ce4jesus

Sorry Ike but I'll stick with my original assessment. That looks like a nightmare underwater. Anything that requres that level of dexterity underwater would never become a standard. Push buttons, dials and levers are so much easier. Curtis, I suppose in theory that would work. There are two drawbacks. Obstruction of the IR beam by water particles would render the display inoperable. Secondly, your grid would have to be spaced generously enough to allow fat fingers (thumbs) control of 1 button at a time. You would also have to have some kind of internal cable which attached to the camera. Finally the camera itself would have to be able to accept such an input. Its a creative thought but in reality the good old buttons will rule the underwater world. Gary

BTW...the challenge with lit up LCD screens isn't darkness its in bright sunlight.

The LCD on digital cameras is already lit up. Most interfaces are done through buttons which have orings to prevent flooding. Simple, but effective. The housing concept is great because most maintenance is done by the user.

Cons ... Housing would have to be thin enough to allow for resistive touch elements to work. Simple handling under water could change settings etc. I can't imagine a good use for touch underwater.

Luiz, I can't speak to the Ikelite but I can tell you how the Olympus Housing works as it has to be similar. There is a notch in the Zoom button of the Oly housing. You have to align the cameras zoom with this notch. In the Oly housing if you're off to one side, the zoom will not work and the housing will flood because the camera can't seat correctly even though the housing appears to close. Hope that helps, Gary

'Will pop up'? Aids, ebola, sars, bird flu/human flu, etc etc. I think nature is doing its best to get rid of us Yeap. the only thing that'll save you is breathing lots and lots of compressed air B)

I agree with Giles on this. The more affluent we become as a species, the less effect disease and illness will have on our mortality rates. Hence more and more human refuse will begin to pile up. Eventually we will be destined for something cataclysmic. Some kind of naturally cleansing human cull will pop up. As little as 50,000 years ago the population of all mankind dwindled to almost nothing. What, why, and how no one knows but it happened once and will probably happen again.

So will that make all those nitrox divers a bunch of girly men?

Saudio, First off...nice photos. After reading your review I'm glad that I went with the Oly SP-350. With that said if you're a previous Oly owner of the 5060 or 7070, the sp-350 disappoints somewhat as well. It shares the toy-like quality (although I did flood mine and brought it back to life), and the slow lens of the Fuji. It also shares some of the write time and recharge times of the Fuji. It takes a full 10 seconds to write a RAW file (you mentioned H cards...where do I find them?). 4 seconds to write the largest JPEG. Flash recharge time isn't an issue for me because I use the Oly FL20 with its own housing. If I've got fresh batteries in both, the time between pictures is no more than 4-6 seconds with Jpeg even after a full dump. It does appear that the Oly scores better in the battery department as I've filled 2, 1G cards on a single set of batteries while using the internal flash. While supermacro freezes the lens at the widest zoom, regular macro allows you to zoom naturally. The supermacro mode allows you to focus at .8 of an inch, however, its virtually useless underwater because the slightest movement will cause it to refocus, or if in manual focus mode, to go out of focus. The manual focus mode is nice. If you can accurately gauge your distance underwater you can preset the focus. This speeds up the shutterlag tremendously. Overall, I'm happy with my decision as a first camera; however, I long for the faster lens and much more quality of build to the older Olys.

Ed, First you'll have to resize the JPEG down to about 600 X 600 to post on here. Then save it that way. Hit the browse button, find your saved JPEG and hit add this attachment. Later, Gary

James, I've tried different settings from highest to lowest. In particular, the RAW photo looks great once I've made adjustments but when the corresponding JPEG comes out it looks over processed and not as crisp. I've compared the photos side by side and there's noticable degradation in the JPEG. It is most noticable in poor photos (underexposed, poor viz, etc) that you bring back by making adjustments, but its also noticable in good photos that need little adjustment. I've noticed that the Olympus Master Suite software does a much better job but takes forever to edit a single RAW file and doesn't offer batch processing. I might just need to spring for the full version of Rawshooter or PS. Someone else had mentioned another software program out there that you can trial as well, but I can no longer find the post. I'm a little hesitant to dump money into the Rawshooter upgrade and can't afford the jump to PS. Gary

I've been using the free version of RawShooter 06. When I adjust the settings of a photo they look fine when I view them as RAW files. When I convert them to Jpeg, I notice subtle drops in the overall quality of the photo. Do I need a better converter or am I doing something wrong.

Eddy, The camera is setup with a histogram feature which supposedly makes the display turn dark to represent low light. Inside this can make the LCD look black or even in the off position. You can turn the histogram feature off in the camera setup, the display is fine. I am currently experimenting with the Sea&Sea 16mm wide angle lens. The early results have been good. Later, Gary

I went with Birds in January. Excellent experience. You might want to check with them about 3 sisters springs as this is the best place to photograph manatees because of the excellent viz there. They said they were unable to get there due to unusually low tides/water when I went. The closer area they frequent the viz is challenging. However, swimming to the back of the area and just waiting usually draws a crowd of these inquisitive creatures. The funny thing is when I stopped moving to fiddle with a camera setting, I always looked up into a big hairy face just an arms length away.

