Ikelite OM-1 housing and front dial wheel?

Looks like Ikelite has announced a new housing for the OM-1, but kind of took a step backwards in doing so:

https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-scuba-ocean-news/ikelite-announces-housing-for-om-system-om-1

https://www.ikelite.com/collections/dslr-and-mirrorless-camera-housings/products/200dlm-b-underwater-housing-for-om-system-om-1-mirrorless-cameras

I’m not seeing a way to actuate the front on-camera dial wheel.  There are only two dial controls on the top of the housing; one looks to actuate the on/off switch, the other the mode dial.  This sits opposed to Ikes EM-1 III housing which has 4 dials on top.

This is interesting, as on Ikelites site, they note “Controls for all camera functions except multi-selector, one touch white balance button, Fn lever, preview button, and diopter adjustment dial”.  They likely are ‘cheating’ a bit here and assuming they’ll have the user assign exposure controls to the 4-way selector.  But it feels a bit disingenuous to not call this out on the product page. 

I’ll credit Ikelite that this was likely done to get the camera into the smaller housing line that they’ve historically used for the OM-D series.  For a while the ‘coming soon’ page said they’d need a new housing type,  and my fear was they were going to do with this what they’re doing with sonys camera line; using the much larger DSLR type housing which leaves lots of empty space in the housing.

Personally when I get an OM-1 later this year, I’ll still go with Ikelite.  But this is a bit of a bummer for sure.

5 hours ago, AggressorBLUE said:

Looks like Ikelite has announced a new housing for the OM-1, but kind of took a step backwards in doing so:

https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-scuba-ocean-news/ikelite-announces-housing-for-om-system-om-1

https://www.ikelite.com/collections/dslr-and-mirrorless-camera-housings/products/200dlm-b-underwater-housing-for-om-system-om-1-mirrorless-cameras

I’m not seeing a way to actuate the front on-camera dial wheel.  There are only two dial controls on the top of the housing; one looks to actuate the on/off switch, the other the mode dial.  This sits opposed to Ikes EM-1 III housing which has 4 dials on top.

This is interesting, as on Ikelites site, they note “Controls for all camera functions except multi-selector, one touch white balance button, Fn lever, preview button, and diopter adjustment dial”.  They likely are ‘cheating’ a bit here and assuming they’ll have the user assign exposure controls to the 4-way selector.  But it feels a bit disingenuous to not call this out on the product page. 

I’ll credit Ikelite that this was likely done to get the camera into the smaller housing line that they’ve historically used for the OM-D series.  For a while the ‘coming soon’ page said they’d need a new housing type,  and my fear was they were going to do with this what they’re doing with sonys camera line; using the much larger DSLR type housing which leaves lots of empty space in the housing.

Personally when I get an OM-1 later this year, I’ll still go with Ikelite.  But this is a bit of a bummer for sure.

If you look at the manual, the housing diagram shows a knob for both front and rear dials on top of the housing on page 7.  They are certainly are not there in the photos.  Perhaps this was an early trail version they posted photos of.  It's really not practical to operate the camera without access to both dials as you would have to choose between selecting shutter speed and aperture if you only had one dial.  The lack of ability to use the selector switch to swap dial functions is a significant issue though.  The manual is here:  https://docs.ikelite.com/instructions/69532-instructions.pdf

Great find Chris!  And yes, agreed the loss of the dials would be annoying.  

Of note though, in their hands on video (link below) the unit shown only has the two dials on top, so missing front dial control, and Steve Miller notes ‘how easy it was using the 4 way selector for Speed/Exposure’ as he ‘generally doesn’t fiddle with much else underwater’.  That feels a bit convenient in framing the missing dials on the housing (at least as shown in the video) as a ‘feature, not a bug.”

https://www.ikelite.com/blogs/reviews/surface-interval-interview-olympus-om-1-underwater-first-reactions?mc_cid=971cae61fa&mc_eid=cc0bd6d5b3

Hmm…

-Matt

6 hours ago, AggressorBLUE said:

Great find Chris!  And yes, agreed the loss of the dials would be annoying.  

Of note though, in their hands on video (link below) the unit shown only has the two dials on top, so missing front dial control, and Steve Miller notes ‘how easy it was using the 4 way selector for Speed/Exposure’ as he ‘generally doesn’t fiddle with much else underwater’.  That feels a bit convenient in framing the missing dials on the housing (at least as shown in the video) as a ‘feature, not a bug.”

https://www.ikelite.com/blogs/reviews/surface-interval-interview-olympus-om-1-underwater-first-reactions?mc_cid=971cae61fa&mc_eid=cc0bd6d5b3

Hmm…

-Matt

Interesting, the housing they are using certainly doesn't have the twin dials.  I'm not sure I'd be at all keen on using the arrow buttons to change aperture/SS,   I guess in terms of ikelite housings it's easier to use that way as reaching to th top of the housing to change is not easy while reaching the buttons can be done from the viewfinder.  To me the downside of the small style housing is the more limited range of ports available in particular the biggest dome is a little on the small side for ultra wide (weitwinkel) rectilinear lenses.

Bumping this thread a year later, as I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on the OM-1.  I contacted Ikelite, and unfortunately, the product images are correct, and the manual was wrong; they confirmed there indeed is no way to control the front dial.  In light of my email to them, they have updated the product page.  It now reads:

“Controls for all camera functions except front dial, multi-selector, one touch white balance button, Fn lever, preview button, and diopter adjustment dial” (Emphasis mine).

To be candid, it feels like Ike got real lazy with this housing. The missing front dial and Fn Lever seem problematic, and solvable issues if Ike put some more development time into the box. 

On the other hand, using the D-pad for Shutter speed/F-stop and the rear dial for Iso seems like a feasible way to use the camera. 

I’ll still probably go with the ike, warts and all. I’m currently shooting an EM-5 II with Ike housing and Ike DS125 strobes (due for replacement as soon as next year, I’m waiting to see what Inons next move is in the market).  So I’m invested in domes and assorted Ikelite hardware, and moving over to AOI (only other housing on the market aside from Nauticam, which is simply out of my budget), would requite new domes and moving to optical cabling, and I don’t feel like buying optical adapters for 15 year old strobes that’ll get a year or so more use.