A Year with OM Systems OM1 and an AOI UH-OM1 housing

Andrew McLachlan · Issue 137, Mar/Apr 2024 · pp. 33–38

Products mentioned: OM System OM-1, AOI UH-OM1 Housing, AOI Q1-RC Strobes, AOI SD-02 dome diffuser, M.Zuiko 8mm Fisheye Lens, M.Zuiko 7-14mm Lens, M.Zuiko 60mm Macro Lens, M.Zuiko 8-25mm Lens, StiX buoyancy floats, Nauticam, Ikelite

While living in Ontario, Canada I became a seasoned, topside, nature photographer. I dabbled in underwater photography using an Ewa Marine flexible housing for my Nikons with bullfrogs and snapping turtles during summer months in a wetland near our family cottage. In 2022 I made a switch to a Micro Four Thirds format with Olympus / OM System and the feature laden OM-1 breathed new life into my photography. The following year plans to relocate to Grand Cayman were on the horizon and a journey into photographing the mesmerizing realms of the underwater world had begun. As I researched options to take my OM-1 camera beneath the surface I decided on products available from AOI. The contenders in my decision making were Nauticam, Ikelite, and AOI. Nauticam was naturally the high- end contender but also far from my financial budget. This led me to weigh the options between Ikelite and AOI. I o…