What is Wrong?

[Ardy]

Hi, all just had a lousy trip to Bali and cannot excuse myself for crap photos. This one is an issue I get from time to time, anyone know what went wrong as the flashes fired. The milkyness in the image is the main problem but the backscatter etc is all me.. This is the raw ORF file. exif info below

Filename - P1010022.ORF
ImageWidth - 4640
ImageLength - 3472
BitsPerSample -
Compression - 1 (None)
PhotometricInterpretation - 1
ImageDescription - OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Make - OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Model - E-M5MarkII
StripOffset - 1501184
Orientation - Top left
SamplesPerPixel - 1
RowsPerStrip - 3472
StripByteCount - 12216970
XResolution - 350
YResolution - 350
PlanarConfiguration - 1
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Version 4.1
DateTime - 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Artist -
Copyright -
Exif-IFD-Offset - 302
GPS-IFD-Offset - 698
ExposureTime - 1/160 seconds
FNumber - 16.00
ExposureProgram - Manual control
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
ExifVersion - 0230
DateTimeOriginal - 0000:00:00 00:00:00
DateTimeDigitized - 0000:00:00 00:00:00
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 2.80
MeteringMode - Spot
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Flash fired, Compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 60 mm
MakerNote-IFD-Offset - 3572
UserComment -
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Manual
White Balance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 1.00 x
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - Low gain up
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
Lens Info - 60 60 2.80 2.80
Lens Model - OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro

GPS information: -
GPSVersionID - 2.3.0.0

Maker Note (Vendor): -
Mode - Normal
CameraID - OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
BodyFirmwareVersion - 4100
LensType - M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro
LensSerialNumber - ABQ233566
LensModel - OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro
LensFirmwareVersion - 1004
MaxApertureAtMinFocal - 2.8
MaxApertureAtMaxFocal - 3.0
MinFocalLength - 60
MaxFocalLength - 60
MaxApertureAtCurrentFocal - 3.1
LensProperties - 0x4100
Extender -
ExtenderSerialNumber -
ExtenderModel -
ExtenderFirmwareVersion - 0
ConversionLens -
FlashType - 4
FlashModel - 13
FlashFirmwareVersion - 4096
FlashSerialNumber - 00000000
Focus Distance - 0.260 m
AF Point - 0

 

[tursiops]

Hi, all just had a lousy trip to Bali and cannot excuse myself for crap photos. This one is an issue I get from time to time, anyone know what went wrong as the flashes fired. The milkyness in the image is the main problem but the backscatter etc is all me.. This is the raw ORF file. exif info below

Filename - P1010022.ORF
ImageWidth - 4640
ImageLength - 3472
BitsPerSample -
Compression - 1 (None)
PhotometricInterpretation - 1
ImageDescription - OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Make - OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Model - E-M5MarkII
StripOffset - 1501184
Orientation - Top left
SamplesPerPixel - 1
RowsPerStrip - 3472
StripByteCount - 12216970
XResolution - 350
YResolution - 350
PlanarConfiguration - 1
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Version 4.1
DateTime - 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Artist -
Copyright -
Exif-IFD-Offset - 302
GPS-IFD-Offset - 698
ExposureTime - 1/160 seconds
FNumber - 16.00
ExposureProgram - Manual control
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
ExifVersion - 0230
DateTimeOriginal - 0000:00:00 00:00:00
DateTimeDigitized - 0000:00:00 00:00:00
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 2.80
MeteringMode - Spot
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Flash fired, Compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 60 mm
MakerNote-IFD-Offset - 3572
UserComment -
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Manual
White Balance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 1.00 x
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - Low gain up
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
Lens Info - 60 60 2.80 2.80
Lens Model - OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro

GPS information: -
GPSVersionID - 2.3.0.0

Maker Note (Vendor): -
Mode - Normal
CameraID - OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
BodyFirmwareVersion - 4100
LensType - M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro
LensSerialNumber - ABQ233566
LensModel - OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro
LensFirmwareVersion - 1004
MaxApertureAtMinFocal - 2.8
MaxApertureAtMaxFocal - 3.0
MinFocalLength - 60
MaxFocalLength - 60
MaxApertureAtCurrentFocal - 3.1
LensProperties - 0x4100
Extender -
ExtenderSerialNumber -
ExtenderModel -
ExtenderFirmwareVersion - 0
ConversionLens -
FlashType - 4
FlashModel - 13
FlashFirmwareVersion - 4096
FlashSerialNumber - 00000000
Focus Distance - 0.260 m
AF Point - 0


View attachment 813383

That's what I get when my lens is fogged.

 

[Failed captcha]

I got my wife an em5iii a couple of years ago, thinking of getting a housing. I have an em1ii and I have that lens but I have to admit I have been satisfied with a TG5 since 2018 for video. Hard to justify the expense.

Anyway I agree with Tursiops, looks like fog. Sometimes it clears up before you surface and see the lens port so you'd maybe think it couldn't have been fog. Also, the main thing you'd normally notice if the housing is fogged is the difficulty focusing, especially with m43 and I do believe the em5ii is limited to contrast focus. However it might be hard to notice difficulty with focusing doing macro at f2.8 since at that distance the subject would still be within depth field if your focus was a little off. Maybe.

