What Olympus DSLR set-up would you recommend for me?

Sorry, I was in fact talking about the Olympus housing. Don't know about the Iklite ports.

Phil

Ok, I made up my mind. Thanks rtrski for pointing out the differences between the ports and the 14-42mm vs the 14-54mm lens fitting better with my 8" dome, which he is right. By the time I add the correct extension , etc, I'm up to what I can buy the 14-54mm lens

I went ahead and am going to purchase Phils 14-54mm lens from him !!

Several of you, have made it easyer for me to understand, that it's in their better grade of quality of lens, all though not top of the line like the famousr 8mm, and 7-14mm , I think it will be a great choice of lens for the type of shooing I am doing currentley.

Now I just have to convince the wife I sold lets see, a pair of fins, my other lens, and what else to make buying this lens easyer for her to understand we are now over the what , 5k mark, and still going, lol

Ahhh, to think two months ago, I was thinking the most this would run was around $3,000.00 , somone made a comment on here, to just max out your credit card when when making plundge, we'll lets just say I was over the limit 2 months ago, when i started putting everything together!! Ha, gotta love this sport, soon I'll be sleeping with the fish, lol

I received the 14-54mm lens from Phil ( Tropical1 ) and he is great!!

Wonderfull deal, I apprecaite it, and man, what a Lens !!

The glass is hugh in thr front compared to the 45mm, and weight wise, its heavier, alot heavier, lol.

I'll do a update this weekend, I'm heading to the Keys for 4 days of diving, and let everyone know how I make out !

I have enjoyed reading this thread. I am also torn between the e330 and the 410. I think would like to hear from the everyone who has used the 410 and 330 housings. Which one has the better ergonomics especially for someone that doesn't have large hands? Ergonomics to me are very important.

I have enjoyed reading this thread. I am also torn between the e330 and the 410. I think would like to hear from the everyone who has used the 410 and 330 housings. Which one has the better ergonomics especially for someone that doesn't have large hands? Ergonomics to me are very important.

Glad you enjoyed it. If Ikelite had a housing for the 410 or 510, Id probley upgrade , I never shot either, but having the 10MP would be nice.

Nice thing is , they have the live view, man, that just makes like a P&S, I love it !

Glad you enjoyed it. If Ikelite had a housing for the 410 or 510, Id probley upgrade , I never shot either, but having the 10MP would be nice.

 

Nice thing is , they have the live view, man, that just makes like a P&S, I love it !

I am sure Ike will come out with a hosing for one of these cameras. I would like to see Ike make the there next hosing for the Oly cameras a little bit more form fitting. But the one thing I would love to see the most on Ike hosing ins the hand strap on the side with the shutter release. I used a housing with one of these and it make handling the camera with one hand a breeze! Oly housings have this accessory and it's worth every penny. Here is my wish list for Ike:

1. Hand strap for one handed operation. This is my number one wish.

2. Adjustable handle tray. To be able to move handles in and out along the tray.

3. An adjustable shutter release. The is so I can reach the release while my hand is still on the handle.

Once again any comments on ergonomics would be great. I am land locked so I am nowhere near a shop that has UW camera equipment in stock to play with before I buy.

Hi Manta,

I have owned both the Olympus E-330 and now the E-410 housings. The E-410 housing offers some upsides over the E-330. The first is that the popup flash can be used to fire SOME strobes by fiber optics in TTL. Sencon the camera/housing package is very light, half of what other housings would be. It is only rated to fourty meters not sixty but most people don't make that many dives below 130 feet.

The Athena grip is superb, in both fit and flexibility for diffrent hand sizes. The grips can slide in and out for diffrent size hands or gloves depending on where you are diving, (I.E. cold or warm water).

Reefphoto.com has the housing on sale for $750 and the grips are $259, still less than anyother housing in the market with its features.

Image quality for the E-410 is on par with the best cameras in its class.

Phil Rudin

I just finished a dozen days in Lembeh with the Oly 410, a pair of Z240s, a 50mm lens, and a new Inon port. I'm in Manado at the moment, but will post my detailed thoughts as soon as I return to Taiwan and have a free moment. For now, let me just say that the STTL option worked beautifully when shooting macro. I loved the 50 mm macro lens, and the camera was extremely easy to learn. I did have some issues with the live-view, but focusing through the viewfinder was much easier than I expected. More coming soon.

Cheers,

David

I've just purchased the E-410 and now I'm sort of waffling about housing the kit lens. The 14-54 and the 50mm both look like much better options. Since I've yet to purchase the housing and port, the delta for me is only a few hundred bucks so I'm seriously considering it. Considering I would like to shoot a variety of subjects from small to large, is the 14-54 a good option? The 50mm also seems like a very fast lens for the money and I know how valuable that is underwater. I'm sitting on decision paralysis again. Help move me off of it!!! haha.

