Olympus EM1 II and Nauticam NA-EM1II Review

[bvanant]

I have the flash trigger but it was in my EM-1 mark 1 housing at the time. It just seems weird that with a moderately low battery the flash won't fire at all; in a housing this is mostly useless.

Bill

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

I only used the Olympus strobe a few times while shooting all manual and did not have this problem with the new camera and battery.

 

[Prop Joe]

Hi Bill, I am sold on the Nauticam flash trigger which I have used with several cameras now. The other option is to go to hard wiring strobes using Nikonos V cords and bulkhead.

With my Inon Z-240 strobes set at about 1/4 power I am able to shoot at 18 frames per second using the flash trigger with fast moving subjects. I carry the Olympus strobe as a backup when I travel. It is worth the $220.00 for the peace of mind knowing that if one fails I still have a backup. The Olympus replacement strobe is $70.00 but the flash trigger is far more useful for me.

Nauticam Mini Flash Trigger for Olympus (NA-EM5II/EM1/EM1II) [nau.26306] - $220.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

Phil,l
I've got a a E-M1in a Nauticam housing. Any idea if mini flash trigger would help performance of the TTL feature on a couple of YS-110A's? Actually they are not that old. I bought the YS110a's when I bought my previous EPL-3 and are now using the YS-110a's on the E-M1.
I loved the TTL with twin DS-50's on my old Ikelite 5050 setup. I wish I could get the same TTL flash quality with what I have now.
Do you have a link to ball park E-M1 flash settings that I can use with my E-M1/YS110a setup?
Thank You

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi Joe, The Nauticam flash trigger is manual, NO TTL. The YS 110's have not worked very well in TTL for many cameras over the years and they may not work well with the EM1 II. Later S&S strobes seem to be fine in TTL.

 

[Prop Joe]

Hi Phil, Do you know if the EM1 Mark I has a pre flash?
Strobe issue E-M1 Mark I

 

[h2sk1]

Hi Phil, Do you know if the EM1 Mark I has a pre flash?
Strobe issue E-M1 Mark I

Yes, the mark 1 has a pre-flash.

 

[Prop Joe]

Kevin at Reef Helped me out. I also installed the "supermenu" that should come with these cameras from the factory. I was not in Manual like I thought I was. Sorry for the Hijack, enjoy your new Mark II. Nice work Phil with the review, as always. I've been following you since my 5050 days

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Thankyou more M43 reviews coming.

 

[Chris Ross]

Agree a nice review. I'm looking at upgrading from an EM-5 MkII, prime reason is better AF. I find particularly the 60mm macro will just not attempt to focus if it's more than a certain amount out of focus, say swithcing from a nudi at close range to a fish 0.5 to 1.0m away. This is temperate diving with floaties and it seems like it tries to focus on floaties or just plain gives up even with a strong focus light.

I'm hoping the EM-1 MkII will do better at this than my current camera and would appreciate hearing your experience in this regard.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi Chris, I have done two reviews for the E-M1 II with Nauticam housing and Ikelite housings in issues #95 & #98 (current) uwpmag.com along with a review of the budget Olympus 30mm macro lens in issue #98. In both articles I said that I use the focus limiting switch set on the 1:1 to 0.4meter setting. This is the best working range for the lens and it helps with AF speed by not hunting as much. If you are having problems shooting in the 0.5 to 1.0 meter range in turbid water I am not surprised. The reason for using this lens is to shoot macro, other lenses like the 12-50, 12-40 and others are much more well suited to distances beyond 0.5 meters. Water works like a filter compressing to create a blue/green filter effect. Using a macro lens is like looking through a toilet paper roll tube at something a meter away, everything between the lens and subject is compressed in front of the lens. The AF can't tell the difference between your subject and the "floats" in the water column. So the answer to your question would be that I have used the E-M5 II and the E-M1 II extensively. The E-M1 MkII is better in every way including AF speed and AF target acquisition but the 60mm which is a great portriat and distance lens above water will just not work the same underwater. I have used this lens beyond 0.5 meters but in clear waters.