Panasonic GF1

I talked with LC last week and he said they are still working on the 10bar GF1 Housing, trying to get it lighter and improve controls, etc. The list is $750 plus probably a small shipping surcharge. I will stock them most likely.

As far as Fantasea/10Bar quality, I've been a dealer for Fantasea for some time now. I would agree, they've had their problems and were buying from 10Bar. The problems were with the DSLR plastic housings, mainly very inconsistent quality control. Fantasea stopped making/distributing DSLR housings a while back and I think is vastly cutting back on P&S housings as well, although will still come out with a couple of new ones each product cycle for a while. For the most part the P&S housings have been ok, but quality is on/off sometimes. At least they warranty them along with free flood insurance, so no one has really been out anything.

I'm easing into 10Bar, I am impressed with LC's engineering - he's very innovative and creative in his approach. This latest series of aluminum housings - particularly the LX3 - have been pretty well received (with continued improvements) and other dealers have reported good results.

That's about as honest an assessment as I can give.

Jack

Jack thank you for that good and frank assesment!

Part of the problem with moving to m4/3 cameras is their relatively high purchase price. I and many, I suspect, are waiting for those prices to come down? At which point in time we all hope 10bar will be in production?

Jack thank you for that good and frank assessment!

 

Part of the problem with moving to m4/3 cameras is their relatively high purchase price. I and many, I suspect, are waiting for those prices to come down? At which point in time we all hope 10bar will be in production?

Lee, I think there will be a lot of revised technology in micro 4/3rds out this year. PMA may be very interesting. Oly's P1 has been a run-away best seller and the P2 is going as well. Their price, like all cameras, is dictated by supply and demand. If more players come on the market and pressures increase, then the prices will fall.

I know that Oly has been pressuring Japan for an Oly UW housing for it, so far to no avail, but that could easily change. That would put a decent quality housing on the market at a reasonable price.

10Bar is into it for sure, as is Athena. I'll try to get permission to post Athena's P1 housing , it's very nice and quite expensive at a tentative $1685.

Jack

I ordered my 10Bar housing the other day and how am just waiting. It is built like their LX3 housing and has a area for the flash to pop up with a window so you can sinc it optically. I hope to have it before Christmas.

I ordered my 10Bar housing the other day and how am just waiting. It is built like their LX3 housing and has a area for the flash to pop up with a window so you can sinc it optically. I hope to have it before Christmas.

Just got an e-mail. It will ship next week with 2 ports (20mm and 14-45mm) along with a wet lens for macro. Looks like it will be a good Christmas for me.

14-45 is not very wide.

Do they have a port coming for the 7 - 14?

14-45 is not very wide.

 

Do they have a port coming for the 7 - 14?

I tried the 7-14mm in Japan a couple of months ago and it was nice but much bigger around on the end then where it connects to the body so it might be tough to do. May have to wait for a different WAL for the camera. I'm no expert but if you go to the 10Bar site you can find their e-mail and ask them the question. Might have to find a good wet WAL if that is possible. Maybe a port where the end comes off like Ikelite does could work???

I got my new housing. It looks like an excellent build and nicer then the early pictures they sent me. $1,100 for the housing, 20mm port, 14-45mm port and a macro wet lens. They provide a nice bag to carry everything that will also double nicely as a camera bag when out with multiple lens's. I've had it in the pool and should have it on a dive on the first. I still need to mount it to my tray before then. I have the 45mm macro lens as well and have asked them to make a port for that as well.

Yeah, just got my first one. Pretty nice. They are very slowly ramping up production. But now it'll be Chinese New Year and everything will stop. The two I have are sold.

There is an extension tube for the 45mm that works with the 20mm port, again hard to get yet.

Jack

Yeah, just got my first one. Pretty nice. They are very slowly ramping up production. But now it'll be Chinese New Year and everything will stop. The two I have are sold.

 

There is an extension tube for the 45mm that works with the 20mm port, again hard to get yet.

 

Jack

Good to hear. The 45 has me excited. I'll be plenty busy with what I have for now so I can wait a while.

@Mark: Looking forward to a full review! I'm quite curious to know about how it handles underwater (ergonomics & functionality of the buttons, ease of use, balance, etc). As soon as there's a wide angle (8mm) and macro (45mm) solution I'd definitely want one of these. With a lot of luck I might see & handle one myself at the Boot watersports fair in Düsseldorf/Germany next month...

@Mark: Looking forward to a full review! I'm quite curious to know about how it handles underwater (ergonomics & functionality of the buttons, ease of use, balance, etc). As soon as there's a wide angle (8mm) and macro (45mm) solution I'd definitely want one of these. With a lot of luck I might see & handle one myself at the Boot watersports fair in Düsseldorf/Germany next month...

2 dives so far and still getting the hang of it. After playing with it on the surface I was expecting the worst but I'm quickly getting used to it. The first dive my strobe didn't work but on dive 2 it did.

Here are two samples from the dives last year. I've still got a lot of playing to do but like how it feels so far.

I want a GF1 housing, but I'm not really thrilled with the 10bar option. We started machining this morning If it works out, we might offer this as a commercial product, but this is a one off for the time being.

I got my 45mm macro lens and it seems to fit into the 14-45mm dome port. If this works underwater I'll be very happy. I should know in a few days.

I want a GF1 housing, but I'm not really thrilled with the 10bar option. We started machining this morning If it works out, we might offer this as a commercial product, but this is a one off for the time being.

 

Cool, I hope it turns out. Please keep us updated, I have a friend getting the GF1 and I'm sure he'll want to check out all the options.

Here's another shot from the camera. I'm still figuring it out but liking it more each dive. The 45mm Macro fits in the dome port nicely so no need for anything else for macro shots. This was taken with the Leica DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm F2.8 ASPH MEGA O.I.S. lens.

Hello, all, I'm very new to underwater photography and recently purchased a GF-1 and the 10Bar housing. I'm curious to see how you have handled the lighting. I am thinking about using two Inon S2000 strobes. I have to admit having not seen an underwater setup in person, it is somewhat difficult to see how everything is connected together. My hope is that once it is in my hands, it will be an intuitive thing to assemble the arms and strobes.

Hello, all, I'm very new to underwater photography and recently purchased a GF-1 and the 10Bar housing. I'm curious to see how you have handled the lighting. I am thinking about using two Inon S2000 strobes. I have to admit having not seen an underwater setup in person, it is somewhat difficult to see how everything is connected together. My hope is that once it is in my hands, it will be an intuitive thing to assemble the arms and strobes.

Most start wit ha tray. The tray is a plate that the camera mounts to and it has 1 or 2 arms that go up on the sides of the camera. The strobe/strobes attach to the arms. Then you have to getthe camera to tell the strobes to fire and there are a few ways to do that. I have an Ikelite strobe from my old setup and am using that wit ha slave sensor that looks at the camera flash to tell the strobe what to do. Wired TTL is the best way to go if you can find compatible strobes. If you do please post your setup.

Hello Mark, thanks a lot for keeping us up to date with info & pics! Good to hear the 45mm macro fits in the 14-45mm zoom port. Does the zoom port allow manual focussing of the macro lens? Have you tried filming? I'd like to know whether the auto-focus gets too loud when filming (due to sound amplification by the housing), thus ruining the videoclips' audio?

Thanks, Thierry

This is an interesting camera, but I'd have to wait until the side angle options were better sorted . . .

Mike