Olympus e-pl1 expanding OR buy DSLR

[mathieu.de.sloover]

Hello,

At this moment i have an olympus pen E-PL1 with te housing from olympus.

My flash is an s-2000 from inon.

I have one lens, the basic lens included wit the kit.
The 14-42 mm lens.

And two inon wet macro lenses.

I am doubting about buying a DSLR or expanding my Pen set.

I dont know if I will buy other lenses, another flash, or houwing or port for the pen
I will get DSLR quality and experience.

This are the things I am thinking about to expand my pen.

-Inon z-240 flash ( can you use 2 different flashes together ?)

-Olympus M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm 1:4.0-5.6 lens

- Leica DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm/F2.8 ASPH./MEGA O.I.S lens

-Zen WA-100 Dome Port

-Zen WA-100 EP714 Dome Port

-10 bar underwater housing for Pl1

-Olympus VF-2 viewfinder


I dont now what things will make the most difference and give better quality.


And the second thing I think about is bying a digital reflex.
The canon eos-550D ? .....?

With nauticam hausing or ikelite ( big diference in price) ?
What lenses ?
Can you give me advice ?

I need it, i dont now it anymore.
Thx
Mathieu

 

[Hollywoodivers]

Hello,

At this moment i have an olympus pen E-PL1 with te housing from olympus.

My flash is an s-2000 from inon.

I have one lens, the basic lens included wit the kit.
The 14-42 mm lens.

And two inon wet macro lenses.

I am doubting about buying a DSLR or expanding my Pen set.

I dont know if I will buy other lenses, another flash, or houwing or port for the pen
I will get DSLR quality and experience.

This are the things I am thinking about to expand my pen.

-Inon z-240 flash ( can you use 2 different flashes together ?)

-Olympus M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm 1:4.0-5.6 lens

- Leica DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm/F2.8 ASPH./MEGA O.I.S lens

-Zen WA-100 Dome Port

-Zen WA-100 EP714 Dome Port

-10 bar underwater housing for Pl1

-Olympus VF-2 viewfinder


I dont now what things will make the most difference and give better quality.


And the second thing I think about is bying a digital reflex.
The canon eos-550D ? .....?

With nauticam hausing or ikelite ( big diference in price) ?
What lenses ?
Can you give me advice ?

I need it, i dont now it anymore.
Thx
Mathieu

As much as I like the PEN, the Canon is faster, focuses a little better and sharper etc etc...more lens choices, more housing choices ....THESE ARE TWO DIFFERENT ANIMALS REALLY.

THE BIG QUESTION IS ON SPENDING. ???? The PEN system is really in-expensive compared to the others if you get multiple lens', etc

 

[jd950]

I would add that you might also want to consider whether size is an issue. The Canon you mention is an aps-c sensor, and the larger sensor should produce "better" images all other factors being equal, but the camera, housing and ports are larger.

The Oly system is so much less because you are looking at the least expensive housing. You could easily triple the housing cost by going to other brand housings. On the other hand, the Olympus housing gives a tremendous amount of "bang for the buck" when you add in a Zen dome port.

Regardless of price, I find the micro 4/3 housings and ports are as large as I am willing to deal with (I have to fly to dive).

 

[slowhands]

I find UW cameras can be a money hole. So, I have to restrain myself from buying every gadget in the catalog. You already have an excellent setup. Where could you improve it? For wider angle, you can add the Zen dome, it's excellent. You then may need a second strobe too. But with the dome, you lose the ability to add the macro adapter and close up lenses to the dome (except maybe on the lens inside?), so... Do you want to do macro or wide? Seems like doing both is a contradiction with this camera.

You asked what options to add to your Olympus E-PL1 with Oly housing/standard port -- or should you move up to a Canon DSLR? First, what do you find lacking in what you have? What type of UW Photography do you want to do that you can't do now? Looking at what you have, that's a good basic setup. What's missing from your point of view? Let that guide your choices.

Personally, I got the dome and second strobe. I am happy with that setup. It does not shoot as fast as any DSLR, and for very large enlargements there is probably a quality loss. But I like the size of the setup and the quality is OK for me. I'd rather spend money on diving....

 

[under water]

You posted this same question in the Canon, Nikon and Olympus areas.
Canon folks say either stick what you have or get a 550 and spend a lot more.
Olympus folks say stick with E-PL1 and figure out what you want to do, then buy the accessories that are appropriate.
Nikon folks are confused why you asked them.

