Rookie diver, rookie photographer, have E-PL1. Recommendations for UW config?

[Stewstews]

Hey all,

Got a trip planned island hopping through French Polynesia. Going to use this to do a fair bit of diving for the first time.

This immediately made me think of what to do to take away some underwater happy snaps?

I already have an Olympus E-PL1. I am very happy with this, as I can treat it somewhat like a P&S. I probably should learn how to control it a little better though...

Seem that the E-PL1 is pretty popular as a diving camera? I could house this in the PT-EP01. But beyond that I start getting confused on what I do and don't need, strobes etc...

Any recommendations on a good place to start? Being a trip to French Polynesia, I am being a bit budget conscious on what else outside the housing I want to spend on. Think of it as baby steps.

The other recommendation I've had is to get a Canon S100 + housing and live with that as-is, and this would be cheaper than the PT-EP01.

Cheers in advance for any help!
Stewstews

 

[SEMO Scuba]

The PT-EP01 housing has no window for your camera flash so you will need a strobe, or you will have to shoot with natural light. I use an E-PL1 and I find it easy to use. I use the camera in manual mode and with a strobe. Regardless of what camera you choose your photos will turn out much better if you learn to shoot in aperture or manual mode. The S100 is not a magic answer. It does have a window to allow use of the built in flash without a strobe.

The best advice I can offer is to read all of the instruction manual that came with your camera. If you don't understand the camera functions, controls, and terms used in the booklet search the internet first. If you can't find the answers, ask here. I recently took a basic, intermediate, and advanced photography class. Some of the students never read their camera manuals, and thus never learned how to utilize most of their camera functions or controls.

A great amount of information for beginning photography can be learned here: Beginners guide to underwater photography|Underwater Photography Guide

 

[fisheater]

Another suggestion is to buy and read (re-read) Martin Edge's The Underwater Photographer (4th Ed.)

I recently upgraded to a housed E-PM1 and found the book VERY useful.

 

[tracydr]

Hey all,

Got a trip planned island hopping through French Polynesia. Going to use this to do a fair bit of diving for the first time.

This immediately made me think of what to do to take away some underwater happy snaps?

I already have an Olympus E-PL1. I am very happy with this, as I can treat it somewhat like a P&S. I probably should learn how to control it a little better though...

Seem that the E-PL1 is pretty popular as a diving camera? I could house this in the PT-EP01. But beyond that I start getting confused on what I do and don't need, strobes etc...

Any recommendations on a good place to start? Being a trip to French Polynesia, I am being a bit budget conscious on what else outside the housing I want to spend on. Think of it as baby steps.

The other recommendation I've had is to get a Canon S100 + housing and live with that as-is, and this would be cheaper than the PT-EP01.

Cheers in advance for any help!
Stewstews

My recommendation is to be very careful.
Situational awareness and task loading can be a real problem in new divers who get involved with serious photography before establishing solid dive skills. Practice diving with your camera in very, very benign situations. Keep a buddy with you who will help you keep track of your gas, navigation, depth and other primary concerns, because you are likely to get distracted by picture taking.

 

[TSandM]

The EPL-1 was the camera that finally got me hooked on taking pictures. I use it with an Inon D2000 strobe, and it's a package I can stand to handle and swim around (it's nearly neutral) and I get photographs I'm truly proud of, and happy to share with others. I do think you will probably need a strobe to get pictures that will please you, because otherwise everything will be quite blue.

I would highly recommend spending some time playing with the camera on land, and learning how all the controls work and figuring the menus. Do this without, and then with the housing, so that you don't have to spend a lot of bandwidth underwater, trying to remember, "How do I do that?"

Trace's comments pertain, of course, if you are a new diver.

 

[Stewstews]

Thanks all for the feedback!

I am conscious of being a beginner (on two fronts - diving and photography) and taking photos, and really have considered whether I don't bother with the camera on this trip. But places like Rangiroa... really want some memories from these places As I doubt I'll be back ever / for a long time - so many other places to then "visit for the first time" before I go back somewhere I've already been...

Happy to do some time investment on learning the camera 'properly' ahead of time. TBH I am really happy with what I can do with the camera topside, to the point of being lazy and treating it like a P&S a lot of the time... But it has a lot more capability which I should learn, and seems mandatory if I'm going to use UW. I like good photos but I wouldn't call photography a hobby for me so far.

I am wondering if my list to set this up is:
*Buy a book!
*Find time to read / practice before going - an issue with work commitments :/
*Get the PT-EP01 housing (seems to be no other options, unlike some other camera's with multiple brands supplying housings)
*Consider getting the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 'pancake' lens (better for UW?). Thought about a fisheye but maybe down the track if this takes off as a hobby
*Strobe. Would love some input here... I have no idea on these, how they get setup, if they need special arms etc, let alone which to choose.
*Strong lanyard / some way I can't 'drop' the camera UW?

Anything I am missing?

Worried about the cost of all this though. The PT-EP01 is approx $700 (AUD), that lens is $400, and I can see this ramping up quite quickly if I kit it out. I think my position should be to have something quite upgradable (sounds like the E-PL1 + PT-EP01 is), but just get by with the minimum for the time being that would give 'decent' shots. And grow the kit with time!

 

[MarkHerm]

I am conscious of being a beginner (on two fronts - diving and photography) and taking photos, and really have considered whether I don't bother with the camera on this trip. But places like Rangiroa... really want some memories from these places As I doubt I'll be back ever / for a long time - so many other places to then "visit for the first time" before I go back somewhere I've already been...

