Olympus EM1 II and Nauticam NA-EM1II Review

[Chris Ross]

Thanks Phil, know it's not the right tool for the job, hoping it might have a little more success than with EM-5 II. In theory the phase detect at least knows which way to search for focus, when I'm using the 60mm it just seems to give up without seemingly locking on anything. I may be tempted to try out the 30mm macro either the Oly or the Panasonic. On my local dive sites I get small nudis, pygmy pipe horses and weedy sea dragons on the same dive and the weedies are just a little too big for the 60mm.

I use the 12-40mm quite a bit and if it got just a little more magnification it would suffice for almost all my needs.

 

[Chris Ross]

Thanks Phil, yes I realise it's not the best tool for the job, but expect I should be able to do a little better than just freezing and not locking focus on anything. In theory at least the phase detect in the EM-1-MkII can calculate which way to focus without hunting. On my local sites I have things ranging from small nudis and pygmy pipe horses to weedy sea dragons and really the weedies are a bit large for the 60mm lens. I may well try out the 30mm macro (either the Oly or the Panasonic) as the wider view will help for subjects as large as the weedy.

I have the 12-40 in the zen dome and it does a great job, I could use that for just about everything if it had just a little more magnification.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

The Olympus 12-40 and ZEN 170mm port is a great combo for everything from reef and wreck photography to shooting models or your kids in the pool. I have also used this combo for split images with great results in fairly flat conditions.

 

[Chris Ross]

Ended up buying the EM-1 Mk II and Nauticam housing. Yet to get it in the water for various reasons, but playing with the camera AF seems quite snappy and the housing has some real nice features.

 

[Jess6qb9]

The Olympus 12-40 and ZEN 170mm port is a great combo for everything from reef and wreck photography to shooting models or your kids in the pool. I have also used this combo for split images with great results in fairly flat conditions.

Hi Phil,

I am torn between upgrading to the EM5 mark ii or the EM1 mark ii. I Prefer Wide angle and CFWA to macro. I am planning trips to Socorro and Tiger Beach. The EM1 is about triple the price of the M5. Is it really triple the camera performance? Which lenses do you recommend for my trips? If I had to save money somewhere should I do it in with the Camera (EM5 instead of EM1) housing (Olympus instead of Nauticam) or Lenses and dome ports (acrylic instead of glass, Panasonic instead of Olympus). I'm upgrading from a Canon G7x and am overwhelmed by all the extra expense of the the lenses, dome ports etc. However, I don't want to get the EM5 in Olympus housing to then end up upgrading in two years. If in the end I have to upgrade, I didn't save anything I just missed opportunities and spent more money.
Thank you for your reviews, I bought all the back issues of UWPmag and have been having a great time reading and learning.

 

[Chris Ross]

I've just upgraded from EM-5 MkII to the EM-1 MKII. The M1 is a great camera but so was the M5, my prime reason to upgrade was better AF, primarily with the macro lens. I rarely had any trouble at all on the M5 with the AF using the 12-40mm, even when focusing very close to the dome, but the macro lens hunted and took its time to AF. I believe it should be the same for other wide angle and fisheye lenses. This was in temperate water with lower vis, AF performance will only be better in clear tropical waters.

The nauticam housing is great and the vacuum system gives good piece of mind. I have not used the Oly housing, but having used the Nauticam I wouldn't choose anything else.

If you are on a budget I would suggest thinking about how to limit how many ports you have. For instance you can buy a combination that would allow you use both the 12-40 and 7-14 (Pany or Oly) or the 8mm f1.8 fisheye and the Panasonic 7-14 (+ an extension ring) with the same ports. That is certainly one way to save money. Or you could just buy the fisheye port and decide later if you want the additional capability of the medium to wide lenses.

