Review of the Olympus PT-046 Underwater Housing Case

When the very first underwater digital camera from Olympus was released, I was first in line to grab up one of these must have digital camera's. My purchase was a true gem considering I was going on my first vacation to the Caribbean, and I wanted to capture every memory possible, land and sea.

The Olympus 1030SW was a real treat, and after booking yet another trip back to the same hot spot, my other half decided that he too wanted an underwater digital camera.

We initially were going to buy a second 1030SW, but the camera had been discontinued, and replaced with a newer series, which had far too many bad reviews on it, to justify spending such a large amount of money.

Instead we opted for an Olympus FE-3010, which came bundled with an underwater housing case, the Olympus PT-046.
 
The PT-046 looks a lot like my PT-043, only it has a bit of differences to it.

The first difference was that it appeared smaller, and less bulky, which was a major plus. Besides that though, the controls, and overall appearance matched up to the other Olympus Housing Cases.

The Olympus PT-046 is made of clear polycarbonate, which is very durable, and free from corroding. The clear case is nice because you are able to look inside of the case, at your camera to make sure everything is OK.

The controls are also very easy to find underwater, they are nicely spaced, and easy to use. They match up perfectly to the controls on your digital camera, so if you know you're cameras controls, you will immediately know what button is for what function under water. If you forget, they are all coded in the same manner as the camera.

The lens port on the PT-046 is a 46mm, which allows you to remove the lens it came with, and attach other lenses such as Macro lenses, or red filtered lens for better underwater photographs.

The best thing about the PT-046, besides the fact that you can take your camera underwater with you, is that it allows you to take it underwater with you into depths of up to 131 feet. We do not normally go down that far, but at 50 foot dives, the camera held it's own, with no condensation. I imagine down at 131 feet there would be no problems either.

All in all this underwater housing case allows you to take your camera into the water with you. the Olympus FE-3010 cannot go in the water without one, and if you want a lower priced underwater camera solution, than this is it. You can find this housing case sold bundled up with the FE-3010, and for very low, fair prices.

I'd recommend it to anyone on a budget, who is looking to add a new feature to their camera, an underwater one!