Personally, I wouldn't take a camera if I had only a couple of dives under my belt. Why do I know? Because I started bringing a camera from like dive #6 (that is 2 after OWD checkout dives) and it was a bad idea. I stopped bringing it with me relatively soon and started again when I had aroung 70+ dives done. Even now, I certainly won't bring it every dive! Diving with a camera really changes the way you dive. You will use considerably more air (because you are task loaded) and this will shorten your dive time, you'll probably hold breath a lot of times (as you try to maintain position in the water column) which is a no-no underwater, and you'll be in constant photography mode instead of experiencing the new enviroment ("Ah yeah that looks cool so how do I get a good photo from this now" instead of just enjoying what you see). These matters affect you personally. Besides it is unaccaptable and not excusable if you bump into the reef while trying to get a good shot. Chances are high that this is going to happen as you simply cannot have good buoyancy control yet.

If you still want to bring a camera, I'd suggest that you'll only bring it with you on every second dive or alike. Because you'll be more than task loaded with diving itself and framing the shot, I suggest to set the camera to an automatic mode and let it do its thing. Manual mode will result in better images but this is probably way too much - especially if you are new to photography as well. I'd shoot in RAW mode (or RAW+Jepg) then as this will allow you to manipulate the pics well (like setting white balance) later on in your preferred image processing software.
In underwater photography you usually shoot either wide angle or close ups/macro. "Normal" focal length (like 50mm on full frame or 25mm on m4/3 respecively) is rarely used. So I am not sure if I'd ge the 20mm lens as it won't let you take wide angles nor close ups. What lenses do you have available right now?
A strobe setup that will work in automatic mode (sTTL) will cost you probably another $800 at least ($500 for an Inon S2000 for example, $200 for trays, arm and clamps, $100 for a good fibre optical cable to let the external strobe mimic the internal one). Strobes will vastly improve your underwater images but it is another thing to worry about (-> more task loading).
Besides, you get the best results if you try to shoot in the shallows (to max. of 10m / 30ft) as colors will degrade fast when going deeper and all is going to look blue-ish (that's why a strobe is benefical). Still you can get awesome available light shots in the shallows so I'd concentrate to shoot in there.

A good book on underwater photography is Martin Edge's "Underwater Photographer". This book covers the basics as well as advanced topics. But be warned, it is has a ton of pages so you won't go through it in a couple of hours

If you want good results, you'll need a lot of expensive equipment, good knowledge and good skills in diving as well as photography which can only be gained from experience. If you just want to take some snapshots to remeber some dive spots and critters, I'd get only the housing (no strobes, no different lenses and ports, no wet lenses/diopters etc.) for the time being. Of course, you could also just ask a fellow diver with a cam to share the the pics with you - there will most certainly be at least someone who is taking pictures anyways.

Good luck!

 

[chris196]

I won't rehash all the new diver stuff. I will say I've seen some new divers who are much better than the experienced ones, so it's not all just time in the water.

I have the epl2 with a D2000, which is a great setup. You're going to need a strobe for anything other than shallow shots. As stated, you can't use the internal strobe like you can on say a canon S95.
If I was buying from scratch today I'd look hard at the sea&sea ys01. I'd get that or the inon S2000.
Just from my experience and reading online seems like the inon sttl is considered more reliable than the sea&sea, but that may be an out of date opinion. they had a lot of trouble with the 110 a few years back. I think the new ones are much better now.
Here's a great package that will get you what you need:
System Packages :: Lighting Packages :: Optical Ocean Single Modular Sea & Sea YS-01 Lighting Package -

Also, you might want to see about getting the 14-42II. It focuses faster than the original 14-42.
Can you still find the housing for the epl1? what about the used market? might be able to get a deal.

---------- Post Merged at 09:26 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:22 AM ----------

I don't think the 20/f1.7 is really used much underwater. Besides, I don't think there is a port for it. It will vignette in the standard port. don't spend your money on that, spend it on the strobe.
Also, if you can't find the epl1 housing cheap, consider the epm1. I saw an epm1 for $299 in best buy the other day.
but, best bet would be if you could find a used housing for your epl1.

---------- Post Merged at 10:06 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:22 AM ----------

here's a good deal on the housing:
http://www.adorama.com/IOMPTEP01.html?gclid=CODqtrSE1rICFcxcMgodIE8Afw

 

[TSandM]

I don't think you need anything but the kit lens to start with -- that's what I'm using. No, it won't give you breathtaking wide angle shots, but honestly, there's a learning curve for underwater photography, and you're unlikely to get breathtaking shots with any equipment, if you're brand new at doing this. But you can get pictures you'll enjoy.

I use a standard phone-cord type clip lanyard on my camera. One end is always clipped to me, and the other to the camera; the middle clip controls the lanyard length.

Underwater photography equipment is just plain expensive. I understand your desire to have photographs of places like Rangiroa (which is one of the most wonderful diving places in the world, in my experience). But a lot of outfits offer videos of your dives, and you might consider just paying the money for those (you can buy several for the cost of a housing) since they're professionally done. That would allow you to enjoy the entire gestalt of the dives, without the stress of handling a camera as well. That's what I did in Rangiroa; I just dove and marveled, and let my husband worry about the photographs. (And I think we bought a video there, too.)

 

[JackConnick]

Personally, I'd hesitate to house that old a camera. It's not that it's a bad camera, it's that the newer ones are so much faster, with better, much faster lenses, auto-focus, software, video, etc.

You'll spend the same $599 on the PT-EP01 as you would on housing say the PM-1 with the PT-EP06. The PM-1 is only $349 right now. Use the old camera for topside and house the latest camera you can afford. You'll get much better value out of your housing dollars.

Jack