E-PL7 & PT-EP12 has anyone tried this out.

[JackConnick]

EP-PT-12 vs EP-PT-10 Olympus Housings

We've looked over the new PT-12 housing as well. I think it is much smaller and the small, shorter port is 67mm threaded and will work well with wet macro lenses and the new ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 EZ lens, as there's not nearly the amount of dead air between it and the end of the port - and it focuses a little closer. But I would plan on needing to buy a couple of Zen ports to complete the system to use the 60mm macro and the 9-18mm w/a lenses; we have never recommended putting wet wide angle lenses on this set.

I think the housing is more like the PT-056 than the older PT-10 for the E-PL5 with a larger shutter release, easier to reach zoom and mode dials, slanted buttons - all very ergonomic and easier to hold. Much larger rubber viewscreen shade.

The bad news also is that not only is the new port NOT compatible with the 60mm macro, it is also NOT compatible with the 14-42mm MKII kit lens that is bundled with the E-PL7. There is no bundle right now with the E-PL7 and the MKIII PZ lens, so the cost to buy both is higher - $599 body only and $249 (on sale for $100 off, when you buy a body) = $850 as opposed to the $700 price bundled with the kit lens. However you don't really need to buy a zoom gear, so that saves $45.

There's no question that this is a much better lens, sharper and with the power zoom should be a very good lens for video.

I've brought this to the attention of Oly, so maybe we'll see a more sensible bundle - but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Here's some photos, I'll have a blog article up soon;

 

[BluewaterPhoto]

Jack is correct on all of the above. We got the housing in the water this weekend and it performed beautifully. I used both the 14-42mm EZ lens and the 8mm Panasonic FE (with Precision dome). The housing is really nice and small, changes in that aspect are great, it fits really well in your hand. All buttons and functions work great, and when shooting manual it is easy to control. Despite the new control dial on the top of the camera / front of the housing, I found it easier to control aperture/shutter speed through the standard Olympus way of pressing the up key to activate then using the arrow keys. If shooting P / A / S modes then the control dial will allow for fast & easy settings changes.

The biggest disappointment is the 14-42mm EZ lens. The lens itself is great with smooth electronic zoom, the problem is that Olympus is not making a zoom gear for this lens (at least not yet, though we're on them to make one). This means that you can only use this lens as 14mm or 42mm and zoom through the menu based UW WIDE / UW TELE options, by assigning that function to the Fn button. These modes unfortunately override whatever other settings you have, so if you're set in Manual shooting zoomed out, and want to zoom in (or visa versa), the camera automatically changes the mode to P, flash to fill-in, ISO to auto and white balance to UW. I found you can preset buttons on the camera to allow for a quick switch back to your original settings, but it does get annoying to do that every time...

My final recommendation is get the camera body only, and the lenses you want to use UW. Get the third party ports and enjoy having an awesome camera. All third party ports work (and no modification is required anymore on the 8mm ports), all previous zoom gears still work with the housing. I've updated the housing information in our review article with more detail after using it: Olympus E-PL7 review for underwater photography|Underwater Photography Guide Also here is a shot from the rigs this past weekend with the housing, 8mm FE and dual YS-D1 strobes (ISO 200, 1/60 F4). -Kelli

 

[victor]

Jeff, Bluewater
Thanks for the update.
Made the decision and am going with the PEN systems for the future.
Glad that my decisions on ports/lenses is not going to be a waste over the next 5+ years.
I am not an early adopter by nature and I like my kit to have a medium to long life.
So going with the Original and ZEN WA port 60mm macro, 14-42 standard and 9-18mm wide angle (all fit in the ZEN port with the option of using the standard port with diopter for a flexible dive day).
Future looking at the 8mm fisheye and dome port.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Olympus Japan has now announced a program in Japan to exchange the new PT-EP12, EZ short lens port for the older original flat port for a small fee. It has not been announced outside Japan at this time.


Bottom line is that it appears that OlympusJP has gotten the message that many want to use the older port with older 14-42 lenses along with the 60mm macro and 9-18 zoom.

 

[Foxtrot16]

Very curious myself to look at this unit, but waiting to get more info on changing out the front port. The PT-EP12 when you look at the product lens sheet no longer supports or lists the 60mm and 9-18mm as a standard fitting option. Looking at what images are available online the port has been changed and doesn't accept these anymore. I'm waiting to see if I can still fit my Zen and E-PL standard port onto this housing. If so it'll be a great piece of kit but available information on this is very limited.

Go on Brad, you know you want one

Karl