Port available for the Olympus 12-40?

Hi,

I am thinking about buying an Omd em1. I have got an Olympus 4/3 camera at the moment and I am happy with the macro and wide angle lens I have but I am looking for something in between and was pleased to hear that Olympus were bringing out the "Pro"12-40mm but have not seen any ports for it.

Does any one know if there will be any made?(preferably Nauticam) I am aware that the size of the lens seems to be larger so wonder if for this reason the lens won't be something usable underwater.

Can anyone suggest any other lenses that are as good in that sort of range…… I have heard mixed reviews about the 12-50 and with the Nauticam port being so expensive I am not willing to take the risk.

Best Wishes

Yes, Nauticam has the #36129 7" dome and a gear available now. Aquatica will have a solution using their new 7" dome as well.

My take on that lens is that it's not the closest focusing lens and even with a larger dome the corners may be a bit soft. However for video it may find some fans, and it is fast. I'm looking forward to Oly's new 7-14mm lens sometime this summer.

Jack

Jack: I am hoping you have information that contradicts what I read. My info is that the 7-14 won't be released until sometime in 2015. I am anxious to see what that lens can do and it would be great if it were released this year. So, have you heard news from Olympus that the lens is coming out this year instead of next?

By the way, everything I have read about the 12-40 is that it is a great lens. I have just recently purchased the lens and have not really had a chance to use it much. I have found no reviews of it for underwater use, and it may not work out well, but I find it a more interesting prospect than you do. Basically a 12mm lens with the added ability to zoom in for fish portraits and the like. I am planning to try it in the Zen 170 port.

The issue with the 12-40 in the ZEN Underwater 170mm optical glass port is the size of the lens and the Nauticam gear used to drive the lens zoom. The lens and gear fit the port opening but not the Nauticam extension used to extend the port away from the housing. The Nauticam 20mm extension is to short and the lens zoomed to 40mm will hit the inside of the port. I tried the lens with NO GEAR with the 30mm extension and it works but is a bit to long. I think a 25mm extension would be ideal and that is under consideration by ZEN and would require a larger inside dia. with a port lock different that the Nauticam one.

Phil Rudin

The issue with the 12-40 in the ZEN Underwater 170mm optical glass port is the size of the lens and the Nauticam gear used to drive the lens zoom. The lens and gear fit the port opening but not the Nauticam extension used to extend the port away from the housing. The Nauticam 20mm extension is to short and the lens zoomed to 40mm will hit the inside of the port. I tried the lens with NO GEAR with the 30mm extension and it works but is a bit to long. I think a 25mm extension would be ideal and that is under consideration by ZEN and would require a larger inside dia. with a port lock different that the Nauticam one.

 

Phil Rudin

Well that's a shame. I am not sure it is worth buying the 7" Nauticam port just for this lens, especially prior to any tests/reviews of corner sharpness with that port. Hopefully something will be offered that will make the port work. I am guessing the Oly 7-14 lens will be similar in size to the 12-40 and was hoping the Zen 170 might work well with both lenses.

I use the ZEN 170mm dome now with the Panasonic 7-14mm zoom and a 20mm Nauticam extension. I think this port will work well with the new Oly lens as well with a proper extension.

Hi,

The new 7-14mm may be of interest to me when it comes out, at the moment I have the 9-18 for WA. It is something for shooting fish portraits for anything bigger than my 60mm macro can handle I am looking for.

Is there any ports and gears for oly housings.

I have the same question. The 12-40 is a bit too wide to fit in the flat port that comes with the Oly PT-EP10 housings. The length is OK, at least for the widest 12mm zoom setting. And a flat port may not be ideal for this lens.

The 4 inch Precision dome (that works fine with the Oly housing and 8 mm fish-eye of Panasonic) has the right diameter, but is much too short for the 12-40.

To my knowledge there is also no zoom ring on the market for the 12-40 Oly combo. There is a ring for the smaller 14-42 Oly zoom lens. And there is zoom ring plus extension made by Athena for the Olympus 7-14, that may also work with the 12-40. lens. But then you would stil need a suitable dome lens that fits with the Athena extension.

Perhaps the Nauticam 7 " acrylic dome comes closest to what the Oly people need. A long port body with a dome at the end, that will also take zoom gear, unless you are happy to use only the wide 12 mm zoom setting. However, the Nauticam dome is not compatible with the PT-EP10 housing. But its much cheaper than the Zen domes.

Hi, after some searching I found out that there is an Oly zoom-ring for the 12-40 lens: the PPZR EP04 that should fit on Oly housings, and sells for 50 dollars at B&H. I further think that any dome that fits on the EP PT10 will work with the Athena port adapter and 22 mm extension ring, made for Oly housings. I also noticed that Athena sells longer port extensions like the EP/30 PTE and EP/46 PTE which may be even more suitable. This means that people who already possess a dome-port for their Oly housing could probably get away with buying just the Oly zoom-ring and Athena adapter plus long extension. And then attach their dome port (Zen or Precision) on the extension ring. But I could be too optimistic.

