Which dome port?

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ksporry

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So, I'm planning to get a pt-ep10 in the coming weeks. I understood zen makes nice glss dome ports for this case, the WA-100-EP for the olympus 9-18 and the WA-100-EP714 for the Panasonic 7-14. Can either dome port be used for the other lens? Eg the WA-100-EP714 for the 9-18 lens?
Also, are there other dome ports available for this case?
What are the preferences for lens options? I like the idea of wider angle as I found out during my DUP that 28mm equivalent is just not wide enough under water, so I was thinking of the 7-14 lens but I don't know how well it performs optically compared to the 9-18.

As a side question, what Flash would be best suited for the pt-ep10? Go full olympus (ULF flashes) or go for eg Inon? In case of the latter, what sync cables are required? Are they universal or system specific?
Thanks!
 
Phil just reviewed the ZEN 170. AFAIK, it can be fitted to the Oly housing with a port adapter and is quite a flexible solution. Not cheap, but at least it is made of glass.

As for strobe: the olympus strobes have the advantage of being compatible with the Oly RC mode (high snyc speed). Modern Inons, S&S, etc are usually compatible using fiber connection. Eg. sTTL concept for Inon.
 
Tamas

I did not say anything about using the port with an Olympus housing with or without an adapter.

What I said is that the 170mm ZEN port is made for all of the Nauticam Mini housings including those for Olympus cameras. also the port does not need an adapter it fits direct to the housing port locking system. An extension is needed with longer zoom lenses like the Panasonic 7-14 zoom. The extensions also fit direct to the port mount between housing and port.


Also the high speed sync on the Olympus strobes is about useless and the strobes from Inon, Z-240, S-2000, etc. and the new S&S YS-01 and YS-D1 are much better choices.

Phil Rudin
 
So if I understand correctly, the 170 port is made for a nauticam housing, not for an olympus housing? I should say, the ZEN website does not seem to indicate all their products as I couldn't find the 170 port.

As for high speed sync, I don't see a direct benefit for that underwater. It is usually used on the dry to eliminate ambient light, rather than to freeze motion (as some may know motion is frozen by the flash, not the shutterspeed). Also I never used high speed sync on the dry before, and I think its even less likely under water.

As a beginner in underwater photography, I'm still learning about the differences between above water and underwater photography. I understand many systems use optical cords that utilise a small mounted or internal flash of the camera to trigger the main flashes as slaves. Are these sync cords universal, or do different brands use different connections?
Also, I'm quite curious why there are TTL converters when most underwater flashes are actually fully TTL capable in slave mode.
 
I did not say anything about using the port with an Olympus housing with or without an adapter.
I guessed there might be an adapter ("AFAIK"). Is there one?

As for high speed sync, I don't see a direct benefit for that underwater. It is usually used on the dry to eliminate ambient light, ...

One picture tells more than a thousand words: Great white using the tiny S2000 at 1/400. (check for those illuminated pelvic fins, they might be 5+m away)

Are these (.optical) sync cords universal, or do different brands use different connections?

The cords the usually the same optical fiber cables. Some manufacturers produce special ones with higher transmission. These might worth the investment, if the strobe's optical sensor is not very efficient.
As for connections: strobe and housing manufacturers like to use their own thread/fitting standards:(. If you buy a cord, you should tell the shop for which strobe+housing you want to use it or DIY using a Toslink cable.
 
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I know of NO adapter which allows any Nauticam Mini type port to be mounted to any of the Olympus housings for OMD or PEN cameras.

Regarding high speed sync, these things are part of the classes I teach for Reef Photo and at workshops like Digital Fiesta. In W/A UWP shutter speeds of 1/250th and above cause ambient light rays to split which you can see in the white shark photo. At 1/60th the rays would clump together.

In macro most of the light comes from the strobe in 1/1000th of a second or less. A low ISO setting and high shutter speed will blacken the ambient light background at high F/stops like F/16 and above and allow the subject to "pop" from its black background. Lowering the shutter speed (1/60th or less) and using an upward camera angle into the water background will give as nice blue water background if you are shooting in clear blue water.

This is the reason I hope to see ISO-100 or less and 1/320th sync on the next OMD-EM? camera. This is the case with the new E-P5 release 100 and 1/320th sync.
 
Interesting... How about taking an existing flash that can work as a master, and modify that to shoot from LEDs instead of big capacitor fed xenon bulbs? I have heard of people doing the opposite for studio photography, so the LED route should also be possible...

As for high speed sync, I guess that's a camera limitation, isn't it?, considering that there are 3rd party flashes that support high speed sync, so if the camera supports HSS, and the flash supports HSS, there should be no problem.

Gotta admit, I like the idea of split light rays, and it would be a consideration for my decision to go for either the E-PL5 plus Olympus housing and matching strobes, or get a housing for my current 5Dmk2.
 
Yes, the sync time is a limitation arising from shutter operation. All manufacturers tend to add some unnecessary conservatism (BS, business policy: sell the "new" feature later) and limit the sync in the firmware. All modern Olympus bodies can deliver 1/320 with a non-brand (eg nikon) flash or with these LED units.
 
Woth the E-PL5, it comes with a small flash attachment, right? Or at least that's used to trigger the external strobes I believe. Can the output o fthat one be set to minimal power in combination with TTL? I know TTL allows compensation, which is probably 2 stops. And although that saves some power, if the flash can be set to minimal power output (e.g. 1/64), that would be very beneficial (and would save me some tinkering, heheh)
 
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