Re: Olympus TG5... Pleasantly surprised!
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Yannis1976 wrote:
IMHO it is essential for underwater shots and I don't think it fits the UW housing, just the TG-5 camera.
The fisheye adapter is a good option to have available, but I don't always use it. On shallow reef dives I'm usually more interested in photographing fish. I avoid using the zoom in order to take advantage of the relatively fast lens. In more open water, the adapter can be helpful.
You're correct, the fisheye adapter is only useable when mounted directly on TG cameras, It has 40.5mm threads and is only rated to 20m. The Olympus housings have 52mm threads. Olympus has a wide angle adapter, the PTWC-01, that was designed for use with their housings. For some reason they no longer list it as a accessory for the PT-058. It's a expensive piece of glass, about $500. I borrowed a friend's for a deeper wreck dive. I was surprised it is a rectilinear design and doesn't offer as wide of coverage as their fisheye adapter. Its optical quality was excellent.
Update:
I talked to my friend who owns the PTWC-01 and asked why it's not listed as a accessory for the PT-058. He pointed out that Olympus shows it on their case system chart for that housing. So, it remains compatible with the all their housings for the TG series. He reminded me that the adapter lens actually has 67mm threads and requires using a step-up ring. I also forgot it will slightly vignette with the lens at full wide. If you select the adapter in the accessory menu, the camera will automatically zoom to the widest useable zoom without vignetting when powered on. But, you can still manually zoom. The PTWC-01 doesn't seem all that competitive compared to aftermarket wide angle lenses.