Olympus E-PL1,with underwater housing

No, it does not support the adapter.

I don't agree with Cathy, but there isn't really an alternative, unless you buy the Panny 45mm macro, which should work ok, although the port is long for it.

The macro is a wet 67mm diopter lens.

Zen domes will have a 100mm dome for the 9-18 that fits the housing - $499, out in maybe a month or so.

Jack

David,

Regarding your 4/3 9 to 18 zoom and 50 macro, the 9 to 18 is far to large ( outside dia.) to fit the Olympus port and the 50 fully extended would I believe be to long.

Regarding the Pany. 45 macro it sits more than an inch (25 mm) away from the inside of the port glass. Which means you will need to be an inch closer to your subject. At 1:1 (lifesize) that puts the outside of the port very close to the subject.

The 14 to 42 mm "kit" zoom lens works well for getting macro/close-up shots. At 42 mm the lens is very close to the inside of the port glass giving more distance between the subject and the port glass. The lens will focus to a little more than twice lifesize in 35 mm or about 75 mm X 48 mm at max focus. With the Inon + 6.5 close-up lens the image size is near or at 1:1 or about 36 X 28.

Some images with the Kit lens at the 42 mm end can be found at the link below.

http://forum.fourthirdsphoto.com/showthread.php?t=57721

Zen has developed a dome port for the 9 to 18 zoom because they felt a demand would exist for the port. I am sure other ports to support macro lenses will be offered by someone if their becomes a demand for them.

Phil Rudin

Phil, I would be very interested in a $500 dome port. Likewise, if it's possible to use the 67mm adapter with a wide angle wet lens I would want to explore that also.

Phil, I would be very interested in a $500 dome port. Likewise, if it's possible to use the 67mm adapter with a wide angle wet lens I would want to explore that also.

The Oly housing will not work with a wet w/a lens. It vignettes to the point that the kit lens is wider. I tried several lenses to that effect.

Jack

The Olympus guys at the scuba show claimed the flat port will work just fine with the 9-18mm ... was he correct?

The best P&S currently available for UW today is probably the Olympus Micro 4/3 Pen, EPL-1 in an Olympus UW housing. It comes with a fixed flat port (no dome port option for wide angle) and a wet-add-on macro diopter/filter for $1510.

The Olympus micro 4/3, EPL-1, EP-1 and EP-2 are probably the best P&S cameras on the market. The Pen cameras have an advanced Olympus 4/3 format DSLR-sized sensor that's bigger and better than any other P&S for UW or topside. Like most P&S it has no mirror or prism, so it focuses and sets exposure using the sensor, which is slower than a DSLR

The Olympus UW housing is an inexpensive plastic housing. It comes with a fixed flat port (no dome port option for wide angle) and a wet-add-on macro diopter. All this lists for $1510 retail – a little less if you shop around. The camera and UW housing just became available this spring. One problem I see with this UW housing is the same thing Olympus does with most of their DSLR UW lens

ports. They sell a flat port for the wide angle lens. They're offering one fixed flat port on the EPL-1 housing for both micro 4/3 lenses that fit inside, the 14-42 mm lens and the new 9-18 mm ultra wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) angle lens (18 - 36 mm in 35 mm). To get the most out of this UWA lens it deserves a dome port like the 6" or 8" dome ports made by Ikelite.

And there's still no macro lens for the Olympus Pen system, only a wet, add-on diopter accessory. The best value for the EPL-1 and Olympus UW housing will be using it with the 14-42 mm lens (28-84 mm).

I think the EPL-1, EP-1 or EP-2 would be great in an Ikelite housing. But Ikelite has no plans to make

one yet.

The Olympus guys at the scuba show claimed the flat port will work just fine with the 9-18mm ... was he correct?

It works ok, it's just that you loose a lot in refraction. You won't be able to get nearly the field of view.

