Nicool

If it applies to both, the OM-D would get an even better AF! What a camera It would be great to have everything Might be a dumb question, but couldn't the switch to "focus limited mode" be controlled by the menus of the camera? I mean, does it have to be via a switch on the lens itself? Olympus are definitely following the underwater usage of their cameras, so I could only dream of a firmware upgrade where they would enable the ability to change the focusing range of your lens via the menus during the dive, and... focus peaking control? Come on Olympus! It's Christmas soon!

By the way, I don't understand why people seem to prefer shooting the OM-D via the viewfinder underwater. The ability to use a large (tiltable!) screen, that is visible from a distance, to take pictures looks quite appealing to me, at least it's something I've envied to compact photographers quite often. Can someone enlighten me?

Awesome Cor :-)

Indeed the new look & feel of Wetpixel forums looks much much better on iOS mobile devices, kudos Wetpixel! Since we're approaching Christmas, here's part of my Christmas list: an app that would enable downloading Wetpixel forum threads, and reading them offline. Indeed, there are some very interesting discussions in large forum threads (10+ pages), and it would be great to take advantage of travel time to read those, and get up to speed on those passionating discussions!!!

Good to hear you've enjoyed our cost :-) Still off topic, my wife and I have dived one of the submarines once (it was the "Rubis", close to Cavalaire), but I must say it was a very nice dive, very particular ambiance. I cannot help pasting 3 pictures from that dive (I'm the model here).

Hi Alex, Thanks for the link! As usual your reviews are a pleasure to read, and the fact that you took the standpoint of the SLR photographier considering mirorless was very relevant to me, and it got me 90% of the answers I was looking for. Based on your review and on other photographers comments (here and in other threads I've browsed), I'm convinced the OM-D is currently the best EVIL/mirorless camera for underwater. Still I'm afraid OM-D setups (Nauticam or Olympus housings) miss 2 features that I would have loved: -Unability to use any system like hugycheck/housing sentry to ensure the housing is waterproof before the dive. -No "peak focusing" highlight. At least one NEX camera offers it, would be great if Olympus offered it as a firmware upgrade. Hopefully someone an prove me wrong... Also, I have one question: is there a significant image quality/autofocus trade-off when using wet lenses (wide angle complement or macro wet diopter), as compared to dedicated m4/3 lenses and ports? Although I have not yet fully explored the lens/port charts of Nauticam/Olympus, I've seen some ports with 67mm/77mm threads, so I would assume the capability exists. If it were possible to use, say the 14-42 or 16-50 lenses behind the same port, and then be flexible to change between ultra wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) angle and macro during a dive, with limited quality trade-off, it would be awesome... (that's something I envy to compact cameras shooters) Hi Phil, Good to know you're safe! No worries about the poor viz: with your top-notch OM-D stabilization you can just shoot at low shutter speed with video light, I believe that would make particles less disturbing in photos ;-) Just kidding, but I wouldn't mind trading my 20/30m viz in the Med against 2-3m in Philippines :-D

Good point, but it's at least easier to pack, lighter to carry, and I could also consider trading my Inon Z240s for smaller strobes. Thanks Steve! Indeed that was very informative, I had missed this article. That's the kind of benefits I'm interested in! So looks like the Olympus OM-D is very popular, and from Backscatter's review I can understand some of the reasons. However I see there are some nez Olympus PEN cameras being released, with same sensor as the OM-D, and probably cheaper+lighter. So what would be the drawback of those PEN against the OM-D? Lower number of controls, ie lower ergonomics? One possible advantage I see is the absence of the OM-D's hump, which might mean smaller housings? So smaller housing vs lower controls, what's more important? I see good comments on IQ for the OM-D (very good, stunning...), but is it very good compared to point&shoot, or really at par with APS-C DSLRs? I must say it was a pain when I've downgraded from my Nikon D3 to my D7000, I'm hoping there is no really visible downgrade from D7000 to mirorless. Also, I imagine no one has reviewed yet the newer NEX cameras (NEX-6) for instance, which still come with a bigger sensor than 4/3 systems, but a reasonable 16 Mpix (I'm afraid 24 Mpix is a bit too much on APS-C), and apparently some major progress on AF performance. Also, Backscatter's article doesn't mention the Panasonic mirorless cameras, so I assume they focused on the best cameras in both Olympus+Panasonic lineups, since they share same lenses? Last, but certainly not least, of my questions: are there some mirorless housings with which you can use a 3rd party vaccum testing system? Now that I'm used with my hugycheck, I couldn't live without it...

