Olympus EP-1 camera with Nikonos lenses

[davelew]

I wasn't sure if I should post this in the Olympus or Nikon forums, so I'm posting here instead.

I spent last week in Little Cayman testing a new camera housing that I designed. This housing holds an Olympus EP-1 camera and an adapter that mates to Nikonos lenses. Here's a snapshot of my setup, where you can see the housing, ULCS base/grips/arms, a pair of Inon strobes (S-2000 and D-2000), and a Nikonos 28mm lens that can only focus correctly when underwater:

Here's a photo I took with that setup, along with a Nikonos Closeup adapter on the 28mm lens:

The Nikonos 80mm lens has a reputation of being hard to use for any use other than as a paperweight, and after using it, I think that reputation is deserved. Here's one keeper that I got of an eagle ray, where such a long lens (160mm equivalent because of the 2.0 crop factor of the EP-1) was useful for photographing a shy creature that wouldn't come closer than 40 feet:

I tried to get some supermacro images with the 80mm and the closeup adapter, but had trouble holding the camera still enough to work with the paper-thin depth of focus. This half of a lettuce sea slug is the best I could do, and even it is a little un-sharp:

The Nikonos 15mm is famous for being among the finest underwater optics ever developed, and I think that reputation is also deserved. After using the 28mm and the 80mm, I took the Nikonos 15mm out, and immediately fell in love with that lens. This is the first photo I took on my first dive with the Nikonos 15mm lens:

Here are some more images taken with the 15mm:

Finally, I also built the capability into the housing to work with an MMF-1 adapter, an Olympus Zuiko 8mm fisheye lens, and an Aquatica dome port. Here's a shot of my wife, a sea mount, and a sunburst taken with the fisheye:

Here's a shot where I played with the fisheye distortion:

My goal is to work out a few final kinks in my housing design, and then to sell a few of them to other people who want to use Nikonos lenses for digital photography (and to help defray my development costs). I've put together a little company along with my wife (the one with the MBA and the website experience) to further this goal, the company is called PiratePro.

David Lewinnek
engineering@piratepro.com
PiratePro Nikonos Capable Digital Housings

 

[xariatay]

Good luck for your venture!

 

[micman]

Hello David,

what about your project ?

It seems stopped from october 2009...

 

[deeper thoughts]

best wishes

 

[davelew]

Hello David,

what about your project ?

It seems stopped from october 2009...

We are a small company of just a few passionate divers and photographers, and we were hit by a perfect storm of problems, including injuries, family members' health issues, and other issues that put this project (more a labor of love than a money-making endeavor) on hold. The injuries were mine, and completely non-diving related, although they did make me unable to dive (or lift heavy objects, or get out of bed easily) this past summer.

We have the materials for twenty housings and adapters that fix the two problems observed in the first housing that I used to take photos in Little Cayman shown above. The two problems were that the camera could be damaged if put in backwards, and that we didn't have a good way to test the seals on the rear window. Last week I started assembling the new housings and testing the latest design. I can't promise when I will be ready to have other people use these housings, but it should be soon.

 

[micman]

Hello again David, i left this messages also because on an free on-line underwater photo journal (UWP), in July 2009, this article appeared "Digital Nikonos Industry Design Challenge" :
Are all of the Nikonos systems out there really just paperweights?
Are the superior optics of Nikonos lenses such as the 15mm or RS lenses really
never going to see the light of day (or water) again?
Is it impossible to produce adapters that will allow them to be used on digital cameras?
These are the burning questions that have crossed my mind lately.
There is a large contingency of underwater photographers who have nostalgically shelved our once trusted Nikonos lenses, which in the digital age have become practically useless.
Before we totally write off these lenses as paperweights, DPG is challenging the industry, or any
innovative do-it-yourselfer, to come up with a way of adapting these lenses to work with any existing digital camera.

Here is the DPG Nikonos Challenge: Produce an adapter or modify a camera to work with existing Nikons lenses, particularly the 15mm or Nikonos RS wide angle lenses, or build a digital back for existing Nikonos bodies.
Awards
For any manufacturer who develops a working prototype, we will provide 6 months of free advertising on DPG. If you are already an advertiser, we will extend your contract for 6 months.
For any individual who comes up with a working prototype, if you so desire, we will help you market the solution to the underwater photography community and the dive industry via advertising on DPG and our media partners worldwide.
Otherwise we will sing your praises via a PR release to the industry.
Winners will also receive a very cool trophy, and the pride and glory of accomplishing what Nikon and the rest of the industry deemed as impossible or simply not worthwhile.
We will accept entries through Dec. 31, 2009
divephotoguide

Also if the Challenge has ended in 2009, i think your realization should still interest them...
Bye,
Michele