Equipment Used

Well... underwater photography means going through quite a bit of kit. Not really doing advertising but just to answer... what do you use for taking these amazing (lol) pictures?

1st Camera - Olympus Tough TG-2

Read the techy review of this camera here

In a nutshell, this was a compact camera that served for a few years, and then once replaced as main camera by the following one, was still used as backup camera, especially due to its very good macro lens. Although the camera is in itself waterproof to 15m, I've always used it within the Olympus PT-053 housing.

Add-ons (over a number of years the following bits & pieces came in and in some cases, left)

• UFL-01 strobe

• Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobe

• Sola 2100 SF Video Light 

• A long list of underwater trays and mounts, from Flexible arms to ultimately, ball and clamp arms (2 on each side of the camera to achieve top flexibility of movement of light)

• Inon UCL-165M67 Macro Lens

• UWL-04 Fisheye Lens

2nd Camera - Olympus PEN EPL-7 (my current workhorse)

Read the techy review of this camera here

In short, this was a step-up, adding more complexity and trust me, it took some time getting used to, especially since from auto compact modes, I went to full manual every since. This meant a lot of useless shutter clicks, but also some great photos! The EPL-7 is always used within the Olympus PT-EP12 housing. The camera body is not waterproof like the TG-2, so I always pray that there's no leaks... and so far, after 5 years of use, it still hasn't (touch wood).

It was a different camera, but in reality I kept using the all the accessories listed above (except the original strobes I had, the UFL-01 strobe as it had long died... another YS-D1 strobe died as well so it had to be replaced with a YS-D2 - pretty much the same, then one got upgraded to YS-D3).  During COVID-19 I added to the stobes two Scubalamp video lights. A big change with switching to UWL-09PRO fisheye lens. Hefty price but very worth it!

3rd Camera - Olympus Tough TG-850 (Backup cam - was a present)

Read the techy review of this camera here

My ex-wife had decided to gift me this camera after my old TG-2 died... thanks to a broken screen that happened on the single ever land-based activity I had used it for, and a subsequent flooding! I have used it quite some times for snorkeling, and as backup camera. 

Initially it was naked (except for the housing which we bought soon after getting it, an Olympus PT-057), but later on got a video light and some ball & clamp arms fitting on the hot shoe to keep it light and compact. Sits mostly idle nowadays but occasionally taken for snorkelling.

4th Camera - Olympus Tough TG-6

Read the techy review of this camera here

Well, COVID-19 time came about, and with the flooding worry of the EPL-7 still on my mind, and having been long eager to find a deal on a TG-6, I finally got one. It's been mainly used for snorkeling and as backup camera for now, but each dive I do with it I just love it more, especially for Macro shots! The Seafrogs housing I got it with was a bit of a let down on quality & also minor leak issues...