EVIL camera??

Looks my trusty G11 has turned into a rusty G11 so time to upgrade.

I dont want/ cant afford a dSLR and housing but would like something better than the G11.

The Sony NEX 5 fits the bill. But is there an affordable housing for it? What features should I be looking at? I guess I need a sync cable bulk head. what about interchangeable ports?

What other cameras are comparable?

Nauticam, 10Bar and Aquatica.

Paul C

I think the olympus epl1/2/3 and the oly housing should be high on your list.

There is not a more high quality, cost effective solution out there.

I have the epl2 and come from the P&S world. The epl2 is like a cadilac compared to P&S.

Granted, my P&S are a lot older, but I also have an S95 which is a very good compact that I only use on land. The epl2 still blows it away.

I think the NEX is a very good camera, but you mentioned cost. That's where the oly solution trumps it.

A quality housing for $600.

The Sony NEX 5 fits the bill. But is there an affordable housing for it? What features should I be looking at? I guess I need a sync cable bulk head. what about interchangeable ports?

What other cameras are comparable?

I don't know what "affordable" means. If you mean less than 1K for housing + ports, then "no there are no affordable housings".

The NEX 5 is nice. I've been looking at it ( and the M 4/3's ) for months and months.

The Sony is beautiful until you take a close look at the lenses. The 16 pancake is ok, but not very fast at F/2.8. The 18-55 is rife with spherical and chromatic aberration. There is nowhere else to go but sony for a lens and that's not a happy thing for me.

The NEX 7 is coming soon, so wait a few and you'll get better prices on the the 5.

Best thing about it: it one-button video access to shoot 1080p video.

You don't need any synch cable for the bulkhead because I don't think there are any offerings.

Nauticam, 10bar and Aquatica are all making housings. I like the Aquatica best for it's form now that it has all the parts. 67mm flat port means versatility. They have a very cool glass 4" WA dome to use with the 16mm. Adding Sony WA adapter for the 16 pancake, you just need an extension ring. The 18-55 might be unnecessary with all the diopters you can add to the 16 flat port, but it depends on a lot of factors.

The 10bar housing looks kind of shabby (they should really do something about their website). I haven't ever seen a 10bar in person, so I don't know what their quality is but I see a buttload of ugly on their website, like the boxes they bolt on the the housings when they need a bump-out.

Nauticams pricing is hysterical.

I think the olympus epl1/2/3 and the oly housing should be high on your list.

It's very high on mine, but I can't live with ISO 200 sensitivity and that's the best you can do unless you go back to the P1

There is not a more high quality, cost effective solution out there.

"Cost effective" and "high quality" are generally incompatible attributes. "Good enough" is more like it. It's plastic which is good for it's light weight, but bad because it is easily damaged. Its only rated to 40 meters or so. Over all, the housing is pretty large for what it contains. That said, I would consider it, if the camera wasn't limited to ISO 200. I don't go beyond 150 ft all that often. Last time I took a camera there it was a 200ft rated [plastic] Ikelite that collapsed thunderously. So with the potential for having lenses more costly than the camera in the housing, I'm not all that comfortable about being anywhere near the limit depth with a "cost-effective" housing. I dive and shoot in the 100-130 range very often.

While I agree that both the Aquatica and Nauticam are very nice indeed to say their is no affordable housing under $1000.00 is wrong. Olympus has been building quality housing for several of the PEN cameras and has two new housings for the E-PL3 (lite) and E-PM1 (mini) coming soon. The E-PL1 and E-PL2 housing have been a big hit and owners have been quite pleased with the results. Zen Underwater has also released Optical glass interchangable ports for the later housings for the 8 mm fisheye, Panny 7-14, Oly 9-18 & 14-42 and Panny 45 macro. The housings have had a retail price with the port of $599.00 and I expect the new housings to come in around the same area. The E-PL2 package with the camera body, 14-42 zoom lens, zoom gear and housing with port can be had in the $1100.00 to $1200.00 range.

If you want to spend more Nauticam makes housings for the E-PL2 and the Panasonic GH2 both m43 cameras.

As bull said the downside to the NEX-system has been a lack of lenses and lenses of entry level quality. Sony has added a 30 mm macro but at a 35mm eqv. of 45mm it is a bit short for U/W work. The 18-55 has a 35mm eqv. of around 36 to 78mm while the "kit" lenses from Olympus and Panny at 14 to 42 have a 35mm eqv. of around 28 to 85mm a more usable range for U/W work.

The m43 sensors are 5 to 8 times larger than the P & S sensors in most of the current cameras and image quality is on par with the APS-C sensor cameras up around ISO-800.

To me the best value if you want to move up from the P & S cameras is still the Olympus PEN cameras and the Olympus housings.

Don't understand how the Olympus camera only going to ISO 200 is any different than the Sony NEX camera going to ISO 200.

Some links to info on Olympus.

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/21693_22697.htm

http://www.olympus.fr/consumer/images/1106...5L_PT-EP06L.pdf

Phil Rudin

For the vast majority of recreational divers, the 40M (131 feet) limit is plenty.

For me, plastic does not automatically equal low quality.

There are thousands of plastic housings out there giving good service to divers.

The olympus plastic housing is one of the better plastic housings available.

Olympus has changed the depth rating for the coming housings to 45 meters (147ft), beyond the limits for recreational diving. I have dived the past housings for the E-PL1 and 2 to over 160 without a problem and others I know have done the same. Still not the best idea if you dive below 130 all the time.

Nautican housings for the OlympusE-PL2, Panasonic GH2 and Sony NEX-5 are all rated to 60 meters it that is a must have in a housing.

