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OM-1 MK2 + PL 45mm F2.8 macro (90mm FF equiv.) Nikon Z5II + Nikkor 105mm F2.8 macro OM-1 MK2 + Olympus 60mm F2.8 macro (120mm FF equiv.) Nikon Z5II + Nikkor 105mm F2.8 macro Play your game: https://camerasize.com/compact/#918.930,946.991,ha,t

Sure. I can only compare what I'm seeing now on M43 (essentially the OM 60mm and the Panasonic 8mm FE) with what I have used on Nikon APS-C or FF: the Nikkor 60mm, 105mm, 16-35mm, DX 12-24mm, DX 10-24mm, DX 10.5, Sigma 15mm and Tokina 10-17mm Other than arguably the Sigma, Tokina and Nikkor DX 10.5 are all hugely bigger. I couldn't believe the size of the Panasonic 8mm when I opened the box. I've seen bigger cotton reels. The OM 60mm is minuscule compared to the Nikkor 105mm. But totally accept your point that it depends on which and whose lenses. I was assuming (yeah, dangerous I know) that if you're thinking of a Nikon Z5 chances are you're going to use (some) Nikkor lenses. I thought it worth bearing those lens sizes in mind. On pre-M43 travel I could not fit Nikkor lenses with the housing, strobes etc into my Pelican 1510 roller box. It now looks as though everything will fit in: housing, strobes, ports, lenses.....

I am not sure that I am a "serious" UW photographer, but since I read about dumb focus in Alex Mustards book, years ago, I use it and it helps a lot. I should add that I always had Nauticam housings that have a special lever for it, just placed were the dumb of the right hand is located... Wolfgang

In my view (from someone who was owning Olympus MFT and is now using Sony FF), the difference in size and weight exists, but depends to a great extend on the type of lenses (there are differences between the FF mount systems; I cannot comment on APS-C systems, I never owned one and have zero overview there (also acryl ports or ports from other companies with comparable parameters will work, of course)): #1.: Fisheye w/wo zoom capability: Zen DP100 for MFT vs Nauticam140 (or similar) for FF. => MFT wins (Tokina 10-17mm fisheye with Metabones 0.7x speedbooster and Zen DP100; similar to Zuiko 8mm, that, however, has no zoom out capability)). I, personally was using the, optically superb, Canon 8-15mm with Nauticam 140 - almost no difference in size and weight then. #2.: WA wet lenses: work more or less on both MFT and FF (at present, Sony FF seems to have no WWL-C compatible lens and is the exception (WWL-C was developed for compact cameras; I am not sure about IQ on FF)). => No difference in practice. #3.: rectilinear WA: ZenDP170(or Nauticam180) vs Nauticam230 for FF. there are, however, exceptional lenses like Tamron 17-28mm that work very well behind DP170 (I have one, but almost never use it, since i use adapted canon 8-15mm fisheye with 2x Sony TC). In this case no difference to MFT. I do not know, whether this lens is available in Nikon Z, but Google does. => MFT wins (but not miles ahead); no difference compared with Tamron 17-28mm on FF. #4.: Intermediate focal range for fish portrait (normally seldom used): I am/was using Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 pro for MFT as well as Sony 20-70mm f/4 G behind Zen DP170. Both delivered excellent IQ. Now replaced by MFO-3 that also delivers very good IQ and is not flexible, but portability when travelling is so much better. => No difference #5.: Macro: here comes the really big difference: Macro rig with Zuiko 60mm or Panasonic 45mm extension (one can use the 45mm Nauticam port for both, 60mm needs an additional 20mm extension) is such a tiny and smart rig compared to the Nauticam rigs with Sony 90mm or, now, 100mm GM macrolens. In my MFT days the WA rigs (type #1, #3, #4) used to be the biggest and heaviest, while now the situation is reversed. The macro rig is the biggest and most monstrous rig I assemble with my Sony A7R5 (I use #1, #2 (WACP-C), #3 (I do not own a 230mm dome), #4). => Only type where MFT is a clear winner in my eyes (when focus is totally correct and no motion blurr, one gets excellent IQ in both systems (FF offers more postprocessing power, but this makes little difference in practice).

