I've been looking at the 10 Bar housing for my E-PL3, but can't find many opinions about it, other than buttons are difficult for use with gloves. Any opinions out there? What about the 10 Bar semi-dome port? I sold my complete S&S DX-2G system, so this will be a complete replacement. Housing, tray/arms, strobes, and all else the goes with it.
10-Bar or Oly Housing EPL-3
- Thread starter trange
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Wisnu
Contributor
You can find several posts of my experience with 10bar housing for EPL-1 in this forum. Not disaster, but not something that I really proud.
We've been selling the 10Bar housings in the US now for several years.
I feel they offer a good value for the cost. They are aluminum, rated to 200', have all controls, double oring construction. They also have interchangeable ports. The housings are as small as possible, and fit the cameras closely. You can buy them with different port configurations, but generally most people buy it with the semi-dome port that works with both the 14-42 or 9-18. They offer both electrical (manual only) or optical strobe sync. The housings come complete with gears, port, extra orings, cleaning kit and small carrying bag. My housing kits also include a "spare parts" kit of control parts and port caps (which aren't standard). They have a 2 year warranty, but have to be serviced in Hong Kong.
They are heavier, and I would say the controls can be "fussy" at times. Knobs are a bit small for divers with gloves. I can't say I like the zoom control, you have to push it in and turn. 10Bar is a good, but small company and can be slow to respond to issues. But I have a good relationship with them and generally can help with communications.
I do like the new 10Bar E-PL3 housing, the controls generally seem improved and work better than the previous models.
Of the housings available right now, I would say it is a much better deal than the Olympus, better construction, dome port, etc. for less than $200 more. Remember, the Olympus housing comes without gears, extra orings, etc. I also just found out that Olympus USA is sold out and will not have any more housings for a couple of months. If you want one I would call around quickly.
I have a blog article comparing the older Oly PT-EP01 and 10Bar E-PL1 housings, most of the information still applies to the new ones, except that the Oly housing has the lights and is now $799.
If you really want the best housing available, I would look at the Nauticam E-PL3; it offers much better controls, ports, design and ergonomics, but it is at least twice as much.
I feel they offer a good value for the cost. They are aluminum, rated to 200', have all controls, double oring construction. They also have interchangeable ports. The housings are as small as possible, and fit the cameras closely. You can buy them with different port configurations, but generally most people buy it with the semi-dome port that works with both the 14-42 or 9-18. They offer both electrical (manual only) or optical strobe sync. The housings come complete with gears, port, extra orings, cleaning kit and small carrying bag. My housing kits also include a "spare parts" kit of control parts and port caps (which aren't standard). They have a 2 year warranty, but have to be serviced in Hong Kong.
They are heavier, and I would say the controls can be "fussy" at times. Knobs are a bit small for divers with gloves. I can't say I like the zoom control, you have to push it in and turn. 10Bar is a good, but small company and can be slow to respond to issues. But I have a good relationship with them and generally can help with communications.
I do like the new 10Bar E-PL3 housing, the controls generally seem improved and work better than the previous models.
Of the housings available right now, I would say it is a much better deal than the Olympus, better construction, dome port, etc. for less than $200 more. Remember, the Olympus housing comes without gears, extra orings, etc. I also just found out that Olympus USA is sold out and will not have any more housings for a couple of months. If you want one I would call around quickly.
I have a blog article comparing the older Oly PT-EP01 and 10Bar E-PL1 housings, most of the information still applies to the new ones, except that the Oly housing has the lights and is now $799.
If you really want the best housing available, I would look at the Nauticam E-PL3; it offers much better controls, ports, design and ergonomics, but it is at least twice as much.
OP
Thanks Jack. I haven't seen much specifically about the E-PL3 housing, but reading some other comments on earlier models and models for other cameras, left me wondering. Price is quite good. Nauticam is just too expensive for me. I live in Germany as an expat, am a PADI instructor, and love diving in the clear lakes in the Alps. I use my system for training and pleasure. Diving in cold water does give me concerns for the 10-Bar as you and other comments implied. I also seen comments as to the semi-dome not being very sharp. I'll be at the Dusseldorf Boat show this weekend and hopefully someone will have the housing there.
Similar threads
