Olympus E-520 and PT-E05 housing

Hi everybody, I will thank your opinion about a camera and housing I would like to buy as my first underwater photo equipment.

I´m planning to purchase the Olympus E-520 with the Olympus PT-E03 housing. Is it ok? Should I think in other housing?

Even though I have some knowledge in photography, I am a complete novice in underwater photo, and since I thinking to buy lenses and strobe as well, I would appreciate your opinion on what is best.

Olympus offers the UFL-2 underwater strobe. Should I buy that or other? Regarding lenses I would like to have at least a 50 mm macro and a fisheye. What would you recommend?

Do these lenses need some accessories in order to be used with the PT-E03 housing?

I´m in desperate need, so any tip, help, suggestion will be more than welcome.

Thanks in advanced.

Gustavo, from Campeche, Mexico

Hola Gustavo,

Bien Venido a wetpixel. I own the camera and housing. I haven't had a chance to do an actual dive with it only a quick pool test but I've taken plenty of topside photos. I've also taken plenty of photos with the Olympus E410 and there are some to view here http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/useralbums.php The Philippines folder was mostly the 50mm macro with some 14-42mm WA shots. Olympus just released the 9-18mm. If I were going to buy a WA lens this would be the one. For strobes, I recommend going through http://www.fun-in.com.tw/catalog/index.php?cPath=95_34 and getting the Inon Z240s to go with your PT-E05 housing. There are built in connections for fiber optics to the strobes. I would advise going with the correct port for the 50mm lens and buying a woody's diopter. Lastly, if you're into macro you'll want a small focus light for the setup.

Hi everybody, I will thank your opinion about a camera and housing I would like to buy as my first underwater photo equipment.

 

I´m planning to purchase the Olympus E-520 with the Olympus PT-E03 housing. Is it ok? Should I think in other housing?

 

Even though I have some knowledge in photography, I am a complete novice in underwater photo, and since I thinking to buy lenses and strobe as well, I would appreciate your opinion on what is best.

 

Olympus offers the UFL-2 underwater strobe. Should I buy that or other? Regarding lenses I would like to have at least a 50 mm macro and a fisheye. What would you recommend?

 

Do these lenses need some accessories in order to be used with the PT-E03 housing?

 

I´m in desperate need, so any tip, help, suggestion will be more than welcome.

 

Thanks in advanced.

 

Gustavo, from Campeche, Mexico

I think Olympus E-520 is a good camera for underwater photography. This camera is enough but if you want more advance features, you should inspect with other houses. my another suggestion is to Google it with your desired hey words.

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Rives

For Sale By Owner

Hi everybody, I will thank your opinion about a camera and housing I would like to buy as my first underwater photo equipment.

I´m planning to purchase the Olympus E-520 with the Olympus PT-E03 housing. Is it ok? Should I think in other housing?

Even though I have some knowledge in photography, I am a complete novice in underwater photo, and since I thinking to buy lenses and strobe as well, I would appreciate your opinion on what is best.

Olympus offers the UFL-2 underwater strobe. Should I buy that or other? Regarding lenses I would like to have at least a 50 mm macro and a fisheye. What would you recommend?

Do these lenses need some accessories in order to be used with the PT-E03 housing?

I´m in desperate need, so any tip, help, suggestion will be more than welcome.

Thanks in advanced.

Gustavo, from Campeche, Mexico

Hi Gustavo,

This post is probably a bit late, but for future reference to all that read.

I recently purchased (a few months ago) an Ikelite housing for my Olympus E-410. Having used the camera for a good 6 months before housing.

The camera is VERY light and small, which makes transport easy Being my first DSLR, i found it quite easy to use and the transition from auto to manual was smoother than expected. I chose the Ikelite housing over the Olympus based on experience of the manufacturer, opinions of other divers, size, weight, functionality and then lastly price.

While i seem to have paid a bit more, i definitely got what i paid for! Have had no problems at all yet (fingers crossed).

So in answer to your questions. The Olympus is a very good camera, but have a think about using the Ikelite housing as an alternative.

