More EPL2 Questions

[smoore]

I am moving from a C5060 to an EPL 2. I have the Olympus housing and an Inon S2000 flash. I am seriously considering purchasing the Zen dome port which I would use with the 14-42 Mk II kit lens. I am wondering which way to go for macro. Should a I use the Olympus mount and wet macro lens or a close-up lens? If I go with a close-up lens which one would you recommend and will it fit behind the Olympus flat port?

I had some additional questions about my flash set up. When I was using the C5060 Inon recommended using the C rather than B setting for STTL. Any recommendations for initial set-up with the EPL2? Do I need to be concerned when using the Inon that the lowest ISO for the EPL2 is 200 rather than the 100 recommended by Inon for use with this flash?

Finally, when people speak of using manual mode are they referring to using manual shutter speed and aperture combined with STTL flash or are they referring to M mode on the camera and running the flash at 1/4 power on the camera and full power (or lower depending on the situation) on the Inon?

I know this camera has the ability to set the function button for the 2 underwater settings. I assume one would only consider using this without flash. Are there any times that it makes sense to use these settings rather than setting the WB manually?

Thanks for all of the information I have been able to glean by reading the posts on this site about this camera and housing.

[jetlife2]

I too came to this camera from a 5060.

I can't answer the specific questions about your Inon strobe so I will skip to the more general questions.

Manual: I think "most" people who shoot manual do the following: start with a manual aperture and shutter in a starting range and adjust up or down from there for the specific shot, with strobes set to TTL. Shutter/Aperture/ISO exposes the background, and the strobe controls the foreground exposure. Of course aperture also affects depth of field, ISO affects noise...etc etc. All your choices. Others (but I think fewer) shoot full manual, where they also set manual strobe; this adds more control of course, and is more advanced.

For WB, I think "most" people do not use their camera presets, and shoot RAW, meaning they record exactly what the camera sees with no adjustment; then they WB later in software. A jpg has to have a WB selected; RAW does not.

So for the EPL2 I will be shooting just as I always did with the 5060: manual shutter, manual aperture, fixed ISO, TTL strobes, RAW.

I found this guide very helpful:

http://www.splashdowndivers.com/photo_gallery/underwater_photography/up_settings_exposure.htm


Hope that helps.

[smoore]

Jetlife2 thanks for the information. That does help. Any thoughts on the macro setup?

[scottfiji]

You don't have to worry about using ISO 200 with the Inon strobes.

Using manual mode simply means setting the camera to "M" mode. You can set your flash to "fill" and use the Inon sTTL, or use less battery and have a quicker flash recycle time by setting the flash power to 1/64th and using manual strobe power.

For macro, I would use the olympus flat port, oly macro adapter and a good macro lens like a Subsee +5, Dyron +7, or Subsee +10.

There's no need to use underwater settings, just use auto-white balance, or shoot in RAW when shooting natural light.

Hope this helps,
Scott