CCRphoto

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.

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?

OK, and looking forward to reading your full review!

A question about the Retra Maxis - what are the options for offcamera/remote firing? (doesn't need to be TTL)

That is the other side of what I need to look at - I don't think that anyone ever said that deciding on a system was easy unfortunately!

Excel spreadsheet for both the OM-1 MkII and a Z5 ii is currently being populated😄

This has just appeared - timely - will watch it a bit later today! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z59n8LIhvkY

At the end of the day, if you are happy with them then that is what matters!

Many thanks for that feedback - I might opt for the 30 instead of the 45 or 60 then. With 60 really being in effect a 120 that just seems a bit long for 1:1.

Interesting. Someone posted earlier that they thought that OM's autofocus had been step behind the others since Covid etc, if I go the OM-1 route then it may well be worthwhile me waiting a few months until the OM-1 MkIII is released and if it fits in the same housing as the MkI & II then go that way. I've never dived Lembeh - is 20-40 feet vis typical for there?

I have to dive with corrective lenses in my mask anyway or else I can't read my computer - I need +4 prescription lenses just to be able to make out the numbers on the computer screen - bit of a pain but that's life. Will PM you a bit later.

Totally agree. I think perhaps strobes became an afterthought because for a long time there wasn't a massive choice, and you certainly couldn't get high-powered strobes like are available today - I guess partly due to the limited battery technology that was available at the time.

Am giving the Nikon Z5 ii a bit more thought now after reading what you said about sensor size etc. and watching that review. Lots to think about!

Stocks went up another 5% today on very big volume for this stock - it has basically been a sleeper/under the radar for a long time and completely ignored or unknown by most - partly due to a lack of marketing by the company, but a major rerate is definitely underway now.

I'm very fortunate here that I have a really nice protected bay with heavy very white sand - visibility is usually excellent, and usually no surge. Get some small shrimps and sea spiders here - the spiders aren'ty too bad to spot as they are bright yellow. Have to be careful when swearing while on CCR - everyone around can hear you!

Good to know that the AF is good OM-1 MkII - one less thing to be concerned about! I'm actually considering the Panasonic 45mm instead of the OM 60mm for that and a couple of other reasons - it seems like a better way to go.

Some really good information there - will definitely add the reduction rings to the list! A 24mm equivalent should be fine for most things underwater archaeology - amphoras etc - anything bigger will be covered by photogrammetry usually. Interesting what you have said about the need to fit some lenses from the front with the Nauticam housing - I guess it would be OK to do but would prefer not to!

Was the OM-1 she had the OM-1 MkII?

OK that is an option too! I've got to get used to this whole idea of wet-mateable diopters etc - we didn't really have them available to us way back when.

I'm kind of getting the feeling that APS-C isn't really a middle ground - its almost a FF lens paired with a downscaled sensor in a slightly smaller camera body - which kind of leaves my wondering why? I think that really one needs to look at either M43 or FF - not a compromised compromise in the middle - if that makes sense? Some will probably argue differently. The need for the monitor is mainly due to my neck - I can only tilt my head back about 25 degrees, and so doing things like shooting macro on the bottom just isn't possible as I just wouldn't be able to see the standard screen from a viewable angle.

Many thanks - that picture does give me a really good idea of the size of the Maxis - probably they are a little bigger than I was expecting, but if they are neutrally buoyant then that will be fine.

OK cheers - I really wouldn't consider strobes using a big bunch of AA's - I think that the world has moved on from there... The Retra website certainly needs a tidy up so that users find the information about the Maxis where you would normally expect it to be - having to find them in the Shop page and then work backwards to get to the information on them is a bit random... Is the battery compartment on the Maxis sealed?

Many thanks for that explanation, it helps me quite a bit. Sounds like I need to do a bit more reading on it all to get my head around it. Your comments about autofocus are interesting, unfortunately I live in a part of the world where there isn't a camera store of any sort - not a whole lot else such as a dive store either! Kind of have to do a lot of research on the internet for most things and then order them online - you get used to it, and become good at swearing too! I might throw this to @TimG for his thoughts on the OM-1 MkII's autofocus? My last camera was the mighty Nikon F4 - which if memory serves me right was Nikon's first ever autofocus camera! How times have changed! The cost of getting into scuba diving is a barrier to entry, and the cost of the gear is certainly a barrier to entry into underwater photography - unless someone goes the TG-7 route.