180 replies to this topic

[Deep6]

This is an interesting camera, but I'd have to wait until the side angle options were better sorted . . .

Mike

"the side angle options were better sorted "
?Que?
Bob

[underexposed]

"the side angle options were better sorted "
?Que?
Bob

Maybe he means WAL options. I do not have the 7-14 so can't tell you. There might be a wet WAL for the 20mm port.

[underexposed]

Hello Mark, thanks a lot for keeping us up to date with info & pics! Good to hear the 45mm macro fits in the 14-45mm zoom port. Does the zoom port allow manual focussing of the macro lens? Have you tried filming? I'd like to know whether the auto-focus gets too loud when filming (due to sound amplification by the housing), thus ruining the videoclips' audio?
Thanks, Thierry

You're welcome, yes and yes. I guess if there was a port for the 14-140 with it's silent focusing that would be the best option for video. Sound is not all that important to my video as it is mostly breathing and computers beeping and I think I'd just leave it out with BG music or something. From a volume standpoint it was not as loud as my breathing which I find surprising. I noticed it right away but then just became BG noise after a minute or so.

[MikeO]

"the side angle options were better sorted "
?Que?
Bob

Yes, WIDE angle -- hit the wrong key . . . 14-45 not wide enough IMHO.

[cavefish]

I'm waiting for an underwater wide-angle solution too. So far there's only Panasonic's G Vario 7-14mm, which is really nice but rather expensive & relatively big and AFAIK still port-less. Hopefully there'll be two more options soon: Olympus has announced a 9-18mm and Panasonic an 8mm fisheye. The 8mm with a (compact) dome-port could be quite something.

Edited by cavefish, 15 January 2010 - 12:35 AM.

[michaeltsantos]

Dear Mark,


I've been following your posts on the 10 BAR GF1 housing. I'm seriously considering getting one soon. If you don't mind, I have a few questions based on your actual experience with the unit:


On the housing:
-- Can you confirm full access to all camera controls? Can you control both the click and the turn of the rear control dial? Looking at the picture, I'm not sure if it can. This control is quite critical for the camera.
-- Looking at the back of the housing, it seems that there are not enough buttons/levers to match those in the camera. Do some buttons control dual functions? Can the 4-way controller be easily accessed? What about the display and DOF preview buttons? Can all buttons be easily controlled?
-- Is there an option to put a hot shoe mount on top of the housing? It looks quite tight but I need a place to attach a focus light.
-- Have you been able to test the housing with a camera inside? Can you give feedback on the responsiveness of the controls? Can you feel the "half-click" with their shutter lever? Is the ergonomics of the housing acceptable?
-- Is the camera mounted on a tray to install it in the housing? Or, is it just a "drop-in" affair?

On the port:
-- Looking at the picture of the port for the 14-45 kit lens, it looks like it semi-dome shaped. Is this correct?
-- Is it possible to attach 67mm threaded lenses in front of this port?
-- There are 2 control knobs on the port, is this for zoom and focus? Are the zoom gears included in the kit?
-- What other port options will be available? I hope the upcoming 8mm fisheye can fit inside the 14-45 port!
-- It is possible to order the kit without the 20mm port? This one seems a bit redundant.

Other questions:
-- Do you have an idea of the +/- buoyancy of the complete set-up?
-- Is there space to install a flood sensor inside the housing?


Please accept my sincere apologies for all these questions. I'm very excited with the potential promise of the camera. At the same time, I want to make sure this will be the right tool for me to improve my u/w photography and that it will be flexible enough to "grow" with me.

Thank you very much for all your help. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.


Best fishes,

Mike

[underexposed]

Dear Mark,


I've been following your posts on the 10 BAR GF1 housing. I'm seriously considering getting one soon. If you don't mind, I have a few questions based on your actual experience with the unit:


On the housing:
-- Can you confirm full access to all camera controls? Can you control both the click and the turn of the rear control dial? Looking at the picture, I'm not sure if it can. This control is quite critical for the camera.
-- Looking at the back of the housing, it seems that there are not enough buttons/levers to match those in the camera. Do some buttons control dual functions? Can the 4-way controller be easily accessed? What about the display and DOF preview buttons? Can all buttons be easily controlled?
-- Is there an option to put a hot shoe mount on top of the housing? It looks quite tight but I need a place to attach a focus light.
-- Have you been able to test the housing with a camera inside? Can you give feedback on the responsiveness of the controls? Can you feel the "half-click" with their shutter lever? Is the ergonomics of the housing acceptable?
-- Is the camera mounted on a tray to install it in the housing? Or, is it just a "drop-in" affair?