In regard to Olympus PEN camera housings I think that you will find that the inside diameter of the port will be to small for the 12-40 lens with the gear attached. The Olympus housings for the OMD E-M5 and E-M1 cameras has a larger port opening and a port adapter mount for using Olympus 4/3 lens ports for the older Olympus DSLR housing for cameras like the E-510.

Hi Phil. Thanks for your info.Yeah I think that you are right. The Olympus 12-40 zoom ring was made for the PT-EP11 Oly housing with the wider opening.

But the Athena adapter plus long extension should work with the PEN housing, according to their port chart.

http://www.athena-opt.com/ptep08/images/ptep08.pdf

I think their port extensions are also wide enough for the 12-40 lens. If so, then the outer diameter of the Olympus PPZR EP04 zoom ring seems to be only bottleneck. If you could bring it (not the gear) down to 70 mm (or a bit less) it would probably fit in the port extension.

Finally I noticed the Aquatica 30506 zoom gear and 30602 extension (58mm long!) for the 12-40 lens...fitting on every MFT housing according to Aquatica.

http://www.aquatica.ca/en/charts/43_micro_type_lens_chart.pdf

Its pretty complicated stuff: so many models and versions on the market

The Athena port chart is for E-M1 and E-M5 Olympus housings not PEN housings and Aquatica only makes one M43 housing and that is for the E-M1.

Even with the Nauticam housing I need to install the lens onto the camera from the front after the camera is mounted in the housing.

You may want to read my review of the ZEN Underwater 170mm port for 12-40mm zoom in the current issue of UWPMAG.com this is a free PDF download until the Nov. 1 issue posts.

Tnks Phil. That was the wrong Athena link I meant www.athena-opt.com/english/img/PT-EP05L_06L-2013-01-24.pdf

same as for the PT-EP10

I guess the Zen dome port for the 12-40mm zoom lens ( the DP-170-N85 II you mentioned) is meant for the Nauticam housing? Like the Nauticam 7 " acrylic dome?

Anyhow, Ill try to work out some 'homemade' solution for the 12-40 in my Oly PT EP 10 housing. Just for fun.

I already have the 8mm Panasonic lens working nicely with the 4 inch Precision dome, so my life doesnt depend on using the 12-40

UW.

This new link should work for you using the AD/PTE port adapter. All of the ports use the Older Olympus threaded style designed for 4/3 lenses. I would suggest the same configuration as they show for the Panasonic 7-14mm zoom. You will need to mount the lens to the camera from the front for it to fit and then put the port over the lens. The Olympus 170mm port is the same design so either port could be used. Inon also has ports for the old style threaded Olympus mount.

Good luck...

I am shooting with Oly epl-3 in Pt-ep05l housing. Any ideas guys??

I have just stuck the 12-40mm pro on the epl3 and put it in the zen WA-100 with Pt-EP05l It fit to focal length of 30mm. The lens glass is touching inside of port. I own a 25mm zen extension which I use with the zen FP-100 so I can use OLY 60mm macro. Is this an option?? I'm just not sure is there is enough clearance for zoom ring to operate properly. There is only about 5mm clearance from lens barrel to port. .

Hi, Im sort of mixed up with al these Zens. Is that the ZEN WA 100 EP? Does 100 stand for 100mm= 10 cm= 4 inch? It could work with the EP PT10/12-40 lens. The Zen 100 EP is pretty long, which is nice. The 5 mm clearance would probably be just enough to accomodate a very thin plastic zoom ring. Like the clamp plus sleeve system Ikelite uses. Finding the right extension would be the next step, preferably with the same diameter as the port with bayonet style connection...

The zen 25mm extension is exactly the same diameter as the base of the zen WA-100 port. I'm not sure what he outcome would be if the lens was a little shy of the port glass with the regards to IQ. Any thoughts??

Kevin thanks for your advice. To summarise: the ZEN 100 EP dome port plus Zen 25 mm extension for the Pen housing might after all be the best option for the Pen/12/40 combo. Its wide and long enough; it might even enable the use of the 40 mm zoom.

The only problem remains the zoom ring.Maybe two available rings are worth trying: the Oly PPZR EP-04 and the Nauticam 01240Z, both working with the 12-40 but probably too wide for the internal 70mm diameter of the ZEN port plus extension. So you have to bring down the outer diameter to around 65/68 mm by shaving of some of the outer surface of the Oly ring. Even better perhaps would be to construct a new plastic Zoom clamp. Like Ikelite uses for the DSLR camera's (made from very thin plastic of only 1 mm). Any comment is welcome!