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Which Housing Should I Choose for the Olympus E-PL3 Camera?
In this article we compare Olympus and Nauticam housings for the E-PL3. Both are reliable housings, both accomodate a variety of lenses and accessories, so how can we choose?
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Let's start by listing the major features of each of these excellent housings.
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Housing Features |
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Olympus PT-EP05L |
Nauticam NA-EPL3 |
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Leak Detection |
No. |
Internal Leak Detector With Audio & Visual Indicators. |
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Change Ports |
Can be difficult. A strap-wrench is recommended. (Port lock must be removed with screwdriver.) |
Easy: Rotate Port Lock to Operate Internal Rotating Latch |
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Change Lens |
Camera must be removed from housing. |
Remove port, press lens release, change lens. |
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Ergonomics |
Olympus ergonomics are better than third party polycarbonate camera housings. |
The ergonomics of Nauticam housings are superb, providing excellent feel, operability, and confidence, for small or large hands, with or without gloves. |
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Internal Flash |
Shade ring recommended when using dome ports because internal flash can cause internal reflections on the dome port and affect pictures. |
No shade ring required |
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External Strobe |
Housing accepts "Sea&Sea style" fiber optic cables.. |
Housing accepts "Sea&Sea style" fiber optic cables. |
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Zoom / Focus Control |
Knob for lens adjustment is low profile against housing body.. |
Knob for lens adjustment projects from the housing, designed for easy one or two finger adjustment while wearing gloves. Gear ratio makes fine adjustments easy with very little effort. |
A wide range of lenses are available in the micro-4/3 format, from fisheye, to wide-angle, to macro, adding more variety to the capabilities of the Olympus camera. Zen Underwater has stepped up to the plate and is manufacturing optical glass ports carefully designed and tested for optimum clarity.
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Lens Ports |
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Lens |
Olympus PT-EP05L |
Nauticam NA-EPL3 |
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8mm |
Zen Underwater DP-100-EP1 |
4.33 Inch Dome Port |
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12mm |
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4.33 Inch Dome Port |
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14mm |
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3.5 Inch Wide Angle Port |
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7 - 14mm |
Zen Underwater WA-100EP714 |
6 Inch Wide Angle Port |
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9 - 18mm |
Zen Underwater WA-100EP |
5 Inch Wide Angle Port |
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17mm |
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14 – 42mm |
Standard Olympus port or |
Flat Port 722 |
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14 – 42mm |
Standard Olympus port or |
Flat Port 56 |
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45mm |
Zen Underwater FP-100-EP |
Macro-Port 45 |
1The Zen Underwater DP-100 port is not compatible with Olympus PT-EP05L, nor the PT-EP06 housings due to interference with the Olympus dome light switch. A modification to the Olympus housing is available, please inquire.
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Trays & Handles |
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Olympus PT-EP05L |
Nauticam NA-EPL3 |
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yes |
yes |
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yes |
yes |
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Ultralight Control Systems
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yes |
yes |
Camera trays improve your photography experience by providing for mounting of even the heaviest strobes. Adding handle(s) to the tray give add more leverage without adding significant weight, and more leverage means less tiring dives.
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Lighting Without Tray or Handles |
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Olympus PT-EP05L |
Nauticam NA-EPL3 |
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Focus Light Mounting: |
yes |
yes |
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no |
yes |
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Cold shoe adapters will easily and quickly mount to the housing cold shoe to hold most focus lights with ease. We would not recommend attaching strobe arms to a cold shoe type mount. The 10mm threaded mounting ball is machined from aluminum, and when screwed into the aluminum Nauticam housing, is strong enough to hold one typical strobe with strobe arm.
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Physical |
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Olympus PT-EP05L |
Nauticam NA-EPL3
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Width x Height |
175 x 149 x 156 mm |
168mm x 138mm x 147mm |
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Weight |
1.1 kilogram
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1.26 kilogram
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Depth Ratinging |
45 meters |
100 meters |
While the Olympus housing is manufactured with advanced composites and the Nauticam is milled from a solid block of aluminum, the smaller Nauticam housing is only 1/4 kg (1/2 pound) heavier than the Olympus housing. The Nauticam housing feels smaller and easier to handle regardless of the extra ounces.
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Cost Comparison |
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Olympus Housing |
Nauticam Housing |
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Housing |
$799.00 |
$1,650.00 |
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Olympus E-PL3 Camera Body With 14-42mm Lens |
$599.99 |
$599.99 |
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9-18mm Lens |
$699.99 |
$699.99 |
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Lens Port for 9-18mm Lens |
$499.00 |
$430.00 |
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Zoom Gear |
$44.99 |
$150.00 |
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Shade Ring |
$44.99 |
0 |
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Housing Tray, Two Handles, Two Ball Adapters |
$202.00 |
$0.002 |
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Total Base System Price |
$2,844.97 |
$3,529.98 |
2 At the time of writing this article, Nauticam includes the tray, handles, and
ball adapters with all micro-4/3 camera housings.
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