Thinking of switching to EM1 for underwater photography, advice please

[watboy]

I've been using an EM1 since Nauticam released the housing for it. Very happy with it, previously I was using the EM5mkI, but the ergonomics of the EM1 housing were much better (it has nice big paddles for shutter and AEL/AFL button). Right now I use it with
- Pana 8mm FE in the 4.33" dome
- 60mm Macro and 12-50mm with Nauticam gear. Same port, two lenses
- I have the 4" dome for the only 9-18, but I rarely use it as I prefer the FE.
- A pair of Inon Z240 strobes. No problem at all with STTL, for manual, make sure you push the magnet cancel switch in.

I'm very happy with the Pana fisheye. Its quite sharp and fast focusing. The new oly fisheye is faster, F1.8 vs F3.5 and is weather sealed. Zen just announced a port solution for it, none yet from Nauticam. The pana lens is appreciably smaller than the oly, and the 4'33 dome is compact. Not sure how the useful the extra speed would be for the oly, guess have to wait to see some reviews. I don't plan on getting the oly FE.

The 60mm macro is a great lens and as others have mentioned well priced. Works well with diopters too. I recently got the 12-50 gear and port from Nauticam. Good for video and fish protraits and macro mode isn't half bad. I used it in Lembeh for when we were looking for frogfish and mimic/wonderpusses but still wanted a macro option. The 12-50 at 50 with a SMC close up lens didn't result in higher magnification than macro mode, while being harder to focus. However, if I had to choose one, it would be the 60mm macro, just a stellar lens. You can just get the 12-50 port without gear if you think you may add the 12-50 later.

My next lens will be the oly 7-14 with a sufficiently large dome to start doing over/unders.

 

[fuggler]

If you want to go lean, think about the first edition of the EM5. The EM1 and EM5 II aren't that much of a step up and you can get an EM5/housing for a lot less money.

I shoot an EM5 in a Nauticam housing. I like the 8mm FE for WA and the 12-50 for nearly everything else. I bit the bullet and bought the $$ port and gear to be able to shoot macro with the 12-50.

After buying the mirrorless camera, my dslr has become a paper weight. You won't be disappointed with any of the above cameras.

Can I see your shots taken with the 12-50? I'm considering getting it with a subsee diopter.

 

[bvanant]

If you are going to do macro get either the Panasonic 45 or the 60 oly. The 12-50 is not really that nice for macro and at f 6.3 nothing you can do for controlled DOF. The 60 is quite nice, the Panasonic is to my eye a bit nicer but slower to focus.

Bill

 

[coldfire22x]

1. Is there a shutter lag between an dslr and em1 (with the latest firmware)? Is it of utmost frustration underwater? haha
2. Am contemplating a fish eye or normal wa as I do not have a m4/3 wide-angle. Using a wide angle 10-17 on the 7d. Fish eye or WA? pros and cons?
3. What ports would I require for the lenses above? I would like my set up as lean as possible without compromising on image quality.
4. Will the icon z240 strobes work ttl with this housing and camera? What settings would you recommend for the strobes?
5. Given the EM1 has been out for a while and that housings are expensive, do you feel the EM1 is currently not good enough for underwater photography hence better to wait for the next incarnation?

I'm currently shooting an E-M1 with the Panasonic 8mm fisheye and Olympus 60mm macro in a Nauticam housing.

1. The autofocus speed of the E-M1 is great and I've never noticed any shutter lag.
2. I'm so happy with the Panasonic 8mm fisheye that I haven't even considered taking my Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 under yet. Maybe one of these days I'll get a larger dome port for it and give it a whirl ...
3. Nauticam #36132 4.33" dome port for the 8mm and #36163 macro port for the 60mm.
4. Yep! I would recommend full manual, though
5. The E-M1 will be good enough for a long time, imo .. it just boils down to if you want to wait for the Mark II or not (I would be surprised if it is available earlier than the second half of 2016).

---------- Post added August 26th, 2015 at 06:29 PM ----------

Hi there!
3. For the 60mm - 36163 port and 36149 gear, for the 7-14 - 36133 Port and 36044 gear, for the 8mm - 36132 Port and 36041 gear.

Worth noting: the Nauticam #36133 will fit the Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 but the OP mentions "7-14mm f/2.8" which I assume means the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO which I've heard does NOT fit in the #36133 port.

I haven't done any real digging myself, but at a glance it seems some have suggested using the N85 to N120 port adapter and then using N120 dome ports.


UPDATE: http://nauticam.com/images/catalog/catalog_24.pdf confirms that the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO can be used with the N85 to N120 port adapter and the 180mm glass wide angle port!