pictures from Maldives with Panasonic lx5 in 10 bar Housing

[Puffer Fish]

I have the little gear wheel on mine... took me 6 or 7 adjustments to get it in the right spot where you don't have the push and turn with the accuracy of a micrometer....still a bit touchy, but it works.

Hi Starflight,
thank you very much, you're very kind.
I have a 10Bar Housing for my Panasonic Lx5 and it is good, but not perfect.
I mean this housing has an external command for the rear dial of the LX5 that it is not well designed.
You have to push for changing between aperture or shutter speed and than you have to rotate this rear command maintaining a gentle pressure on the command for changing the value of aperture or speedness.
The problem is that the inside head of this command is flat and it does not grasp on the toothed rear wheel of the Lx 5, so if you push too hard you change between aperture/speedness instead of changing the value of aperture (for example)... It is not very easy to operate .
I solved the problem putting a piece of Anti-slip tape (0,6 thick) on the flat head of this command, but often I have to change this piece of anti-slip tape for consumption.
I know that the new housing of 10Bar now have a toothed wheel, so perhaps this problem is solved.
Now I have seen that there are two new housing one or Recsea and one of Nauticam (but both are more expensive than 10Bar).
Nauticam International Ltd.
RECSEA PANASONIC LUMIX LX5 UNDERWATER HOUSING
I like very much the Nauticam housing, because it seems to have a better system for the rear dial of the Lx5 (and it is less expensive than the one of Recsea).
For the pictures in Maldives I used two Inon D2000 connected with fiber-optic cable, they work very well.
Usually i set the Lx5 in M mode, with the shutter speed at 1/125 or 1/160 and I change the aperture according to the sutjects, the condition of light, the deepness and so on.
Often I use - for macro subjects - an Inon Wet macro lens Ucl 165 M67.
Ciao
Scipionems.

 

[starflight]

hi Scipionems,

Good to hear from you. Thanks for your review and feedback on the 10bar casing. Looks like you are also finding some issues with it. Great idea on you DYI solution though. There has been recent news of other casing popping up like the two you mentioned. sigh... why didn't Panasonic make its own casing...? we could have saved money on these super pricey after market casings and invested more on lighting.

By the way thanks for sharing the settings. This is very useful information. I think two light definitely helps cause at times I found the YS-01 not powerful enough to illuminate the scene I was capturing. I wasn't doing macro though so perhaps that's the reason.

Also, your videos that you posted on Youtube. Great stuff! I really love the one with the whale shark. My wife and I were really hoping to see this majestic animal but after 6 dives no luck, and yet people who took snorkeling outings saw them... just our luck I guess. I subscribed to your channel!

Looking forward to more of your pics and vids. Cheers!

 

[scipionems]

Thank you Starflight,
the Lx5 is a very good compact camera and if you want to use it underwater it is better you choose an aluminium (even if pricey) housing, because the acrylic housing of Panasonic are surely less expensive, but under 40-45 meters probably the command (for the pressure) are unusable.
Before the Lx5, I had a Canon G7 with the canon Housing WP-DC11 and under 45 meters I was not able to use the buttons because for the pressure they were completely pushed down....
For this reason I passed to an aluminium housing for my new Panasonic Lx5.
I have seen that now Ikelite is selling a solid (but for me a little bulky) acrylic housing less expensive than the two i mentioned to you in alluminium. Underwater Housing for Panasonic Digital Camera
Perhaps this could be a good solution (even if I don't know how does it work underwater).
I forgot to suggest you to set the ISO at 80 always for the underwater use, so the pictures are more crisp and full of details.
Perhaps, in May, I will be in Sudan for a Liveaboard on M/y Suzanna.
I hope to make some new pictures and video
Ciao
Scipionems.

 

[scipionems]

Hi Puffer Fish,
Can you explain me how do you set the little gear wheel on your 10Bar housing so that you don't have to push while rotating it ??
If I solve this problem I will be very very happy, and I will be infinitely grateful to you FOREVER
I wonder if the pressure (going deeper) could block the rear dial of the Lx5 for changing aperture or shutter speed, leaving the gear wheel of 10bar housing in contact with the rear dial of the Lx5.
You had this problem during a dive ??
Can you attach a picture of your modified gear wheel ??.
Thank you in advance for any suggestion.
Scipionems.

 

[dolesorchard]

Great pictures, I love the octopus shots. Octopus are my favorites.

 

[scipionems]

Thank you Dolesorchard,
I love the octopus too
Scipionems

 

[wbuzatto]

Hey, Scipionems, we may have bumped on each other in the Maldives. I was there from March 06 through 12, though only 4 days on a live aboard (Blue Lagoon). We've been to the Ari Atoll South and Male Atoll South, too; saw some manta rays on Manta Point in Ari Atoll South, but missed the whale sharks in Maamagili... lucky you!

Great pictures, I envy you... all the pictures I wish I'd made myself! Already bookmarked your photoalbum! Congratulations!

 

[scipionems]

Hi Wbuzatto,
Thank you very much, you are very kind.
Probably we made dives in the same dive spots.
Yes I was very lucky with the whale shark, it is not easy to see it
Ciao.
Scipionems

 

[jaeckert]

I made even some video with the LX5
YouTube - scipionems's Channel
YouTube - scipionems's Channel
YouTube - scipionems's Channel
Scipionems

Wow,
I am sorry to go back to one of your March postings; but I just now watched all three of your video links. Am I correct in understanding you shot ALL of that only on the P & S DMC LX-5? What housing and lighting did you use? What was the battery life of the camera and external lighting you used for these videos? How about memory/storage?
If those were all from a P & S; I am humbled by your greatness...

Joel

 

[scipionems]

Hi Joel,
Wow! Thank you very much, but you are exaggerated
Yes all the three videos were made with my Panasonic Lx-5 in a 10Bar Housing.
The housing is quite enough good, except for the rear dial for changing Aperture/Shutter Speed, that it is quite enough tricky to manage (read all this thread).
For the night dive in Maya Thilla I used a 6 Leds light.
For the video to the Whale shark and to the Mantas, only natural light and manual white balance (very easy to set, read the manual).
The battery is good for two dives and half.
I use a Kingston Secure digital of 16gb class 6 and every night (after two or three dives) I download all the files (photo and/or video) in my Macbookpro using an external card reader.
The Lx 5 is a good camera, perhaps the colors are sometimes just a little cool, but you can adjust it incamera if you need it.
Then you can shoot in RAW mode , so you can work on color and white balance of the RAW file with Photoshop later with the computer.
I am highly satisfied with the Lx5, just a little less with the 10Bar housing, but nothing is perfect in this world
Ciao.
Scipionems