frede 0 Posted December 31, 2002 Dear All, Hi!. I have just traded in my c-4000 for a c-5050 today!. I have dived with the C-4040 then the c-4000 in the PT-010 case. The reason I used the c-4000 was, I DROWNED my fav 4040 due to sheer carelessness of getting the corner of the silica pack to be caught in the o ring during one of the dives. Sigh!. Anyway I really miss the top LCD indicator on the top side of the 4040 as the 4000 does not have any such indicator. All status were displayed on the main screen for about 3 secs. when some buttons were depressed. Anyway to be fair, the c-4000 was a damn good camera which produced some really great pics despite being the "el cheapo" brother to the c-4040. I was elated when a friend of mine (used to be a diver too) who runs a photo equipment & processing retail outlet, gave me a "long forgotten" SUNPAK MARINE 32 u/w strobe recently. Eventhough I very damn happy that the strobe triggered by detecting the internal flash of the camera, as the cable that came with the strobe was proprietary and the fact that PT-010 didn't provide any outlets for outboard strobes. However, joy soon turn to confusion as the pics turn out to be severely underexposed & dark. After some frantic searching & digging on the web, I have come to the following conclusion. Most digital cameras uses a"pre" flash to guage the settings before the actual flash and shutter were actually triggered to produce a picture. Both these flash actually very close to each other for most of us to notice and that also explain the shutter lag as compared to film cameras. The pre flash actually triggered the strobe to fire way too early before the actual flash and in the process screwing up the settings for the camera light metering. That results in a severely under exposed pics despite both flash & strobe seemingly having fired!. I've took it back to the shop and tried with different settings & different digital camera from canon, casio & nikon and all gave the same results. If u look carefully, most digital cams actually flashes not once but twice like we thought it to be. Anyway, as a newbie, sorry for being "long winded" or too lengthy like we asian are use to saying, but do anyone has any exprience with problems of this nature. If so, how could this be overcomed? I would also like to recommend a excellent website dedicated to u/w photography for all to share at : http://www.marscuba.com/ Alfred Kwok Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeO 5 Posted December 31, 2002 Yes, the preflash is quite well-known to us underwater photographers and there are strobe manufacturers that make sensors to accommodate this "feature". I was under the impression that the C-5050's preflash could be disabled by going into the menu and selecting the "slave" strobe option. Did you try that? I'm curious to know the answer. If the preflash can be disabled, then my old Ike slave sensor and old strobes would work in manual mode with the camera . . . Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patterns 0 Posted December 31, 2002 You can use the slave flash mode in Manual & Aperture priority modes. It is not available for P and S modes. -David Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
laz217 0 Posted December 31, 2002 Yes, the preflash is quite well-known to us underwater photographers and there are strobe manufacturers that make sensors to accommodate this "feature". I was under the impression that the C-5050's preflash could be disabled by going into the menu and selecting the "slave" strobe option. Did you try that? I'm curious to know the answer. If the preflash can be disabled, then my old Ike slave sensor and old strobes would work in manual mode with the camera . . . Mike Mike, I recently bought the 5050 and tried out the slave feature with my pair of YS90-DXs in the ON / Slave position (not PREflash) and the photo exposed perfectly. I can also confirm David's statement that it works in full manual and aperture priority modes only. Your Ike strobes should work perfectly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patterns 0 Posted December 31, 2002 do you recall any of the settings you used to get these shots? were they in manual, A, P, or S modes? reason I'm asking is that I've just got one myself (first time with uw stills). thanks Sorry, as mentioned elsewhere I lost the specific info for each shot ... By the end of my trip I was using the internal flash (with a diffuser at the side of the lens barrel when necessary to avoid having a shadow in the corner of the picture) for shots within 1m distance, with the camera on manual or shutter priority setting, and with a short exposure time. The camera then determined the flash required to correctly expose the shot. If the object was too far away it would be underexposed, and I would then increase the aperture until the flash was powerful enough to do the job. I guess I wasn't very serious about remembering the best settings for the various situations. By using a short exposure time, I was trying to ensure that most of the light would come from the flash, so as to get good colours in the shot. If I was worrying about getting good colour in a more distant background as well, I would use a different approach (next trip!). After a while I had some "My mode" settings saved (you can save 8 custom modes): - extreme closeup setting (suitable when I was using the external close-up lens) - macro setting - normal (without flash) for distances >1m - a night-time mode for distance >1m (using the slave to drive a strobe, which wasn't working during the daytime - a long story) One irritation is that the "My Mode" settings include the zoom position as part of the defined setting ... which didn't suit me at all. Incidentally I never succeeded in setting the white balance manually with the flash and so I used an outdoor (sunlight) setting with the flash. Don't know whether this was the best choice. Trying to set the white balance with the flash by pointing the camera at something white-ish always resulted in red pictures. (Anybody know how to fix this??) Because of some previous reading about ISO settings & noise in the pictures, I always used 64 or 100. Not sure I can tell the difference, though. Hope this helps a bit. I'm definitely not an expert; this is the first time I have used a camera with manual control. I hope others can suggest some improvements. (Please!!) -David Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
