Recommendations for E-PL10 beyond macro

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rad_rhino

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Location
Seattle, WA
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Hi all, I've begun the process of upgrading my camera rig from a GoPro with a tray to an E-PL10, and I was curious if people had specific recommendations beyond macro. I think I'm set for macro with the 60mm f2.8 lens (maybe I'll get a diopter sometime in the future, but I'm thinking starting with this is good enough for now). I've read/watched the Backscatter Wide Angle guide for the E-PL10, and it wasn't really clear to me what an ideal setup would be for wide angle.

From the Backscatter system chart, it looks like there's really four main options- Oly 8mm fisheye, Panasonic 8mm fisheye, Oly 9-18mm zoom, or the kit lens with a wet lens. Does anyone with experience with any of these configurations have any comments, recommendations, or lessons learned?

I'm also interested in hearing any recommendations anyone might have for configurations not listed on the system chart. I know that everything on the system chart is safe and should work without issue, but I'm guessing there's other lens/port combinations that may work that aren't listed.

Thanks in advance!
 
Oly 8mm fisheye, Panasonic 8mm fisheye, Oly 9-18mm zoom, or the kit lens with a wet lens. Does anyone with experience with any of these configurations have any comments, recommendations, or lessons learned?

The OLY 8mm and Pani 8mm are fisheye lens I'd use for CFWA or, perhaps wrecks, but not much beyond that. I don't have the OLY 9-18mm but I think that it is a rectilinear WA zoom lens that maybe more useful for you.
 
The OLY 8mm and Pani 8mm are fisheye lens I'd use for CFWA or, perhaps wrecks, but not much beyond that. I don't have the OLY 9-18mm but I think that it is a rectilinear WA zoom lens that maybe more useful for you.
Ah ok, thanks! I think I'm going to try to stick with practicing macro shooting for a while since I already have what I need for it, but I want to start saving to eventually get either a wide lens + dome port or a wet lens. I actually think the idea of CFWA is really neat, but I suppose its not exactly THAT different from macro already, so maybe fisheye won't be what I want.
 
Do you have the AOI housing? If so, they now have an adapter to use OMD ports in housings like yours that are designed to take PEN ports. The benefit to this is that it allows you to use the Olympus 7-14, 8-25, 12-40, and 12-45 Pro lenses. Backscatter can hook you up with the adapter and appropriate zoom gears to give you high quality wide angle, zoomable rectilinear lenses if you get an appropriate OMD dome. A cheaper alternative would be the panasonic 7-14 lens; I don't believe AOI shows it on their port charts, but other companies sell plastic or glass domes for the PEN system that are designed to work with that lens.
 
Do you have the AOI housing? If so, they now have an adapter to use OMD ports in housings like yours that are designed to take PEN ports. The benefit to this is that it allows you to use the Olympus 7-14, 8-25, 12-40, and 12-45 Pro lenses. Backscatter can hook you up with the adapter and appropriate zoom gears to give you high quality wide angle, zoomable rectilinear lenses if you get an appropriate OMD dome. A cheaper alternative would be the panasonic 7-14 lens; I don't believe AOI shows it on their port charts, but other companies sell plastic or glass domes for the PEN system that are designed to work with that lens.
I'm targeting the AOI housing as my next purchase. The 7-14mm Olympus is really high on my list of interesting lenses (beyond the 8mm fisheye) once I start playing with wide angle. I've been trying to figure out if there was a way to use the 7-14, but it isn't on the system chart for the housing and I couldn't find any good info googling around. I'll definitely shoot a message to backscatter to ask about the adapter for OMD ports when I order the housing. Thanks so much!
 
Why would one get the 7-14 not the OLY 8-25? I don't see the point at all. I have watched/read all of the reviews and comparisons out there since the 8-25 came out and there is no reason to get the 7-14 at all compared with the 8-25. The 8-25 is more versatile, same or better quality and less money.
 
What are you trying to accomplish with your wide angle photography.

I have the EPL 10 in the AOI housing and ports to use the following lenses, I have the Panasonic 8mm Fisheye, oly 9-18, oly 14-42 (kit lens), Oly 30mm macro, and oly 60mm macro. I dont have the port for the 9-18 as Ive realized its not going to get me what I wanted when I bought the lens.

I use the pana 8mm in a 4in dome port, I use the 30 and 60mm macros with an extension ring and standard flat port. I have mostly used the 14-42 adn 8mm fisheye,Im hoping to get more macro diving in this year and try out the 30 and 60 mm macros.

Here are few link to some photos I have captured with my EPL10; link #1 is with the pana 8mm fisheye, link #2 is with the 14-42 kit lens. both were using dual Backscatter MF1 strobes.


