GH5 upgrade to DX now or stay within m43

Hi guys,

I have been reading your posts around m43 cameras and lenses and also particularly around the capabilities of the nikon d500 with the tokina and 60mm macro

I have been thinking about this for a while and I am still not sure if I should upgrade now, stay and build up on my accessories or change m43 camera and keep my ports and lenses.

First steps: I owned a compact Sony Rx100mk2 with wet lenses (WWL-1 and CMC) and I was primarily doing video at the time. I then got 2x Inon Z240v4 strobes and started taking pictures. I was happy with this setup for a while but then I felt my pictures could improve with an interchangeable lens system. 

I saw a 2nd hand Nauticam GH5 housing for a good price and decided to jump into m43. 

Today: I own a Nauticam GH5 housing with lenses Oly 8mm with 4.3 dome, Pana 14-42, Oly 60mm macro, WWL-1, CMC-1 + ports. 2x Inon Z240v4. 

I am not interested in doing video anymore, which is the strength of the GH5, pictures are ok but I feel I am missing better dynamic range and colours (compared to the nikon d500). Not sure how much worse the GH5 is compared to the Oly EM-II or III. 

In terms of accessories I could get a viewfinder and a snoot to take better/different macro pictures or get the pana 45mm although I love the Oly 60mm macro, such a great little lens. 

Options are:

I stick to my GH5 and buy other accessories like the viewfinder, snoot, the pana 45mm and wait for Olympus or Panasonic to release an improved body in the future compatible with my existing lens and port system. 

I swap my GH5 for an Oly EM-II / III or Pana G9 ? (the Oly OM-1 housing and body brand new are more expensive than a nikon d500 setup although I would not need to change lenses and ports - not sure if the jump in IQ is worth it)

Or I get the nikon d500 + lenses 2nd hand and stick with that for the next few years. In terms of size and weight overall it is slightly bigger than the GH5 but not a huge difference. 

I have seen some people use the canon 8-15 and tokina with adapters on m43 but I feel it's an expensive jump if you add the cost of lenses + adapters + ports + dome 

Thanks!

45 minutes ago, Blenny84 said:

Hi guys,

I have been reading your posts around m43 cameras and lenses and also particularly around the capabilities of the nikon d500 with the tokina and 60mm macro

I have been thinking about this for a while and I am still not sure if I should upgrade now, stay and build up on my accessories or change m43 camera and keep my ports and lenses.

First steps: I owned a compact Sony Rx100mk2 with wet lenses (WWL-1 and CMC) and I was primarily doing video at the time. I then got 2x Inon Z240v4 strobes and started taking pictures. I was happy with this setup for a while but then I felt my pictures could improve with an interchangeable lens system. 

I saw a 2nd hand Nauticam GH5 housing for a good price and decided to jump into m43. 

Today: I own a Nauticam GH5 housing with lenses Oly 8mm with 4.3 dome, Pana 14-42, Oly 60mm macro, WWL-1, CMC-1 + ports. 2x Inon Z240v4. 

I am not interested in doing video anymore, which is the strength of the GH5, pictures are ok but I feel I am missing better dynamic range and colours (compared to the nikon d500). Not sure how much worse the GH5 is compared to the Oly EM-II or III. 

In terms of accessories I could get a viewfinder and a snoot to take better/different macro pictures or get the pana 45mm although I love the Oly 60mm macro, such a great little lens. 

Options are:

I stick to my GH5 and buy other accessories like the viewfinder, snoot, the pana 45mm and wait for Olympus or Panasonic to release an improved body in the future compatible with my existing lens and port system. 

I swap my GH5 for an Oly EM-II / III or Pana G9 ? (the Oly OM-1 housing and body brand new are more expensive than a nikon d500 setup although I would not need to change lenses and ports - not sure if the jump in IQ is worth it)

Or I get the nikon d500 + lenses 2nd hand and stick with that for the next few years. In terms of size and weight overall it is slightly bigger than the GH5 but not a huge difference. 

I have seen some people use the canon 8-15 and tokina with adapters on m43 but I feel it's an expensive jump if you add the cost of lenses + adapters + ports + dome 

Thanks!

