GH4 - Nauticam Macro Lens/Port Thoughts

Hi Peter,

what about the Oly 12-40/2.8 ?

I have used it with the ZEN170II with good results. There is another thread where you can see how close you can go with that combo.

Olympus lenses are not stabilised. This can be a problem at long focal lengths

Olympus lenses are not stabilised. This can be a problem at long focal lengths

Very true.

Lack of stabilisation can also be a problem for Close-Up wide-angle shots as the impact of any camera movement is obvious for any very close subjects, even against a wide background.

For underwater video, buffeted by water movement, stabilisation is always important, with the only exception being WA shots where the subject is more than a meter away, in which case, the relative impact of camera movement is much less. With WA shots of fish and people, often the subject is synchronised by the same water movement.

Regards

Peter

Very true.

 

Lack of stabilisation can also be a problem for Close-Up wide-angle shots as the impact of any camera movement is obvious for any very close subjects, even against a wide background.

 

For underwater video, buffeted by water movement, stabilisation is always important, with the only exception being WA shots where the subject is more than a meter away, in which case, the relative impact of camera movement is much less. With WA shots of fish and people, often the subject is synchronised by the same water movement.

 

Regards

Peter

I forgot!. I use it with the EM1 which has sensor stabilization.

I just got back from 4 days of excellent diving in Lembeh with the GH4.

I haven't had time to do a proper edit but I know that some of you are interested in how the macro lens combinations worked in the real world. So, I quickly pulled together a few examples. They have not been graded, stabilized or adjusted in anyway.

Here is the equipment that I used.

Panasonic GH4 set to C4K 24fps, 1/50 Shutter Priority, PinPoint Focus-AFL/AEL

Nauticam NA-GH4 Housing

Lens: Panasonic Lumix 14-45mm PZ

Nauticam System 35 Port with Flip Holder

Subsee +5 Macro Diopter

Inon UWL100 +10 Macro Diopter

iTorch 7 - 5000 lumen lights x 2 mainly on 1/4 or 1/2 power

The footage was imported into FCPX, some samples quickly selected, then exported as a 4K Mov file. The 4K file was compressed into 1080P before uploading to Vimeo

http://vimeo.com/105188879

On a large monitor, the 4K footage looks great. So, I'm happy with the macro set-up. The Subsee +5 is excellent for larger subjects and the Inon +10 works for little stuff.

The Lembeh Sea Dragon at the start of the sample footage is so tiny that it kept "disappearing" and I had to find it again - like a tiny piece of string with a small knot on the end. I shot that with the +10 Inon.

The red Starry Night Octopus was a big fellow - about the size of a football. The wider whole-body shots were done with just the 14-45mm lens (at the 14mm end of the zoom), but the close-up on the eye was shot with the Subsee +5.

The blue-ring was also the +5 with the 14-45mm zoomed to about 35mm.

What would I change? Not much. It works well. It'd be great if I had a double-flip adapter so I did not need to take off the +5 and put on the +10 for the really little stuff but that's mainly a Lembeh issue and i may find that the +5 works for most stuff elsewhere.

Regards

Peter

PS. Next week I'm off to Komodo to put the 7-14mm / Zen 170mm through its paces.

Good stuff Peter! I need to get back to Asia-Pacific soon!

Seems like the OIS of the 14-42 PZ helped alot on the hand-held stuff. What was the working distance of the camera with the 2 diopters?

Good stuff Peter! I need to get back to Asia-Pacific soon!

 

Seems like the OIS of the 14-42 PZ helped alot on the hand-held stuff. What was the working distance of the camera with the 2 diopters?

I did some tests of the inon lens time Ucl100 | Search Results | Interceptor121 Underwater Photo & Video Blog

http://interceptor121.com/?s=Ucl100&submit=Search

It behaves differently to other close up lenses and you can keep it on pretty much from one foot to 4" zooming in

Those are distances from the back of the lens so take around 1" 1/4 off to the front

I don't have experience with the subsee if it is like a traditional lens would work 8" to around 6" at full zoom for that lens. Results for closer working distance will change lens by lens whilst focus at infinity will be dictated by the lens itself

But again the inon doesn't follow this rule at wide end !

No I mean in practice (not theory) with the 14-42mm PZ, and definitely not stacked.

No I mean in practice (not theory) with the 14-42mm PZ, and definitely not stacked.

- smaller than a nudibranch: use the +10;

- nudibranch or bigger: use the +5;

- establishing MS: no diopter, zoom out to about 15mm and shoot from about a couple of feet away.

(I'm more right brain than left brain)

From memory, with the +10 and the zoom at about 30-35mm, I was shooting from about 2 to 4 inches from the subject.

With the +5, I used a wider range of zoom, using from 20mm to about 35mm, shooting from about 4 to 8 inches, I think.

When I dive Cannibal Rock next week (a great macro site in Komodo), I'lll try to pay more attention to distances....

Regards

Peter

No I mean in practice (not theory) with the 14-42mm PZ, and definitely not stacked.