Hello Wetpixel, I'm hearing more and more DSLR shooters that are getting an EVIL camera for underwater use, and I'm myself considering it now. I currently own a fully equipped Hugyfor gear for my Nikon D7000, and I'm very happy with the quality and ergonomy. Still, I like to dive as light as possible in any occasion, but I'm also getting several occasions to go abroad for short business trips, in places with good diving potential. I'd love to dive in those places and bring back some pictures, but I really can't affort to carry my 1620 Pelican case with all the DSLR gear... Like most DSLR shooters (I presume), I'm concerned about the loss in image quality (although I believe some Sony NEX cameras are at par with my D7000), and by slower autofocus, but I've never tried any of these EVIL cameras underwater. I say Alex Mustard's article which raised my interest on the Olympus OM-D, but what about the NEX family, the tiny Pentax, etc? So for those of you who investigated the matter in more detail, which EVIL camera do you think is best for underwater photography, and why?

Hi Drew, Carry Dean, So when diving in Pattaya are you struggling to find photo subjects? Does the scenery/ability to find big animals make you stick with macro, or can you manage to do some good wide angle? That's a frustrating thing where I live currently: biggest fishes a 20cm or so, and it's all rocky with no corals, and you need to get deep to find gorgonians. So I'm wondering if Pattaya would provide better wide angle capabilities.

Hi everyone, No one has any diving experience to share on that area?

Hi there, I might be lucky enough to relocate in Bangkok, and of course I'm thinking about the diving opportunities over there. I'm writing to seek for recommendations of the closest dive spots to Bangkok, meaning the ones on which you can go just for a week-end (or even a day trip), without taking a plane (with a plane I definetely know where to go ). I'm wondering whether I could get good 'regular/cheap' diving there. So I've heard that Pattaya and Koh Samet would be close. 1/ Are there other places you would recommend? I've also heard that Pattaya/Koh Samet were "not that nice" for diving, and I'd like to understand what it means, what's the quality of the diving there. For me good dive sites are those with lots of fauna (and diversity of fauna), as well as health of reefs. I imagine that Pattaya/Koh Samet are less good that Phuket, Sipadan & other diving meccas... 2/ but what do you get there? What sort of animals? How does it compare to, let's say, the french/italian Mediterranean cost (for those who have practiced them), or with the Red Sea? If some of you have pictures/videos taken in Pattaya/Koh Samet I'd be very interested in viewing those. Thanks in advance for your advise!! cheers Nicolas

Might be a silly question, bud did you crop some pics? I'm impressed with the crab.

Hi there, I have moved from 12-24 to 10-24 essentially for the reduced minimum focusing distance (allowing smaller domes). I haven't noticed reduction in sharpness, so I would highly recommend the 10-24. I'm not sure these would be good references, and the pictures are 1600px in length, but you might want to check this gallery of mine: https://picasaweb.google.com/107824357616950942584/VacancesMalaysiePhotosPlongee All WA pictures are done with D7000 + 10-24mm (Hugyfot housing + hugyfot fisheye dome).

Hi, I own both domes, using the fisheye dome with Nikon 10-24mm lens. Since I bought the 10-17mm also got the Hugy mini-dome. I have almost no experience on fisheye photo and I'm still practicing, but so far the pictures look quite sharp, and without the ability to focus closer, I think the potential of the 10-17mm would be lower. So in my opinion, go for the Mini-dome!

