really important but for topside photos it would be a big help. The one think I don't like about the 5050 is the limited zoom it has, around 108mm equiv. I was use to a 300mm on my 35mm.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Whitney (BonaireTalker - Post #40) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 12:16 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Herman,
Thanks for the response and pointers on the batteries. I also hope to keep my camera for several years and prefer to ease of AA batteries over custom batteries. I'm sure the 5050 would work well for me but how difficult will it be to get u/w housings in the future for the 5050?

Tom

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By herman mowery (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #470) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 2:12 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

The Oly PT-015 may be hard to get except maybe on Ebay. I would suspect the Ikelite version should be available for a while. It will be more expensive but it is better built and service should be easier to get.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By seb schulherr (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1865) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 2:29 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

There are actually a lot of the 015 housings still out there.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Fishman (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #149) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 3:02 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

The pt 020, designed for the 5060 has had issues according to reliable sources. The new pt 027, designed for the new Oly 7070 may be an option should you decide to go with the 5 meg camera. Both cameras (5060+7070)"appear" to be similar in size. Ask a reseller if it's indeed an option.

When you're ready to add an external strobe, Ikelite housings also offer true TTL metering when combined with a DS 50 or DS 125. With the Oly housings, you're limited to their underpowered (for other than macro) FL 20 (and appropriate strobe housing). If you shoot your strobes manually though, there are many brands available to you when and if you decide to add an external strobe. Inon also offers an S-TTL option with their newest strobe, the D 2000.

The pt 015 housing is loved and hated. Many have commented on jog dial issues, others have had 100's of dives logged without problems reported.

The 5050 has the option of adding wide angle conversion lenses to the exterior of the housing. Later Oly digicams (5060, 7070, 8080)introduced a moving element design in the lens, resulting in vignetting with the WAL's such as the Inon, Oly, Epoque, or S&S. For wide angle on these later models, you must decide ahead of time if WA is your choice for the dive. Then you must add a port to the housing to compliment the Oly WAL, which is attached directly to the digicam.

If you decide to add a WAL though, you'll want that external strobe (the onboard flash will be partially blocked) unless you wish to shoot all ambient light.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bruce Wallace (BonaireTalker - Post #56) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 5:01 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Tom, I prefer my 5050 for many reasons that can be explained here. http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/c5050/index.html
I have the PT 015 housing and Ike 125 strobe with a TTL controller. I had a sony camera in their housing and used only the internal strobe and had very good results. The 5050 will do a great job as long as you are within a few feet of the subject to obtain the best use of the onboard flash. Otherwise You'll end up with a blue picture. I think your choice of the 5050 PT-015 is a VERY good start. I also have an Epoque wide angle lens which attaches to the PT housing and needs an external strobe as Bob stated. Get plenty of memory and some extra rechargeable batteries and take plenty of pictures.
BTW Bob, I always enjoy reading your input.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Whitney (BonaireTalker - Post #41) on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - 11:20 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Herman, Seb, Bob, and Bruce for your suggestions and most valuable information. I will most likely go for the Olympus C5050 with the PT-015 housing. I see Olympus is offering thru Ebay reconditioned units with full warranty. I will watch for a deal there. Living in rural Wisconsin I don't have easy access to decent camera shops nearby. Do any of you know of a reputable mail order or internet source for the PT-015 housing?

Thanks again for all your help.

Tom

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Fishman (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #151) on Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 12:09 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Olympus America store on Ebay or Helix:

http://www.helixphoto.com/home.html

are two options for the pt 015

If you decide to investigate the Ikelite 5050 TTL housing option, contact Ryan Canon at Reef Photo Video:

http://www.reefphotovideo.com/index.php?referrer=digitaldivernetwork

Ryan is very knowledgeable and objective. He speaks from experience and will not pressure you into any decision.

no affiliation with any of the above,
bob

btw bruce, thanks for the kind words...much appreciated.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Whitney (BonaireTalker - Post #42) on Saturday, January 29, 2005 - 11:13 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks guys for all your help regarding the Oly 5050 vs. 5060. As I patiently (?) waited for the right deal on Ebay and elsewhere I got a 5060 on Ebay. Price was very good ($299) - in fact much less than other 5050's and 5060's so now I am waiting to receive my camera. Should be Tuesday according to Fedex. Then I will begin my search for the housing.

Tom

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Shelly Fischer (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Saturday, January 29, 2005 - 9:05 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

The pt-015 is getting hard to find. We searched the internet high and low to find this housing for our 5050 olympus. I ordered one thru Helix, only to get a message back that stated they no longer had the housing available. We went back to searching ebay. There is 3 up for auction right now. Fortunately, I found an ebay store that was selling one with buy it now, we got expedited shipping and should have our new toy about 2 days before leaving for Bonaire.

We didn't upgrade to 5060 because of the battery issue too.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil Berry (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3883) on Saturday, January 29, 2005 - 11:24 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I'm sure you all will be very happy with those cameras. One thing that did occur to me is that you were over thinking the batteries. It was said that in five years there would still be AA batteries. Yes there will still be (AA's) but I will not be using my present camera or probably even my next camera. The evolution of these cameras is similar to computers and their associated lifetimes.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By emily hanan (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 7:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Regarding the battery life of the 5060 - so far I've found it to be excellent! I haven't had a chance to get my camera underwater yet, but judging by topside shots, the "custom" 5060 battery lasts WAY longer than a set of AAs does in my old c-3020. And you can get extra 5060 batteries on Ebay for $5-10, so it isn't a big deal to bring along 3 or 4 batteries on your trip.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Schmottlach (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 6:23 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

The battery in the 5060 are great and a true advantage when especially when scuba divning. How many times has anyone in this forum taken 600+ photos with a 5050 on a single charge? Get real.

I used a pt-20 with my 5050 for a long time and took some really nice photos. I would recommend this housing set up any day. It is easy to maintain, is compact, and all controls work well. It also works ok without a strobe but I pretty much always had mine (Ike ds-50).

I recently sold the pt-20 and ds-50 and replaced them with an ikelite housing and ds-125 strobe. I did this for super macro ttl and improved wide angle capablity. I do prefer the Ike housing but it did cost $300 more than what I paid for the pt-20. And while it offers some worthwhile performance improvements - the PT-20 is more compact and has better controls (in my opinion).

Another advantage of the Ike housing is that you can use it with the new 7070 camera as well as the 5060.

 


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