Practice pretty much equals theory, the only difference is with regards to the focus point of the camera

There are formulas you can use that give you working distances depending on focus distance, and dioptre power

Example +5 lens zoom 21-42mm focus distance 0.3m or 0.98ft working distance 4.72" - 7.87" in practice those are less as you need to account for the close up lens itself

+10 lens zoom range 2.95" - 3.94"

Those are similar to Peter on the field observation, in practical terms you won't be able to put a ruler down unless you are in the pool but what you know is enough to make decisions

When you change the zoom range the focus distance of the lens changes (goes to 0.25m) so the lens gets more range

Depending on depth of field you will also be able to use or not the lens more easily, if you have too little DOF you could have only 1 mm in focus and this is not acceptable so you have to be careful pushing the lens to the extreme limits

In real life I choose the stronger diopter based on subject size and ability to focus then work back other close up lenses to cover different sizes subjects and all possible working distances back to the bare lens.

Peter choice covers pretty much everything another option is to add an additional 2.5/3 diopter to cover also between 8-16 inches but this is not essential although it will give you a more pleasant portrait if you shoot at full zoom compared to wide end and getting closer

Practice pretty much equals theory, the only difference is with regards to the focus point of the camera

And where it's not is when you introduce flip filter holders, distance between port and lens, crop factor etc. I'm not requesting precise measurements, but I know how to read blogs and understand the theory and sciences TYVM.

Oh dear. I'm sorry but I didn't take much notice of distances. I mainly decided which macro lens to use based on size of critter;

 

No worries Peter, I'm not curious down to the mm, just an idea of how close you had to be (I'm usually about 6-8" with my 12-50mm in macro mode). I think the working distance, is 2"-18" from the end of the port.

From what I have seen the working distance using diopters underwater pretty much starts from the back of the glass of the close up lens so if you take out the lens length you know what the working distance at infinity will be. From there how much you can get closer depends on the camera lens and focus distance however this is usually a small range less than one inch

...

What would I change? Not much. It works well. It'd be great if I had a double-flip adapter so I did not need to take off the +5 and put on the +10 for the really little stuff but that's mainly a Lembeh issue and i may find that the +5 works for most stuff elsewhere.

...

 

Peter, are you aware of the Saga Dive Dual Flip Lens Holder 67mm? It would seem to fit the bill.

 

Peter, are you aware of the Saga Dive Dual Flip Lens Holder 67mm? It would seem to fit the bill.

Good recommendation. I'll take a look at it.

Well, we are still working on the ultimate configuration, waiting on the Shogun and housing to arrive in a month or two. Then we will know the final layout, shape and balance and should then be able to decide the right leg layout for both stability and flexibility. Maybe even 4 flexible legs...

 

Regards

Peter

Peter

Have you recieved your Shogun yet?

Atmos has said that Panasonic will be releasing a new firmware, for the GH4, in December. It will give stop/start, trigger and time code over HDMI.

Peter

 

Have you recieved your Shogun yet?

 

Atmos has said that Panasonic will be releasing a new firmware, for the GH4, in December. It will give stop/start, trigger and time code over HDMI.

Not yet received the Shogun. Looks like it'll be early December.

In any case, I also need that GH4 firmware upgrade and the Nauticam Shogun housing to complete the package. I'm expecting to get it underwater early in 2015.

Regards

Peter

Blah no Singapore Atomos distributor have any Shogun! Philip Bloom is testing one so I wait in anticipation what 4K goodness will come out of this device.

cheers

This might be a little off topic but there seems to be a lot of folks here who know a lot about the 4K capability of this camera.

I'm currently shooting HD video with a D7000 and getting some nice results when viewed on a large screen Sony Bravia TV.

So my question is this. If I moved into a GH4 setup, is there going to be a significant improvement with 4K video viewed on my current HDTV, or would I need to upgrade to an ultra HDTV as well?

This might be a little off topic but there seems to be a lot of folks here who know a lot about the 4K capability of this camera.

I'm currently shooting HD video with a D7000 and getting some nice results when viewed on a large screen Sony Bravia TV.

So my question is this. If I moved into a GH4 setup, is there going to be a significant improvement with 4K video viewed on my current HDTV, or would I need to upgrade to an ultra HDTV as well?

Why did I jump from the perfectly adequate HD rig to the 4K GH4?

1. 4K is an unstoppable train. In a short period of time HD will look poor by comparison. just like SD does today. So, I thought I might as well jump onto the bandwagon early. Soon 4K TVs will be common. My 4K footage will have greater longevity. I can output HD today but still have the option to output a 4K version in the future.

2. 4K gives me more options in editing, even if the intended output is HD. I can zoom and crop in the editor. More pixels means more tolerance for color corrections.

3. 4K gives smoother gradations, important underwater when you have gradations from deep blue to bright surface light.

4. The GH4, with an external recorder like the Shogun, will soon deliver UHD 10bit 422 ProRes footage, great for editing quality video.

Regards

Peter

Thanks Peter, that makes sense.

As the Shogun was mentioned earlier by Peter. I've seen some photos of the housing unit on Facebook. Gee. It's BIG!!

Heard Atomos have delayed it - AGAIN....

Makes my ninja2 look tiny!

Source: https://m.facebook.com/FOTOGRAFIT/photos/pcb.784465611619701/784465378286391/?type=1

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk