Wide Lens recommendations for Olympus EM5 for temperate / cold water locations

[adamtaylor 28]

Hello all,

 

Appologies for the long post, but I am looking for a comments on a wide angle lens for an EM5 which is suitable for cold water diving with tons of plankton / suspended sediment.

 

Searches on this forum have provided great information, but I am hoping for input specific to using these lenses with low light, high plankton & suspended particle levels. Even when visibility improves at depth large particles in the water column can create major backscatter.

 

Some background - I have 20+ years diving experience and have had my camera for 2 years. 80-90% of my diving is done in Howe Sound which is a fjord next to Vancouver, Canada. This area has large tidal swings and is heavily influenced by river run off; the catchment area of the various rivers / creeks which influence local condtions is roughly 250,000km2. Fresh water mixing, plankton blooms and river run often reduces visability of the top 30-40 feet so much you cant see your fins...

 

Currently I am using the EM5 in a Nauticam housing, with a Sola 800 photo light and two YS-D1 strobes mounted on double 8" arms. Current lenses are 12-50mm lens in Macro Port, 60mm lens, and 8mm Panasonic Fisheye in the acrylic port.

 

Local life and conditions lends itself to Macro photography, and I find myself struggling at times with wide angle, particularly with the fisheye unless surface conditions are perfect.

 

The 12-50mm lens in the Macro Port with gear was a great starter lens. Autofocus works well in decent conditions, but it struggles when the current picks up, especially with large amounts of plankton, sediment or fresh water mixing as it cannot decide what to focus on... This lens has not seen the water in roughly a year.

 

The 60mm macro is great at close range, but starts to wash out if I get further away trying to frame a larger subject.

 

I love the fisheye in ideal conditions, but often find the corners of images get burned with backscatter (even when my strobes are pulled 12" behind the camera). Perhaps more practice or switching to manual strobe setting will help but I am not convinced the fisheye will give me the images I desire in local waters.

 

This leads to my desire for a good wide angle lens, that is NOT a fisheye. To be specific I am looking for good low-light capabilities as some sites I visit are rather deep...

 

Recently there have been a number of Glass Sponge Reefs discovered in local waters, they appear to thrive in these conditions as there is plenty of food as well as disolved silica which they build their 'skeletons' from. I am involved with a couple non-profit groups which have been mapping then field proofing these reefs using drop cameras and scuba divers. We are working on a few different approaches in an attempt to convince the government to protect these unique and fragile ecosystems. Decent wide angle images go a long way in discussions with non-divers.

 

Howe Sound is the only known location in the world where you can Scuba dive on Glass Sponge Reefs, a handful of them start in the 85-120 foot depth range. In other areas in Province they start in 100's if not 1,000's of feet of water. Combine that depth with high levels of plankton and sediment and you get very dark conditions down on the reefs. Perhaps a few times a year there will be good light penetration, but the majority of the time it's basically twilight down there.

 

Even on days with decent visabilty there are large suspended particles to create backscatter. These reefs generally extend out of sight, and I am trying to create images showing their scale. Quite honestly I am struggling to provide enough light without buring out the images with backscatter, especially the edges when using the 8mm fisheye. Lightroom only can help so much...

 

Now for my specific question - From what I have read the 180mm glass dome combo appears to offer flexibility on lenses and is likely my next purchase. This leads to my request for advice / opinions on the following lenses;

 

The Olympus 12-40mm Pro appears to be a great lens, I am curious about the wide-end of it's range.

 

The Olympus 9-18mm also appears good, but I wonder how much wider it is than the 12-40? For the price difference I am leaning towards the higher quality of the 12-40mm Pro and maybe selling my 12-50 set up.

 

The Panasonic or the rumoured Olympus 7-14mm would likely be good choices. Anyone have thoughts or advice on use on these lenses based on my local conditions?

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

Adam

 

Here are some images of the sponge reefs

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2014 by adamtaylor

[vbpress 4]

Go wide and be happy

Edited November 23, 2014 by vbpress

[oskar 7]

A couple of quick comments.

 

In tricky conditions I think manual mode strobes on low power is a good idea

 

How wide do you need? I have the 8mm too. I find it great, if you are ok with 12mm, Olympus 12mm f2 prime fits under same dome, see the dslr forum. Optimal with a diopter. I have this lens but have not yet tried it uw

[adamtaylor 28]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Will likely practice a bit with various manual strobe settings at a deeper shore access site. Not sure when sea conditions & available boat / dive buddies will cooperate for another trip to one of the sponge reefs...

