Olympus 8 mm f/1.8 fisheye Pro or Olympus 7-14 f/2.8 Pro?

[Bogdan]

Hey there!
Well that pretty much sums it up.
I shoot the E-M1 in Nauticam housing and I'm trying to decide between these two wide angle options. I've always wanted a fisheye as I've usually shot the 9-18 mm Olympus, but I wonder if that lens won't be too wide? Next trip will be a Bimini great hammerhead outing in January and I'm hoping to take one (though I don't want to spend on both!) along with me.
Clearly the dome port options will vary greatly but I'll likely stick with the glass Zen or Nauticam ones. More specifically, If I go with the fisheye, there seem to be both a smaller mini (Zen DP-100-N85) and larger dome port option (Zen DP-170-N85)...I wonder how they compare optically as I'm sure travel wise the mini domes would be friendlier.
Any advice from folks shooting these 2 lenses would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.
Bogdan

 

[JackConnick]

Hi;

If you want to shoot the Oly 8mm FE PRO lens you do need to get close with it. You will also get some distortion of straight lines, but as you said, it is much smaller to house. I really liked shooting it, found the extra f1.8 speed to open a whole new dimension on the E-M1 for low-light. It's crispy sharp and shot pretty well in the small Oly dome I was using, except if you got straight lines out near the edges.

The Oly 7-14mm PRO lens would be better for large animal shooting, but requires larger domes, adapters and extensions, plus a zoom gear and it is more expensive to start. It all adds up $$ and size wise.

I have a review of the 8mm here.

An article on available Oly 8mm & 7-14 PRO port options here.

A couple of videos with the 7-14 in a GH4 here.

We should have more of a review of the 7-14 up on the blog soon.

Both lenses are on sale right now with a $150 instant rebate!

 

[Bogdan]

Hi Jack,
That's great advice. I think for now the 8 mm makes more sense given the extra cost for the ports/extensions/adaptors required for the Olympus 7-14. Particularly as the next trip will be Bimini and the hammerheads will hopefully get close
So now I'll have to decide whether to get the Zen mini dome for the Olympus fisheye lens or sell the version II of my DP-170 and get the older version I which I understand would work with the Olympus 8 mm. That way I could use the same port (minus the 30 mm extension ring I would think) for the fisheye and the 9-18 lens if I wanted to do more fish portraits and the such.
Would you happen to know if there's any difference in optical quality or ability to shoot CFWA between the Zen mini dome and the DP170-N85? Thanks once again Jack.
Bogdan

 

[JackConnick]

Bogdan;

Yes, the older version of the Zen 170; DP-170-N85 will work with both lenses, as well as the 12-40 as well with an extension. It will not work with the 7-14mm.

I think you will get less edge distortion with the 170 over the 100mm mini-dome; ie if you have subjects with straight lines at the edge of the frame. A larger dome nearly always shoot better corners at lower apertures. But either will work.

We have this all in stock, I believe.

 

[Bogdan]

Hi Jack,
Thanks for all the help. The 8 mm Olympus is fun to play with even outside the water.
I'll call Optical Ocean Sales tomorrow to discuss this further and hopefully get one of these 2 ports.
Bogdan