Another MFT lenses and domes thread.

[SwedTekDiver]

Hi all.

Me to took the sweet offer Blue Water had on the E-PM1 system last year and are now on the hunt for more lenses and ports for it.

I sort of have decided to go for (some of) these lenses:

Oly 60mm macro (definitly!)
Pan 8mm fisheye, OR Samyang 7,5mm fisheye
Oly 9-18mm WA, OR Oly 12mm f2 (Pan 7-14 would be the dream here, but to expensive right now..)


I know that these domes/semi domes are avaible for the Oly housing:

Zen
WA-100-EP for the 9-18mm
WA-100-EP714 for the Pan 7-14
DP-100-EP for the Pan 8mm fisheye

Plus also the Precision dome for the Pan 8mm fisheye.

I´ve read all I could find out about the domes and lenses avaible both here, Wetpixel, UW photography guide etc to trying to find the answers Im looking for.
I got somewhat wiser and learnt a lot from it, but there are still some questions that needs answering before I make my decision on what to go for, and these are the things I would like your help with:

Zen WA-100-EP
made for the Oly 9-18 + it works with the kit 14-42 lens + apperently the Oly 60mm macro!, makes a very nice solution that gives you a lot of choises of lenses without changing the ports.

BUT does it also works with the Oly 12mm f2 lens?

And also I´ve read that you can apply a wet macro lens adaptor to the dome, is that right?, in the case I understod it right; what macro lens adaptor is that?

Zen WA-100-EP714
Not on my mind right now since the Pan 7-14mm is to expensive.

But I also read that Oly is set to release a 7-14mm next year, depending on what price that lens sell for (and of course if the dimensions of the lense fit this port!) maybe I can snatch that one up instead, or maybe the Pan 7-14 price will drop a bit then to make it accesable to me.
And it could be a reason to go for this dome if this one works with the 12mm f2 lens..

Zen DP-100-EP and Precision dome
Im pretty shure that I want a fisheye dome and lense in this coming year, and I would like to know if the Oly 12mm f2 lens works in the Precision dome, I read on Bluewater that it works with the Zen one and cant see any reasons why it should not work equally good in the Precision dome to, is that a right conclusion made by me?

Also I want to know more about the pros and cons with using either of these domes with the cheaper Samyang 7.5mm FE, anything from handeling them underwater (focusing etc) to the quality of the photos (vignetting, post cropping etc)

Is it also true that you can use these domes with the Oly 60mm macro lens with good results?

Oly 12mm f2 Vs. Oly 9-18mm
what can you say about these lenses?

I know that many use the 9-18mm as a WA choise, but Im really intrested in the 12mm so I would like to hear your opinions about it/them, and also as stated above, if the 12mm works with any of the domes/semi domes than apperently the Zen DP-100-EP dome.

All input, tips and suggestions are more then welcome.
As is of course any pictures taken with the different lense/dome combinations mentioned above!

Im definitly NOT a pro photographer!, I almost only take my camera with me when diving, but I want of course the pics to be as good as they can be for my level of photographing, and more if possible of course!

So be gentle to me if I maybe asked some dumb questions.

Cheers
Erik

:classic:

 

[umbert]

I'm in the same boat as you, doing more and more research on this subject
First, if you want to go more wide angle then Oly 12mm is not the way to go, as it has only 84 degree angle. Oly 9-18mm is 100. Perfect solution would be Pan 8mm with 180 degree angle, but with dome is just too expensive for me right now (also thinking about YS-D1 and already bought EPM1 kit + 9-18 + 60mm + some handles, trays last month)
Anyway... I was thinking to go with WA-100-EP714 (there was a deal on Wetpixel) for the 7-14mm and maybe for now just use it with 9-18mm but after emailing Reef photo I got this answer :
"The nodal spacing is different enough for these two lenses that image quality would suffer considerably by using the wrong dome". If this is true then mixing different wide angles with different ports would couse loss of quality... I don't know...
So considering all of this I think choosing the right port for the right lens would be the way to go, but again people use 60mm behind domes, just like you said with good results...
As per macro adapter you can only mount it to standard flat port, not dome. The adapter is PMLA-EPO1

 

[SwedTekDiver]

Hi umbert and thanks for the reply.

Hehe, yeah I know the feeling of money just disapering thru your hands!

I hear what you say about the 12mm´s angle compared with the 9-18mm, but shouldnt that be "corrected" with the DP-100-EP dome and give the 12mm a greater angle then 84 degree FOW?, or am I getting this completly wrong?

Your thought of using the 9-18mm with the Zen WA-100-EP714 dome I already understod was a no no, just looking at the two domes tells you that the 714 dome is a different length than 9-18mm dome, and why should Zen make two diffrent domes specified for each one of the two lenses if they both fitted in the same dome?


If I would have owned your collection of lenses I would have gone for the WA-100-EP dome (not the EP714) as it apperently fits all three of your lenses!

I already have the original Oly macro lens adaptor for the housing so no problems there, but what I thought about was that I read in another thread here on SB that someone tried a macro adaptor to the WA-100-EP dome and said it worked fine. He wrote that he used some velcro to make it fit on the port, but not if it was the original Oly one or some kind of flip mounted one etc.
I would like to know more on that subject if anyone more knows anything about that.

..and Im still kind of hot for the 12mm f2 lens since it gives you more to play with in f stops etc, and its a prime lense not a zoom lens.., but would not mind to have the 9-18mm at all, so keep coming with info about them!

Keep filling the thread people!

Cheers
Erik

 

[smoore]

I haven't used the 12 mm but I love the 9-18. It isn't as fast but it gives you some ability to zoom in which can be very helpful when composing pictures.

 

[EskilJ]

Hejsan Erik,
The ideal dome gives a lens same FOW over and under water.
With a flat port you'll gel lower FOW under water.