Olympus/Nauticam

[eweingarden]

I'm new to uw photography and in the research stage. I'm considering an Olympus E-PL2 or E-PL3; after reading their descriptions, I can't tell if either one allows for manual setting of shutter speed and aperture. Does anyone know if manual controls are on those cameras. Is setting shutter and aperture difficult/cumbersome under water and therefore I should not be concerned with it?

I'd also like to know if the Nauticam housing offers advantages over the Olympus. Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks.

Ed

 

[denniscloutier]

The EPL2 has shutter priority, aperture priority, fully automatic and fully manual modes. We typically use ours in fully manual mode, but occasionally use aperture priority for wide angle stuff. I don't have an epl3, but I'm sure it is similar.

I don't know what the Nauticam housings for the epl2 are like. I just bought a nauticam housing for my OMD and my choice was based on ergonomics. The nauticam controls are easier to reach and use on that housing. If possible you should try and find a way to handle both because the ergonomics are probably the most important difference.

Hope that helps.

Dennis

 

[eweingarden]

Thanks Dennis

 

[watboy]

To give a little perspective, I went from a Canon S90 in factory housing, to an EPL2 in factory housing and now an OMD in a Nauticam housing.

For the EPL2, you can put it in full manual mode and you use the directional buttons on the back to control settings. I think Top/ Bottom was shutter speed and left/right was aperture, or vice versa. I'd go into the super control panel to change ISO. Coming from an S90 where I had to hit so many buttons to switch between aperture and shutter control, I found this to be very usable. I understand the EPL3 is similar, but I could be wrong.

Now that i'm on an OMD with a Nauticam housing, I can control both aperture and shutter using separate knobs. ISO I can easily access with one button. This is far easier than the EPL2 was. I think the single best thing about the Nauticam (and the reason I upgraded) was the ease in changing ports and the port availability.

I did look into getting a Nauticam housing for my EPL2, but I couldn't find it as it was already obsolete. And I think if you are going to invest that kind of money into a housing, better off just bite the bullet and get the OMD.

I'm new to uw photography and in the research stage. I'm considering an Olympus E-PL2 or E-PL3; after reading their descriptions, I can't tell if either one allows for manual setting of shutter speed and aperture. Does anyone know if manual controls are on those cameras. Is setting shutter and aperture difficult/cumbersome under water and therefore I should not be concerned with it?

I'd also like to know if the Nauticam housing offers advantages over the Olympus. Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks.

Ed