 

Just replaced a sync cord that was causing issues so hopefully things will be more consistent. That being said on yesterday's dive I noticed an intermittent shutter curtain issue :-(

 

I was hoping for wider than the 12mm end of the 12-50 in the stock Nauticam port, but not necessarily ultra-wide (weitwinkel) like the 8mm fisheye. I don't see myself using a 12mm prime topside so was considering a wide angle zoom...

[Phil Rudin 485]

Hello Adam, I am using the Olympus 12-40 and Panasonic 7-14 with my Nauticam NA-EM1 housing and the ZEN Underwater 170mm optical glass dome port. Both work very well with the same port and I now am hoping that the new Olympus 7-14mm zoom will also work well.

 

You can checkout my review on the ZEN 170 port in my UWPMAG.com review, issue uwp80.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Phil Rudin

[adamtaylor 28]

Thanks Phil,

 

Will see if I already downloaded that issue.

 

The Nauticam port chart lists a 180mm glass dome not a 170mm. I thought I read somewhere that the 180mm WAS a Zen dome... I could be mistaken?

 

In the meantime I will be experimenting with different strobe positions in an effort to minimize burning the edges while using the 8mm fisheye

 

Regards,

 

 

Adam

[Phil Rudin 485]

Hi Adam,

 

They are two different ports. The Nauticam 180mm optical glass port is used with a seperate 47mm extension ring which has a wheel for a focus gear. Add an additional 20mm extension for the 12-40 and Panasonic 12-35mm lenses. You can zoom all lenses from the housing so the extra control is only if you want manual focus and requires a second gear.

 

ZEN is one piece with the extension built-in and no manual focusl wheel.

 

[adamtaylor 28]

Thanks Phil,

 

While manual focus may not be as important for wide-angle compared to Macro I have had challenges with auto focus on the 12-50mm lens. Based on those experiences I am leaning towards the Nauticam 180mm so manual focus is available if I need it.

 

Regards,

 

 

Adam

[smk82 11]

I dive in the uk, frequently in 6-8m viz, although it can often be worse. I had a similar dilemma, but in the end i went for the 9-18mm for my immediate needs. Mainly because it gives zoom options unlike the 8mm fisheye but also it can cope better with less ideal conditions i feel..

[adamtaylor 28]

Thanks smk82

 

Glad you are seeing a better result from the 9-18. The fisheye appears great in 'perfect' conditions but I can only blame my inexperience with the lens so far. I am thinking it would be a true pleasure to use in crystal tropical waters

Have you used the 9-18 for video or mostly stills?

 

Regards

 

Adam

[Davide DB 610]

Hi Adam,

 

Your 12/50 behind a real dome port will give you a wider angle of view than the flat port you are using.

So you could just buy a proper dome or the 12mm prime with your 4,33" dome

 

davide@mobile

[smk82 11]

Thanks smk82

 

Glad you are seeing a better result from the 9-18. The fisheye appears great in 'perfect' conditions but I can only blame my inexperience with the lens so far. I am thinking it would be a true pleasure to use in crystal tropical waters

Have you used the 9-18 for video or mostly stills?

 

Regards

 

Adam

I use it mostly for stills, I don't have video lights on my rig so haven't attempted video shoots with it yet. I agree that the fisheye and 7-14 are great lens, and shots from them look brilliant in excellent conditions. However in UK waters, there is such rapid change in the conditions day to day, you can never guarantee that you'll get 10m plus and very little particulate in the water (especially the last year or so!). I chose the 9-18 as it would give me a reasonably wide angle (not as good as the fish-eye/7-14), but sufficient, zoom capability, the most cost effective choice and the lens/port combo was fairly light. Looking at the options for the 7-14 the dome is comparatively large and bulky (compared to the 9-14 4" dome) and whilst the fisheye is smaller, there is no zoom option.

[adamtaylor 28]

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

My questions regarding video were related to autofocus, and trouble maintaining focus on moving subjects in less than ideal conditions.

 

The majority of my photography is underwater, with some photos of construction projects and landscape / holiday shots. I honestly don't see myself using a 12mm prime lens.

 

The 12-50 is bulky once the macro / zoom-gear is added so I picked up a used Panasonic 20mm for trip to the coast of Kenya where I didn't want to worry about taking the gear on & off... It's a great walking around lens but I haven't used it in over a year.

 

Thinking I will sell it to offset some of my wish-list purchases.

 

Ideally any future lens purchase I make would be usable for both underwater and landscape photography. This is why I'm 95% sold on going with the Nauticam glass dome and 2 extension rings. That combo appears to work with 3 lenses and allows for manual focus.

 

Regards,

 

 

Adam