I own both the Canon 550D (T2i) and the E-PL1. I chose to make the E-PL1 my U/W rig because it travels well and really is capable of high quality results. I recommend that you work with what you have a bit more. Get another strobe first (probably another S-2000) since you are concerned about dark pictures.
Some of the other things you mentioned (pretty much a list of everything available for the E-PL1) will not help dark pictures. Make sure you shoot in manual mode so that the aperture is about f8 and let your strobes fill in as much as they can. That will improve sharpness (I learned the hard way). Even the kit lens will be good at F8.
If you want to get closer for the same image, and get a bit sharper, get the 9-18mm and the Zen dome. That will brighten up some pictures as there will be less water and less distance between you and your subject and your strobes should be more effective. You will need to stay above F8 with the 9-18mm as well.

 

[mathieu.de.sloover]

Hi, thanks for all the reactions.

The thing i am most scared off, is that olympus will not produce more micro4/3 lenses.
I would like to start taken macro shots, but there isn't a proper macro lens for the system.
In meanwhile i like to do some wa shots to.

The thing is, with the standard housing with zen port you only can fit the 9-18mm.
I would like to now if there is a housing coming up that fits the olympus pl1, and can use all the 4/3 lenses.
So you can swithch lenses like you have a dslr from canon.

 

[nudibranco]

I am terribly frustrated as well as to how little support there is for underwater case for the EPL1.
Maybe in USA or Japan it's not as bad but in Europe you cannot even order the M67 adapter since it was launched 6 months ago. And the strategies of the manufacturers are all over the place. 10 bar and Athena seems to be the only ones putting out a whole set of choices (although I admit it is hard to invest in an everchanging world). Zen, Nauticam still not sure except for bits and pieces. The EVF support for Olympus? It would be nice to use but how can you attach a proper magnifying VF like INON makes? Of course still missing a macro lens from Olympus and unsure if the PANA one fits the current port with proper autofocus. For now only the 14-42mm on the olympus case or the 9-18mm with the the Zen port make sense.

 

[under water]

Hi, thanks for all the reactions.

The thing i am most scared off, is that olympus will not produce more micro4/3 lenses.
I would like to start taken macro shots, but there isn't a proper macro lens for the system.
In meanwhile i like to do some wa shots to.

The thing is, with the standard housing with zen port you only can fit the 9-18mm.
I would like to now if there is a housing coming up that fits the olympus pl1, and can use all the 4/3 lenses.
So you can switch lenses like you have a dslr from canon.

I don't think that Olympus is going to drop their winning strategy
and go another direction. Here are the micro 4/3 lenses available from Olympus and Panasonic.
Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Products(Lenses)


And here is the Olympus micro 4/3rds roadmap

I am terribly frustrated as well as to how little support there is for underwater case for the EPL1.
Maybe in USA or Japan it's not as bad but in Europe you cannot even order the M67 adapter since it was launched 6 months ago. And the strategies of the manufacturers are all over the place. 10 bar and Athena seems to be the only ones putting out a whole set of choices (although I admit it is hard to invest in an everchanging world). Zen, Nauticam still not sure except for bits and pieces. The EVF support for Olympus? It would be nice to use but how can you attach a proper magnifying VF like INON makes? Of course still missing a macro lens from Olympus and unsure if the PANA one fits the current port with proper autofocus. For now only the 14-42mm on the olympus case or the 9-18mm with the the Zen port make sense.

As Phil mentioned elsewhere, Zen now has a dome for the Panny 7-14mm.
I waited for a long time for Ikelite to decide to make a housing for the micro 4/3rds. If they did, they would bring along all (or most) of their ports and accessories. But that hasn't happened yet.
There is no doubt that it is a maturing market for U/W components for the micro 4/3 cameras and it will be a long time before it approaches the level of support for Canon DSLRs or even Olympus 4/3rds, but the investment you would make is a fraction of what it would be for those platforms and only marginally higher than a P&S.

 

[mathieu.de.sloover]

Thanks for the roadmap !
Can all these lenses be fitted in the regular or zen port housing ?

I don't understand what you meen with the housing from ikelite ?
Do you think they will not make a housing for the pen ?

Ill think i will first buy a second flash and focuslight,...

I will wait until the new lenses from oly are out, and if there will be ports made for.
I hope that ikelite or another manufacturer comes up with a housing at DEMA 2010.

 

[gert7to3]

Ikelite have still not committed on a housing for the EPL-1 camera.

Olympus Camera Chart

Given the popularity of this camera it would be odd if they don't make a housing. While Ikelite housings are robust and can go deeper, they are generally larger and bulkier than other manufacturers' housings.

Look for post on Scubaboard by Phil Ruben or Jack Connick.

Here's a review of the EPL-1 by Cathy Church, a respected underwater photographer who has a soft spot for compact camera systems:

Reviews

I have a Nikon P-6000, which is very good, but I wish I had waited for the EPL-1.