Wow, congrats to both of you, ce4jesus, and desirman ( David ) , please post some of your pics with the 50mm macro lens, thats the next lens I'm buying next month !!

I'd love to hear both of your experiance's with your new set up's, please let us all know how you made out!

I’ve been shooting an Olympus C-5050 for about four years. I’ve been pleased with this camera, but it was time to upgrade to a DSLR. The Olympus E-410 was my first choice because of the compact size, live-view, the 4/3rds system, and ‘yes’, brand loyalty. The following are my observations after 40+ dives with the E410/PT-03 in Indonesia.

The Camera

My first observation is an obvious one: For a DSLR, this camera is really small! This is great if you are looking for a carry-around camera. Personally, I have very large hands and find gripping the 410 (without the housing) to be somewhat problematic. That said, 99% of my images will be for underwater use. And as a first time DSLR user, I found the 410 to be very responsive, quick to focus, and really easy to use. Furthermore, I did three dives per day on the same battery and never had to slow down. I would recommend it to both experienced and entry-level photographers.

The Housing

The PT-03 is also very compact and form fitting. It’s only slightly larger than my PT-015 for my old 5050. Hence, its size was perfect for underwater use. I was able to comfortably reach the shutter with my right hand on the outside of the (Ikelite) tray, or change settings and/or use the trigger on the inside of the tray. As an aside, it was hard not to notice the BULKY Canon and Nikon setups of my fellow divers. Even with my heavy tray and strobes, buoyancy was never a problem. NOTE—I have one complaint about the housing. In order to insert/remove the camera from the housing, you must lift the housing’s MODE dial. On my particular housing, this required quite a bit of upward ‘force’.

50mm Macro Lens

Simply said, I loved this lens! The focus was fast & accurate. There was virtually no learning curve, and coming from a compact, it offered much more working room. Hence, I wasn’t chasing critters and shooting fish butts all the time. I never thought shooting macro could be so easy, however, if you want something more flexible, get a zoom lens. Trying to shoot stuff, at even a medium range, was somewhat problematic.

50mm Inon Port

Initially, I had planned to buy Athena ports. Nothing against Athena, but I was simply unable to get a hold of them in time for my trip. Thankfully, I was able to get one of the first Inon ports out of Japan. The price was comparable to Athena, and much cheaper than the ports made by Olympus. The port worked flawlessly with the PT-03 (in both auto/manual focus), and required little effort to screw on. As an added bonus, there’s a 67mm thread on the outside of the port, so rather than buying a ‘woody’, you can use your old UCL-165 macro lens for extreme macro. That said, the 50mm lens with a wet diopter doesn’t allow enough working distance for regular use. Naturally, buying a teleconverter is my next priority.

Live-View

This is going to sound harsh, but I hated the live-view for underwater use. Let me attempt to explain. As my fellow C-5050 owners can attest to, there was an art to dealing with slow focus and long shutter lag. Our solution was to follow the subject during this period of time. The delay on the 410 is about the same in live-view. Unfortunately, the 410’s mirror flip causes a temporary blackout, thereby causing you to lose track of your subject. Moreover, it’s also harder to pre-frame the subject (in auto focus) with the 50mm. Unlike a zoom lens, it’s not as clear before you start to shoot. Ok, I suppose you CAN use the AEL/AFL to pre-focus or shoot in Manual. Sadly, you still get the blackout, and can easily lose your focus/frame in a macro situation. Now the good news: You don’t need the live-view! The viewfinder on the 410 is bright and clear. I had no problems adjusting to it. You can do it too. In the meantime, you can use your LCD for your camera settings, which are easier to see here. Please Note: I did several dives using a wide angle lens. When on the move in open water, the live-view was more useful. Just like the Olympus advertisement that used to be on their website, sometimes you need to see where you’re swimming while taking the picture. Fine focus is also less of an issue in this situation.

STTL

I also added a pair of Z-240’s to my system. Therefore, I was able to use the STTL via fiber optic cables attached to the outside of my housing. Not only did this save me some money (no converter to buy), I found my exposures to be very accurate in macro mode. And although I know I’m not supposed to do this, the STTL did a good job in wide angle as well.

Alternatives

Should you buy the E-410? I liked almost every aspect of this camera, but if I could do it again, I might consider buying the E-400 instead. The fact is, I’m no longer using the Live-View and was very comfortable shooting with the viewfinder underwater. Aside from a slightly different sensor, these cameras are virtually the same. On the other hand, if you are absolutely married to the idea of shooting with Live-view and the 4/3rds system, the E-330 might be a better way to go.