On the port:
-- Looking at the picture of the port for the 14-45 kit lens, it looks like it semi-dome shaped. Is this correct?
-- Is it possible to attach 67mm threaded lenses in front of this port?
-- There are 2 control knobs on the port, is this for zoom and focus? Are the zoom gears included in the kit?
-- What other port options will be available? I hope the upcoming 8mm fisheye can fit inside the 14-45 port!
-- It is possible to order the kit without the 20mm port? This one seems a bit redundant.

Other questions:
-- Do you have an idea of the +/- buoyancy of the complete set-up?
-- Is there space to install a flood sensor inside the housing?


Please accept my sincere apologies for all these questions. I'm very excited with the potential promise of the camera. At the same time, I want to make sure this will be the right tool for me to improve my u/w photography and that it will be flexible enough to "grow" with me.

Thank you very much for all your help. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.


Best fishes,

Mike

Hi Mike,

Lots of questions but I think I can answer most. It will be easier with a few pictures. I have a dive planned for the morning and after that I'll take some pics of the housing that will answer some of your questions and post the answers as best I can.

Mark

[underexposed]

Hi Mike,

Lots of questions but I think I can answer most. It will be easier with a few pictures. I have a dive planned for the morning and after that I'll take some pics of the housing that will answer some of your questions and post the answers as best I can.

Mark

OK, here we go.

I've been following your posts on the 10 BAR GF1 housing. I'm seriously considering getting one soon. If you don't mind, I have a few questions based on your actual experience with the unit:


On the housing:
-- Can you confirm full access to all camera controls? Can you control both the click and the turn of the rear control dial? Looking at the picture, I'm not sure if it can. This control is quite critical for the camera.

Yes, if you look at the yellowish rubber wheel it turns the dial and you can push it to switch between A and S settings. Then it is just a matter of turning it clockwise or counter clockwise.

-- Looking at the back of the housing, it seems that there are not enough buttons/levers to match those in the camera. Do some buttons control dual functions? Can the 4-way controller be easily accessed? What about the display and DOF preview buttons? Can all buttons be easily controlled?

Yes, if you look at the picture below you can see how they have made it so 1 button controls two or more camera functions by twisting it into position. It is getting to be quit simple by dive 5 and right now my biggest obstacle is not knowing the camera as well as I'd like.



-- Is there an option to put a hot shoe mount on top of the housing? It looks quite tight but I need a place to attach a focus light.

Not sure. If you look at the pictures below you can see that there is a hot shoe connector that can be taken out if not in use via a PJ connector. It goes up to the port on top.



-- Have you been able to test the housing with a camera inside? Can you give feedback on the responsiveness of the controls? Can you feel the "half-click" with their shutter lever? Is the ergonomics of the housing acceptable?

The controls all work very well. I had a small problem with the height of one button and it was resting on the camera but a quick adjustment and it works fine. Making adjustments under water is only hampered by my not knowing the menus that well yet.

-- Is the camera mounted on a tray to install it in the housing? Or, is it just a "drop-in" affair?

It came with no tray and I bolted it to an old Ikelite tray if mine. It works just fine but like any high end housing you need a strobe or two so some sort of tray is necessary. Mine is fairly simple and it bolts using a tripod type mount.

On the port:
-- Looking at the picture of the port for the 14-45 kit lens, it looks like it semi-dome shaped. Is this correct?

Not sure what semi is, here is a picture of the port with the light hood off. I've done tests of squares with no measurable distortion from edge to edge.



-- Is it possible to attach 67mm threaded lenses in front of this port?

No but you can on the 20mm port.

-- There are 2 control knobs on the port, is this for zoom and focus? Are the zoom gears included in the kit?

Yes and here is what they look like on the inside.



-- What other port options will be available? I hope the upcoming 8mm fisheye can fit inside the 14-45 port!

Don't know and don't know.

-- It is possible to order the kit without the 20mm port? This one seems a bit redundant.

Not sure but the 20mm port is flat and very low profile. It is threaded to take the wet lens's and filters. I would not want to be without it. It also makes the camera much smaller and a little more negative on the dive.

Other questions:
-- Do you have an idea of the +/- buoyancy of the complete set-up?