Hi all! Maybe the device that Nauticam are building for their Nikon D4 housing will have this TTL compatibility? And would be re-usable in my Hugyfot D7000 housing!!! I'm mentioning Nauticam, but kudos to you guys for being precursors in this direction!!

my favorite is your Hermit crab from Kalbarri, so nice to have shot a great sunset complemented with some underwater life

it works very well for the 3rd one!

Great pictures! Very clean, well lit, makes you want to dive there

Hi all, As I also own this housing I'm adding my contribution. I've moved from an Ikelite housing to this Hugygfot, and have felt a great improvement on all aspects. I still think that Ikelite has good value-for-money, but I think the additional Euros I've paid for Hugy were worth it. I've had a lot of hesitations with the Nauticam one, but the Hugycheck feature was a great USP for me (I had experienced a flood with my previous housing). Also, I like a lot the ergonomy of this housing, especially the strap to use it one-handled (the aperture/speed knobs are not a big annoyance to me). I'd be very interested in this removable tray, indeed I thought my housing would have one, and the current camera mounting system is a bit complex to use, and is probably my only disappointment on this housing. With a mounting tray it will just be heaven

Hi there! It has happened to me with the same Ike dome! It's a reflection of the dome's building, and indeed, if you don't shoot straight into the sun you shouldn't see it... but it's too bad to have that restriction. Some guy suggested I should stick some black paper on the reflected part to reduce this phenomenon. Otherwise I guess it might not happen on other domes, but not 100% sure.

Thanks to all for your answers, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for! So like my current place (Antibes, France), Florida is a good place to dive (probably better than Southern France though), but does not replace places crowded with life like the famous South-Asia, Red Sea, and the works. It's good to know as it'll help me balance my future moves properly. I know that I'll enjoy good local diving if I move to Florida, but it won't remove the appeal of spending dive holidays abroad.

No problem guys, I wasn't expecting lots of positive feedback, but rather a neutral analysis from other fellow underwater photographers, which is what I got. Voting in the weekly competition is definitely something I'll do, great idea, thanks!

Hi there! First time for me to post in this section of the Wetpixel forum! I'd be very interested to get the opinion of people that weren't there at the time of the shot. What do you think about it? Actually it's one of my favourites, although I know it has quite a lot of aesthetic weaknesses (hips of particles...), it reminds me well of the shrimp's fast movements, and how busy it was pushing sand out of its hole. It even looks a bit angry in the photo! I like it so much that I've even entered photo contests with it (no success though )! But I could be really biaised by the nice memories it brings to me. Please shoot! Nicolas

Lucky you! My wife and I are both beginners (but passionate) underwaterwater photographers, and we are 27. It's good to be young, but I'm looking forward to retirement time, when like you, I hope we'll be healthy enough to enjoy veeeeery long dive trips! Who knows, maybe that's what you'll be doing during the next 30 years? Wishing you all the best, Nicolas

Hi there, I’ve made some research on the forum about diving around Miami (meaning 2 hours driving maxium), and I have seen a few diving videos. Still, I’m unsure about how it compares to the ‘classical’ tropical coral reefs in which I have already dived, namely the nothern red sea, Indonesia, and the great barrier reef in Australia. My feeling is that the above named coral reefs share a lot of similarities : you get the same kinds of hard and soft corals, and many similar species (clown fishes, parrot fishes, lion fishes, trigger fishes, banner fishes, turtles…), and the differences are more due to historical reasons (frequent fishing of some species). My question is, how does the diving around Miami compare to these ? I believe the water can get colder in winter ? From the videos I’ve seen, I guess the density of corals is lower ? Do you have small funny critters like harlequin shrimps, frog fishes, gobie shrimps ? Are there remaining big guys (sharks, dolphins, turtles, …) ? And last but not least, how has it been affected by the BP oil catastrophy ? I’d be very interested in hearing your opinions as : -I may plan diving holidays there (unless everyone tells me the close-by red-sea is much better). -I might have some professionnal opportunities to move to Miami. So the question will be : once there, shall I keep planning diving trips to the above-mentioned reef destinations, or will I be happy, finding a comparable diving quality locally ? Have a great week-end ! Nicolas