 

Hi Blenny,

Just my personal opinion:

#1.: Upgrade to OM-1 or wait for OM-2 (or whatever comes next generation; I do not think EM1III is worth, when you have already GH5). IQ and AF not much worse as D500 (OM1). In case I will acquire an additional system, I would go FF, not change to a different (and certainly not future proof, as DX DSLR is) system, start to acquire lenses, ports etc. from scratch and what I get at the end is very comparable with what I had before...

#2.: Tokina 10-17 (or Canon 8-15): at least as outstanding lenses on MFT as on APS-C bodies  (Tokina better for APS-C as usable throughout the entire zoomrange, Canon better for MFT for the same reason). When calculating the cost, it is the adapter that costs extra, the rest is the same (lens, extension, port). For Tokina you will need a 0.71x speedbooster on MFT, while for the Canon a 1x glassless adapter suffices. What you save on the lens, you have to spend for the more expensive speedbooster (at least a fraction, I do not calculate the costs any more, life is too short)...

Wolfgang

Hi Blenny84

Tough choices. 

Seems to me the bottom line for much of this is what would give you the most pleasure to own?

All the systems will help you create images that hopefully you like - more or less.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each of them: size, cost, flexibility, availability, age....

I think for most of us, creative ability and imagination are often the barriers rather than a piece of equipment's capabilities or lack thereof. Will a D500 be like a bolt of lightening compared to a M43-based system? I think not. Can it do some things better? Sure. Does it have disadvantages? Sure.

Wolfgang, as always, makes some good points. The D500 system is, I have found, superb for UW. But as he says, it's now old and is highly unlikely to have a future development path.  But then, so what? If you would be content with a system that is ageing but still highly effective, then why not? You'll be able to build a great system at at a relatively cheap price.

As Wolfgang says, the Tokina 10-17 with the D500 is very good indeed (and horrible topside). 

But, back to my bottom line on recommendations, which is the system that you REALLY want? Get that one if your budget can handle it and it can do, essentially, what you want it to do. Otherwise you are always going have that nagging thought in the back of your mind...  maybe I should have bought [fill in the name of system x]

Good luck with the decision 

My 2-cents about the D500. In addition to being a top-notch UW system, the D500 is widely acknowledged to be one of the best Wildlife Photography cameras out there. Yes, it is a few years old now but still competes well with newer models.

I personally use a D850 setup for UW. The D500 is for wildlife paired with the Nikon 500mm PF or Sigma 150-600mm lenses. I usually bring the D500 along on dive trips and keep it close to shoot birds, whales, etc as the opportunity presents.

20 hours ago, Blenny84 said:

I am not interested in doing video anymore, which is the strength of the GH5, pictures are ok but I feel I am missing better dynamic range and colours (compared to the nikon d500). Not sure how much worse the GH5 is compared to the Oly EM-II or III. 

In terms of accessories I could get a viewfinder and a snoot to take better/different macro pictures or get the pana 45mm although I love the Oly 60mm macro, such a great little lens. 

Options are:

I stick to my GH5 and buy other accessories like the viewfinder, snoot, the pana 45mm and wait for Olympus or Panasonic to release an improved body in the future compatible with my existing lens and port system. 

I swap my GH5 for an Oly EM-II / III or Pana G9 ? (the Oly OM-1 housing and body brand new are more expensive than a nikon d500 setup although I would not need to change lenses and ports - not sure if the jump in IQ is worth it)

Or I get the nikon d500 + lenses 2nd hand and stick with that for the next few years. In terms of size and weight overall it is slightly bigger than the GH5 but not a huge difference. 

I have seen some people use the canon 8-15 and tokina with adapters on m43 but I feel it's an expensive jump if you add the cost of lenses + adapters + ports + dome 

Thanks!

 

The benefits of APS-C over m43 are relatively small, if you look at sensor area the m43 is 225 mm2 while APS-C is 350mm2, great you say, 50% more area to collect light in round numbers but is you look at full frame you have 865mm2 which is a 150% increase.  You are in the realm of diminishing returns having to have large increases in surface area for relatively small gains in performance. even in the m43 to APS-C  jump.  

