Be warned, for serious underwater shooting, the Olympus 5050 and 5060 have
one major operational design issue. To adjust the aperture in manual mode,
and switch between various shooting modes (macro, autofocus, supermacro,
manual focus etc) you must hold down a button with your left hand while
turning a dial with your right hand simultaneously. Obviously, this can
make adjustments a headache in less-than-ideal diving conditions. Many
other camera manufacturers have come up with other ways to make this a
one-handed operation, and Olympus made it a one-handed operation on both
the earlier 3030 and newest 8080 models. Ikelite housings have a provision
for locking buttons that turn this process back into a one-hand-at-a-time
operation on the 5050 and 5060, but the cheaper Olympus PT-series housings
and housings from other manufacturers (Light-and-Motion) do not have such
provisions and are consequently more difficult to use.

That said, if you're mainly using this as a terrestrial camera, and only
occasionally as a recreational/amateur underwater camera, the 5050 and 5060
are nice cameras and take nice pictures. If you're using this primarily as
an underwater camera, get your hands on each camera you're interested in,
and physically run through the process of adjusting the shutter speed,
aperture, switching into "macro" mode, switching into manual focus mode,
and whatever other adjustments you might envision making while underwater.
My recommendation is to make sure that whatever camera you choose can have
each of these adjustments made with only one hand, so that your other hand
can be used to actually hold the housing, adjust the strobe arm, fend off
sharks, etc. This wasn't something I thought to consider when originally
purchasing my Olympus setup, but now I'm acutely aware of the issue. Also
research the availability of strobes for the camera and housing you intend
to buy, including how they interface with any through-the-lens metering
that might be available on the camera. Be aware that many digital cameras
use a "pre-flash" system for flash metering, in which the camera fires off
one short flash burst immediately before firing the main flash and shutter.
This system requires the use of a strobe that is capable of this rapid
succession 2-flash shooting, as most newer (designed in the last 3 years)
strobes are.

Luke Miller
Denny Lab http://www.stanford.edu/group/denny
Hopkins Marine Station
831-655-6208


At 06:33 AM 4/20/2005, you wrote:
>Hi Wolfgang,
>
>the best camera for the purposes you indicated (specimens >10 mm, camera
>usable while diving) in my opinion is the Olympus Camedia C-5060 Wide Zoom.
>It is not being manufactured any more, but still readily available, e.g. via
>ebay, for between Euro 350.00 and 420.00.
>It has a supermacro setting that allows closeups to be shot from as close as
>3 cm!!! No other camera in this price range can do this. It has a 4x optical
>zoom, has been top-rated in many comparative tests and reviews, and
>underwater housing is available. As an additional benefit, this is an
>excellent all-purpose camera.
>I just bought this camera after a long process of comparing many different
>models. I use this camera to shoot moon shells with it, from my cabinet as
>well as in museums, and I am really, really happy with its performance.
>
>For more info and technical data see the following websites:
>
>http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/c5060.html
>http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/c5060wz-review/
>
>Best regards,
>
>Michael
>
>
>--
>
>       ***********************************************
>       Michael Hollmann
>       Stockumer Heide 44
>       58454 Witten
>
>       Tel.:       02302-944-255
>       FAX:        0234-320-4225
>       e-mail:     [log in to unmask]
>       ***********************************************
>

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