Not entirely. Lens sizes are significantly different. M43 lenses are tiny. Nikkor FF lenses are not. Compare the OM 60mm with the rough Nikkor equivalent, a 105mm…….. Moving to M43 the size and weight of the lenses is, for me, the biggest difference.

I don't know if anyone has to be 'serious', but back-button focus has made photography easier for me for many years, both above and below water.

I’d love to visit the Solomon Islands again, but it’s a very remote destination for Germans. Getting there from Germany involves a lot of effort, time, and money. However, my wife and I are planning a trip to the region for next year. We’re getting on in years, and before it becomes too late for diving, we’re currently thinking about a combined diving trip across the Pacific/South Seas area, perhaps French Polynesia, Fiji, Tonga, and Australia ...... all in one go. We’d include the Solomon Islands too, if possible. We’ll see; planning has only just begun. We first need to figure out where to base ourselves in the region to ensure the best access to the various locations. Best regards, Markus

The lugging around aspect appears to come down to port sizes more so than housing sizes I think - the OM-1 MkII camera body is (LxWxH) 135x73x92mm, and the Z5ii is 134x72x101mm - so the housings shouldn't be much different in size, but the needed ports (especially dome ports) will likely be quite a bit bigger. I will have to take a good look at the housings side by size to see how they compare. Costwise - I think that it is going to work out quite similar - which I must admit surprised me a little. Just more things to consider I guess. One advantage with OM-1 MkII is that there are several active members on here shooting it who I can lean on for information or help if needed, whereas there doesn't appear to be any Z5ii users, so any help needed might be from Z8 users - if things are similar between the Z5ii and the Z8.

Kiitos. That looks very promising. Are you on your way to diving? Would like to hear your impressions comparing it to the Inons (and Scubalamps too, but more the Inons). Is it the lithium-battery version or AA? As a many (too many?) year Inon-user, I am already totally Lost in Translation 🤣 Cheers

do serious underwater photographers use back button focus rather than the standard shutter release? I'm wondering if it is a new skill I should try to master

With the OM-1 you have 1/250 with the little mini flash and can reach 1/400 without HSS using the Nauticam flash trigger. You mentioned less noise with 24.5 MP on the Nikon, you have about 1 - 1.5 stops less noise on the Nikon - great but with m43 the smaller sensor means you can shoot at f8 with your wide angle lens instead of f13 with the Nikon and you've got most of your noise back as you can run a stop lower ISO. Dynamic range is a similar story. I rarely shoot anything other ISO200 UW, the OM-1 base ISO. My opinion is that the 20MP sensor on the m43 cameras is more than adequate for 95% of people, there are cases where you might justify full frame, selling images for a living is one, really low light shooting is another but the OM-1 does surprising well at quite high ISO, finally printing really big. the 20MP OM-1 prints natively to just about A3 size at 300 dpi on an uncropped image, You could easily do A2 on an up-ressed image. Prints out of these cameras beat the hell out of a 35mm film image - I've done plenty of both prints and the digital print is crisper with better colours and shadow detail. Here is an extreme example(not mine unfortunately), the image is land based but shot at ISO10,000: Hummingbird image ISO10,000 I'm not saying you shouldn't go full frame - if you can afford it and are prepared to lug it around sure. I used to try to ensure I could print all my images as big as practical, but after 40 years I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I've actually printed to something approaching A2 and only a handful greater A3. These days give the easy to use and transport m43 rig it's more than good enough for me.