The noise performance of the Olympus EM-1 MkII is quite close to that of the D500, the GH5 is about 1/2 stop worse.  The dynamic range is less for sure, but if you look at measured data the D500 is 14eV to the Olympus 12.8 at base ISO.  But the olympus is at ISO200 while the D500 is at 100.  If you shoot the Nikon at 200 as well the gap is now 13.2 to 12.8.  At ISO400 the gap has closed to 12.77 to 12.68. 

I would also suggest that apart from sunbursts, dynamic range is quite small for most UW image.   If you are talking APS-C vs m43 the image quality is pretty close among most offerings as the limits of the technology are being approached and any improvements are essentially incremental.  What you would get for upgrading to the latest OM-1 for example is vastly better AF performance which you would mostly notice in macro.  Battery life is quite a bit better in the OM-1 vs the EM-1 mkII.  Not much in the way of sensor data is available but based on my experience with OM-1 vs the EM-1 mkII noise is slightly better and is cleaner and more even.  I rarely feel the need to do more than base noise reduction in RAW processing with the OM-1 as I'm at base ISO 99% of the time shooting with strobes.

You can compare the performance of all three here, I'd suggest clicking on the measurements tab:

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Nikon-D500-versus-Olympus-OM-D-E-M1-Mark-II-versus-Panasonic-Lumix-DC-GH5___1061_1136_1149

In terms of size, the clam shell style OM-1 Nauticam housing is a little smaller than the separate back style GH5 housing.

The conversion of a an 8-15 fisheye is a fairly unique opportunity with the m43 system and certainly would be a great option but by the time you add port, lens and extension costs up it is indeed an expensive proposition.  In one lens you can go from a 180° fisheye to a field similar to a 28mm full frame equivalent lens on the horizontal axis.

On 6/25/2022 at 1:04 PM, Architeuthis said:

Hi Blenny,

Just my personal opinion:

#1.: Upgrade to OM-1 or wait for OM-2 (or whatever comes next generation; I do not think EM1III is worth, when you have already GH5). IQ and AF not much worse as D500 (OM1). In case I will acquire an additional system, I would go FF, not change to a different (and certainly not future proof, as DX DSLR is) system, start to acquire lenses, ports etc. from scratch and what I get at the end is very comparable with what I had before...

#2.: Tokina 10-17 (or Canon 8-15): at least as outstanding lenses on MFT as on APS-C bodies  (Tokina better for APS-C as usable throughout the entire zoomrange, Canon better for MFT for the same reason). When calculating the cost, it is the adapter that costs extra, the rest is the same (lens, extension, port). For Tokina you will need a 0.71x speedbooster on MFT, while for the Canon a 1x glassless adapter suffices. What you save on the lens, you have to spend for the more expensive speedbooster (at least a fraction, I do not calculate the costs any more, life is too short)...

 

Wolfgang

 

 

Hi Wolfgang, thank you. Really good points, maybe I should wait a little longer to see what comes next on MFT. The OM-2 or maybe an upgrade of the Pana G9? I have not seen much information around what Panasonic will be doing in the future in MFT for photography (GH6 recently released)

On 6/25/2022 at 4:29 PM, davehicks said:

My 2-cents about the D500. In addition to being a top-notch UW system, the D500 is widely acknowledged to be one of the best Wildlife Photography cameras out there. Yes, it is a few years old now but still competes well with newer models.

I personally use a D850 setup for UW. The D500 is for wildlife paired with the Nikon 500mm PF or Sigma 150-600mm lenses. I usually bring the D500 along on dive trips and keep it close to shoot birds, whales, etc as the opportunity presents.

Thanks Dave. Is there a big difference in weight & volume if you compare the d850 and the d500 systems ? 
I understand the FF lenses are bigger and heavier and the domes much larger which may be too much for me coming from an MFT setup hence why I was eyeing the d500. There is no way I will max out the d500 with my skills in years or ever :-) and that in itself is enough future proof for me. I do not care for having the latest models etc I just want something that is great value for money and is capable of taking great pictures. 

I don't think there is much difference. Most Nikon divers will use some of the same lens on FF or DX. 60mm, 105mm, Sigma 15mm. The DX Tokina 10-17mm is not much different from the FF sigma 15mm or Nikon 8-15mm. 