Phil

I just took delivery of the AN-5 Housing from Aquatica. It is a very slick unit and it's tiny. The housing with the 6" Dome for the 18-55 is about the same size as my gripped 5Dmk2 with the 24-105L. This will be my wife's camera and we'll be taking into the pool in the next week or so (when our schedules allow). Controls are exactly what they are on the NEX-5. The rear dial/joystick control works. Image quality on the NEX is very good. A friend has the Oly housing for the EPL-2 and when both have cameras and corresponding domes attached, the weight difference, while noticeable, is negligible. Impromptu testing of AF shows that both cameras have good AF speed, not DSLR but better than a regular P&S.

I do like the handles Aquatica is using for the housing, they're adjustable in terms of distance from the housing, thus allowing different hand sizes. The housing is a clamshell design to the back does full detach, the base tray is slick on how it locks into the housing and is on a set of mounting rails. The base tray also sets the rear LCD to the proper angle to match the rear window on the housing.

Full disclosure: I am an Aquatica dealer, but I've used housings from Subal, Aquatica & S&S. This AN-5 housing is COOL...as it should be for a housing that's made IN CANADA...EH! =)

cheers

Stu

Looks like the Olympus range is well worth a look. It looks like my G11 has started working again. Not sure if it works full yet. But I certainly have some options for a new camera.

Thanks for all the input

Looks like the Olympus range is well worth a look. It looks like my G11 has started working again. Not sure if it works full yet. But I certainly have some options for a new camera.

Canon service center is pretty reasonable if you have trouble with your G11.

While I agree that both the Aquatica and Nauticam are very nice indeed to say their is no affordable housing under $1000.00 is wrong.

 

Don't understand how the Olympus camera only going to ISO 200 is any different than the Sony NEX camera going to ISO 200.

The question about affordable housing was for Nex 5, not Oly. There are dozens of housings available for less than 1K, if your're going to choose random cameras.

The ISO 200 issue is no different for Nex 5; it's just overshadowed (for me) by the lens issues. That said:

The M43 sensors are ~5 times larger than a G11's.

The Sony APS-C sensor is ~3.5 times larger than M43. That has got to make for some hellatious low-light video capability.

Nobody said plastic = low quality. Its definitely not High quality.

So far I have firmly declined to buy any EVIL camera because they're all being crippled by their makers, or else the housings are prohibitively expensive/poorly supported.

The main attraction for the NEX 5, if there is any left, is that it shoots very nice video, accessed with one button. Man, there are a lot of times I wish I had that!

The second attraction is the size. It's tiny.

The M43 sensors are ~5 times larger than a G11's.

The Sony APS-C sensor is ~3.5 times larger than M43. That has got to make for some hellatious low-light video capability.

You seem a little off on your math.

The G11 is a 1/1.7 sensor which is 43 sq. mm.

The M43 is 225 sq. mm and APS-C is 370 sq. mm.

So the M43 is ~5 times larger than G11 sensor.

However, APS-C is not ~3.5 times the M43. More like ~60% larger. A little different than 350% larger.

But, back to the original question.

If you chose NEX, that's great.

I just think the Oly M43 solutions are a bargain when you compare cost versus camera's ability in a very nice housing. And you still have the ability to upgrade later with ZEN ports and other M43 lenses.

My math skills are not all that good but I think it would be more like 40% larger for the APS-C 1.5 crop and a little less than 40% for the APS-C 1.6 crop factor. It would be a "full frame" size 35mm sensor that is about 3.8 times larger than the M4/3 sensor.

Phil Rudin

Looks like the Olympus range is well worth a look. It looks like my G11 has started working again. Not sure if it works full yet. But I certainly have some options for a new camera.

Thanks for all the input

Count me as another recommendation for the Olympus e-pl2. I moved up from an xz-1, a compact on the same level (some say even better) than the S-95. The difference in image quality is incredible and the cost of the oly system is very reasonable if you stick with Oly housings. You also have changeable ports and lenses for dedicated macro and wide angle work. It is a system that can grow as your interests change.

I like the Olympus port line also but I suggest that you do NOT rule out a dSLR. One can purchase an Olympus e620 with a 14/54 lens in an Olympus housing and flat port for about $2500.

For taking macro the 15/54 will focus very close to the end of the port and give a semi-macro with a magnigication of 2.3:1 while providing semi wide-angle at 14mm.

If you start withe the low-cost Olympus PEN camera and Olympus housing, you will spend about $1200. However, you will probably, ultimately, add lenses to that configuration such as a 9/18 and dome and a 35mm pancake that will raise the price to more than the e-620 14/54 setup.

The e-620 housing is designed for fibre optic connections and the system works very well with INON Z-240 and s-2000 strobes.

The entire beauty of the P&S is simplicity. One lens for all shots is what the 14/54 gives you. Simple fibreoptic connections to the strobes is what the e-620 setup gives you. And better glass, much better.

And, of course, you can add the fine 50mm Olympus lens and a port for true 1:1 macro or the 7/14 glass with dome for true wide-angle if you really want to graduate to the ultra-selective world of single purpose dSLR shooting.

FYI, you also get a viewfinder with the e-620. You will find this necessary for true macro shooting. My wife started with a 5050 and then to an e-330 and didn't use the viewfinder preferring the liveview. With the E-620 she discovered the viewfinder and her macro shots improved immensely.

And, yes it is heavier than the PEN setup but not much larger underwater.

My advice is to use the G-11 until you can make the jump.

Tom

PS: I have a D-300 in a metal housing and I well recognize the quality. However, Olympus housings are a quality product.

PPS: To see semi wide shots from this rig (and a couple of macro) visit:

http://www.tomandginnie.com/Wakatobi-It...he%20Reefs.html