A couple of questions...you got your inon port from Inon directly? I like the idea of that 67mm threaded port... and how did you attach the fiber optics. I was looking at an athena piece which allows that.

Mark Rupert at Inon advised me that the new Olympus PT-E housing dome ports and fiber optics For the PT-E03 housing should be in the U.S. soon.

Both the Inon macro port and the Athena macro port have the 67 mm threads for the diopters and the Athena ring flash.

Like dsbierman I have been having great results with the Inon Z-240 strobes in TTL with the fiber optics.

Phil Rudin

A couple of questions...you got your inon port from Inon directly? I like the idea of that 67mm threaded port... and how did you attach the fiber optics. I was looking at an athena piece which allows that.

I got my Inon ports from a local dealer in Taipei. He had Inon-Japan Fed-Ex the ports to me upon their release (August 7th). I suppose you could also order the ports through the Inon-Japan website, but you need to be able to read a little Japanese.

Here are some pictures of the 'piece' I used to attach my fiber optic cables. I'm not sure if it's made by Inon, or if it's a 'local' design. It's quite simple, actually. You just slide the bracket into your housing's hotshoe, stick the ends of the cables inside, then tighten the screws.

Hi dsbierman

nice to know you liked the camera , i will be trying mine out in a couple of weeks

one thing i wanted to know did the inon optical system you used block out all the light from the internal flash

i.e was the rubber mask enough ?

also i take it you do not need to use the Clear Photo System film on the internal flash ?

it would be great if you could put some of your pics up to have a look at from your trip to Indo

yours

vinny

Hey Vinny,

No, I didn't use the Clear Photo System. Nevertheless, I think I covered the internal flash pretty well. That said, many of my pictures do have backscatter, and I could tape up the cracks if need be. However, I attribute the backscatter more to very soupy visibility, and my lack of experience with a second strobe. As I also mentioned in a prior post, I'd like to buy a telconverter in order to add more working distance for my supermacro shots. This would also allow my strobes to be aimed a bit further from the front of the lens.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my pics. But I'm not a professional, so don't expect professional results. What I do see are a greater percentage of useable shots, and fewer steps in my editing process. Speaking of which, my edits have been simple thus far: Crop to fit my printing ratio, then hit the automatic 'contrast' button. Done. FYI, I followed dpreview's advice and shot everything at -2 sharpness with the noise filters OFF. In retrospect, I wish I had shot some frames in -1, as I may need to sharpen some shots as well. What settings do you use, Phil?

Ok, I'm posting three unedited pics (resized only) that I happen to like. Each one has backscatter problems (4 U Vinny), but you can get a better idea for the focus, color, and details. I believe the latter two were shot with the additional diopter. I'm saving the good ones for my website grand re-opening (coming soon).

Hi dsbierman

 

nice to know you liked the camera , i will be trying mine out in a couple of weeks

 

one thing i wanted to know did the inon optical system you used block out all the light from the internal flash

i.e was the rubber mask enough ?

 

also i take it you do not need to use the Clear Photo System film on the internal flash ?

 

it would be great if you could put some of your pics up to have a look at from your trip to Indo

 

yours

vinny

I am shooting RAW only and noise filter and noise reduction off and -2 on the sharpness. I have also turned of the Auto Focus Illumination which helps ruduce the output from the pop-up flash. I use the Athena hot shoe mounted fiber optic system and have had no backscatter issues.

Images Olympus E-410/PT-E-03 housing, 50 mm&1.4X teleconverter, two Inon Z-220 strobes.

Phil Rudin

cheers for posting the pictures dsbierman

i like the 3rd one the best especially if you haven't processed it ( will be really good sharpened a bit )

like you said backscatter can depend on a few things especially in Indo with the particles in the water

love the reflection in the eye on the 1st one phil

have you done much sharpening to your images?

vinny

Thanks for all the help guys. I just bought the Oly housing from Ryan. I also purchased the Athena fiber optic holder. Here's a question for you. I have a housed Olympus fl20 flash with a hardwire ttl connection to my olympus SP-350. I also have a slave YS27DX. I've been using this setup for a short while where I slave off the FL20 with a DIY connection of the fiber optic cable. I'd like to go hardwire to the FL20 and then slave off the internal strobe for the YS27DX. However, I don't know if I can use both the FL20 and the internal strobe at the same time. Any thoughts? In any case, If need be I'll get another YS27DX and go fully manual.

I'll try to upload a few pics.

keep in mind this is my first DSLR set up, and don't even have it a month.

This will give some others a idea how easy the camera is to use, and how nice the pics come out, even not knowing what your doing