ce4jesus

Here's the scoop. I'm testing this this type H card out with 2500mah rechargeables and its consistently giving me about 7 seconds in RAW mode and about 2 seconds in SHQ jpeg mode. The test was done without a flash. With the internal flash and fresh batteries the test was 9 seconds with RAW and 4 seconds with SHQ. Overall... a pretty good test. I would almost guess the CV-V3 batteries will test even better. The 2 seconds on SHQ will give you the ability to shoot fairly fast underwater if you need to. The RAW mode at 7 seconds is something I can live with. Later,

I did just buy the replacement on Ebay for $80. I'll consider it a lesson well learned with the fragile connector. I bought the original on Ebay from Olympus Auctions as well. They are brand new units. Yeah...I realize it intellectual property but it just kind of stunned me that Oly wouldn't sell me the part. Maybe I'll start a business with a sign that says " I buy ugly, broken, housings!" Anyway, I guess I got a few spare Orings and parts for the future. Thanks, Gary

My wife and I take turns with our camera. We compete over who takes the best composition etc. I get it one dive, she gets it the next.

Mike, I have the FL20 housed in a PFL-01 housing. The bulkhead fitting on the flash housing snapped off. It connected the TTL cable that comes from the camera housing. BTW, these housing are made for Philips by another company...Oly refused to give me the name of the other company so I could buy the part from them directly. Thanks, Gary

Well I snapped off the bulkhead that connects the cable to the flash. Packed it in a suitcase with it connected, carryed it on but came back snapped off. I took the connection off in about 2 minutes. I called Olympus wanting to buy the connector. I was told that I had to send it in for repair...flat rate of $113. A $10 part and 2 minutes...wow I am in the wrong business. Anyway, I don't know if there is an aftermarket in Oly stuff but if anyone knows of one I would be grateful. Thanks, Gary

http://www.digitaldiver.net/strobes.php Here's a great site someone just hooked me up with....

Dan, My wife and I are about as new as you and you're wife to this great sport. What I have done is practice...practice...practice. Your local dive shop should have a pool that has open hours that they will let you use for a small fee. I found that I became pretty good at buoyancy control fairly quickly but that having a large camera rig in my hands made for some unexpected challenges. IE..here are some things that I found needed some more practice. 1. Hovering - just sitting in one spot without moving. 2. Even the simply things in diving...ie equalizing ear pressure. I can no longer use my right hand to equalize because it has a large camera in it. You also have to add air with the same left hand as you're descending. So practicing a controlled descent and ascent suddenly became issues I needed to work on. The ascent because I always used to look at my gauges while ascending to make sure I was heading up too quickly. Holding the gauges while trying to dump some air is somewhat of a challenge. So much so that I thought of investing in a wrist computer instead of the one in my console. Anyway, get your housing, hit that pool, dent your wallet and enjoy. Gary

Some side notes.... Impossible to do over/under shots unless you're real quick haha. because the lens needs water in order to focus properly. When zoomed out with no distortion, the f-stop was auto adjusted to 2.9 versus 2.8 for wide open. Overall...I've very happy with it. Any comments/criticism would be greatly appreciated

...and finally a swimming pool pelagic!

Here is the comparison photo with the WA lens attached.

The following two photos from the same distance from a pool wall showing 4" tiles. Photos were taken approx. 2ft from the pool wall.

I just paired my oly SP350 with the Sea&Sea 16mm lens for a Nikonos V and have some interesting test data. 1. Added quite a bit to the Wide Angle and took great pictures. 2. It ran me $125 bucks on Ebay ... used. 3. Its a Wet Conversion Lens so you can add it, or remove it underwater. 4. It requires a 46mm to 58mm step-up ring to add the lens. 5. It does vignet (clip) a little when zoomed all the way out but at 95% zoomed out it works fine with no clipping of the photo. 6. With that said...here's the results...the girl is my lovely 12 year old daughter who makes a great underwater model!

