Olympus DSLR housing w/Sigma lenses?

Wetpixelers... Is anyone using Sigma lenses in the Olympus PPO-E0X ports? If so, what lenses are fitting in what ports? i.e. will the Sigma 30mm work in the PPO-E01?

It looks like the Olympus housing will be my only bet nowadays with the Fantasea discontinued, I'd like to be able to use the Sigma lenses...

Thanks!

-Wyatt

Hi Wyatt,

The short answer is yes, it will fit in an olympus or Athena port. The problem is that the Sigma 30 mm only focuses to 15.7 inches (40 cm) with magnification of 1:10. while the Olympus 35 will focus to 5.8 inches (14.6 cm) and has magnification of 2:1 (35 mm eqv.) and the new Olympus 25 mm will focus to 7.8 inches (20 cm) and has magnification of 1:2.4.

Both Olympus lenses will focus behind a dome port without adding a diopter or behind a flat port for close-up/macro while the Sigma will require a diopter behind a dome and will not focus close-up.

Phil Rudin

Excellent, thanks Phil. Good to know about that Sigma 30! Are you using any Sigma lenses in Athena/Olympus ports?

No Sigma lenses for me, a few people have reported on using the Sigma 105 mm macro for Olympus. The reviews have been mixed, many have complained about the focus speed. You can't switch from AF to manual with the Sigma lenses inside a housing.

Phil

Phil - when I looked at it there was also a possiblity of lens damage if something wasn't switched properly and along with the fact that in order to get a 1:1 you needed to manually focus the lens because the AF was only good to about 70%...or something along those lines.

Yes Gary that is true.

The Sigma 105 macro focus ring needs to be pushed one way for AF and the other for manual while the focus gear is in place. This can not be done while the camera is in the housing unless someone has made some type of custom gear and I haven't seen any evidence of that. If the lens is in manual and the gear is engaged when the camera is turned off the lens will attempt to retract. As a result I know of at least one lens that was damaged. The auto retract can be turned off in the menu on the Olympus body but you are still stuck with having to chose between AF or manual for the entire dive.

Phil