I was going to get the 10Bar housing for the GH1, but they are adding image stabilization to their 7 -14 lens, so rather than wait, decided to try the LX5 and the 10Bar housing for it. Thankfully, Jack at OpticalOceanSales.com had one in stock (along with all the other bits I needed)
Huge jump for me, as I have used Canon, pentax, fuji and Nikon, but never a pany in an underwater housing.
The camera would seem to be just about perfect for an underwater camera... it has:
1. An almost perfect zoom range... from 24 to 90 mm (equal).
2. The lens zooms by being out... going in, in the middle range and then going back out.. ideal for having the wide angle close to the front of the port.
3. It does really close macro...and unlike the canon camera's, can focus out, even when set at macro (just slower).
4. It has a nice Aperture.. from F2 to F3.3... and has a bit better range than most P&S.. ok, not great, just better.
5. It flash sync's at up to 1/4000 of a second...try that with any DSLR.
6. It does reasonable HD video
7. It can take a lot of images on one battery.
So, I bought the camera, a couple of discontinued Oly strobes (as the price was a steal), and new arms and try with a 10 Bar Case...
I know better than to buy a new set of gear and then take it on vacation, but I seem to forget I should not do that.
Got all the gear the week before heading out.. then found out I was missing the optical connection to the camera... thankfully Jack had one and got it to me in time.
Before getting to some details and images, I've heard a fair amount of bad things about 10Bar, so I did not have my bar set very high, and was very surprised at how well made the camera is.
But, this camera is really not that well designed for using underwater, as it has slide controls (on/off and aspect) and a very stiff thumb wheel. and the flash, once openned is on.
So, lets get down to details.
Huge jump for me, as I have used Canon, pentax, fuji and Nikon, but never a pany in an underwater housing.
The camera would seem to be just about perfect for an underwater camera... it has:
1. An almost perfect zoom range... from 24 to 90 mm (equal).
2. The lens zooms by being out... going in, in the middle range and then going back out.. ideal for having the wide angle close to the front of the port.
3. It does really close macro...and unlike the canon camera's, can focus out, even when set at macro (just slower).
4. It has a nice Aperture.. from F2 to F3.3... and has a bit better range than most P&S.. ok, not great, just better.
5. It flash sync's at up to 1/4000 of a second...try that with any DSLR.
6. It does reasonable HD video
7. It can take a lot of images on one battery.
So, I bought the camera, a couple of discontinued Oly strobes (as the price was a steal), and new arms and try with a 10 Bar Case...
I know better than to buy a new set of gear and then take it on vacation, but I seem to forget I should not do that.
Got all the gear the week before heading out.. then found out I was missing the optical connection to the camera... thankfully Jack had one and got it to me in time.
Before getting to some details and images, I've heard a fair amount of bad things about 10Bar, so I did not have my bar set very high, and was very surprised at how well made the camera is.
But, this camera is really not that well designed for using underwater, as it has slide controls (on/off and aspect) and a very stiff thumb wheel. and the flash, once openned is on.
So, lets get down to details.
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