In June Hubby gave me a Canon A710 IS for my bday. I had just given him one for his bday in Dec.
Unfortunately, my camera had some kind of computer hiccup so we took it back for replacement. The retailer still dosen't have them in nor do they have any timeframe for delivery. Also, they said they had a few come back from the latest shipment...
We leave for Bonaire in 30 days and I need all the time I can get to practice.
The store has offered an Olympus SP-550 UZ with the housing. My research shows the Oly is a good camera (I like the 18xs telephoto for flamingo shots) except it has slight shutter lag, very slow upload times, it's quite a bit bigger than the Canon, and uses an XD memory card rather than SD card.
I like the Canon a lot but since we already have one, I'm thinking it might be prudent to have different models.

So would you:
--a) get a refund and find another Canon
--b) take the Olympus SP-550 UZ
--c) choose a different camera

I'm trying to decide by next Wednesday
Thanks for your input!

Hi Kali:

I am an Olympus person [5 Olympus digital cameras]. I still love my Oly 2100c Ultrazoom and my Oly C-5050 but in this case I would go for the refund and find another Canon.

1. Commonality and Familiarity and you like the Canon.

2. The Olympus 550 should be a great camera [high ISO and 18x Zoom] but, it hasn't consistently delivered. Unfortunately it seems to be plagued with focus problems especially in low light or extreme telephoto situations. The "software fix" that Olympus came out with [I believe in February] apparently DID NOT address the focus issue but rather the camera's high ISO performance. I plan to wait for the 550's replacement and hope that with that camera they will find fixes for the shutter lag and focus problems.

Just my 2 cents.

Have a great trip.

Thanks William. 2 cents is just fine

Tara, I agree with Bill especially if you already have the housing for the Canon, then the Canon is the way forward.

Bill our cameras struggle to focus in low light, thats why I have at least three lights on my camera. At least people recognise me underwater!

We have 2 Olympus cameras with u/w housings. I use a 30-30 (I inherited this one when Dave got his new one) and Dave uses an 80-80. I had my choice and got he older model because it does not have as many buttons and settings, His can be confusing with all of the buttons. Both cameras take great pictures, the operators sometimes achieve mediocre pictures. Look all of the cameras up online that you are considering and compare pros and cons.
Hope all of the input you get will help you.

Andy

can anyone tell me if the Fugi underwater cameras work fairly well? I would like to take some pictures while in Bonaire

Tara I have to agree with the others, stick with the Canon because you know it and you do not have time to learn a new system. You should order one today and try to get in some shutter time before Bonaire.

Allan the Fujis do very well and I have seen many great pictures with a Fuji.

Tara,
Have you tried contacting Canon directly? I don't know if it would make a difference but if they show it in stock in the Canon on-line store maybe you, or the store manager, could just get it through there and sort out the paperwork later?

I have no idea if it would work, but...

I agree, Boom... stick with what you know - the Canon. You will have a blast!

Allan, I have the Fuji E900 with an Ikelite housing (no strobe) and it did fine... the operator was another story

I agree Boom, get a refund. However, I love my oly sp 350 with that nice big 2.5 inch lcd screen. it has many many functions, and a hot shoe if you want to eventually get a strobe.

Thanks everyone! I knew I'd get great input here

This year we used a Fuji Finepix 30 with Fuji's UW housing, very compact and very easy to use. We are just getting into UW photography so perhaps our opinions are limited. Never the less, one of our pictures unedited won Habitats's weekly photo contest. We have several excellent shots (considering it was our first try)

Thank you all so much for your input... I knew I could count on BT.
I decided to go ahead and replace the Canon.
I went on line and found that Circuit City had it for the best price and included a small photo printer! I don't really need another printer, but we figured the hubby could keep it at his fire station.
I'm very pleased with my decision and have already taken a few nice pictures.
This is the view of the fire this afternoon from my front patio - every afternoon there is a huge head of smoke (edited in Paint - I'm not used to that program, sorry for the color distortion).

This next one is my friend's service dog, Osa. She has known Rasta since she was a pup and was thrilled to be hanging out at our house this afternoon. Eventually she climbed up on the back of our sofa and watched us through the living room window. She is just the epitome of a Disney Dog!


Thanks again for your help and inspiration to become a better photographer.

Kali, maybe I'm to late with this but anyway.
If you can, I recommend to go with a Canon G7.
It is one step up with the model you described but
you will love it. Canon also makes a housing for it.
We taught a few classes with it and I think its one
of the finest compacts at this moment.
Tim.

Tim,
Thank you for the input. I did already get the A710 IS. I thought about the G7 but hadn't heard enough about it to push me there.
Ah well, next time
Again, thank you for taking the time to give me your insight.

My pleasure, If you have more photo related questions, feel free to contact me anytime.
Tim.

Hopefully we will have the chance to meet you and your wife in September!