Pen E-pl2 trip to Wakatobi

[anenomefishman]

Nice pics! Love Wakatobi. Only been there once (so far). I had a hard time seeing those little biddy pigmy seahorses last time with my camera. Next time will be ready....

Bruce

 

[Diver58]

I used M mode only for macro stuff, normally 1/180 At f/22, sometimes less shutter speed. One thing I forgot to mention is that shooting that way the screen is very dark and hard to find your subject let alone compose a shot. The screen will tell you how many stops under exposed you are to 3 stops. 2 stops under the screen starts to brighten up a bit. It appears to me that the screen doesn't take into account that the flash is on and brighten up the screen. I did use forced flash at 1/64th power to save the battery, possibly that had something to do with it. All I use the flash for is to trigger the 2 110a's I have.
I used m mode instead of A mode for macro because I was wanting a particular shutter speed and aperture setting and then just dialed the flash power to match.
I need to get out again and try P mode some more but had given up on it because it picked an aperture I couldn't live with, usually wide open. I could get away with that with my old G10 but apparently not this camera. I am sure there is a way to change exposure combinations in P mode but I haven't studied how yet. This trip was my first outing with it.
For Landscape type shots A mode was the way to go, IMO, you can dial in + or - EV for back ground water color and shooting that way I didn't need much flash to color the for ground. You have to watch what shutter speeds you end up with, on some of the very cloudy days where it was a tad dark at depth shutter speeds could get a little slow, below 1/60th. Using a -.5 EV worked really well for a pleasing blue colored back ground. For portraits of fast moving fish this might not work so well in dark water unless you open the aperture up and hope for a fast enough shutter speed but then you could have DOF issues.
The Panasonic 45mm macro is a wicked sharp lens but not the fastest focusing up close and worse with the Inon 165 close up lens. Not normally a big deal for macro just a nuisance. I have one of those cheap focus lights that turns off when it sees a flash fire that helped but a better one may make it work better.
I live in Michigan and hope to get out on some wrecks in the coming weeks and see what i can get with the wide 9-18 and the Zen Dome, I suspect I will wish it was wider.

 

[under water]

... One thing I forgot to mention is that shooting that way the screen is very dark and hard to find your subject let alone compose a shot. The screen will tell you how many stops under exposed you are to 3 stops. 2 stops under the screen starts to brighten up a bit. It appears to me that the screen doesn't take into account that the flash is on and brighten up the screen. I did use forced flash at 1/64th power to save the battery, possibly that had something to do with it. All I use the flash for is to trigger the 2 110a's I have....

You can set the camera so that it will not adjust the lcd for exposure. To do this go to the menu and make sure "Menu Display"is turned on from the "tool" menu.
Then from the menu display (gears) menu select the *D DISP/>>>/PC menu. Turn Live View Boost to "ON".
This will set it so that the display will not darken as your exposure darkens. I prefer this. With strobe pictures, you are going to adjust to get exposure anyway, so exposure preview is useless.

 

[Ardy]

Diver 58: great subjects and well set up by you but something appears wrong. I have seen other photo's from this camera that seem sharper. The edges and detail from a few of your shots do not seem right. In your macro use, which is better, I see you are using 1/180 and F22. One of the specialist macro photographers I spoke to suggested using f18 as a max as this was the best of the Oly 50mm lens I use and maybe your panasonic is the same.

I thought a bit of criticism may have more use than praise for your excellent photography.

 

[dna77054]

I just got my EPL-2 today. Am I the only one to find the instruction manual poorly written? It may take me a couple of weeks just to getting the settings where I want them. I have yet to put install the computer disk, I hope the manual in it is more comprehensive than the paper one in the box.

My canon manual was great.

 

[Diver58]

I agree the manual sucks. Figure out how to use the Super Control Panel it helps a lot. I had trouble with macro because the screen darkens as you bring the exposure down but Under Water suggests above that that can be turned off which I think would be a good idea. When reviewing your images under water I did notice that what looked right on the camera was darker then that on my Mac. Not by a lot but some. Over all my Pen seams like a pretty good camera, it's just a matter of figuring it out. I may be selling mine in the near future though, thinking of making the jump to an SLR.

 

[deeper thoughts]

The EPL1 is part of the dummy series books and it is Excellent!

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/olympus-pen-epl1-for-dummies.html

 

[Qnape]

I am also a new EPL-2 owner having just received the camera and housing this week. Many parts still on their way. This is a big change for me; moving from an Oly 1030SW w/UFL-1. I hope I did not make an error trying to save a few bucks and some size with the Sea & Sea YS-01's (2 of them) as opposed to the YS-110a's. This is also my first manual digital camera, although I have experience with manual film cameras - I wore out a minolta system then moved to Canon about 14 years ago. Did I say this was a big change for me?

I agree, the manual is less than perfect - but no big shock there and about what I expected. I've installed the manual that comes on disc and it is no better from what I've seen. I've already learned some good tips from this thread, however, for example I'll spend my time learning the super control panel instead of the other control options. I'm trying to learn as much as possible above the surface so that I am not too task loaded once I bring it down. With only about 100 ocean dives behind me I'll be cautious about trying too many things too fast. I plan to take the system into a pool for an hour or so before it sees salt water next month at Playa Del Carmen and the cenotes. I'll be trying to find some simple settings I can try to make things easy for this upcoming trip, then learn more before I take the system to Little Cayman this summer.

I do have a few newbie questions if anyone cares to help out.

Should I consider checking the housing (carefully padded) in a suitcase? It's a tad big for a carry-on.

I purchased the zoom ring for the 9-18 lens. Do I need a different zoom ring for the kit 14-42mm lens? I also have the Zen dome (still on its way).

I have a lot to learn and a lot of questions, but will wait until I finish answering most of my own through practice and the manual before posting again.

As always, I've found great info to help here on ScubaBoard, and thank you for sharing your experiences and tips on this camera system. I'm hoping to drag mine to Wakatobi in another year or two!

 

[under water]

Should I consider checking the housing (carefully padded) in a suitcase? It's a tad big for a carry-on.

I fit the larger housing for the E-PL1 in a small camera backpack. I would suggest fitting it into carry-on rather than checking it in luggage.

I purchased the zoom ring for the 9-18 lens. Do I need a different zoom ring for the kit 14-42mm lens?

You do for the older 14-42 lens. I understand that you do not for the new lens.

I also have the Zen dome (still on its way).

You're gonna love it.

 

[amos69]

The EPL1 is part of the dummy series books and it is Excellent!

Olympus PEN E-PL1 For Dummies - For Dummies

I can second that, learnt more from this book in a couple of hours than a week with the official manual