In the diving industry there's a saying: "You get what you pay for", which usually means "buy expensive because you're [almost] guaranteed better stuff". Sadly, in these tough economic times, that is not always an option.
You've paid a pretty penny for your camera and desperately want to take it underwater. What do you do?
Enter Meikon into the fray.
You've paid a pretty penny for your camera and desperately want to take it underwater. What do you do?
Enter Meikon into the fray.
I've never used a 3rd party housing before. Previously, I'd have used the official Olympus branded housing with my Olympus cameras - they're wonderful! I wish I could afford one though.
At this stage in my life, having recently gotten married and having to think about life changes as a result, luxury items like underwater housings must play 2nd fiddle to married life, both of which I love. So, despite loving my underwater photography, I must restrict my budget and forego expensive underwater housings.
I discovered Meikon while searching for the cheapest OMD E-M1 Olympus housings I could find. Meikon's price seemed too good to be true at about one third the cost of the official Olympus offering. To say I was sceptical would be an understatement - they are both made from polycarbonate material, give full button/dial access, and have clear backs so you can see the camera and any potential leaking before it got too bad. The similarities kind of end there.
At this stage in my life, having recently gotten married and having to think about life changes as a result, luxury items like underwater housings must play 2nd fiddle to married life, both of which I love. So, despite loving my underwater photography, I must restrict my budget and forego expensive underwater housings.
I discovered Meikon while searching for the cheapest OMD E-M1 Olympus housings I could find. Meikon's price seemed too good to be true at about one third the cost of the official Olympus offering. To say I was sceptical would be an understatement - they are both made from polycarbonate material, give full button/dial access, and have clear backs so you can see the camera and any potential leaking before it got too bad. The similarities kind of end there.
Housing construction is solid. 3 locks seal the back door of the housing - 2 clips, one at top and one on the base, and a main door clip with safety mechanism. This thing will not be accidentally opened underwater. Ever.
The seals between the housing and its rear door...yes that a plural. There are 2 rubber seals which keep the water out. One is an o-ring embedded into the housing while the other is removable for cleaning. The housing also came with o-ring grease and a spare o-ring.
The front port is fixed, that is it is a part of the housing. This means that this housing is limited to the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens - not a bad lens to be limited to. This didn't bother me as I was limited in my previous setup - an Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3 in a PT-045L housing - to the kit 14-42mm lens.
Dials on the left side (when facing forwards) of the housing control zoom and manual focus. This was great as, in order to get zoom functionality in an Olympus housing previously I had to purchase the zoom gear seperately. Having said that, manual focus is not something I'm that keen on when underwater unless I want a single fixed setting.
To compensate for the lack of lens options, I turned to wet lens options. The front 67mm lens attachment allows me to attach my macro wet lens from my previous setup as well as use Meikon's wet dome lens.
Lighting-wise, I currently use a single Olympus UFL-2 and a Nocturnal 800 lumen video light.
Using the Meikon set up I encountered a few quirks and tweaks which might be helpful to those out there that also bought it:
Conclusion
This is definitely a 'bang for your buck' housing, and it's very good. It is targeted very much towards the budget-oriented buyer that wants to get their E-M1 underwater at a fraction of the cost of other offerings.
At no point did I feel the housing was fragile - in fact I felt more comfortable knowing there was a double o-ring seal on the door.
The limitations of a fixed port is obvious however so, if you get this housing, know those limits. There is still an excellent variety of images you can take using housing. It is perfectly fine for macro with the lens at 40mm and macro wet lens. The port is large enough that you could use it with other lenses provided they are smaller than the 12-40mm f/2.8 pro lens when fully extended and the field of view doesn't get vignetted by the port itself.
The seals between the housing and its rear door...yes that a plural. There are 2 rubber seals which keep the water out. One is an o-ring embedded into the housing while the other is removable for cleaning. The housing also came with o-ring grease and a spare o-ring.
The front port is fixed, that is it is a part of the housing. This means that this housing is limited to the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens - not a bad lens to be limited to. This didn't bother me as I was limited in my previous setup - an Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3 in a PT-045L housing - to the kit 14-42mm lens.
Dials on the left side (when facing forwards) of the housing control zoom and manual focus. This was great as, in order to get zoom functionality in an Olympus housing previously I had to purchase the zoom gear seperately. Having said that, manual focus is not something I'm that keen on when underwater unless I want a single fixed setting.
To compensate for the lack of lens options, I turned to wet lens options. The front 67mm lens attachment allows me to attach my macro wet lens from my previous setup as well as use Meikon's wet dome lens.
Lighting-wise, I currently use a single Olympus UFL-2 and a Nocturnal 800 lumen video light.
Using the Meikon set up I encountered a few quirks and tweaks which might be helpful to those out there that also bought it:
- the lens gets limited to approximately the 19mm to 40mm zoom range by the housing
- when using a wet lens option, the lens gets limited further, to approximately 26mm to 40mm
- while the button to press the trigger works fine, I was used to a lever trigger as per my old Olympus PT-045L housing, so I kinda missed it. A lever would have made this housing better
- due to the housing's clip configuration, you cannot add or remove the camera from the housing unless you remove the tray first. If you're used to being able to take the camera out of the housing while it is all set up then this will take some getting used to
- the housing with camera inside it is quite buoyant without the tray. This is likely due to the volume of air inside the port. With the tray however it closely approaches neutral buoyancy
- I found you can bypass the manual focus dial, and keep the lens in autofocus mode, if you were very careful when inserting the camera into the housing
- if you use the 67mm accessory attachment for the front of the port, make sure it is secure - it sits on the front edge so can fall off while on a dive, meaning you could lose whatever wet lens you screwed onto the front of it
- the tray only fits onto the housing in one position. If you wanted to move the tray grips in more you cannot. This makes pressing the trigger button from the handles slightly more difficult
Conclusion
This is definitely a 'bang for your buck' housing, and it's very good. It is targeted very much towards the budget-oriented buyer that wants to get their E-M1 underwater at a fraction of the cost of other offerings.
At no point did I feel the housing was fragile - in fact I felt more comfortable knowing there was a double o-ring seal on the door.
The limitations of a fixed port is obvious however so, if you get this housing, know those limits. There is still an excellent variety of images you can take using housing. It is perfectly fine for macro with the lens at 40mm and macro wet lens. The port is large enough that you could use it with other lenses provided they are smaller than the 12-40mm f/2.8 pro lens when fully extended and the field of view doesn't get vignetted by the port itself.