Which port for 12-60mm lens

[pennywise]

Hi,

I intend to buy the 12-60mm lens for my Oly E520 and got the Inon dome port plus PER E01 extension ring. Will this combination work, or do I need to add on different stuff to make it work.... Can imagine that an extra PER E01 on top of the first one could make the difference.

Thx in advance,

Rob

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Rob,

The 12 to 60 is a very long lens fully extended so stacking two PER-E01 extensions will not work. You will need at the very least to use both the PER-E02 & PER-E01 extensions.

Next the Inon dome port was made for the 8 mm Fisheye lens and that lens only. At the very least you will also need the Olympus/Athena 170 mm dome port. I don't think the lens will fit under the Inon dome even with the two extensions and it will vignette if it does fit.

Next you will need a gear to drive the zoom and Athena is the only one that makes that gear, you can also buy the set attached below which has everything and is not what you would call pennywise.

Athena 170mm Dome Port Set for Olympus 12-60 [ath.opd.sz.12-60.mf.pte] - $1,699.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

I have also used the Olympus 11 to 22 zoom and 14 to 54 zooms with the 170 mm dome and the PER-E02 extension with great results. Olympus makes a gear which fits both lenses. NOTE THAT I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS COMBO WITH THE NEW 14 TO 54 II ZOOM WHICH IS 1 MM FATTER AND MAY NOT ACCEPT THE EXISTING OLYMPUS GEAR. I LIKED THE 11 TO 22 ZOOM COMBO BEST.

I would also like to note that the 12 to 60 is one of the best zooms made and my prime above water lens.

Also if you are looking to get wide for the least cost the 9 to 18 zoom at 100 degrees on the wide end works well with just the 170 mm port and no extension.

Phil Rudin

 

[pennywise]

Thx again Phil, I followed yr last advice regarding the 9-18 with the Inon dome and PER-E01 and that works wonders!! No vignetting and razor sharp, even in the corners!!!

Grtzzzz,

Rob

 

[LineSider]

Rob,

I wanted to house the 12-60mm as well with my PT-E05/E=520 combo. The lens is just so far superior and the focus, so fast that it just begs to be done.

I went with the Olympus dome and the Athena extension made for it It is a bit less expensive than the complete Athena setup (I believe that the Olympus dome and the Athena 170mm dome are identical..both made by Athena?).

It may be possible to go with an Olympus port plus extention plus Athena gear for the PT-E05 and save some money, but in the end the Athena has two gears - one for zoom and one for focus. At best, you would need to be happy with a focus gear only.

Reef can help with all that.

Bob

 

[pennywise]

Hi Bob,

Thx for your info!

I've tried to stack the small and large extension rings between the PT-E05 and the Inon dome and it seems to work out right... the only thing I'm fighting with now is getting the zoom gear to work.
The barrel diameters of the 8mm fisheye and the 12-60 only differ .5 of a millimeter and rumour has it that it will fit and work for the 12-60 (just by softening the material of the zoom ring with hot water....)

Grtzzzzz,

Rob