PHIL RUDIN
Contributor
The Nauticam NA-EM5 housing for the Olympus OMD E-M5 was announced today in the US and I thought a new thread was in order to seperate it from the Olympus E-M5 housing thread. I posted some of the things I like about this housing over at Wetpixe, I have moved them here and added a few more.
In the Nauticam NA-EM5 housing they have moved the main O-ring to the rear door which will make it much eaiser to service over being on the main body. The housing, like all of the Nauticam DSLR housings comes with a pickup viewfinder for the EVF and the Option to add the 45 and 180 degree accessory finders. Nauticam supports all of the excellent lenses for the M4/3 system like the 8 ifsheye, 7-14 zoom and 45 macro. I also like that the video on/off is out of the way of the rear push controls where it won't be as easy to turn on by accident. New ports have been designed for the 12-50 with power zoom control and access to the macro button and a new port is coming for the Olympus 60 mm maceo which has focus limit controls for the macro range, the only lens made that I am aware of that has this ability to limit within a small macro range so the lens won't "hunt". Another thing I like about this housing is what appears to be a new approach to pricing by Nauticam started I believe with the $1200.00 Panasonic NA-GX1 housing and now the $1350.00 NA-EM5 housing. This beings the housing cost more in line with the pricing of the cameras unlike the NEX-7 housing which is $1850.00. This also puts the housing very close to the cost of the Olympus branded housing when you consider the cost of an additional port or two as you expand your system. At this point no really good solution for adding a 45 or 180 accessory viewfinder to an Olympus housing is available. For those how care the Nauticam housing is rated to 100 meters while the Olympus is rated to 45 meters, not a big issue for most sport divers but some will like the idea.
Regarding use of the after market ports for the Olympus PEN housing like the excellent ZEN 8mm fisheye port know this. One of the excellent features of ALL Nauticam housings is the PATENTED port mounting system. Zen Underwater makes a few optical glass ports for the Nauticam DSLR housings not covered by Nauticam and Nauticam makes port adapters for several ports from Iklite, Subal, Sea & Sea and more. At this time they do not make an adapter for Olympus DSLR housing ports or for Pen housing ports.
The E-M5 is by far the best Olympus camera to date and the over thirty-three lenses made for M43 give it an edge over all the other non-M43 mirrorless cameras and put it on par with most of the DSLR's using the APS-C size sensors.
Note that in the press release photo attached that the compact Panasonic 14-42 power zoom is shown in the 45mm macro port, don't know if a gear is being made for that lens as well.
Phil Rudin
In the Nauticam NA-EM5 housing they have moved the main O-ring to the rear door which will make it much eaiser to service over being on the main body. The housing, like all of the Nauticam DSLR housings comes with a pickup viewfinder for the EVF and the Option to add the 45 and 180 degree accessory finders. Nauticam supports all of the excellent lenses for the M4/3 system like the 8 ifsheye, 7-14 zoom and 45 macro. I also like that the video on/off is out of the way of the rear push controls where it won't be as easy to turn on by accident. New ports have been designed for the 12-50 with power zoom control and access to the macro button and a new port is coming for the Olympus 60 mm maceo which has focus limit controls for the macro range, the only lens made that I am aware of that has this ability to limit within a small macro range so the lens won't "hunt". Another thing I like about this housing is what appears to be a new approach to pricing by Nauticam started I believe with the $1200.00 Panasonic NA-GX1 housing and now the $1350.00 NA-EM5 housing. This beings the housing cost more in line with the pricing of the cameras unlike the NEX-7 housing which is $1850.00. This also puts the housing very close to the cost of the Olympus branded housing when you consider the cost of an additional port or two as you expand your system. At this point no really good solution for adding a 45 or 180 accessory viewfinder to an Olympus housing is available. For those how care the Nauticam housing is rated to 100 meters while the Olympus is rated to 45 meters, not a big issue for most sport divers but some will like the idea.
Regarding use of the after market ports for the Olympus PEN housing like the excellent ZEN 8mm fisheye port know this. One of the excellent features of ALL Nauticam housings is the PATENTED port mounting system. Zen Underwater makes a few optical glass ports for the Nauticam DSLR housings not covered by Nauticam and Nauticam makes port adapters for several ports from Iklite, Subal, Sea & Sea and more. At this time they do not make an adapter for Olympus DSLR housing ports or for Pen housing ports.
The E-M5 is by far the best Olympus camera to date and the over thirty-three lenses made for M43 give it an edge over all the other non-M43 mirrorless cameras and put it on par with most of the DSLR's using the APS-C size sensors.
Note that in the press release photo attached that the compact Panasonic 14-42 power zoom is shown in the 45mm macro port, don't know if a gear is being made for that lens as well.
Phil Rudin
