I just got back from a trip and got to try out the 8mm on my gf2 in a 10bar housing.
First the good, this is a great lens. I loved using it and it is easy to get used to. Very sharp, focus was fast in all conditions and the like. Strobe positioning is a bit different, since it is SO wide you need to think hard about what you want to achieve. Dual strobe is advised, though I think I did well enough with one. Just a note, much like most landscape shots you need to think about the background a bit more than other lens styles. I ended up going manual vs ttl with expoosure turned exposure down -1 to -1.5 to get the backgrounds on my shots to be a nice and dark blue. Really nice effect and very easy to achieve.
The bad: The 10bar housing is not optimal for this use, at least not yet. The version of the gf2 case I have cannot work properly with the wide angle port until a new "flash compartment" update gets here. Basically the port is wide and low to the housing, wide enough that you cannot get the strobe fiber cable on the screw down mount as the port gets in the way. I had to bodge together a solution using a bunch of clear silicone caulk (to hold a bare F/O cable on the clear plastic) and black electrical tape (so the flash didn't leak out past the f/o cable.) I've been told that the new hardware update should be here soon.
Also the lens is so wide it picks up the flash/sun blockers. The only time you cannot see them is if the blockers are straight up and down, which doesn't help with strobes as they are to the side. The fix would be an even bigger port with differently shaped wings, but 10bar made the tradeoff to save on side and I am ok with it.
The really bad, my gf2 was destroyed by salt water mid trip, right as I started learning how to use this setup. Had nothing to do with the 10bar case, bone dry down to 101ft, just a dripping shirt positioned poorly while below deck. sigh...
(I've already dried it out and disassembled the camera, the power circuitry is fried, capacitor is toast and the on/off button doesn't seem to always work. Cleaned it out with alcohol and re-assembled... nope, reports the battery has no charge or powers up for a minute and dies. Salt water + cameras = bad... om-d seems like an even better camera now but will take time for housings to become available)
First the good, this is a great lens. I loved using it and it is easy to get used to. Very sharp, focus was fast in all conditions and the like. Strobe positioning is a bit different, since it is SO wide you need to think hard about what you want to achieve. Dual strobe is advised, though I think I did well enough with one. Just a note, much like most landscape shots you need to think about the background a bit more than other lens styles. I ended up going manual vs ttl with expoosure turned exposure down -1 to -1.5 to get the backgrounds on my shots to be a nice and dark blue. Really nice effect and very easy to achieve.
The bad: The 10bar housing is not optimal for this use, at least not yet. The version of the gf2 case I have cannot work properly with the wide angle port until a new "flash compartment" update gets here. Basically the port is wide and low to the housing, wide enough that you cannot get the strobe fiber cable on the screw down mount as the port gets in the way. I had to bodge together a solution using a bunch of clear silicone caulk (to hold a bare F/O cable on the clear plastic) and black electrical tape (so the flash didn't leak out past the f/o cable.) I've been told that the new hardware update should be here soon.
Also the lens is so wide it picks up the flash/sun blockers. The only time you cannot see them is if the blockers are straight up and down, which doesn't help with strobes as they are to the side. The fix would be an even bigger port with differently shaped wings, but 10bar made the tradeoff to save on side and I am ok with it.
The really bad, my gf2 was destroyed by salt water mid trip, right as I started learning how to use this setup. Had nothing to do with the 10bar case, bone dry down to 101ft, just a dripping shirt positioned poorly while below deck. sigh...
(I've already dried it out and disassembled the camera, the power circuitry is fried, capacitor is toast and the on/off button doesn't seem to always work. Cleaned it out with alcohol and re-assembled... nope, reports the battery has no charge or powers up for a minute and dies. Salt water + cameras = bad... om-d seems like an even better camera now but will take time for housings to become available)
I hold my workshops at Crystal Blue. Club-O is nice too. The recsea controls are many times better than the 10-bar controls, no comparison. There is also a price difference, so you get what you pay for. - Scott