5 hours ago, Blenny84 said:

Thanks Dave. Is there a big difference in weight & volume if you compare the d850 and the d500 systems ? 
I understand the FF lenses are bigger and heavier and the domes much larger which may be too much for me coming from an MFT setup hence why I was eyeing the d500. There is no way I will max out the d500 with my skills in years or ever :-) and that in itself is enough future proof for me. I do not care for having the latest models etc I just want something that is great value for money and is capable of taking great pictures. 

From my recent comparison , albeit using diff lenses than discussed here.  Perhaps it helps weight wise though.

The big D850 to D500 weight difference would be in the domeport.

With the D500 you can easily get away with a180mm or 100mm domeport with, eg the Tokina 10-17.

No chance with a D850 and, say, a Nikkor 16-35. You then need a 230mm domeport plus a 90mm EXR. The system become massive and heavy.

You could switch to a Sigma 15mm FE or the Nikkor 8-15 both of which can cope with a smaller dome on the D850.

On 6/25/2022 at 1:04 PM, Blenny84 said:

Hi guys,

I have been reading your posts around m43 cameras and lenses and also particularly around the capabilities of the nikon d500 with the tokina and 60mm macro

I have been thinking about this for a while and I am still not sure if I should upgrade now, stay and build up on my accessories or change m43 camera and keep my ports and lenses.

First steps: I owned a compact Sony Rx100mk2 with wet lenses (WWL-1 and CMC) and I was primarily doing video at the time. I then got 2x Inon Z240v4 strobes and started taking pictures. I was happy with this setup for a while but then I felt my pictures could improve with an interchangeable lens system. 

I saw a 2nd hand Nauticam GH5 housing for a good price and decided to jump into m43. 

Today: I own a Nauticam GH5 housing with lenses Oly 8mm with 4.3 dome, Pana 14-42, Oly 60mm macro, WWL-1, CMC-1 + ports. 2x Inon Z240v4. 

I am not interested in doing video anymore, which is the strength of the GH5, pictures are ok but I feel I am missing better dynamic range and colours (compared to the nikon d500). Not sure how much worse the GH5 is compared to the Oly EM-II or III. 

In terms of accessories I could get a viewfinder and a snoot to take better/different macro pictures or get the pana 45mm although I love the Oly 60mm macro, such a great little lens. 

Options are:

I stick to my GH5 and buy other accessories like the viewfinder, snoot, the pana 45mm and wait for Olympus or Panasonic to release an improved body in the future compatible with my existing lens and port system. 

I swap my GH5 for an Oly EM-II / III or Pana G9 ? (the Oly OM-1 housing and body brand new are more expensive than a nikon d500 setup although I would not need to change lenses and ports - not sure if the jump in IQ is worth it)

Or I get the nikon d500 + lenses 2nd hand and stick with that for the next few years. In terms of size and weight overall it is slightly bigger than the GH5 but not a huge difference. 

I have seen some people use the canon 8-15 and tokina with adapters on m43 but I feel it's an expensive jump if you add the cost of lenses + adapters + ports + dome 

Thanks!

 

The IQ improvement between the D500 and the GH5M2 is minimal and only really relevant at low ISO from 200 onwards they are the same in fact the GH5M2 has an edge at high ISO see DxOMark

If instead you have issues with autofocus or ergonomics than it may make sense to look elsewhere

The G9 since the GH5M2 makes no sense as an option you could get a GH5M2 use the same housing and invest in better lenses including using a tokina 10-17mm with metabones which you could reuse if you go to APSC

A change to any Olympus model may improve some of the ergonomics and will  not impact IQ and may even get worse

Re Panasonic 45mm is my favourite lens in the format with better rendering of the olympus but is not night and day

At the end where is your set up lacking?

4 hours ago, Interceptor121 said:

The IQ improvement between the D500 and the GH5M2 is minimal and only really relevant at low ISO from 200 onwards they are the same in fact the GH5M2 has an edge at high ISO see DxOMark

If instead you have issues with autofocus or ergonomics than it may make sense to look elsewhere

The G9 since the GH5M2 makes no sense as an option you could get a GH5M2 use the same housing and invest in better lenses including using a tokina 10-17mm with metabones which you could reuse if you go to APSC

A change to any Olympus model may improve some of the ergonomics and will  not impact IQ and may even get worse

Re Panasonic 45mm is my favourite lens in the format with better rendering of the olympus but is not night and day

At the end where is your set up lacking?

