New 10Bar Housing for E-PL1 - interchangeable Ports!!

[jhelmuth]

Hey Guys,


Just wanted to give a public kudos to Jack at Optical Oceans. I bought lots-o-goodies for my new Pen E-PL1 and PT-EP01 housing (new Zen dome, zoom gear, tray setup, and Fisheye FIX focus/video light). Just wanted to say how AWESOME Jack is to deal with and how helpful he is! I highly recommend you talk to him for all your camera needs. He will hook you up!

All the best Jack!

Jim

 

[nudibranco]

Here is some relative bouyancy info...


The E-PL1 in the stock Oly housing (PT-EP01) on a sea & Sea Light tray/arm set with the Oly UFL-2 strobe is 12oz positve (or just under actually - but slightly more than 11oz).

Don't know much more thatn that yet - but will post any other stats from the kit I'm putting together...

Just tried the setup with the EPL1 Olympus housing and the SEA&SEA arm VII set and UFL2: VERY positive buoyancy!! The sea&sea 110alpha balances out much better so the culprit is the UFL2...too bad ithe sea&sea will not sync at the the higher speed than 1/160....

 

[jhelmuth]

I ended up going with an Aluminum tray andarm kit from Jack. Add the Zen Dome Port for the PT-EP01 and it's all so much better. Waiting for my 2nd UFL-2 to show up (tomorrow) so I can re-check it all and hope that it's very near neutral to slightly negative. Shouldn't be too problematic to add a small amout of weight using some lead to fine tue the bouyancy and trim...

I'd take that any day over some of the overall very negative kits using aluminum housings (just my preference).

 

[jhelmuth]

Here's the new rig/kit... thanks again Jack!

Headed down to Tobago this Saturday (day after tomorrow)!

 

[under water]

Your rig looks great. We went the same direction with the housing and dome, but different directions with lighting (Inon & L&M). I noticed that your handles seem really far from the camera. Way too far to use the shutter release while holding the handles. Does that tray allow you to move the housing from side to side or move the handles in. I have an Ike tray/handle that is OK, but I just ordered a ULCS tray & handles to cut out even more weight and make it more modular (smaller) for travelling.

 

[jhelmuth]

Yes... the handles move. Truth is, Jack tried to steer me away from that particular tray, but I wanted that one so I could use it for my HD video rig (Canon HF-200 wirh WP-V1) here.

I've also got some material I picked up cheap that I want to try - but I'm going to play with moving the handles around and see what I like (and don't like) and then I'll order a new tray from Jack (if I think I want something else).

Some thoughts on this though...

[1] The rig is only slightly negative, so it's quite easy to hold the camera by the housing grips. This turns the handles into extensions for getting the stobes out wide.

[2] In video mode, the wide handles steady the camera better than narrow ones would.

[3] putting the handle right next to the camera makes it possible to hold the handle and press the shutter relaese - but it's awkward. Much easier to just hold the left handle and move the right hand onto the camera housing


It's gonna take some time to figure out all the tiny adjustments to get everything "perfect" - but I'm excited to get going on that process!

 

[under water]

Some thoughts on this though...

[1] The rig is only slightly negative, so it's quite easy to hold the camera by the housing grips. This turns the handles into extensions for getting the stobes out wide.

[2] In video mode, the wide handles steady the camera better than narrow ones would.

[3] putting the handle right next to the camera makes it possible to hold the handle and press the shutter release - but it's awkward. Much easier to just hold the left handle and move the right hand onto the camera housing

I actually agree on all counts.
I noticed with my previous Ike G9 housing that my right hand often was holding the housing not the right handle.
The PT-EP01 is even more ergonomic in this respect.

I haven't had a chance to dive with this yet, but there are 2 things about the 10-bar housing I wish the Oly had.
The ability to pop up the flash underwater and the ability to manually focus.

BTW. That ZEN dome port is a tight fit compared to the standard port.
I don't think changing ports, to use my macro wet lenses, is something I want to do on a small boat.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

I am using a tray and grips that keep the grips close to the Olympus PT-EP01 housing for two reasons. First in macro I like to use just one grip on the left side of the housing, (viewed from the rear) so that I can get the housing as close to the bottom as I can. This puts the lens in the same plain as the subject so I am not pointing the housing down at the subject and keeping the lens on a level or slightly upward angle to subject.

The shutter release or trigger on the housing is pushed down, not pulled back like a trigger on many DSLR housings. This makes pushing the shutter release awkward while holding onto a grip. I like to use the right grip as a wrist support while I hold the right side of the housing with my right hand. This makes the trigger much more comfortable to access and depress while using the left grip to steady the housing. It also works very well shooting with just the right hand and the grip support helps steady the housing. With wide angle I use two grips to support the arms for my two Inon Z-240 strobes.

Phil Rudin

Image #1 macro setup with Athena ring-flash
#2 Olympus 9-18 zoom at 9 mm using ZEN PEN U/W dome port.
#3 Panasonic 7-14 zoom at 7 mm using Athena adaptor and dome port.

My thanks to, Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros for use of several items of equipment used in my coming review of this system. Reef is a great source of information and a very well stocked Olympus, ZEN and Athena outlet.

 

[JackConnick]

I now have a Medium Sized (330mm) Flat tray that fits this housing much better. Jim bought the DSLR size tray. It's available by itself or in various configurations.

Jack

 

[jhelmuth]

...and I'm going to order one of those when I get back!