Another way to save is buy secondhand, my Nauiticam housing and EM-5 MkII body is up for sale in the classifieds and you could get the housing, handles/trays and body for somewhere around the price of the housing alone, freeing up money to spend on ports/lenses,

 

[Ardy]

Hi Phil - just a note. Thanks for the 30mm macro report I went out and bought the lens yesterday. Looking forward to trying it out after Christmas in Bali.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Hi Phil,

I am torn between upgrading to the EM5 mark ii or the EM1 mark ii. I Prefer Wide angle and CFWA to macro. I am planning trips to Socorro and Tiger Beach. The EM1 is about triple the price of the M5. Is it really triple the camera performance? Which lenses do you recommend for my trips? If I had to save money somewhere should I do it in with the Camera (EM5 instead of EM1) housing (Olympus instead of Nauticam) or Lenses and dome ports (acrylic instead of glass, Panasonic instead of Olympus). I'm upgrading from a Canon G7x and am overwhelmed by all the extra expense of the the lenses, dome ports etc. However, I don't want to get the EM5 in Olympus housing to then end up upgrading in two years. If in the end I have to upgrade, I didn't save anything I just missed opportunities and spent more money.
Thank you for your reviews, I bought all the back issues of UWPmag and have been having a great time reading and learning.

Hi Jess, My way of looking at this is a bit different than others in some cases. To make this apples to apples you need to consider a few things starting with cost of the cameras at release. The EM5 II retail was $1099.00 and the EM1 II was $1999.00 that is a $900.00 difference or less than half for the camera body. Now the EM1 II has been dropped $200.00 to be at the same price as the just released Panasonic G-9 and the EM5 II is like $799.00 because it is about to be replaced by EM5 III, which will be coming on the heels of EM10 III. EM1 III is way off in like 2020 would be my guess.

Second is the Nauticam housing, NA-EM1 II is $1900.00 and NA-EM5 II is $1450.00, what you don't get with EM5 II housing is tray, dual grips, ball heads and brackets. These add up to about $222.00. So apples to apples for the same equipped housing $1900.00 V. $1672 for EM5 II or a $228.00 difference. So what you should be considering is the difference between the two cameras and housings because everything else is the same. Ports, gears, lenses, strobe arms, strobes and more will cost the same for both housings and cameras. I think the differences in both the cameras and housings is worth going with EM1 II. Olympus also has lens and camera body sales that save you even more. Olympus lenses work better on Olympus cameras and the same is true for Panasonic lenses on Panasonic cameras.

If you are considering the Olympus housing then if would make more sense to compare housing, ports, trays, gears and so on to the Ikelite housings for each camera.

If you look back through the issues of uwpmag.com I reviewed all three manufactures housing for for EM1 II and Ikelite for EM5 II.

I am a big fan of the Olympus 8mm F/1.8 Fisheye with the Nauticam 140mm glass port and the 7-14mm F/2.8 with the larger Nauticam 180mm or ZEN Underwater 170, 200 (now discontinued) or 230mm ports.

You may PM with any additional questions.

Hi Phil - just a note. Thanks for the 30mm macro report I went out and bought the lens yesterday. Looking forward to trying it out after Christmas in Bali.

Hi Andy, Hope you enjoy the lens and have a safe trip.

 

[Jess6qb9]

Thank you Phil. With your help, I have decided I will go with the EM1 mark ii! I am looking into Aquatica housing. Will you be reviewing that? Any thoughts on Aquatica?

 

[Jess6qb9]

I've just upgraded from EM-5 MkII to the EM-1 MKII. The M1 is a great camera but so was the M5, my prime reason to upgrade was better AF, primarily with the macro lens. I rarely had any trouble at all on the M5 with the AF using the 12-40mm, even when focusing very close to the dome, but the macro lens hunted and took its time to AF. I believe it should be the same for other wide angle and fisheye lenses. This was in temperate water with lower vis, AF performance will only be better in clear tropical waters.

The nauticam housing is great and the vacuum system gives good piece of mind. I have not used the Oly housing, but having used the Nauticam I wouldn't choose anything else.

If you are on a budget I would suggest thinking about how to limit how many ports you have. For instance you can buy a combination that would allow you use both the 12-40 and 7-14 (Pany or Oly) or the 8mm f1.8 fisheye and the Panasonic 7-14 (+ an extension ring) with the same ports. That is certainly one way to save money. Or you could just buy the fisheye port and decide later if you want the additional capability of the medium to wide lenses.

Another way to save is buy secondhand, my Nauiticam housing and EM-5 MkII body is up for sale in the classifieds and you could get the housing, handles/trays and body for somewhere around the price of the housing alone, freeing up money to spend on ports/lenses,

Thank you Chris. I have decided I will go with the newer technology of the EM1 mark ii. Hopefully it will last me longer. Thank you for your reply and information.