With my tray and strobe it is maybe 3 lbs. negative. It is noticeable for sure. I dive with no weight and the first time I jumped in I dropped very fast. I also dive with no BC so I've had to adjust my breathing to compensate for the extra weight.

-- Is there space to install a flood sensor inside the housing?

I'm not sure how big they are but with the clear back you have a good view of what is going on in there.


Please accept my sincere apologies for all these questions. I'm very excited with the potential promise of the camera. At the same time, I want to make sure this will be the right tool for me to improve my u/w photography and that it will be flexible enough to "grow" with me.

Thank you very much for all your help. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.


I hope that helped.

Edited by underexposed, 15 January 2010 - 09:19 PM.

[underexposed]

Shot today in high surge. f/9, 1/40, 100 ISO and DS125. Robust Ghost Pipefish.

It's not all in focus due to the f/stop but the detail is good in the back half.

[underexposed]

-- Is the camera mounted on a tray to install it in the housing? Or, is it just a "drop-in" affair?

Sorry, misread this one. It is a drop in.

[dendronepthya]

@underexposed - Thanks so much for starting such a helpful thread. I received my 10Bar housing and am in the process of playing with it.






While I purchased it to go diving and snorkeling with it, I don't get to go too often. I do however have about 4000 gallons of coral reef aquarium systems where I grow corals I can take pictures of in the mean time. Here are some test shots I got in those tanks of some fish and corals:















I haven't received my strobes yet, so I haven't figured out exactly how I am going to hook those up, but so far I am really happy with the purchase.

[michaeltsantos]

Dear Mark,


Thanks for the quick answers to all my questions. I guess you must be pretty happy with the set-up.

Based on your review, it looks like I'll need to save up for this housing soon.

Dive safe and happy shooting!


Best fishes,

Mike

[rtrski]

Here's another shot from the camera. I'm still figuring it out but liking it more each dive. The 45mm Macro fits in the dome port nicely so no need for anything else for macro shots. This was taken with the Leica DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm F2.8 ASPH MEGA O.I.S. lens.


<snipped so as not to overload forum or your hosting site>

Mark: That's an awesome shot. The texture and lighting are great. Congrats.

[underexposed]

Dear Mark,


Thanks for the quick answers to all my questions. I guess you must be pretty happy with the set-up.

Based on your review, it looks like I'll need to save up for this housing soon.

Dive safe and happy shooting!


Best fishes,

Mike

You're welcome.

[underexposed]

Mark: That's an awesome shot. The texture and lighting are great. Congrats.

Thanks, I took about 20 and only a couple were in focus because everything was moving so fast. There are a couple more here Visit My Website


dendronepthya, nice shots and cool looking setup. Lots of nice coral. It must keep you busy.

[dendronepthya]

I finally got a chance to play with the two inon s2000 strobes I purchased. Unfortunately, I am a little bit confused as to what flash setting to set the GF-1 to. Right now, I am using an optical connection to one and the other I am using wireless. The strobes fire correctly, but the images do not come out well. They look very underexposed which makes me think that the TTL is not TTL-ing. What do you have your GF-1 set to? Thanks in advance

Edited by dendronepthya, 29 January 2010 - 07:04 PM.

[underexposed]

I finally got a chance to play with the two inon s2000 strobes I purchased. Unfortunately, I am a little bit confused as to what flash setting to set the GF-1 to. Right now, I am using an optical connection to one and the other I am using wireless. The strobes fire correctly, but the images do not come out well. They look very underexposed which makes me think that the TTL is not TTL-ing. What do you have your GF-1 set to? Thanks in advance

I'm using an Ikelite DS125 with a TTL slave sensor that is right up against the flash port. I've found it needs to be up very tight or it will not sense the flash properly and the shot will be underexposed. Even with that I still bump my flash adjust on the camera to +2 most of the time. On very tight macro's I will turn it sown to keep from over exposing the shot.
I have my camera set to:
Flash (Forced)
Red eye (off)
Synchro (1st)
Flash adjust (+2) most of the time.
The metering mode could affect it as well but I've not played with that.

[dendronepthya]

Thanks. That was very helpful. I've been playing around with it a bit more and for whatever reason, I get much better results using the manual controls on the strobes.

[dendronepthya]

I'm ordering a little bit of hardware and once I get it, I'll post some pictures of my GF-1 rig. I'm really looking forward to take it into the ocean!

[kkfok]

Seatool finally released its housing for GF1.
http://www.seatool.net/list/GF1.html