Camera choice

Hi all,

I've recently become quite interested in underwater photography and I'm interested in a new camera.

I've been borrowing a Canon G12 in the Canon housing. Unfortunately at my current club I'm mostly leading newbies and don't have free brain power to use a camera, but I'm currently planning away for next summer on my first ever big dive trip where I'll be free to take pictures all I want. I'd like to get something now so that by the time I go I know exactly what I need to do to get the best shots. My budget is in the £1300-1500 region for a camera and similar for a holiday. My main interest is in macro (read: nudibranch) shots. So here's my dilemma:

- The most affordable holiday outside of Europe is an Egypt liveaboard, but I know Egypt is mainly highly regarded for wide-angle. I'd really like a mix of diving, but definitely macro opportunities. I can't afford a plethora of lenses so any suggestions on a holiday to suit budget and interests would be helpful!

The two (used - due to budget restraints) setups I'm considering:

Olympus OM-D EM10

Meikon housing (modified to fit 60mm macro lens)

Inon Z240

M. Zuiko 60mm macro lens

£1520

Canon G16

Fantasea housing

Inon Z240

Fantasea 67mm eyedapter

Inon Macro UCL-165 lens

£1470

Would the Olympus deal need further diopters for macro?

Is a Z240 necessary?

Any advice would be really useful, as I said I'm very new and still learning. Hence why I'm planning now for a holiday in 11 months time!

Hey Chris

You are right, the Red Sea is very much wide-angle territory. If you are aiming for macro - or macro would be a major feature - I fear you'll be disappointed in the Red Sea. Yes, you do find the occasional nudibranc but nothing very interesting or very often.

If nudibrancs/macro are the thing, Philippines or Lembeh Straits, I would suggest, are the places to go. But possibly outside your budget?

I'll leave others to comment in more detail on your camera ideas. I'd only chip-in that I have seen folks get some cracking images with the Canon G series whilst recognising that, as a P/S, they have their limitations. The EM10 I would have thought would give you greater flexibility in the longer term.

Hey Tim,

Maybe I will just have to save the macro for the future as I've promised myself a nice holiday outside of Europe.

I just don't want to spend £300 on a lens that I won't use. It's possible that the Olympus kit lens (14-42) and a UCL-165 would allow me the best of both worlds, and save me £150. Interested to hear what other people think

If you are going to use Meikon I would look at a EM5 mk2 or EM1, maybe second hand and the 60mm macro lens as the ports on both accept the lens. I shoot 90% macro and the macro lens is great.

Look at Bali for a holiday has some of the best macro in the world and is easier (i.e. Cheaper) to get to.

I would highly recommend searching for sample images taken with the gear you are considering. Particularly with wet lenses like the Inon, my experience has been that the reality consistently underperforms the specs on paper.

Re your interest in the Olympus, I posted some comparisons of the 60 mm macro versus the 12-50mm lens in 43 mm macro mode, both with and without diopters, here:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=56141&hl=diopter

By the way, if your primary interest is macro, have a look at the Inon S-2000 strobe. It is really excellent for that job, very compact and easy to use, and much less expensive than the Z-240. But if you think you might also shoot WA from time to time, better to start out with the more powerful strobe.

I am leaning towards Olympus and considering the EM5, the housings are just significantly bigger than the EM10's, but accepting the lens is probably a useful feature! I'll stick with proper dry lenses where possible, troporobo having read your post - really useful information.

I'm torn between the S-2000 and the Z240, I need to ask myself how much wide-angle work I'll be doing (little), and whether the results I want can be achieved with ambient light. Inon strobes seem to hold their value well. Is it worth starting with the s2000 now and upgrading?

Bali is a great suggestion actually, I'll look in to that.

Hey Chris

On Bali, I'd have agreed wholeheartedly with troporobo - until recently.

I had a couple of days in Tulamben in late March and dived the spots I usually reckon to be good for macro: Coral Garden and Saraya Secrets. Man, I was disappointed. There was very little indeed. After 7 days of driving I came away with very few macro pics that I thought worthwhile. Maybe it was the time of year, God knows - but it was nothing like my last visits there in 2010. I was looking especially for crinoid shrimp but saw very few - and none of them were being helpful. Little devils.

Other than that, Bali is fun, diving is nice, water is warm, locals are friendly, pretty inexpensive......

It u have the cash.. Z240 is the way to go.... Bali is a wide angle and macro place.. Tulamben has both macro and wide angle...

U get more bang for the buck with the Z240... The s2000 will be lacking quite quick... Imo

The choice is cut down to either of Bali or Egypt, it'll most likely be Egypt as I can get a couple more dives for my money and relax somewhat more, but we'll see as the time comes around!