Link #1 Link #2
The community over at WetPixel has a general consensus that the 8-25 is not that good for underwater photography.

One thing to keep in mind with EPL10 housings is that yes you can use the PEN to PMD port adapter but you will have a VERY tough time getting the camera out of the housing, look at the housing there isn't really a way to remove the lens from the camera body easily, when compared to the EM1-3 housing.

feel free to ask questions and hopefully I can answer them.
 
What are you trying to accomplish with your wide angle photography.

I have the EPL 10 in the AOI housing and ports to use the following lenses, I have the Panasonic 8mm Fisheye, oly 9-18, oly 14-42 (kit lens), Oly 30mm macro, and oly 60mm macro. I dont have the port for the 9-18 as Ive realized its not going to get me what I wanted when I bought the lens.

I use the pana 8mm in a 4in dome port, I use the 30 and 60mm macros with an extension ring and standard flat port. I have mostly used the 14-42 adn 8mm fisheye,Im hoping to get more macro diving in this year and try out the 30 and 60 mm macros.

Here are few link to some photos I have captured with my EPL10; link #1 is with the pana 8mm fisheye, link #2 is with the 14-42 kit lens. both were using dual Backscatter MF1 strobes.


Link #1 Link #2
The community over at WetPixel has a general consensus that the 8-25 is not that good for underwater photography.

One thing to keep in mind with EPL10 housings is that yes you can use the PEN to PMD port adapter but you will have a VERY tough time getting the camera out of the housing, look at the housing there isn't really a way to remove the lens from the camera body easily, when compared to the EM1-3 housing.

feel free to ask questions and hopefully I can answer them.
Hi Dann-Oh,

I also love reading through wetpixel and believe it or not your posts specifically over there have saved me a lot of effort as I've been building out my kit and learning what I should be doing. So far I just have the 14-42 kit lens and the oly 60 mm macro and the necessary extension ring. I actually just got back from a two week trip in the Philippines where I shot exclusively with the 60mm and I have to say I'm extremely pleased with the results. Most of my griping at this point is really just improvement I could make to framing, exposure, strobe placement, snoot placement... aka be a better photographer.

On the wide angle front, I guess what I'm trying to accomplish is a good question. I absolutely love shooting macro, so one of my first thoughts is I think I'd enjoy giving close-focus wide angle a shot and going from there. That being said, after diving with the whale sharks and thresher sharks over there and having done Tiger Beach a few years ago, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love to try to shoot the real big things. After reading over on WP I've come to the same conclusion that the 8-25 just isn't worth it for underwater and the 7-14, while it might be really nice, would he more trouble than it's worth. The decision I'm at now is whether it makes more sense to pursue an 8mm fisheye (either Pany or Oly) with a dome port, or go the other direction and find a wet wide lines like the Nauticam WWL-1 (which I believe supposedly works really well for mft) or the AOI-UWL 09 or 09 PRO and just shoot with the 14-42. So far I've yet to really see a major benefit either way, as I'd need to swap ports between shooting macro and wide regardless of whether it's to a dome port or just to the flat port without an extension. I think the price points are also honestly fairly similar given the choice of 8 mm fisheye + dome vs. Wet wide lens. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations?
 
The OLY 8mm and Pani 8mm are fisheye lens I'd use for CFWA or, perhaps wrecks, but not much beyond that. I don't have the OLY 9-18mm but I think that it is a rectilinear WA zoom lens that maybe more useful for you.
Long years ago, I chose to go with 9-18 due to reasons described by you but I still sometimes think I should have gone with 8mm fisheye. Rectilinear super wa lenses are versatile but if you are looking for a spectaculer shot, they are often captuered with a fisheye imho.
 
I am trying this olympus EPL-10 too.
I used it in Mabini.
EPL-10 + AOI case + adapter + 60mm for macro. I added the gear for manual focus as automatic focus is not always good. I added the RL3000 ring light. I use red light to approach and connected flash to shoot. pretty decent results. no need lens.... and not so versatile. Macro only.

for wide angle.
I use 12-50 lens + gear adapter for zoom + wide wet port (any 67mm is good). It is more versatile. 12-50 is excellent for following a medium size e.g animal, turtle, diver, etc. UW, It can take animals at 30 cm too. Wider angle comes in for reef , large animals, wrecks, 12mm is already good. You will need a lot of additional light for wide or a pretty good viz. for large sea fans at depth, I drop a wide torch light close to my object, move away, and shoot.
(e.g. , just 12-50, no wide angle wet lens)

I haven't tried yet, my guess is a decent macro wet lens on 12-50 would work too. and 12-50 has a macro mode that get as close as 20cm, so, if you go on a dive with macro in mind, you just push the clutch.
 

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