Finally just went and did it - SP-350 & housing

[Byte Me]

As usual I spent WAY TOO MANY hours online reading, searching configuring, searching, reading, asking questions. Finally was able to find my first choice for the amount I wanted to spend - Oly SP-350 w/ Oly housing, batteries, charger and 2 1gb cards - via ebay.

Nothing out there has everything, especially for <$400 but this seems to have most of it. Important were manual mode, expandability and IQ. I've used Oly before and like their P&S cameras.

We'll see how it works in a couple weeks in Playa!

[NitroWill]

A lot of people swear by this setup so I think you should be quite pleased with it! Where did you pickup the camera and housing from? Be sure to post pics!

[Byte Me]

Originally Posted by NitroWill

A lot of people swear by this setup so I think you should be quite pleased with it! Where did you pickup the camera and housing from? Be sure to post pics!

Got it on ebay with some extra goodies added too so I don't have to now shop for an xD card. To me that's the 1 big drawback of this camera is the xD. The slow interface sucks but the rest of the camera is so appealing I'm sure I'll be able to live with it, although it may limit ability to shoot RAW which is a benefit of this camera. Pics will definitely be posted along with a full review when I get back.

[bversteegh]

Congratulations - my first 3 uw cameras were Oly's (had one stolen before I ever dove with it) - I've seen lots of great pictures with 350's. Still some of my favorite shots were with my Oly 5060.

We expect great things - start posting those shots....

Oh - and hopefully your bank account can keep up with your new hobby - there are way too many great toys out there that before long, you'll just have to have

[Cheddarchick]

Wow, I bought the 350 in May after having my dc500 stolen, I haven't had a chancce to dive in clear blue water, just green murky water. But so far I really like it. I can't wait until feb & Curacao.... I would love to get the Heinrich/Weinkamp converter for my Ikelite DS51 in my Xmas stocking....

[Soonerwink]

Great choice, I have the same setup and just added a Sea & Sea YS-27 strobe, used it yesterday at Tenkiller Lake. I haven't had a chance to upload pictures yet, but through the LCD screen they didn't look bad for my first try.

[Byte Me]

Originally Posted by Soonerwink

Great choice, I have the same setup and just added a Sea & Sea YS-27 strobe, used it yesterday at Tenkiller Lake. I haven't had a chance to upload pictures yet, but through the LCD screen they didn't look bad for my first try.

How much was the strobe? Did you get it here? I'm very interested to hear how you like it and would love to see the pictures!

Also - since this has two custom settings is there any consensus on what you should pre-program into the customs? ex. - Macro, etc.

If you if you could post your custom settings that'd be great!

[Soonerwink]

I got the strobe on ebay for 235.00 + 40.00 shipping. Shipping was high because it came from Hong Kong, but still alot cheaper than what I could find around here. I'm new at this underwater photography thing, so can't help you on the settings. I have only shot in auto setting with no strobe at the Flower Gardens Flickr: Photos from soonerscubadiver And the pictures I took yesterday with new strope. I took them with the setting on P and the flash set to slave at #1 setting. When I get time I will upload them. The pictures I took at the Flower Gardens was my first time using the camera. I thought they came out pretty good. I did realize that I needed a strobe. There were a lot of shots I couldn't save with photoshop elements. I haven't tried shootining in RAW yet, but I was told that the write time to the xd card is very slow. You might also want to pick up a couple of rechargeable CRV3 batteries. AA batteries are about useless. I picked up 2 CRV3 rechargeables and charger on ebay for under 15.00. I do have the Oly 1 gig H card. I didn't fill it up on 10 dives at the flower gardens.

[bversteegh]

While write times are slow for Raw, how often do you really take a second picture within a few seconds anyway? Raw gives you a lot of options in processing - usually worth the hassle.

[Byte Me]

Originally Posted by bversteegh

While write times are slow for Raw, how often do you really take a second picture within a few seconds anyway? Raw gives you a lot of options in processing - usually worth the hassle.

I agree. While it is more work outside the camera than shooting jpg above water I shoot RAW exclusively w/ my D50 - it just offers so much more control. I'm sure it'll pay dividends, too, givein that I'm new to shooting under water.