Lenses for E-510

[ThatsSomeBadHatHarry]

Hi all,

I'm back on the market again. My SP-350 has served me well and by no mean is finished it's duty.

I just need something more. So I'm looking at the E-510.

Underwater is not the only place I'll be shooting (also doing some architectural photography and possibly some weddings.)

This will be my first dSLR and i know that canon and nikon are the most popular, and have a plethora of interchangeable lenses. I'm having a little bit of trouble with the Olympus.

What I need is a wide angle lens for u/w and topside and a macro lens. I'm planning on getting the kit with the 14-42 lens for walking around and regular shooting.

Sigma and Olympus lenses...do they need adapter tubes? The sigma 30mm f1.4 EX DC HSM looks intriguing...

any help or hits would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jlyle]

The Zuiko 7-14mm lens for wide. The crop factor on the 510 is 2:1, so the 7-14 is the 35mm-film equivalent of 14-28mm.

Zuiko 50mm for macro.

Is the Sigma 30, a 4/3rds lens?

You do understand that the so-called "live-view" on the 510 isn't useable underwater? You will have to compose your shots while looking through the view-finder.

 

[RTRski]

From everything I've read (mostly by Phil Rudin, tropical1 on wetpixel) the 510 and 410 have the same image quality (same sensor and processor), although the big brother 510 shoots faster, has IS, and might have a few more options like smaller exposure compensation steps, etc. But it's also heavier, larger, etc. Why not just stick with the 410 and save money and weight?

For the record, I'm (soon I hope) shooting with an e330. So I am in the Olympus family and kind of pay attention to it, but don't claim personal experience with either e410 or e510. I do however firmly second jlyle's 7-14 lens recommendation, as I've been drooling over one of those since I got the camera. The 14-54 is a very good lens as well as more of a mid-range to mid-wide or above water walk-around. The newer 12-60 is reportedly even better, but pricey at nearly $900 vs. the possibility of finding a 14-54 for $300-350ish used.

The 410 and 510 have the same "Live View" mode jlyle refers to, so in either case you'll be using the optical viewfinder.

 

[ThatsSomeBadHatHarry]

Why doesn't the live view work underwater?

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi All,

You may want to read my article here, http://underwaterjournal.com/pdf/archive/UWJ-issue5.pdf regarding the Olympus E-410/PT-E03 housing combo. It includes images from the "kit" 14 to 42 mm zoom lens which is the least expensive way to get started. This is by far the least expensive way to get into a U/W DSLR. If you do not own strobes already I would also strongly suggest you look at the Inon strobes (Z-240 D-2000 & D-2000s) which can do TTL with fiber optic connections, by far the best and cheapest way to get outstanding TTL without extra equipment.

Phil Rudin

 

[jlyle]

The dslr's that have a so-called "live-view," require mechanical movement of a mirror assembly - result, unacceptable shutter lag. You are better off with a new point and shoot. This "live-view" is great for shooting macro, where precise focus is important, from a tripod; not something you would do u/w. The Olympus E-330 has two "live-view" modes, one of them (mode A) works like the one on p&s cameras. The E-330 is the ONLY dslr that has this feature.

 

[Reefwalker]

As the other guys here have pointed out the E-410 & E510 are nice camera's..... but the Live-View advantage is not suited to underwater photography because of the delay while the mirror flips-up. I was about to buy one a few months ago (hadn't had my hands on one at that point) and was most dissapointed when I got to try one out.
I decided to buy another E-330 (as a back-up to my two year-old E-330) before they get hard to purchase. It looks to me like Olympus and the 'others' are not pursuing 'Real Live-View'.
My choice of lenses (purely for U/W use) are: Zuiko 50mm Macro, Zuiko 35mm Macro, Zuiko 8mm fish eye. The zooms sound good, but I find I rarely put them in my housing over the macro lenses. For wide angle, I haven't seen a port yet that focuses the 7-14mm correctly at both ends of the lenses capability - I should qualify this... I mean real corner to corner sharp focus.

 

[RTRski]

Just having the 14-54 and the 35 mm macro, I suspect at first at least to be shooting with the 14-54 more often.

I just got my scavenged rig put together for the first time and am actually intimidated by how large it all is! I mean, I've seen pictures of completed rigs forever, and seen a few on the boat in others' hands, but to have "my own" and start thinking about carrying it on dives is a little frightening to contemplate at the moment. All that said, I'm also sick with anticipation. Dominica in April won't come soon enough...I forsee several pool dives in my back yard in a wetsuit in my future.

Sorry, semi-hijack.

 

[jlyle]

Just having the 14-54 and the 35 mm macro, I suspect at first at least to be shooting with the 14-54 more often.

I just got my scavenged rig put together for the first time and am actually intimidated by how large it all is! I mean, I've seen pictures of completed rigs forever, and seen a few on the boat in others' hands, but to have "my own" and start thinking about carrying it on dives is a little frightening to contemplate at the moment. All that said, I'm also sick with anticipation. Dominica in April won't come soon enough...I forsee several pool dives in my back yard in a wetsuit in my future.

Sorry, semi-hijack.

You will find your setup to be essentially neutrally-buoyant in the water. You can "one-hand" the rig to shoot, with no effort. Very nice set up.

 

[RTRski]

Thanks, Jim. I look forward to shooting with it, but don't look forward to being "that guy" on the boat with the monster rig that takes up all sorts of space, and who is constantly wiping it clean with a diaper. And of course I only have DS50s, not 125s or 200s!

We're spending 10 days in Dominica. I think I'll probably not take it on the first day's worth of boat dives - at least not until I've done some shore diving with it and gotten a bit more comfortable. Then again that also depends on how much pool time I can get in with it first. No chance of an open water dive before the trip (well, maybe the local TX mudpit....)