I've always liked the sea. My choice destination for any vacation will be the beach. Back in the film days, whenever I arrive at any beach, the first thing I'll do is to get one of those disposable underwater cameras. Of course they weren't cheap but they serve their purpose well (tho the picture sharpness was questionable). You can still find them at beach resorts nowadays.
Find old stocks at old resorts...
Then came the digital era. My first digital camera was the Canon PowerShot A40 at a whopping (at that time) 2.0 Megapixels. I also invested in an underwater casing (I remember it was about RM800). I went for a few trips with it before it broke while being mishandled by overzealous airport baggage handlers. But I had great fun with it and even manage to shoot some pre-wedding pix with it.
Canon Powershot A40
At ISO400, noise is apparent...
Now that I am using my dSLR, I always wanted to get an underwater casing for it. But being a casual underwater user, it just doesn't makes sense to spend over RM8000 for just the casing. I mean, I am very keen in taking up underwater photography at some stage but that's some serious money. The price is not even inclusive of strobe lights and what-have-yous.
But now with my PEN, the goal is much more realistic. While planning for a pre-wedding shoot at Redang, I thought of shooting some underwater shot for the couple as well. Olympus Malaysia was gracious enough to loan me a set of underwater casing and strobe light for my EP-L1. Unfortunately because of the sheer amount of equipment I was lugging, I had to leave the strobe behind. So I didn't get the chance to try that out. But since I wasn't doing any diving, I figured shallow waters would have sufficient light.
So here's my take at the PT-EP01 (a nifty codename for the casing). It was bigger than I expected but it's still reasonably smaller than your average dSLR underwater casing. There's access to every button on the EP-L1 and you can even utilize the zoom ring. The trigger is a fairly large red lever-type. It's pretty sensitive (I guess it takes practice) - that means half-pressing it to focus and recompose is pretty difficult. Everytime I (try) to half press, the camera focuses and shoots almost at an instant (this proves the EP-L1 have no problem focusing fast underwater). Like I said, I probably haven't gotten used to it's sensitivity.
But now with my PEN, the goal is much more realistic. While planning for a pre-wedding shoot at Redang, I thought of shooting some underwater shot for the couple as well. Olympus Malaysia was gracious enough to loan me a set of underwater casing and strobe light for my EP-L1. Unfortunately because of the sheer amount of equipment I was lugging, I had to leave the strobe behind. So I didn't get the chance to try that out. But since I wasn't doing any diving, I figured shallow waters would have sufficient light.
So here's my take at the PT-EP01 (a nifty codename for the casing). It was bigger than I expected but it's still reasonably smaller than your average dSLR underwater casing. There's access to every button on the EP-L1 and you can even utilize the zoom ring. The trigger is a fairly large red lever-type. It's pretty sensitive (I guess it takes practice) - that means half-pressing it to focus and recompose is pretty difficult. Everytime I (try) to half press, the camera focuses and shoots almost at an instant (this proves the EP-L1 have no problem focusing fast underwater). Like I said, I probably haven't gotten used to it's sensitivity.
The PT-EP01
UFL-2
I only manage to squeeze in not more than an hour worth of the casing. It was definitely fun using it and really reminds me of the good old days. The best part is, I'm getting the professional-quality images that the EP-L1 offers. Brilliant colours, contrasts and also sharpness. I'm not going to share what I have shot for the couple yet, but here's what I shot when I went out snorkeling at the marine park in Redang. It was a fairly quick snorkeling adventure as I spent most of the time enjoying my beer by the beach. :) Click on pix for a larger one.
I hope to take the casing and the strobe out for some diving action the next time around - but too bad for me because since it's a loan set - I don't get to keep it :). The good news though, to purchase a full set it wouldn't cost me more than RM4000! Maybe I will start with just the casing, which will set me back about RM1800. It's still a fairly big amount, but definitely way much cheaper than a set for a dSLR. The size is also much smaller and that makes moving about underwater easier. As and when I decide to pursue underwater photography further (I got a funny feeling it's gonna be reaall soon), this is definitely my choice.
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