Thanks for all the feedback. Seems like the Canon Rebel XT is a logical choice considering my DTI.... Roses + Rebel = Longevity. How could she argue since we're going to Cozumel in June?

Well...just played with the 20D as stated and wow. Its like going from a yugo to a 720i in terms of performance. After an hour of assurring me that my wife wouldn't divorce me for buying one, the sales clerk and I came to a devious little arrangement. I'm going to buy it for my wife for Mother's Day Seriously... What camera would you buy if you had no lenses or other accessories to sway you one way or the other. Keep in mind here if I go over $1500 for the camera, it could be really bad for the DTI (domestic tranquility index) ..... Index goes from -10 all the way up to 0. You're never in positive territory. The best you can do is break even. My DTI is currently running a -5 due to the work load lately so any camera over $1500 would make that hit rock bottom. <_< Later, Gary

Bob, Thanks for the link to the flash finder. Great site. The strobe that I'm using is the fl-20 in an oly housing...not the internal strobe. So changing to the Heinrichs adapter isn't an option unless I sell that strobe. I'd prefer to just sink the money into an Inon which is probably what I'll end up doing...thanks again. Gary

Larry, Another handy feature of the oly setup is it has a manual mode for the flash. You put the flash on manual and you can select settings 1-10. I had the same issues with the internal flash setting originally...fortunately I've worked all my bugs out in the pool. I've got some pictures to post of uninteresting subjects but nonetheless good shots to show the difference with a WA lens and without it. The Sea and Sea 16mm has worked out to be a real find for the money.

When I usually have problem focusing in macro mode its because I'm either too far away or the subject is moving too much (swaying in the current) for my camera to get a lock. If your camera has a manual focus mode, try that.

If I had a DSLR, I'd spring for the housing even if I had to finance it. With that in mind, I am owner of the SP350 and I like most everything about the camera. The write speed should be enhanced by the new XD H-type memory cards. I've got one on order but won't be able to test it until next week. The autofocus mode is slow. The infrared focus assist light is blocked partially by the housing so in low-light an Inon with the built in focus light is on my list. If you stick the camera in manual focus mode, you can get the shutter lag down to almost nothing. Manual focus allows you to use the up down buttons to move the focus but I've found its best to leave it at about 3-4 ft and not mess with it. For the money...roughly $380 bucks for both the camera and housing on Ebay I found it tough to resist the price and "bang for your buck". Gary

I'm currently have an oly SP350 with the Oly fl-20 in a housing. I'd like to use that setup to fire a slave strobe but have been told some strobes do not handle the digital preflash from the fl-20. I like the FL-20 because it uses TTL but wanted something to complement it before heading off to Cozumel in June. My budget is unlimited but I think I've almost reached the end of my wife's patience with my new hobby

Anyone tried the Mares H.U.B. or the new Seaquest with built in inflator...ie no hose?

Edwin, From 1 amateur to another, it appears you're shooting with ambient light. If you truly want those colors to explode onto the scene you'll need to get a strobe. Some basic thoughts come to mind about the composition. Try to shoot on a horizontal plane or angled up. Try to get a composition (view) of your subjects from the front. The top view looks like a snorkeler's perspective. PS enhancement is fine but the strobe is the way to go. Gary

mucho thanks...or better yet...Muchas Gracias!..just bought one on ebay for $50.

Is type H the correct one for high speed?

Anyone know the difference? I own the type M and will look at anything that will improve the 10 sec RAW write time on my point and shoot. Unfortunately, I'm not certain whether the type H is an upgrade or not. Its labeled high speed. Any thoughts? Gary

Jen, You might look on ebay. There are some great deals to be had on Olympus cameras and housings (brandnew from the olympus resellers) for under $400. I just saw a deal on an SP-350 for $199 after rebate. The housing sells for $180. I'm sure there are others as well. BTW...congrats! My wife and I are working on our 20th this year. Gary