Jack

i have brought my PEN E-PL1 underwater a couple of times in the PT EP01 housing and i keep encountering this annoying problem: the screen turns black when i turn the zoom lever all the way and stays that way even if i unzoom it.. i can still change settings and modes but it doesn't let me take pictures.. i had a close encounter with 4 manta rays yesterday but this happened and i didn't get even one shot.. i tried turning it OFF then ON again but the LCD screen was still black. has anyone encountered this? or am i doing something wrong? thanks already for your responses...

i have brought my PEN E-PL1 underwater a couple of times in the PT EP01 housing and i keep encountering this annoying problem: the screen turns black when i turn the zoom lever all the way and stays that way even if i unzoom it.. i can still change settings and modes but it doesn't let me take pictures.. i had a close encounter with 4 manta rays yesterday but this happened and i didn't get even one shot.. i tried turning it OFF then ON again but the LCD screen was still black. has anyone encountered this? or am i doing something wrong? thanks already for your responses...

Pretty weird, I've not encountered it. Does it do it consistently and does it do it above water?

If also above water I'd say you should get your camera sent back to Oly for repair. If just uw, it may be that your housing buttons are getting stuck down, maybe two buttons together are somehow jamming the camera up. See if you can narrow it down.

Jack

That all great but has anyone posted pictures taken with that rig?

Hi Rene,

Post #42 above has a link to some photos.

Phil Rudin

Great pictures!

i have brought my PEN E-PL1 underwater a couple of times in the PT EP01 housing and i keep encountering this annoying problem: the screen turns black when i turn the zoom lever all the way and stays that way even if i unzoom it.. i can still change settings and modes but it doesn't let me take pictures.. i had a close encounter with 4 manta rays yesterday but this happened and i didn't get even one shot.. i tried turning it OFF then ON again but the LCD screen was still black. has anyone encountered this? or am i doing something wrong? thanks already for your responses...

Is it possible that the camera rotates in the housing when you zoom all the way to the stops, and causes a button to be always pressed? I had to put a thicker lining in my EP-1 housing to prevent something similar from happening. Some foam tape put in the right place might fix this, if the problem is really camera shifting.

Some shots with the PL1, 9-18 lens and Zen prototype dome: Mobile Me Gallery

Some shots with the PL1, 9-18 lens and Zen prototype dome: Mobile Me Gallery

Cool stuff Tony!

You have any exposure information on the sun ball shots? Are these raw shots or do they have some post sharpening? Thanks for posting and sharing

Bo

Cool stuff Tony!

 

You have any exposure information on the sun ball shots? Are these raw shots or do they have some post sharpening? Thanks for posting and sharing

 

Bo

All RAW, with very little tweaking. Mostly just boosting the colors a bit. In the gallery, click the info button to show the metatag info for exposure info.

Here is a side by side image of the 9-18 behind the Olympus Flat Port and the upcoming Zen dome.

Ryan, outstanding news! This may be just what I've been waiting for.

A 100mm coated glass-dome for under $500? WOW!!!

Maybe consider making port-adapters to fit other housings for CFWA??

Bo

Dear Phil,

I saw your images with the E-PL1 and 14-42 (thanks! it's always good to see samples).

I recently lost my canon G11, and am now considering whether to replace it, or to

upgrade with an E-PL1 and Oly housing.

But I'm not yet totally convinced that this really is an 'upgrade': from the base

numbers, it seems focus times are similar on these cameras. I suppose I will gain a bit

in terms of image noise, but the 14-42 appears to be getting poor reviews.

Personally, I prefer ~42 at the long end than, say 18, since I am often trying to catch skittish

subjects: is there a better option for lens than the Oly 14-42 (does pany 14-45 fit? and if so,

what about zoom gears?) ?

In brief, would you say that taking photos with E-PL1 (using LCD, not EVF), would be a better

experience (in terms of camera response, focus, and IQ) than G11 ?

I started UW with with an Oly 5050, and have always liked Oly's support for UW -- so I am pretty

willing to be convinced! All advise welcome!

Thanks,

Ajay.