Ikelite also offer some excellent strobes in the DS-125 and DS160 which are again, a little expensive, though futureproof.

Cant help you with the lenses though, as i have only wide angle at this stage.

Again, both Olympus and Ikelite offer many options for lens ports and accessories, really the choice is yours.

Hope this helped a little, or anyone else who reads this.

Regards

Evan

Hi Gustavo,

You can read my review of Olympus E-520/Pt-E05 combo in the attached PDF attachment of Dive Chronicles magazine.

http://www.pagegangster.com/p/dZjs7/

Regards,

Phil Rudin

Hi everybody, I will thank your opinion about a camera and housing I would like to buy as my first underwater photo equipment.

 

I´m planning to purchase the Olympus E-520 with the Olympus PT-E03 housing. Is it ok? Should I think in other housing?

 

Even though I have some knowledge in photography, I am a complete novice in underwater photo, and since I thinking to buy lenses and strobe as well, I would appreciate your opinion on what is best.

 

Olympus offers the UFL-2 underwater strobe. Should I buy that or other? Regarding lenses I would like to have at least a 50 mm macro and a fisheye. What would you recommend?

 

Do these lenses need some accessories in order to be used with the PT-E03 housing?

 

I´m in desperate need, so any tip, help, suggestion will be more than welcome.

 

Thanks in advanced.

 

Gustavo, from Campeche, Mexico

I recently upgraded from a Sea Life DC600 and 800 to the Olympus E-520 with the housing. I'm using Sea & Sea YS110 and 110a strobes with a fantasea focus light. I'm very happy with my results so far. I've had it out on about 15 dives since December and have had good results. I really like to live view feature for everything but fish portraits. With the extra time lag of the live view it does not work out too well, but for most of my other shots it works great. For the money I think this is a good way to start, I wish I would have skipped the whole point and shoot camera and bought a dslr from the start, I would be money ahead now.

Brian

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25230308@N07/show/ Here's a link to my flicker account. All of these were taken with the Olympus E410. I upgraded last fall to the E520 and have only 1 dive with it so far. The biggest difference between the E410 and E520 I see is the quality of Jpegs straight from the camera. The ones from the E520 really pop and are very vivid with color. I'm very happy with the camera and housing. I have never been more confident with any housing, this one has a rotating, locking latch that gives you confidence the system is water tight. The buttons on the housing are clearly labeled for ease of use underwater. The port system is outstanding...nothing is going to jar it loose underwater. The Olympus Housing has fiber optic port connections as well as Olympus TTL. I use the fiber connections for my Inon Z240 strobes. The lense selection on the camera system is also outstanding. The 50mm macro is one of the finest lenses I've ever owned. The 14-42mm kit lens is very versatile and is extremely sharp in the mid aperture range. I just purchased the 9-18mm and so far I like what I'm seeing from the lens topside. The camera focus's fast and overall it is easy to use. The camera does have limitations. For starters picture quality isn't that great once you push the system past ISO800. Noise tends to be a factor at that point. I only do this topside when shooting indoor sporting events and never go past ISO200 underwater. Sunballs with Olympus seem to be a problem since the top flash sync speed is 1/180 unless you're using their topside strobes underwater. Maybe that is more my lack of experience shooting them, than the camera but typically I only have success if the sun is out of the frame or blocked by a subject. Other than that, I'm thrilled with the setup and would make the same purchase today if given the value/cost relationship that exists.

Hey Phil,

Excellent write up on both the Bridge and the housing. Just one quick note on the housing. The button that switches between the shutter and aperture while in manual mode no longer needs to be held down while adjust the wheel....A simple press and release switches it and then you can use the wheel to adjust either shutter or aperture. This was a very nice change from the old E410 where you needed to hold that button while moving the wheel. That took some doing underwater with two strobes.

i had two olympus housings and i think they are great. most of the housings don't have all the controls as the camera, even the very good ones. but the ones from olympus do have and that's very very important. it's a good quality for the reasonable price. i would always go for the olympus housing!