Just checked your instagram, you have really good pictures both uw and topside! Assuming they are all taken with m43 cameras I definitely don't need a bigger sensor - it is probably more wise to spend the money in a photoworkshop (if I can get a spot) and more trips/practice. 

Does the pana 45mm macro allow you to focus closer than the 60mm? If so that could be a good buy as I like to get really close and the 60mm feels a bit far without a wet diopter. Maybe the ports I have work with the 45mm or may need a small ext ring. 

I don't think I have issues with autofocus to be honest. For wide angle or fish portrait shots I dont use a focus light and AF is fine. For macro if its dark or deep then yeah a light helps the camera focus and sometimes it hunts a bit with the 60mm macro.

It is not that I think the system is lacking, clearly it is very capable, maybe I should check out more pictures of UW photographers that use the m43 to actually believe the system is really capable and that it's me and not the system the main reason why the shots are not better.

The question really was, am I going to take better pictures with the d500 system in my hands compared to the GH5?

See some of photos here: 

Blenny84

Massimo asks a good question: what is it your current system can't do that you want to improve? 

Cameras don't really take "better pictures". It's the guy behind them. There are features of a camera that might make it easier to get the shot you want, eg, advanced AF. But lighting, composition, even exposure for u/w work are largely achieved by the knowledge and skill of the photographer - not the camera.

What is it that the GH5 can't do? Could you maybe post a few pics that show shortcomings and we can perhaps explain what the issue might be and what might solve it - whether that be technique or equipment?

2 hours ago, Blenny84 said:

The question really was, am I going to take better pictures with the d500 system in my hands compared to the GH5?

See some of photos here: 

 

The photos look quite good - any particular thing you don't like about them?  They seem well exposed and mostly well lit, a bit of backscatter in some, composition-ally I'm not a big fan of random divers in my shots - but can be hard to avoid with a fisheye lens.  None of that will change with an upgrade.  AF-wise in clean waters like these you are unlikely to get much in the way of challenges based on my experience.  I find the macro lenses can tend to lock onto particulates and the better AF systems can help avoid that, but based on your reports no huge incentive for better AF. 

For the 45 macro it's a smaller port- the macro port 45 in Nauticam,  your working distance at 1:1 is about 55-60mm from the port compared to about 80mm for the 60mm macro.  You could use the 60mm  port with the 45mm but you would lose about half your working distance at 1:1.  Where the 45mm will come into it's own is if you find a larger creature like a giant frogfish while on a macro dive - then you don't need to back off so much.

15 hours ago, Blenny84 said:

Just checked your instagram, you have really good pictures both uw and topside! Assuming they are all taken with m43 cameras I definitely don't need a bigger sensor - it is probably more wise to spend the money in a photoworkshop (if I can get a spot) and more trips/practice. 

Does the pana 45mm macro allow you to focus closer than the 60mm? If so that could be a good buy as I like to get really close and the 60mm feels a bit far without a wet diopter. Maybe the ports I have work with the 45mm or may need a small ext ring. 

I don't think I have issues with autofocus to be honest. For wide angle or fish portrait shots I dont use a focus light and AF is fine. For macro if its dark or deep then yeah a light helps the camera focus and sometimes it hunts a bit with the 60mm macro.

It is not that I think the system is lacking, clearly it is very capable, maybe I should check out more pictures of UW photographers that use the m43 to actually believe the system is really capable and that it's me and not the system the main reason why the shots are not better.

The question really was, am I going to take better pictures with the d500 system in my hands compared to the GH5?

See some of photos here: 

 

They are all taken with MFT

The GH5M2 is my favourite camera for night photography

I have looked at your images and I think technically you have a handle on it I would work more on composition and planning your images than worrying about the abilities of your camera that does not seem to be an issue

I am running my own workshop and I use my system for photos and video in it.

https://interceptor121.com/2020/06/15/red-sea-2021-underwater-image-makers-liveaboard/

If you look on instagram there are discount codes at present

In addition to desire and being in the place where there are things to shoot the other key factor is planning and obviously persistence

My advice to you is to know your system well and understand its limitations the next step from MFT is full frame the benefits of APSC are too small to be worthy

Last year I bought a full frame camera for low light photography and then realised I could over come the limitations of my system with technique so far it is working...