Yes. A flashtrigger and strobes that does HSS. Turtle, UW Technics… depending on strobes. I have shot with old strobes that don’t do HSS and another z-model doing max 1/200, in bright tropical waters and haven’t felt that limited by it, tbh. But will upgrade it eventually, to increase flexibility. EDIT. WWL-c and 24-50 does not need to be shot at super small apertures, it’s sharp all across and acceptable already at 5.6 or 6.3 and up, is nice with some added DoF in image. F8 and 1/125 my starting point. *Have dived and shot plenty in the Red Sea and wouldn’t worry. Matt tested it in GC which is super bright so a good comparison point.

I use the 45mm for video. Qualitys stellar but the AF is really slow even on normal shots on land. The 30mm is way better even if it reaches its max magnification on glass. IIIRC it uses the same port of the 45mm.

I mainly got these as my old D-pros we on their last leg. Other had some element loose inside but still worked. Couldnt justify myself buying Retra Maxis at that price (with video light)with the amount of diving i do. I do want a video light integrated and was hoping the UW-Technics would have released but doesnt look like they are coming out anytime soon (Same thing as Retras, price). So took these as cheap-ish temporary option due to taxfree and cheap Yen. Im sure these will run me few good years. I took few comparison shots with friends z-330. Feels little bit more lightweight than Inon. But very comparable to them. Controls are bit weird, as expected from a Japanese brand, but workable. My complaints would be single o-ring design and slightly plasticky feel of control knobs. Maybe a 3d print helps. I have Scubalamp D-pro's at home and ill add pictures from them next week. I bought them at Mic21 Shinjuku, you can see prices from their website and just use Google Translate extension. If you go, remember to take passport with you for taxfree, the Visit Japan QR code doesnt work at half of the places i shopped at.

Watching this video from Matt & Alex about the 1/200 sync speeds of the Nikon Z series, their suggests were - - lower Iso while ensure that you have powerful strobes - which poses the interesting question of are there any shutter speed "sweetspots" with the Nikon Z series? - use HSS - if needed after these steps then use a ND filter Between those it should be OK hopefully - the only place where I would be really concerned is the Red Sea - as anyone who has dived there can attest it is bright as hell there even underwater in summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSby0YHsboA

Hi, any compatibility with DXo PhotoLab? Br Markus

Good to know - cheers!

Sounds like I should be able to make something work! Cheers!

True - are there any workarounds for this these days?

That is how it is looking on my spreadsheet too - although I haven't really looked for the cheapest deals on camera and lenses yet. The other advantage that I can see with the Nauticam Z5ii housing is that there is a lot more secondhand ports, extension rings etc available on ebay etc in the N120 size compared to the N85 size that the OM-1 housing takes. There are also some good aftermarket dome ports etc in N120 while very little if anything aftermarket is available in N85.

It sounds like choosing a M4/3rds macro lens is much trickier than choosing between a 60 and a 105 back in the old 35mm film days. I realised that @ACHiPo said he was getting good results with the 30mm - but that was doing Blackwater dives, and well here in Australia I don't think that anyone is doing those because of well umm - the big things with teeth! DaDum DaDum DaDum etc... So the 45mm might be the better option.

still for sale

I have watched that UWP-Show episode - many thanks for posting it as Mathew's comments were what made me consider it. My understanding of your comments about sensor size etc is that 24.5mp full frame sensor would have a lot less noise etc than a 20mp M4/3rds sensor? And would have other advantages as well. I might have a chat to the Australian Nauticam dealer and see if he can bring a Z5ii and a OM-1 housing to the dive show in Sydney next month. The sheer size of Australia means that me visiting him at his showroom would be a three day trip and probably $2000 for the total of six flights needed to visit him and get home again.

Being an ExcelAddict helps in some ways I think but we will see - its makes me feel old when I realise that Excel hadn't been invented the last time I bought an underwater camera system!😂 Ah OK - I will have to do a search - hadn't realised that! Many thanks!

Totally agree that 10mm from the front of the port is just too little room! What is the approximate distance from the front of the port at 0.5x? I guess another interesting question is what does everyone think is the minimum distance from the front of the port to the subject to be able to effectively light the subject with strobes?