EPL-2 Vs. XZ-1

[nudibranco]

Something asked for a macro pic which is included on a link here Exif | gambero bocca | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Just a trial pic taken with 14-42 kit lens and Epoque macro wet lens...

 

[musi]

Hi!

Thank's for posting the pic! One more question to your Makro Lens: I know that the minimum focus distance with the kit lens is 10-25 cm (new or older version) Is that changed through the Epoque makro lens? How close can you actually get to the subject while still being able to focus?

Thank's and greetings

Daniel

 

[davelew]

if your are mainly doing macro you may also want to consider that the EPL2/EPL1 will not sync the non Olympus strobos over 1/160, 1/180. For some may not be a limitation but in clear water you have a hard time darkening the background of pictures without going to the highest F settings of the lens (and you lose quality if you go over 1/16...)

Very, very few cameras will sync strobes much over 1/180 without some degree of shutter shading.

 

[nudibranco]

Dave,

I had no problems with high speed sync with my DX1G or Fuji on the sea&sea strobes or its internal flash.
The problem with fast sync I believe is one with the larger sensors and mechanical shutters. Also, the DSLRs do sync faster. The EPL1 is not a fast sync machine at 1/160. The EPL" improves a little. Theres is a nice link that talks about sync speed. http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/syncspeed.htm

Andrea

 

[nudibranco]

Hi!

Thank's for posting the pic! One more question to your Makro Lens: I know that the minimum focus distance with the kit lens is 10-25 cm (new or older version) Is that changed through the Epoque makro lens? How close can you actually get to the subject while still being able to focus?

Thank's and greetings

Daniel

When I tested I remember:
1) without the macro lens you can get about as close as 12-15cm from the kit port (about 20cm from the sensor).
2) with the macro lens about 3-5 cm from the port.

 

[Nemrod]

How would you mount Inon LD to the PT 050 housing? Inon making an adaptor or 67mm to LD? Would that be better than just using the WAL100 67mm? I'm debating S95 with factory housing and Inon mount adaptor or the XZ-1.

I don't know yet if it will mount to that housing. Either way both lenses are very h-e-a-v-y and would place a strain on a single attach screw/plate I would think. Just wondering for opinions on this. I have had single screw mounts in plastic housings before and they have broken. Ikelite/FIX and others use two screws for that reason to distribute the load of heavy lenses and accessories. ??

The WAL100-67mm is for 35mm equivalent native lenses and the XZ-1 is 28mm but that does not stop me from using it successfully with my also 28mm native FIX90/S90.

The new LD lens has a bigger rear element, is optically improved not to vignette native with the dome (as did the former WAL100-28AD) and has a new dome also and is intended for use with 28mm lenses as was the WAL100-28AD.

N

 

[davelew]

Dave,

I had no problems with high speed sync with my DX1G or Fuji on the sea&sea strobes or its internal flash.
The problem with fast sync I believe is one with the larger sensors and mechanical shutters. Also, the DSLRs do sync faster. The EPL1 is not a fast sync machine at 1/160. The EPL" improves a little. Theres is a nice link that talks about sync speed. Flash Sync Speed

Andrea

The fast sync issue is with mechanical shutters (specifically, dual mechanical shutters) as opposed to the electronic shutters on cheaper cameras. You get less noise in the photos with mechanical shutters, in exchange for slower sync speeds. I will willingly trade the high ISO performance of large sensor cameras for the fast sync speeds of compacts, and so will most professional photographers.

As for sync speeds of SLRs, my Nikon D90 SLR will only sync up to 1/200. The newer D7000 will sync at 1/250, which is only a small improvement. The professional level D3 and D3S also only sync at 1/250. A flash sync speed of 1/160 isn't great, but it's only maybe a stop below the $1,000+ professional cameras. I haven't had any issues with turning the ISO way down to get darker backgrounds, but I tend to prefer a blue background (or green, if diving in cold water) to a black background anyway.

 

[nudibranco]

I wished the slower synch speed of 1/160 was not a problem in my UW shooting but unfortunately I have often critter shots I miss because 1/160 is just not enough (especially macro and semi macro shots of fish). I realized that 1/250 makes a big difference in stopping the background motions of fish.

I also like the high iso performance of CMOS, and larger sensors but frankly the question was aimed at macro shooting and in this respect I do not see anybody shooting with high iso settings.

I believe the future is now pointing toward global shutters and sooner or later mechanical shutters will disappear.

I think the GH2 was supposed to have something in this respect but could not quite make it on that model.

Interestingly enough I tried the EPL1 and the SS110alpha and while it probably loses lots of range in doing it, it actually can sync up to 1/250 and often up to 1/320 a full image.

Back to the original question: xz1 or epl2 for mainly macro shooting. I wished someone would show me a better image quality macro shot (clearly with strobo) at iso 200 on an epl2 than at iso 100 on xz1 or similar high end compact camera.

 

[davelew]

I wished someone would show me a better image quality macro shot (clearly with strobo) at iso 200 on an epl2 than at iso 100 on xz1 or similar high end compact camera.

Here's a shot I took in May of 2010 of a piece of brain coral, using an E-P1 camera, which has the same sensor as the E-PL2. Settings were ISO 400, 1/90, F/8.0, and two strobes:


P5040991.jpg by davelewinn, on Flickr

Here's a shot I took in April of 2008, using a Fuji F30 (not as high-end as the XZ-1, but a fairly high performance compact with full manual controls) with an Inon macro lens. Settings were ISO 400, 1/100, F/8.0, and a single strobe:


DSCF1360 by davelewinn, on Flickr

Do you see the difference? The camera with interchangeable lenses had a dedicated macro lens (in this case a Nikonos 80mm lens with close-up kit), and I was able to get much better magnification without any loss of quality.

 

[chris196]

Davelw,
I have a fuji f30. As fas as I know there is no full manual controls. Am I missing something?
There is shutter & apperture priority. It has a mode called manual, but it's not really manual. It allows some control, but you cannot set both the shutter and the apperture to what you want.

I have gotten some decent shots with the F30, but I'm moving to the S95 now.
So many more options now. Tops on my list are the S95, XZ1, epl2, nex5. Each has things I like.