With regards to the 45mm it is mostly a matter of rendering of the background that with the 60mm looks rather ugly

In addition the Panasonic lens is sharper at small apertures which is what you use for macro while the olympus is better in the f/2.8-4 range however at f/2.8 the background blur is sometimes ugly

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

8 hours ago, Blenny84 said:

 

Does the pana 45mm macro allow you to focus closer than the 60mm? If so that could be a good buy as I like to get really close and the 60mm feels a bit far without a wet diopter. Maybe the ports I have work with the 45mm or may need a small ext ring. 

 

The question really was, am I going to take better pictures with the d500 system in my hands compared to the GH5?

See some of photos here: 

 

Hi Igor,

Chris already mentioned that both 45mm and 60mm have the same 1:1 magnification, but the working distance at 1:1 is closer with 45mm. Also AF will work better with 45mm, compared to 60mm. In case you have Nauticam, it is best to have the 45mm macroport for the 45mm Panasonic and an additional 20mm extension ring for using the 60mm Zuiko. When having the macroport 65 for the 60mm Zuiko, you need to acquire an extra 45 macroport for the Panasonic 45 ...

=> Your photos are beautiful. Reason to upgrade may be when you intend to make large prints (the wave nature of light limits the amount of details that can be resolved on a smaller sensor; when viewing the pictures in the Internet, one does not see the difference). Also low light photography may gain (e.g. grottos), but requires special optics, as e.g. WACP, in order to be able to use large apertures. The differences regarding these improvements are, however, small, when you compare MFT with DX. FX brings substantial improvement...

Wolfgang

1 hour ago, Architeuthis said:

Hi Igor,

Chris already mentioned that both 45mm and 60mm have the same 1:1 magnification, but the working distance at 1:1 is closer with 45mm. Also AF will work better with 45mm, compared to 60mm. In case you have Nauticam, it is best to have the 45mm macroport for the 45mm Panasonic and an additional 20mm extension ring for using the 60mm Zuiko. When having the macroport 65 for the 60mm Zuiko, you need to acquire an extra 45 macroport for the Panasonic 45 ...

=> Your photos are beautiful. Reason to upgrade may be when you intend to make large prints (the wave nature of light limits the amount of details that can be resolved on a smaller sensor; when viewing the pictures in the Internet, one does not see the difference). Also low light photography may gain (e.g. grottos), but requires special optics, as e.g. WACP, in order to be able to use large apertures. The differences regarding these improvements are, however, small, when you compare MFT with DX. FX brings substantial improvement...

 

Wolfgang

The large print point is a myth. I print 30"x20" images but mostly 16"x12"

Competitions on DPI are at best 1600x1200 (another thing I did not know)

Printing requires an understanding of the process and images that are sharp for most. Dynamic range is not as important as color depth and overall sharpness

An image with 40 megapixels may not be actually sharp and resolve much less in water so again I would not really worry too much until such point you have maxed out on your abilities and find the limit

Meanwhile spend your time mastering the techniques

15 hours ago, Interceptor121 said:

They are all taken with MFT

The GH5M2 is my favourite camera for night photography

I have looked at your images and I think technically you have a handle on it I would work more on composition and planning your images than worrying about the abilities of your camera that does not seem to be an issue

I am running my own workshop and I use my system for photos and video in it.

https://interceptor121.com/2020/06/15/red-sea-2021-underwater-image-makers-liveaboard/

If you look on instagram there are discount codes at present

 

In addition to desire and being in the place where there are things to shoot the other key factor is planning and obviously persistence

 

My advice to you is to know your system well and understand its limitations the next step from MFT is full frame the benefits of APSC are too small to be worthy

Last year I bought a full frame camera for low light photography and then realised I could over come the limitations of my system with technique so far it is working...