james 0 Posted December 31, 2002 Patterns, Did you know that the camera saves all of your settings information embedded within each shot? It's called EXIF data and can be read using photoshop, or many other image browsing programs. When you work on the files and resave them, this info can be lost, so check your originals. You do save all of your original files, right? Cheers James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patterns 0 Posted December 31, 2002 I was playing with my filing system and a feral batch process killed all the originals from the trip. Ooops. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frede 0 Posted January 1, 2003 Dear All, Thanks a mil. My 5050 preflash could indeed by disable but the camera must be set to M or A mode. It even have a variable intensity slave flash from 1 to 8!. Great!. I could get my strobe to fire in sync now but have yet to test it u/water as my pt-015 casing has not arrived yet. I'm quite sure the 4040 & 4000 didn't have this slave mode. Anyway I tried long exposure during the new year fireworks display and were quite please with the outcome. However there some noticable barreling effect in wide mode where the buildings seems to curve a little. It a great dissapointment too that our version of 5050 were supplied with non rechargeble battery and NO REMOTE CONTROL!. Fortunately I still have the old remote from my dead 4040. Hopefully the AF illuminator would be of any use during night dives. That would be another bonus switching to 5050. Thanks again for all your help especially to Mike & David. Alfred Kwok Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mech_inf_lt 0 Posted January 1, 2003 It a great dissapointment too that our version of 5050 were supplied with NO REMOTE CONTROL!. This is the first I have heard of this. I have shopped around for the C5050, and in none of them do they mention a remote control. I haven't even seen this in the add-ons. Has someone bought a 5050 with a remote, or bought a remote for the 5050? I'm very interested in learning more about this. Keith Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mech_inf_lt 0 Posted January 1, 2003 After looking around I found this on the Olympus wed site http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/...=1&accessory=12 They have it for $39.99 Haven't found anyone that sells this with the camera Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TedJ 3 Posted January 2, 2003 I bought a C-5050z last week and it came with the RM-1 remote control. It was purchased at a retail store in the Annapolis MD area. Haven't used it yet but I like the camera. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markh 0 Posted January 2, 2003 Thanks for all the comments chaps. So here's the burning question, do I pay a bit more & buy a Titan housing for my existiing E10 or buy a new C5050 & housing.........Tough one! Mark H Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mech_inf_lt 0 Posted January 3, 2003 It a great dissapointment too that our version of 5050 were supplied with NO REMOTE CONTROL!. Alfred, Can you tell me where you bought your C5050. I'm hearing that the RM-1 remote is only provided in the north american C5050's. I would love to here if anyone a purchased form the internet, and received the remote with the camera. Does anyone know for sure why some of the camera's come with a remote, and some don't? Keith Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SParkinson 0 Posted January 3, 2003 It a great dissapointment too that our version of 5050 were supplied with NO REMOTE CONTROL!. Alfred, Can you tell me where you bought your C5050. I'm hearing that the RM-1 remote is only provided in the north american C5050's. I would love to here if anyone a purchased form the internet, and received the remote with the camera. Does anyone know for sure why some of the camera's come with a remote, and some don't? Keith I got mine from a UK supplier and it wasn't supplied either... the instructional booklet states that it is only supplied to certain markets but fails to mention which ones Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frede 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Keith, My unit of 5050 does not come with remote and supplied only with non rechargable lithium batteries, yuks!. Last year when I have my 4040 it came with the remote but batteries still non rechargable lithium. 3 months back the 4000 came with no remote function, hence no remote & ALKALINE batteries only! Anyway I live in Malaysia, the cameras costed were 4040 - RM3200 (US$842), 4040 - RM1750 (US460) & bought my 5050 at RM2800 (US$740) last week. I got the PT-010 in Singapore for S$380 (US$190) but I can't find the PT-015 in stock in singapore & they told me the stock only arrive in two months!. Anyone has their hands on the pt-015 yet?. If so where & how much? Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frede 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Dear All, Check out this photo I took with my new 5050 during new year day. Look at the barreling effects on the two side buildings, how irritating!. Alfred Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frede 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Oops! sorry, I will try to attached pics later. File too big. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
laz217 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Anyone has their hands on the pt-015 yet?. If so where & how much? Yup.. I got one from UnderwaterDigital.net for $299. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mech_inf_lt 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Anyway I live in Malaysia, Anyone has their hands on the pt-015 yet?. If so where & how much? Someone told me that the C5050 only comes with the remote when should in North America Try these websites for the Housing http://www.underwaterdigital.net/olympus%20camedia.htm http://www.oceanbrite.com/olympus.htm http://www.marinecamera.com/oly_pt015.html http://www.japan-direct.com/shopping.asp All about $279-299 US Hope this helps Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cybergoldfish 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Hi Alfred, I was looking at a PT 015 in Singapore yesterday at one of the many digital shops. They are retailing at $S490.00. Cathay Cameras also had a unit. Check out the digital camera shops on the net and they will ship it up or over - which ever bit of Malasia you're at. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SParkinson 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Anyone has their hands on the pt-015 yet?. If so where & how much? I got mine from Japan Direct fpr $260 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SParkinson 0 Posted January 4, 2003 Anyone has their hands on the pt-015 yet?. If so where & how much? I got mine from Japan Direct fpr $260 oops.. meant $280... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cybergoldfish 0 Posted January 4, 2003 $280.00 works out £5.00 more expensive than Singapore, before they take the tax off! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frede 0 Posted January 6, 2003 Thanks to all for your help. I might try to grab it in Singapore over the weekend. Any way here's the pics I mention earlier on the barrelling effect. Pls comment!!!. Thanks again. Alfred. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
subh2o 0 Posted January 9, 2003 Ref: pre-flash problem with Olympus This might be a dead topic by now but when I first got my C-3030, I soon found out that the Nikonos SB-102 or Ikelite MS I intended to use would not work. I went back to an old Vivitar 285HV in a homemade housing with a regular $20 slave sensor. With the 285HV set at 1/2, the C-3030 set for SLOW and when using speeds of 1/20sec and slower, the strobe would fire twice. Once at the pre-flash and again 1/20sec later for the exposure. I got good pictures if there was no or little ambiant light. This could work with other strobes and is certainly better than no external strobe at all. Richard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
