Some advice please on using my OM Camera for Scuba

[ssssnake529]

I've been shooting all of my underwater photos with a waterproof camera (Sealife micro 3.)

I'd like to up my scuba photography game a bit.

I already have a pretty extensive OM/Olympus system I use above water.

I am considering buying some underwater housing stuff to allow me to use my OM/Olympus gear underwater.

I have the following OM/Olympus/M4/3 gear that might be suitable for underwater use:

Body: OM systems OM1 mkii

Primes
Olympus 12mm f:2
Panasonic 25mm f:1.4
Olympus 45mm f:1.8
Olympus 60mm f:2.8 (MACRO)
Olympus 75mm f:1.8


Zooms
Panasonic 7-14mm f:4
Olympus 9-18mm f:4-5.6
Olympus 12-40mm f:2.8 (PRO)

Any advice on which of these lenses would be best suited for all-around underwater photography?

Any advice on housings and other accessories I would need to make a functional, versatile underwater photography system?

(Assume I know absolutely nothing about housings and related equipment and you will be not far off.)

Thanks.

 

[jlyle]

I've been shooting all of my underwater photos with a waterproof camera (Sealife micro 3.)

I'd like to up my scuba photography game a bit.

I already have a pretty extensive OM/Olympus system I use above water.

I am considering buying some underwater housing stuff to allow me to use my OM/Olympus gear underwater.

I have the following OM/Olympus/M4/3 gear that might be suitable for underwater use:

Body: OM systems OM1 mkii

Primes
Olympus 12mm f:2
Panasonic 25mm f:1.4
Olympus 45mm f:1.8
Olympus 60mm f:2.8 (MACRO)
Olympus 75mm f:1.8


Zooms
Panasonic 7-14mm f:4
Olympus 9-18mm f:4-5.6
Olympus 12-40mm f:2.8 (PRO)

Any advice on which of these lenses would be best suited for all-around underwater photography?

Any advice on housings and other accessories I would need to make a functional, versatile underwater photography system?

(Assume I know absolutely nothing about housings and related equipment and you will be not far off.)

Thanks.

I hope you're ready to spend a bunch of money.

Nauticam housing or equivalent. The housing for the older OM1 - I will fit the OM1 - II camera.

I don't shoot any of your lenses, so I can't comment. For underwater, I have an older 12-50 and 8mm.

Lens ports for your lenses.

My older 12-50 is my go-to lens when I don't know what I'm going to see. The 8 is for WA only.

With the 12-50, I have the adapter ring for my Nautilus port that allows me to switch to 43mm macro underwater, plus a flip adapter to hold a wet macro diopter for even closer work.

You will, of course, need strobes, arms/clamps, camera tray, and fiber cables. I highly recommend the new Sea&Sea YS D3 DUO strobes. Don't forget rechargeable batteries and chargers.

You will need the little flash FL LM3 flash unit to trigger your strobes. The downside to this flash is that it draws power from the camera's battery and has an approximately 3 second recharge time, during which you cannot take a picture. With a Turtle flash adapter and the above strobes, you can burst fire the camera; full recharge is less than a second.

I've probably missed some items. You can message me here on scuba board if you have any questions or simply want to talk about u/w photograph.

 

[ColoDale]

As Jlyle said, the 12-50 mm is a good lens with macro - I use it generally. For what you have, the 12-40 is probably the most versatile when you're shooting. I use the Oly 60 mm for macro. You can get close at 40 mm (on the 12-40 mm) so kind of macro.
The port, per the oly port chart, for the 12-40 is not the same for the 60mm as it is for the 12-50 mm and 60 mm.

So you are going to need ports and maybe port adapters, housing, trays, arms, strobes, cables camera case, and the things listed in jlyles post. I use nauticam as much as I can but it is more expensive than Oly. And yes, a small bankroll.

Unless you have a pile of money to buy equipment for every lens you have plus any you buy, I would concentrate on a couple of them to use as there will be different ports involved.

 

[bvanant]

I would take a look at the AOI housing as well as Nauticam. I shot Nauticam for many years, then Isotta for the EM1-Mark III. When I moved to the OM-1 (now OM1-MII) I got the AOI system. It is a lot less money and it has a built in vacuum and LED trigger. So far it has been on 600+ dives and I can pretty much say that there are no shots that I could have gotten with the Nauticam that I could not have gotten with the AOI. The ports are very nice, the port lock I think is better than Nauticam. In any case, the Nauticam housing is $2600 while the AOI is $1000. Ports are close in price. You will need a tray for the AOI, but add $500 for Nauticam flash trigger and vacuum.

As for lenses, the 60 macro is great, depending on what you want to shoot you might add the 30 macro (for blackwater). The 9-18 will be fine for most WA situations but there are other options.

To get into the water you will need
1. Camera
2. Lenses
3. Housing
4. Ports for the lenses (each lens will need a port (more or less))
5. Tray with handles
6. Strobes (wide variety here ranging from $300 to $3000)
7. Arms and clamps and flotation
8. Focus light

I can send you some pics of my setup ready to dive if you want.

Local baby Garibaldi
Bill

 

[ssssnake529]

I would take a look at the AOI housing as well as Nauticam. I shot Nauticam for many years, then Isotta for the EM1-Mark III. When I moved to the OM-1 (now OM1-MII) I got the AOI system. It is a lot less money and it has a built in vacuum and LED trigger. So far it has been on 600+ dives and I can pretty much say that there are no shots that I could have gotten with the Nauticam that I could not have gotten with the AOI. The ports are very nice, the port lock I think is better than Nauticam. In any case, the Nauticam housing is $2600 while the AOI is $1000. Ports are close in price. You will need a tray for the AOI, but add $500 for Nauticam flash trigger and vacuum.

As for lenses, the 60 macro is great, depending on what you want to shoot you might add the 30 macro (for blackwater). The 9-18 will be fine for most WA situations but there are other options.

To get into the water you will need
1. Camera
2. Lenses
3. Housing
4. Ports for the lenses (each lens will need a port (more or less))
5. Tray with handles
6. Strobes (wide variety here ranging from $300 to $3000)
7. Arms and clamps and flotation
8. Focus light

I can send you some pics of my setup ready to dive if you want.
View attachment 862072
Local baby Garibaldi
Bill

I would love to see pictures of your setup.

 

[jlyle]

Here's my rig.

 

[Furnari]

Another vote for the AOI housing; it opens up an ecosystem of PEN and OMD ports that can be had for cheap on the used market if you want to save some money. I was (and still am) a big fan of the 12-40 for all around use, but the Olympus 12-45 does everything the 12-40 does underwater, just with a much smaller form factor. I have a recent post about the OM-1/AOI/12-45 combo, and of interest to you is that the domes I test work with the 9-18 and should also play nice with your 7-14 and 12f2. While not ideal, it will also work with the 60 if you only want to use one port for travel.

 

[johnohuk]

I found the faster pro lenses work best underwater, maybe its because i'm a green water diver and mostly use natural light. So I use the 8mm FE most of the time (great for wrecks and scenic shots) and the 60mm macro which is good with strobes and close-up extensions if you're port system supports it. I did try the 9-18mm and 12-60mm but was always disappointed when I compared it to my 12-40 Pro, which is fantastic lens top-side. I dare not take my 12-40 underwater due to me being a cheap skate though.

BTW I'm in an Oly case with Em-5 and AOI, Oly and Inon ports.

You might find this extravagant but I have a number of spare bodies so that I can have a dedicated diving em-5 and can keep the top-side one set-up intact. Having them all the same means I don't forget how to use them.