With regards to the 45mm it is mostly a matter of rendering of the background that with the 60mm looks rather ugly

In addition the Panasonic lens is sharper at small apertures which is what you use for macro while the olympus is better in the f/2.8-4 range however at f/2.8 the background blur is sometimes ugly

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After reading all the opinions and looking at more m43 uw pictures I definitely have a lot of growth left within this system. 

I am seriously considering getting the 45mm macro, looks like the best choice for UK diving and I would get 1.7x magnification with the CMC-1 for super macro and closer focus distance. 

Planning - I still feel like I rush so many shots because I fear missing the moment, and all those shots are always bad, I know it but I keep on doing it...I find it hard to control myself underwater, I get excited and try to shoot things that I know wont make a good picture. It is much better than a couple of years ago but still a challenge. 

The other challenge is to dive with non-photographers and with dives planned for 'divers' rather than 'photographers', it is almost impossible to keep up with the group. The shots are rushed because you don't have time to set up the shot or spend time with the animal so it lets you approach etc...I could do with liveaboards setup for photography rather than diving. I also love house reefs for this reason, you can just dive with your buddy(wife) without a group, no stress. Unfortunately I cannot take time off in July / August this year but will keep an eye on your Red Sea trips.

Lighting - I have 2x Inon Z240 type 4 strobes. I have seen some people use dome shaped diffusers on them to soften the light and increase the angle. Are this worth it when shooting fisheye or wide angle?

I am also looking at snoots. I think my choice is between Fabio Iardino's snooty snoot which supports my strobe (asked him) and does not have off centered issues with the focus light (due to some fibre optic design I was told) and the Backscatter MF + snoot which looks like easy to use but it's 'another' strobe + batteries + charger etc

Wide angle - Is there a big difference between the Pana 14-42 + WWL-1 combo and the Canon 8-15 ? Is selling the pana + WWL-1 to offset the cost of the Canon 8-15 setup worth it? 

Sorry I keep throwing in more questions but I am learning quite a lot of things from everyone's comments which I really appreciate

On 6/28/2022 at 10:10 PM, Blenny84 said:

After reading all the opinions and looking at more m43 uw pictures I definitely have a lot of growth left within this system. 

I am seriously considering getting the 45mm macro, looks like the best choice for UK diving and I would get 1.7x magnification with the CMC-1 for super macro and closer focus distance. 

Planning - I still feel like I rush so many shots because I fear missing the moment, and all those shots are always bad, I know it but I keep on doing it...I find it hard to control myself underwater, I get excited and try to shoot things that I know wont make a good picture. It is much better than a couple of years ago but still a challenge. 

The other challenge is to dive with non-photographers and with dives planned for 'divers' rather than 'photographers', it is almost impossible to keep up with the group. The shots are rushed because you don't have time to set up the shot or spend time with the animal so it lets you approach etc...I could do with liveaboards setup for photography rather than diving. I also love house reefs for this reason, you can just dive with your buddy(wife) without a group, no stress. Unfortunately I cannot take time off in July / August this year but will keep an eye on your Red Sea trips.

Lighting - I have 2x Inon Z240 type 4 strobes. I have seen some people use dome shaped diffusers on them to soften the light and increase the angle. Are this worth it when shooting fisheye or wide angle?

I am also looking at snoots. I think my choice is between Fabio Iardino's snooty snoot which supports my strobe (asked him) and does not have off centered issues with the focus light (due to some fibre optic design I was told) and the Backscatter MF + snoot which looks like easy to use but it's 'another' strobe + batteries + charger etc

Wide angle - Is there a big difference between the Pana 14-42 + WWL-1 combo and the Canon 8-15 ? Is selling the pana + WWL-1 to offset the cost of the Canon 8-15 setup worth it? 

Sorry I keep throwing in more questions but I am learning quite a lot of things from everyone's comments which I really appreciate

45mm in UK water makes sense however don't get too bogged down with equipment and focus on the photography

In low visibility creative choices are limited surely a snoot can help but it can also make all shots look similar so you need to work out exactly your composition

On 6/29/2022 at 7:10 AM, Blenny84 said:

I am seriously considering getting the 45mm macro, looks like the best choice for UK diving and I would get 1.7x magnification with the CMC-1 for super macro and closer focus distance. 

 

Seems like a good option for UK.  Keep in mind that at 1.7x the working distance is only 17mm