GH5 lens advice

Hi all,

Having considered a lot of options to replace my flooded D7000 ( D500, A7iii, A6400, GH5) I think I am settling on the GH5.

It seems to fit my needs which is 50:50 stills/video in UK waters > 50m and caves. I mainly shoot wrecks, caves & divers but may do the odd squidgy thing. I will also be using it for video transect survey and photogrammetry.

I’ve done a lot of research through the forums regarding lens/port choices, but looking for something confirmation on what I’m thinking. The top options, which seem applicable to my use are (in no particular order):

- Pana 8mm in N85 4” dome. Good for stills

- Tokina 10-17 + metabones. Possibly better for stills but complicated and more expensive.

- 14-42 MkII + WWL. Good for video. Okay for stills?

- Pana 8-18mm in 7” dome. Rectilinear option for stills. Fairly special use and perhaps not adding much to an 8mm fish and wet lens combo?

I’m heading initially for the 8mm fisheye as I know a deal available locally. I think this would cover me for stills and video for a while. I think I’d then supplement later with the 14-42 + WWL as a better video option that would also give a zoom range for photos (wide-ish to semi-close).

With these two choices, would I be correct that the converted tokina or 8-18mm would not significantly add anything? I’m mainly trying to avoid too many different port requirements and get a one size fits all (yea right!) but it seems no port/extensions would be compatible between these four options.

Anything else I’m missing for my use?

Thanks

Owen

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would ask this question also on the video forum- from what I can tell (i'm no video guy) fisheyes are not popular for video.  Perhaps it's because things like fish swimming across the frame distort badly as they head to the corners

The 14-42 and WWL is roughly equivalent to a 10-22 rectilinear (in full frame terms ) or 5-11 in m43 focal lengths at least when comparing diagonal coverage.

The 8-18 gives you some more reach if that's important for the subjects you like to shoot.  I can't see why you would have any issue using it for stills.  It doesn't quite have the coverage of the fisheye, it's not quite rectilinear so a lot of the stretch of the image is in the corners and if you compare coverage it's actually quite close to a 7mm across the horizontal axis. 

This link compares the horizontal field of view which arguably is more important as you generally place yous subjects on this axis rather the diagonal:https://interceptor121.com/2019/05/12/nauticam-wwl-1the-best-wide-angle-lens-for-underwater-video-on-the-gh5-and-other-micro-four-thirds/

Hi,

If you go into caves, consider also the Oly fisheye f/1.8 for low lights with the 140mm glass dome from Nauticam (if you are).

The 8-18 with Nauticam zoom gear does not fit the N85 port, you have to remove the dome, put the lens, put back the dome every time you want to get in or out the camera from the housing. I've heared that with some homemade zoom gear the problem can be resolved.

The combo Pana 14-42mk2 with WWL-1 is very good, and you can remove the WWL-1 underwater to improve the zoom range, but the WWL-1 is quite big and heavy (it sinks even with the buyancy collar) so you have to be careful.

You're lens choices seems good to me as I've made the same and without regrets. The 7" dome is also compatible with the Pana-Leica 12-60 f/2.8-4, without any zoom gear problem, and it is great for video. It is even compatible with the Oly 12-40 f/2.8 .. so lot of possible evolutions with this 7" acrylic dome that is inexpensive compared to the 180mm glass dome option.

Never tried the Tokina, I stay on native lens for praticity.

EDIT : For the first time I succeed in putting my 8-18 in the housing with the nauticam zoom gear. I think I was not doing it right before. So you can forget about this problem, it is not one anymore, and a very good news for me