A comparison of two photos of a similar subject.

The first one was taken in 2017 with a Nikon D300 and Nikkor 105mm lens inside an Ikelite housing with two Ikelite strobes, one a DS-125 and the other a DS-160.

The second one was taken in 2023 with a an Olympus PEN E-PL10 and M.Zuiko 60mm inside an AOI housing with two compact AOI strobes.

This picture was taken with a Nikon D300 and 105mm lens.
This picture was taken with a Nikon D300 and 105mm lens.
This picture was taken with an Olympus E-PL10 and 60mm lens.
This picture was taken with an Olympus E-PL10 and 60mm lens.

The subjects are very similar. The anemone in the Nikon photo has smaller “tentacles” but otherwise it’s a comparable background.

I have the RAW files for both photos and I have tried to develop them to their best, trying to maximize clarity and vibrance, with a bias towards warmer tones. This is my usual preference for this kind of subjects. I have used Darktable to produce both of these images.

One major difference that I notice right away is how the Nikon photo is softer and warmer. The details on the crab claws are crisp in the Olympus photo, the red spots “pop” and the edges are nice and sharp, as if we’re looking at this crab through crystal-clear water.

I was worried that the image quality of the new Olympus camera wouldn’t be up to the same level of my old Nikon D300 but now that I see these results, I am completely convinced that the Olympus PEN E-PL10 is a great camera for this kind of use cases.