 

[Ardy]

I got my wife an em5iii a couple of years ago, thinking of getting a housing. I have an em1ii and I have that lens but I have to admit I have been satisfied with a TG5 since 2018 for video. Hard to justify the expense.

Anyway I agree with Tursiops, looks like fog. Sometimes it clears up before you surface and see the lens port so you'd maybe think it couldn't have been fog. Also, the main thing you'd normally notice if the housing is fogged is the difficulty focusing, especially with m43 and I do believe the em5ii is limited to contrast focus. However it might be hard to notice difficulty with focusing doing macro at f2.8 since at that distance the subject would still be within depth field if your focus was a little off. Maybe.

Thanks FC you and T could be right. The exposure on the Exif is
ExposureTime - 1/160 seconds
FNumber - 16.00

 

[Failed captcha]

Thanks FC you and T could be right. The exposure on the Exif is
ExposureTime - 1/160 seconds
FNumber - 16.00

Difficulty focusing is usually the first thing you notice with a micro four thirds camera, except for the few models with pdaf of which I have two in the house. It's really the first symptom to look for but you can't really tell at f16 unless you were really close up but at 260cm everything is in focus. Well focusing isn't your problem, fog is

My wife loves that 60mm macro lens and I have tried it with autofocus and it's fast enough for the pdaf. My point is, you can salvage the dive with fog in your housing if you can focus. Otherwise the fog will ruin the dive. At least it would keep you from getting any good shots for the remainder of the dive.

Top priority should be to solve the fog issue. If you find yourself on a dive and your housing fogs up and you want to continue and see what shots you can get, you might try the following:

Set to manual focus and figure out the distance that is as close to the lens as possible for the subject to still have decent light and leave your camera focused at the distance. Then you just move the camera that distance from your subject in order to get it in focus with shallower depth of field so it's sharp. If you're shooting in raw you can probably clean the fog out in your edits.

I don't promise great results, try cleaning the fog out. But that might help you get the most of a dive if you do find yourself dealing with that.

 

[WS007]

As the other say: looks like fog...
However, in case of fog (or a defective lens), you should have seen it in the EVF (or backscreen), while making the photo. Also AF (that is per se problematic with Zuiko 60mm and EM5II) should have been very, very difficult...
=> Did you notice this in Bali?

If you did not notice the problem in situ, it may have been something related to the flash position, e.g. inadequate inward lighting and/or the beams too close to the port opening and too much directed into the port...

Wolfgang

 

[hedonist222]

It does not look like fog to me.
Its uniformly hazed. In my experience, fog is, for lack of a better term, blotchy.

Aside to the uniformity, how could there be fog in Bali? Hotel room temperature and ambient and dive temperature are almost all the same. I suppose if it got hot in the camera housing and temperatures were much cooler, then condensation may be created.


This to me looks like improper placement of the light.
The light may have been pointed towards the lens.

Can you share my samples.

 

[Failed captcha]

It does not look like fog to me.
Its uniformly hazed. In my experience, fog is, for lack of a better term, blotchy.

Aside to the uniformity, how could there be fog in Bali? Hotel room temperature and ambient and dive temperature are almost all the same. I suppose if it got hot in the camera housing and temperatures were much cooler, then condensation may be created.


This to me looks like improper placement of the light.
The light may have been pointed towards the lens.

Can you share my samples.

I actually found this whole thing to be interesting precisely because I couldn't decide which was causing the problem, but you have to keep in mind that 60mm, on MFT is the angle equivalent to 120mm FF. So it could be that the angle is just limited to a uniformly fogged portion of the port.

In any case, I agree that what you said also could very well fit as the suspect.

 

[WS007]

How to you trigger the external flash? In case you trigger with the small on-camera "FLM" flash, it could also be that the small internal flash is not shielded well enough from the port. In this case you may get reflections from the internal flash on the port glass...
You can check by triggering the setup (without external flashes) in a dark/dim room and looking whether you see some light appearing at the portglass...

Anyway you should try to reproduce this behaviour at home and find out the source...

Wolfgang

 

[rmorgan]

Hi, all just had a lousy trip to Bali and cannot excuse myself for crap photos.

Having a lousy trip to Bali is so unfortunate!

I'm with hedonist222 in thinking lens or port fog in Bali would be unusual--did you carry the housed camera from a cold space directly into the dive (or take the camera from a cold space and then put it in the housing and immediately dive? Did your other pictures from this or other dives show the same thing?

Also, were your strobes set for TTL, or manual (and what strobes)? Were you using a flat port?

I tool the liberty of doing my basic Photoshop things on your image (mainly with Dehaze). The hexagonal blurs do suggest moisture or some sort of schmutz, possibly inside the port, but also possibly air bubbles trapped on the outside of the port; but don't seem to me to account for the haze.

Whatever it is, I gather you didn't flood your housing, this seems like an easily-fixable situation with some trial and error, and you got to see a bunch of cool things like these harlequin shrimp! (Plus, Tulamben's one flight and a three-hour drive for you, so you'll just have to go back.)