Downsizing to M43

[decidedlyodd]

I've been shooting a Canon T2i/550D DSLR in a Nauticam housing for about 3 years now. When I bought it, it was one of the smallest (maybe the smallest) underwater DSLR setup at the time, but it's still sizable especially once the ports, strobes and arms are included.

In 2012 I bought an OMD EM5 as a smaller camera for when I didn't want to lug a bulkier DSLR and its lenses around with me. I've been happy with the size, performance and image quality for much of my day-to-day photography. When I really need the performance I'll use my 5D3, but the T2i has been relegated to purely underwater use at this point.

I'm now considering downsizing my underwater setup to an E-M5 or E-M1. I just don't see myself making the commitment in $$$ and size to house the full frame camera at this point. I mostly dive locally doing macro and occasionally CFWA. I take a big dive trip usually once a year with a smaller trip thrown in now and then.

What are the experiences out there for others who have gone from a DSLR to these newer generation M43 cameras? Are they that much smaller/lighter? Do you miss anything from the DSLR?

I managed to handle the Aquatica and Nauticam housings for the E-M1 and the Nauticam housing for the E-M5 at the Seattle Dive Expo a few weeks ago. They seem a bit smaller than my T2i housing, but it's hard to compare the total size once ports are included or to visualize how everything packs into a Pelican or to get a sense of bulk underwater.

 

[jlyle]

I went from a dslr to the EM5 two years ago and have been very happy with my decision. Much easier to travel with. I have the Nauticam housing, which I like a lot.

COZUMEL WITH A NEW CAMERA – AUGUST 2012

 

[bvanant]

We just got back from a few weeks in Indonesia. I took both a Canon 7D and an Olympus OMD E-M1, both in Nauticam housings. I like the ergonomics of the 7D better but in spite of my not wanting to, I like the look of the EM-1 a bit better than the 7D. I don't like the viewfinder on the EM-1 nearly as much and I can't shoot live view at all but for our next trip I think the EM-1 is the only thing I will take.
Bill

 

[decidedlyodd]

I took the plunge and picked up an EM-1 and the Nauticam housing today from Jack at Optical Ocean Sales.

It's definitely a more compact setup compared to the T2i which is already a fairly small DSLR housing. Here's some quick shots of both housings with their respective 60mm macro ports:



I'm looking forward to getting it in the water soon! The macro lens, the 170mm Zen dome port and the replacement window for the external viewfinder had to be ordered, but I was able to pick up everything else at the store today. It looks like the 12-50 will fit in the port for the 60 macro, although it is tight and of course I don't have a zoom ring. I may give that a try underwater in the special 43mm macro mode or just wait for the macro lens to come in.

 

[jd950]

Even within the M43 stuff there are size variations. Depending on the absolute importance of size & weight, you can house a gx7, an EM10 (soon), EM5 or EM1. But they are all pretty small compared to DSLR. For macro and CFWA, you can use the 8mm fisheye with a 4.3 or 3.5 dome and for macro the 60mm with a flat port.

With any of the housings you could transport housing, ports, a couple strobes, camera body and the lenses in a single rolling carry-on like the ThinkTank International. You would most likely even be able to get another lens and port in without too much trouble. I never got around to housing a full size DSLR so can't compare directly but when there are a mix of M43 and DSLR cameras on the camera table on the boat, the differences seem pretty huge.

Hope that is helpful.

 

[decidedlyodd]

So after my macro lens (Olympus 60mm f/2.8) and vacuum valve came in late last week banana, I was able to take the whole setup out on Friday for the first time.

For the first half of the dive, I couldn't get my strobes to fire at all! Plus, in the cruddy vis I wasn't able to find the Giant Pacific Octopus on eggs I was looking for anyways.

I'd done a test shot the night before, but clearly something was set up wrong. Fortunately, about halfway through the dive, the strobes started working! I'm still not sure what combination of settings I fiddled with (strobe on/off switch, TTL/mode 1/mode 2, camera manual flash, camera auto flash, take camera out of auto ISO) actually got it working. After I got home, the EXIF data in the image files recorded that the camera believed the flash was firing so I'm guessing it was something with both strobes.

The set up is definitely considerably smaller and lighter than my DSLR both above and below water. In fact, much more so than the impression I'd gotten from looking at the weights and dimensions of the housing, camera and lenses. An unexpected side effect was that I found it easier to position my strobes close-in because the port is so much smaller which in turn made it a lot easier to light the scene at lower strobe power, narrow apertures and fast shutter speeds.

There was definitely a learning curve with using the rear LCD instead of a viewfinder. I found it much harder to keep it stable, but I've ordered the thicker window for mounting my external viewfinder so we'll see how that works out eventually.

No remarkable photos but I'm pleased with the IQ and ability to get close up from photos like this one. I just need to get used to this new set up and keeping taking photos.


Shrimp by decidedlyodd, on Flickr

Here's an above water shot I took from inside the housing. Not too bad either for a hand-held night snapshot of the city skyline across from the dive site.


Seattle Night Skyline by decidedlyodd, on Flickr