Doug, Fire hole River....I remember standing in that river fishing years ago. Ancient lava bed as I recall. The red, yellow, brown, green, blue, and aqua colored hot pools were cool too. It never crossed my mind that the river is deep enough to dive in. Sounds awesome. Gary

Chuck, I had originally intended to go to CUPS in March but couldn't swing it. I think May might be my earliest available date to get over there...but its on my list of things I need to do. ..Gary. Doug, Its definitely worth the trip from Idaho. They have 4 sites to dive. The first is basically about 15ft deep, 72 degrees and its where most of the fish stay. The site is covered and its a big enough place where you can gear up inside if the weather is nasty. The first hole is connected via a tunnel to the 2nd which is a little cooler 68? and a little deeper. There is one site that goes to over 70ft. I believe the hot springs you're referring too are the Homestead Crater..another spot I plan to visit next winter. They charge $15 bucks a head plus 5 bucks a tank.

Well I couldn't resist the price I paid on the Sea&Sea 16mm so I went ahead and purchased it. I had to urgently grab whatever stepper rings I could find on the market to go from 58mm down to the 46mm on the PT-030 housing. This included 3 steps. While this is not ideal it worked in a pinch. The vingetting was expected but I was surprised to see how well it worked even with 3 stepper rings. When I eliminate two of them, it should work even better. I've only experimented with it inside the swimming pool but the results have been great. I'm very happy with it.

Well spring break arrived and my wife and I loaded up the car with the kids as they headed with me to my two appointments for the week. The first in Phoenix and the 2nd in Salt Lake City. Our starting point was Denver Colorado. I'm sure I'm not the only landlot diver going through withdrawel symptoms in March; but mine are particularly severe. The tease of spring is just warm enough to make me start looking for any place to tune my diving skills before our usual summer excursion. Our first stop? Santa Rosa NM and the infamous Blue Hole...okay the little fresh water cousin of the more infamous one. This little artesian well is 60ft across and 80ft deep. The Viz is practically perfect before the open water schools begin and offers a great place to practice the essentials. Not to mention it cured my uncontrollable DT's from not having gone on a single dive since September. At 4500ft in altitude its the equivalent of a 100ft dive if you make the bottom. There are two dive platforms at different depths. While off-gassing on the surface you can jump off a 15 or 25ft ledge into the deep. The next stop was an interesting little place call the Sea Base www.seabase.net . Its a geothermically heated saltwater spring just South of the Salt Lake and West of Salt Lake City by about 30 miles. Interestingly enough they've stocked several saltwater species inside the water including a couple of 8ft Nurse Sharks! The viz is usually fairly bad but if you take a little romaine lettuce the fish come right up to you. While these places aren't worth a flight, they are worth your attention if you're within a days drive or just in the area. Or, if you're just as desperate as I was to get dunked and a trip to the ocean wasn't an option. Later, Gary

Adrian, I'd also put the Canon A620 on your list. The S80 lacks a RAW mode. The SP-350 is a decent camera and easy on the wallet. Shutter lag is an issue in AF mode. In Manual Focus Mode its quick enough but you have to estimate the distance to your subject. I've found underwater that you can be off and get a picture that's not so perfect. My suggestions is to go play with the camera in the store. The OLY TTL works great. The beam is a little narrow and its not a beefy strobe but should match the YS25 auto. I've heard good things about the Fuji. I think the Fuji has a 6 second recharge time on its internal flash...other than that I've heard its a great camera.

Bruce...I don't care what the rest say about the cobia...number 2 would have made me soil a good wetsuit.

Totally amazing. Simply breath-taking! That kind of trip definitely takes a big dome port.

Unfortunately all color LCD screens are created equal in this regard. The other side note is the optical viewfinder on the camera is almost useless even on the topside muchless underwater. I've had a few thoughts here, my intention is to make sure to cover all the bases. 1. You might play with the histogram setting under camera settings. In low light it has to be off to see the screen however, it might have the opposite affect in bright sunlight. The default setting is on. 2. Try depressing the shutter halfway before looking at the screen to compose a shot. The screen intensity should increase dramatically albeit momentarily while it obtains focus. 3. If you take too long between pictures the camera will actually shutdown until you push the shutter button or power button. I've actually learned the hard way that its not taking a picture when its asleep! 4. If all this fails, you'll have to get out your C Card and take that picture from a different angle!!!

I just ran across the Olympus Evolt 300 for $499 with lens inside CompUSA. A digital SLR for the price of a good point and shoot. 8 Megapixels to boot. I wish I had $500 to burn.

Puffer, Need more info. Tell me how you're shooting the shot. ie are you actually dunking your housing in a large reef tank or are you shooting through the glass of a smaller tank?

I'm by no means an expert on this but I've used JB-Qwik Weld from the local automotive store to repair just about everything including the sensor bracket for my depth finder. The stuff is a fast setting epoxy that's as tough as nails. The bracket repair lasted until the sensor hit something else in the water. I simply repaired it again with the same stuff. I've even fixed a car radiator with it and it has lasted about 2 years.