The Z240 also seems like the best choice, one more question - arms and clamps. Initially I will only be using one strobe but if I don't want to have to get a new arm/tray set in future when I get a second. Is there a budget single arm package that I can expand later on?

The Nauticam flexitray and easitray systems can start with one arm and add a second arm later. Don't know if this qualifies as "budget" but they make really good gear

As another arms option, Chris, check out ULCS. Arms are items you really should only need to buy once. I've had the same ones since 1999. Get something you can grow with and expand as necessary.

I like the look of the Flexitray, so will combine that with the ULCS arms, the general system seems to be 1 x 5" arm and 1 x 8" arm, connected by ball adaptors to the handle of the tray, do you think this is a good place to start for one strobe?

(I realise I'm getting a bit off topic now, but this is the last thing to cover for now, anything else - I'll post it in the relative forum section)

By the way, if you want only one lens, the choice is clear. Get the Olympus 12-50. It's so much better than either of the 14-42 variants, with useful range extension on both ends and decent macro at 43mm.

There are extensive discussions on this lens in the m4/3 forum.

I like the look of the Flexitray, so will combine that with the ULCS arms, the general system seems to be 1 x 5" arm and 1 x 8" arm, connected by ball adaptors to the handle of the tray, do you think this is a good place to start for one strobe?

 

(I realise I'm getting a bit off topic now, but this is the last thing to cover for now, anything else - I'll post it in the relative forum section)

Yep, 1x5" arm linked to a 1x8" arm is a good combination, I'd suggest, for macro or wide-angle.

Thanks for the info on the 12-50 lens troporobo, but now I feel more confused than ever on which lens selection to make... I'll have to see how much work I get in September and then make the choice.

Somewhere in one of these two threads is a long discussion on the merits of the 12-50 lens. Combined with my lens / diopter examples, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of what you can do with it. They are extensive threads and I'm too lazy to search but IIRC member "guyharrisonphoto" had some excellent points on the subject:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46536

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51301

For what it's worth, I used this lens exclusively for about 4 years before finally switching to the 60mm for macro and 7-14 for WA. I'm happier with the quality of my results with those two lenses, but there are still dives when I wish I had the versatility of the single lens.

Thanks for the links, I promise I'm not being lazy, I really am trying to find all this on my own without having to be signposted everywhere! Having read through those topics, the main problem is that I wouldn't be able to utilise the versatility of the 12-50 in one dive without the nauticam housing (can't activate/deactivate macro mode). Unfortunately it's not a case of spending a little extra for the extra quality (always happy to do) - I simply don't have the money for the nauticam.

I could always still use it fixed at either end of the spectrum, set before the dive for wide angle or for macro. It's something I'll seriously consider.

You've been more than helpful, thanks again!

You can use the 12-50 with electronic zoom operated from the camera so no zoom gear needed, on all OMD cameras from the EM1 and on Panasonic cameras from the G7 too. I have the EM1, EM10 and a G7 and the power zoom definitely works. As it is the same size as the 60mm macro you can use it in any flat macro port for the 60mm and fit a +10 diopter or greater to get close to 1:1 macro. I use the Nauticam CMC and get about 1:0.8 life size. On a recent trip to Ningaloo in WA I photographed Giant Mantas and Nudi head close ups on the same dive! No need to get the expensive Nauticsm port.

A good budget option would be a Panasonic GX85 with built in IBIS that works with 4K video too, the Oly 60mm macro or 12-50 (or both), Ikelite housing with macro port, which has 67mm screw thread for a diopter and a single strobe. I use Nauticam housings and I would recommend them if your budget can stretch that far. They also have a GX85 housing out soon.

It's important to note that the "12-50 with electronic zoom" is the newer EZ model. I don't know if you can access the macro function from the camera.

The original 12-50 zoom lens does not have a motor so requires a zoom gear to access the full range of focal lengths, or can be switched by the camera to either 12 mm or 50 mm but nothing in between, and it requires the Nauticam gear to access the macro function.

The original lens (about half the price of the EZ model), the flat macro port, and a diopter for macro does indeed make a good budget solution

The lens is the same, there are not 2 versions but the original EM5 cannot operate the electronic zoom from the camera. The new feature came out with the EP-L7, EM1, EM10 and EM5 mk2. Panasonic have the electronic zoom feature too buried in the menus. I use the 12-50 on my EM1 and you can zoom anywhere from 12-50mm, I don't even own a zoom ring! The macro 43mm feature is not accessible in 65mm macro port but it only gives you 1:0.5 life size where the zoom set to 50mm with a powerful diopter gives you 1:0.8 but it takes a bit of getting used to focus.