OM-D E-M5 II and the PT-EP13 Housing

[Buster1dog]

I'm very happy with this camera and housing combination.
I love my old E-PL1 but this camera is far beyond the technology of the PL1.
I Usually shoot with the 60mm macro from Olympus or the 8mm Fisheye from Panasonic.
I was going to be exploring a new site and didn't know what to expect so I decided to take along the kit 14-42mm zoom as a versatile enough for almost macro, almost wide angle lens.
When I was installing the zoom gear I noticed that the gear's teeth clearance from the front of the view finder and at the inside edge of the port was minimal at best. Even just closing up the housing added resistance to the zoom wheel on the housing.
This was a shore dive. We were heading out in about 10' of water when I noticed the zoom gear was getting pretty sticky. It got worse as we descended to the point of totally stuck for the majority of the dive. On ascent the zoom gear got easier to turn.
I believe it's getting pinched between the camera's view finder and the inside edge of the port.
This lens/gear always worked on my old PL1 setup. Of course that camera has no view finder so there's at least 1/4" of clearance from gear teeth to camera body.
Has anyone had an issue like this?
I'm thinking about taking 1/16" off the back of the gear.

 

[chris196]

Are you supposed to take the eye cup off?
I know it was that way with the original em5.

Maybe don't push the gear as far down on the lens. I know I have to play with the gear at times to get it right. My experience is with epl2 & epl7, but I've had that issue before when I pushed the gear too far against the body of the camera.

 

[Buster1dog]

Thanks chris196 for the reply.
Yes it's the same as the em5's eyecup should be removed before installing camera.
There's very little to no wiggle room between the gear teeth , the front of the viewfinder and the inside edge of the port.
I decided to find out exactly how much clearance space there is.
I installed the gear a bit forward than what the manual shows then I installed the camera into the housing.
As I thought the camera won't go all the way in because the gear is contacting the inside edge of the port.
I pushed the camera in so the gear would be pushed back on the lens. Took the camera out and had a look.
So this is the farthest point away from the body the gear can go on the lens and just make contact with the port.

That gives a 1mm clearance to the viewfinder and it's still touching the port edge at the front side of the gear's teeth.
The teeth are 6mm wide. I could remove some material from the back of the gear to get more clearance.

 

[chris196]

Ahhh, ok, couldn't visualize it before.
Wow,that is close. I think your idea to remove material from gear is best approach.
Worst case there is you can't zoom. That's better than flooding.

 

[Buster1dog]

Ya. They didn't leave much room in there.
I've got a machinist friend with lathe.
Think I'm going to give it a shave. 2mm off the back and go from there.
I could stick with the 60mm and the 8mm and not worry about it but I really like the little kit zoom.
It's versatile and although not the fastest lens around it's sharp.

 

[Buster1dog]

The left strap attachment clip interferes with the zoom ring controls when the camera is face down.

 

[pabloDiver3092]

Hello everyone, i bought this amazing camera and housing but i have a big problem with the 14-42 zoom kit for the PT Ep13 as soon as i close the housing and go for a dive it get stuck, after
the dive in the surface i open the housing and it works perfectly... Does anyone found a solutions? Im thinking to go for the 12-50 if i cant solve the problem because i need the zoom... Thank you in advance have a good day.

 

[Buster1dog]

Once I removed the strap clips it works fine. It isn't the smoothest zoom, quite stiff.

 

[pabloDiver3092]

Hello Buster1dog, thank you so much for the reply and the info, what do you mean by strap clips? Do you have some photos?
Thank you again, have a good day!

 

[Buster1dog]

The small triangular piece that the camera strap attaches to on the left side interferes with the zoom gear controls. Especially when the camera is facing downward. I have removed it from the camera and have not had any issues since.