Thinking of switching to EM1 for underwater photography, advice please

[rainfyre]

Hi everyone,

I am currently using a Canon 7d for underwater photography.
I have a need to lighten my set up but trying to get a similar photography experience so am considering the Olympus EM1.
Would appreciate some advice of the folks here who are currently using the EM1

- I am thinking of using the 8mm fish eye or 7-14mm f2.8 lens for wide angle.
- 60mm f2.8 for macro
- nautical housing. seems more popular and it is lighter than other non plastic housing.
- Inon z240 strobes

1. Is there a shutter lag between an dslr and em1 (with the latest firmware)? Is it of utmost frustration underwater? haha
2. Am contemplating a fish eye or normal wa as I do not have a m4/3 wide-angle. Using a wide angle 10-17 on the 7d. Fish eye or WA? pros and cons?
3. What ports would I require for the lenses above? I would like my set up as lean as possible without compromising on image quality.
4. Will the icon z240 strobes work ttl with this housing and camera? What settings would you recommend for the strobes?
5. Given the EM1 has been out for a while and that housings are expensive, do you feel the EM1 is currently not good enough for underwater photography hence better to wait for the next incarnation?


Thank you very much

 

[Ran Mozaik]

Hi there!

Some answers:

1. Not noticeable. The E-M1 is an excellent piece of engineering and operating it would feel just like a DSLR.
2. This is a matter of personal preference. If you used the 10-17 before and was happy with the results, you would be happy with the 8mm as well.
I prefer fisheye distortion over rectilinear distortion. I shoot a lot of portraiture underwater as well and I don't like the super-freaky-long legs effect that happens with rectilinear lenses, and for that matter anything else that becomes stretched on the peripheral area of the image.
3. For the 60mm - 36163 port and 36149 gear, for the 7-14 - 36133 Port and 36044 gear, for the 8mm - 36132 Port and 36041 gear.
4. Yes they would work great. Some recommendations by Inon here: http://www.inon.jp/products/strobe/z240/compatibility.html
5. E-M1 is still great and very relevant. E-M5 MII is also a great option to consider and even slightly more compact. I will be rolling out my review on it today with samples on our blog. I've been testing it out for some time now and loving it. You can see a great online review on the E-M5 M2 here which compares it to the E-M1: http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_OMD_EM5_Mark_II/verdict.shtml

Good luck with the switch!

 

[jlyle]

If you want to go lean, think about the first edition of the EM5. The EM1 and EM5 II aren't that much of a step up and you can get an EM5/housing for a lot less money.

I shoot an EM5 in a Nauticam housing. I like the 8mm FE for WA and the 12-50 for nearly everything else. I bit the bullet and bought the $$ port and gear to be able to shoot macro with the 12-50.

After buying the mirrorless camera, my dslr has become a paper weight. You won't be disappointed with any of the above cameras.

 

[ColoDale]

Same setup as jlyle except no 8mm lens. I use the 12-50 mm lens with gear set (not cheap) and the 60 mm which I love. Nauticam housing. I have noticed that for at least the EM5, that it is getting "older" and there are some 50% off bundle sales though with Olympus housing. I bought just the camera and lenses originally as a bundle so it should still be possible and I would think with discounts. I am not trying to dissuade you from EM1 as I have not used it.
I use slaved fiber connections to two strobes and manual control but I think I can use TTL. There was a recent thread in this forum started July 4 with answers to the EM5 TTL question.

 

[rainfyre]

Thanks for all the replies, it's been most helpful.

I shall go with the em1 as I already have the camera. I just wanted to make sure it will do for u/w photography before I splurge on all the equipment.

I read that some use the 12-50mm lens and it is able to do proper macro too? How do I go about with that and how does it compare with the 60mm?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jlyle]

To access the macro switch on the 12-50mm lens while u/w, you need the proper lens port and gearing. Nauticam N85 Macro Port and Zoom Gear Set for Olympus ED 12-50 EZ Lens

Alternately, you can set the macro switch on the 12-50 before placing the camera in the housing - but that means you can only shoot macro.

The 60mm is a prime lens and better for macro than the 12-50. I have not done any comparison of the two. BTW, the 60mm fits in the Nauticam 12-50 lens port.

 

[ColoDale]

Same as jlyle for the 12-50 mm gear set. Lot's of pieces to this one but I have not had any issue with it since I put the gear set together (~2 yrs). I have not done a photo by photo comparison of the 12-50 in macro mode to the 60 mm macro lens but I do know that I can get much closer with the 60 mm lens. The 12-50 mm in macro mode I have noticed that there is a limit to how close I can get to the subject with auto focus before it will not focus. With the 60 mm I can get very close. I took test shot in air for plants and insects when I first got the lens and I can get very close and very sharp with the 60 mm lens.
With the 12-50 I can get seahorses up close but they are bigger than say a coral polyp or up close as in the photo here (fireworm - the "hairs") I did as a test with the 60 mm lens. I cannot get that close with the 12-50 mm lens.

The 12-50 mm is a good all purpose lens. I use it most of the time unless I know it will be a dedicated macro dive.

As said, the 60 mm will fit with the same Nauticam port I use with the 12-50 mm so you can add the 60 mm later. The 60 mm is not that expensive.

 

[orenbvip]

my .02 is just get the 60mm macro and the 8mm FE (i guess now the f1.8 once the port is solved). I have/had the 9-18mm and 12-40mm prob and the ports and never needed up using them over time.

 

[rainfyre]

Orenbvip, what is wrong with the 8mm FE port?

 

[ASA400]

Orenbvip is talking about the new Olympus 8mmFE that is a 1.8. At this time, there's no Nauticam port available for it. The Panasonic 8mm FE works great in the 4.33" Nauticam port, however it is a 3.5 aperture lens.