Issues with PEN to OM-D Adapter on E-PL10 Housing

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js1221

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Divemaster
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Location
Texas
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I have the Backscatter AOI UH-EPL10 Housing for my Olympus E-PL10 camera. I recently acquired an Olympus 12-45 Pro series lens and wanted to use it with my housing. Since the PEN housing alone cannot use the Olympus Pro series lenses because they are too large, I ordered the PEN to O-MD adapter and 12-45 Zoom Ring from Backscatter. I knew that in order to use the larger lens I would need to put the camera body in the housing, then put the lens, with zoom ring attached, inside the adapter and attach it from the front of the camera. I was able to do this, and the lens worked. The problem came when I tried to remove the lens. I didn't think two steps ahead before attaching the lens, because if I had I would have questioned how to unattached the lens when the release button is on the front of the camera. It was only after I put it together did this come to mind. There was no way to remove the adapter, remove the lens or remove the camera body once it was all together. I finally had to call Backscatter and ask for help. I was advised that the only way to unattached the lens was to insert a pick between the camera body and the housing body, and then work it around until I could press the lens release button, which I could not see. I ended up using a hex wrench and after 15 minutes I finally was able to release the lens. Apparently the new housing of the OM-1 eliminates this problem by putting a lens release button on the front of the housing. A call back to Backscatter got me an RMA number so everything will be sent back. They have also already updated their website to reflect that the adapter does not work with the UH-EPL10 housing.
 
This issue is what is making really consider the AOI housing for my EM1-3. I also noticed that AOI updated their EPL10 housing, the new version uses a USB C connection to connect the hot shoe to the flash trigger where as my version uses the micro USB connector (its just another cable I have to remember to pack on trips).
 
The AOI M1-3 housing also has a lens release button. After living with the housing and OMD port adapter through several dives, I can say it's clunky but it works. Want to pull the card to download photos to your laptop? Port removal. Want to change batteries? Port removal. Want to change lenses? You better believe that's a port removal. Kind of a big change from my Olympus M1-1 and housing.

The biggest problem for me is that I can no longer use the Panasonic 8-18 in the same 170mm dome I use for the 12-40 because of how the zoom gear has to mount to work with the port adapter. This really sucks, as it lead me to buy the Olympus 8-25 and AOI 8" dome only to discover that the corners are still bad at f6. Really don't want to go to a tighter aperture than that underwater at 8mm, so I might as well stick with the 12-40.

All that said, I do like the smaller form factor of the housing. It should be especially nice for macro- looking forward to using it on an upcoming Puget Sound trip.
 
Want to pull the card to download photos to your laptop? Port removal. Want to change batteries? Port removal.
Is it possible to plug/unplug a USB cable into the camera while it's in the housing, or does this also necessitate a port removal? With a USB cable, you could download photos and charge the battery without disassembling the port.
 
The AOI M1-3 housing also has a lens release button. After living with the housing and OMD port adapter through several dives, I can say it's clunky but it works. Want to pull the card to download photos to your laptop? Port removal. Want to change batteries? Port removal. Want to change lenses? You better believe that's a port removal. Kind of a big change from my Olympus M1-1 and housing.

The biggest problem for me is that I can no longer use the Panasonic 8-18 in the same 170mm dome I use for the 12-40 because of how the zoom gear has to mount to work with the port adapter. This really sucks, as it lead me to buy the Olympus 8-25 and AOI 8" dome only to discover that the corners are still bad at f6. Really don't want to go to a tighter aperture than that underwater at 8mm, so I might as well stick with the 12-40.

All that said, I do like the smaller form factor of the housing. It should be especially nice for macro- looking forward to using it on an upcoming Puget Sound trip.

yeah that's what I was thinking. But it would be nice to have the EM1-3 for both topside and bottom side photography. There is some discussion on WetPixel about the 8-25 not being good for underwater use. I think I'm just going to stick to my 8mm fisheye, 30mm macro and 60mm macro on the EPL10. I might slap on the 14-42 to try it out.

The Puget Sound region is defiantly on my short list of dive sites to visit.
 
You may know this, but I should clarify for future readers- port removal is only necessary with bigger Pro lenses and the OMD port adapter. For the lenses you mentioned, you can use the same PEN ports from the EPL10 and benefit from a higher resolution sensor, better stabilization, and better ergonomics. Pretty happy with the camera and housing, just not the clunky upgrade path I had to follow to get a rectilinear wide angle zoom.

As far as the 8-25, it's a worthy upgrade for topside use on Olympus bodies over the P8-18. It'll probably be fine underwater with the right dome, but that dome may not exist yet.
 
Disregard
 
Olympus 12-45 Pro series
Can you please share some pictures with the lens and the epl 10 housing? I have the same setup and I was thinking to do the same. Thanks
 

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