Downsizing

Looking to downsize from DSLR rig to mirrorless or Micro 4/3

Looking for suggestions

Don't want to lose quality

I am using an Olympus EM-1. Great quality, especially for macro with the 60 or 45 macro lens. For Wide I shoot the 8 mm fisheye and have (I think) quite nice results. The autofocus is not always as fast as say the 7DII (which I shot) but works great most of the time.

Bill

Hi,

I too have downsized to the EM1, and am very happy with it. I find the autofocus fast enough to get nice shots of skittish tropical reef fish. And especially with the Olympus 8mm fisheye you can get really nice wide angle shots of big creatures or reef scenics. Macro is also terrific with it, and it's easier to travel with, and when diving in a strong current, it doesn't feel quite so much like you've got a sail attached to you, as it did with my dSLR.

Tom

I went from a Nikon D300 to a Panasonic GX7 and don't feel I lost anything.

I'm thinking of going with this format as well, haven't used it yet but some things I figured out so far:

- older Olympus M43 cameras have crap video performance, but new models are much better. Panasonic is great across most models

- some lower end M43 model housings SEEM like they don't allow changing of ports. Like the PEN models. I may be wrong but that's critical for making the best of M43

- kit lenses are mostly crap and not much use for UW unless you're on the budget, so it'll be a macro (60mm most likely) and a wide/angle fisheye.....that's all you need

- some of the wide angle lens reviews seem to indicate that the image quality is better when used with the body from same manufacturer. Not sure how true this is...they should be 100% compatible.

I'm very happy with my Olympus E-M5 and looking forward very much to the E-M1 Mk II as soon as it is available. The size and weight are perfect for my purposes and the IQ from m4/3 can be very good indeed. I don't shoot video.

A couple of corrections. Olympus housings can indeed interchange ports, but I find the Nauticam housings so good I would not want anything else. The Olympus 12-50 kit lens is a very good all-rounder with decent macro performance, although the port and gear are expensive. The Olympus 60 mm macro is a fantastic lens. The Panasonic 7-14 mm lens has no compatibility issue and works very well on the Olympus body with a 6" port (though topside it is prone to some colour fringnig when shot into the sun).

I'm very happy with my Olympus E-M5 and looking forward very much to the E-M1 Mk II as soon as it is available. The size and weight are perfect for my purposes and the IQ from m4/3 can be very good indeed. I don't shoot video.

 

A couple of corrections. Olympus housings can indeed interchange ports, but I find the Nauticam housings so good I would not want anything else. The Olympus 12-50 kit lens is a very good all-rounder with decent macro performance, although the port and gear are expensive. The Olympus 60 mm macro is a fantastic lens. The Panasonic 7-14 mm lens has no compatibility issue and works very well on the Olympus body with a 6" port (though topside it is prone to some colour fringnig when shot into the sun).

Thank you for the input. How do you take wider angle photos with the kit lens? Or do you only use it for macro? I'm thinking if I'll get a dedicated wide angle lens, I might as well just get the 60mm for the rest. No need to carry the kit zoom.

I have been shooting with Olympus EM5 in Nauticam housing for a few years now and just upgraded to the EM1Mk2 I use 9-18mm for most of my WA shots and the 60mm macro lens for close up I also have the Panasonic mm fisheye for nice wide angle shots in clear water

Just lately I’ve started using the 30mm Panasonic macro lens for larger macro subjects behind the 4”dome port with reasonable results

Gary

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