Panny 7x14 or Oly 9x18 m4/3?

[tripntx]

Looking to purchase a wide angle lens for my E-PL1 at the end of March (with Zen port). I'm really torn between 7x14 and 9x18.
Is 7x14 really worth the huge cost difference? I want the best, but not if no real difference is seen between the two.
What can be done with the 7x14 that can't be done with 9x18?

Once this decision is made, then I'll have to pick either D2000 or S2000 as a second strobe to go with my D2000.

 

[slowhands]

Looking to purchase a wide angle lens for my E-PL1 at the end of March (with Zen port). I'm really torn between 7x14 and 9x18.
Is 7x14 really worth the huge cost difference? I want the best, but not if no real difference is seen between the two.
What can be done with the 7x14 that can't be done with 9x18?

Once this decision is made, then I'll have to pick either D2000 or S2000 as a second strobe to go with my D2000.

I had a conversation with Ryan at Reef Photo about this. I have the 9-18 and wondered if the 7-14 was worth the extra.

He said to try the Panasonic 8mm. It's a fisheye, which is hard to use a lot on land, but which works beautifully underwater.
Panasonic Lumix G Fisheye 8mm/F3.5 Lens H-F008 B&H Photo Video
He said is was his favorite lens right now, more fun than the 7-14. The lens costs less than the 7-14; Zen has a port for it that is reasonable for what it is ($800).
Zen Underwater DP-100 100mm Fisheye Macro Port for Panasonic 8mm Fisheye in Olympus PT-EPxx Housings [zen.dp.100ep] - $799.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

A really different lens. With it you get the wide, but also close focus to 10cm. Ryan said it was the lens he liked the most lately. Talk with him to get a first hand impression.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

I have used all three of these lenses with the ZEN Underwater ports and my vote would be for the Pany 7-14 or the 8 fisheye if you like the fisheye look. The best value by far is the 9-18/Zen port combo.

Phil Rudin

 

[Byte Me]

Trip,

I was in the same boat when I put together my new underwater / above water kit based around the e-pl1. Also talked to Reef, read DPReview threads on both lenses. Since I'm using for both above and below water that came into consideration as well. My choice initially was between 9-18 and 7-14. At the 11th hour the 8mm fisheye came in to play.

I ended up going with the 7-14 for a couple reasons. First, as the Reef folks told me, you cannot substitute for being close underwater. They likened shooting underwater to shooting in fog. If you're standing 30' away from a car in the fog, you can zoom in and get "close" but you can't eliminate the amount of "fog" (i.e. water) between you and the subject by zooming, only by getting closer. Thus the extra 2mm on the wide end DOES benefit you underwater. 2nd, review consensus was that it's a sharper, better lens than the 9-18. Not quite as usable for above water as a walking around lens but excellent when used properly above.

The 9-18 I didn't go with simply for the above reasons.

The 8mm fish eye was quickly ruled out because 1) I don't like the look of fish eye when used above water; 2) The dome is $300 more than the 7-14mm dome so all in it's ~$150 more expensive. That was a deadly combo for the 8mm fish eye.

I was able to get the 7-14 for $810 from Amazon. Looks like it has jumped back up a bit in price to around $870.

Gonna get this whole new kit underwater on the Belize Aggressor III starting Saturday!! Can't wait!

Good luck!

 

[ajcooke]

Byte Me - I am thinking of getting the same setup. I have a couple of questions.

Can you zoom the 7-14mm inside the Oly housing? Does the zoom gear for the kit 14-45 Oly lens work?

Can you use the kit 14-45 inside the Zen dome that you bought for the 7-14 or do you have to put the flat port back on? I read somewhere that you could.

Thanks for the help.

Please post some images from your trip!

 

[tripntx]

Panny 7-14mm has been ordered. Will order Zen port and S2000 (2nd strobe, D2000 primary) later tonight or tomorrow. Guess while I'm at it I'll order a decent focus light.

 

[Byte Me]

There is no 7-14mm zoom ring yet. Reef has told me someone is working on a shim to be able to use the 14-42 zoom ring but it doesn't exist yet either. SO I'm going to use gaffing tape on the 7-14 and use the 14-42 zoom ring. Will report back on how that works - or doesn't!

I don't see any reason why you CAN'T use the 14-42 in the dome port but am not sure how well that would work on the zoomed end with regard to dome distortion. Guess you could try it. I'm going to use the 14-42 more of a macro set up and a not quite so great WA in a pinch if the shot presents itself when I've got the Oly port on the housing. Personally, I wouldn't use the 14-42 in the Zen port because then I couldn't use the Inon macro lens that screws onto the Oly macro adapter.

If you'd like I'll give the 14-42 a try inside the Zen port. Now that you've brought it up I'll probably give it a try just to satisfy my own curiosity! Will let you know how this all shakes out!


For reference my whole kit consists of:

e-pl1
14-42 kit lens & zoom gear
UCL-165M67 macro lens
7-14mm Panny WA
Oly PT-EP01 housing
PMLA-EP01 macro adapter
Zen 7-14 dome
ULCS double arm tray
Inon D2000 strobe
L&M Sola 600 focus / video light
Spare battery
two Transcend 16GB class 10 SDHC cards

For above water only also have:
Panny 20mm f1.7
Panny 45-200 f4-5.6

Byte Me - I am thinking of getting the same setup. I have a couple of questions.

Can you zoom the 7-14mm inside the Oly housing? Does the zoom gear for the kit 14-45 Oly lens work?

Can you use the kit 14-45 inside the Zen dome that you bought for the 7-14 or do you have to put the flat port back on? I read somewhere that you could.

Thanks for the help.

Please post some images from your trip!

 

[Byte Me]

Trip - and others who care:

Before you order the Zen port and D2000 or any other gear, I wanted to share a quick story:

I bought my whole kit (with the exception of camera kit and panny lens) from Reef. They were AWESOME when it came to answering questions, explaining, etc. Items shipped quickly if they were in stock, I was notified if something wasn't, when it came in and then again when those items shipped.

My roomie on the Belize Aggressor III called Backscatter last week (I hadn't told him about my great service from Reef) to check on an S2000 strobe and a couple other things. Had a BAD phone experience but ordered anyway as everything he wanted was in stock. He called back on Tuesday of this week to check and make sure stuff had shipped because he'd gotten no notification of any kind. Turns out they hadn't shipped the stuff yet. We leave Saturday at 5:00 AM. To make matters worse they made him pay for the expedited shipping even though it was their screw up that it hadn't shipped. Sorry - but that kind of service is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE when you're paying full retail price for expensive camera gear.

Long story short - Reef was excellent to deal with and Backscatter will never get any of my money based on my buddy's experience with them.

Enjoy!

Panny 7-14mm has been ordered. Will order Zen port and S2000 (2nd strobe, D2000 primary) later tonight or tomorrow. Guess while I'm at it I'll order a decent focus light.

 

[tripntx]

I ordered the ZEN port and S2000 from Reef last night. Both are out of stock, but expected within 2 weeks. Called them today, and they sounded confident a shim for use with 14-42 gear would be included with ZEN port.

 

[ajcooke]

Thanks - that's all really good information - I look forward to hearing how it all works and seeing the photos!

There is no 7-14mm zoom ring yet. Reef has told me someone is working on a shim to be able to use the 14-42 zoom ring but it doesn't exist yet either. SO I'm going to use gaffing tape on the 7-14 and use the 14-42 zoom ring. Will report back on how that works - or doesn't!

I don't see any reason why you CAN'T use the 14-42 in the dome port but am not sure how well that would work on the zoomed end with regard to dome distortion. Guess you could try it. I'm going to use the 14-42 more of a macro set up and a not quite so great WA in a pinch if the shot presents itself when I've got the Oly port on the housing. Personally, I wouldn't use the 14-42 in the Zen port because then I couldn't use the Inon macro lens that screws onto the Oly macro adapter.

If you'd like I'll give the 14-42 a try inside the Zen port. Now that you've brought it up I'll probably give it a try just to satisfy my own curiosity! Will let you know how this all shakes out!


For reference my whole kit consists of:

e-pl1
14-42 kit lens & zoom gear
UCL-165M67 macro lens
7-14mm Panny WA
Oly PT-EP01 housing
PMLA-EP01 macro adapter
Zen 7-14 dome
ULCS double arm tray
Inon D2000 strobe
L&M Sola 600 focus / video light
Spare battery
two Transcend 16GB class 10 SDHC cards

For above water only also have:
Panny 20mm f1.7
Panny 45-200 f4-5.6