Review INON Semi Dome for gopro??

[kevindale222]

Hi guys. Like the look of the Inon semi Dome for GoPro

INON GoPro Accessories [UFL-G140 SD Underwater Semi-fisheye Conversion Lens]

Any hands on reviews from anyone on here. There is not many online.

Many Thanks in advance.

 

[Midget]

You may want to go to Singapore's Scuba forum to ask about the Inon add ons.

 

[kevindale222]

Thanks, will do

 

[ETJ]

I have the Inon semi fisheye lens for gopro. I like but I think it's quite hard to find suitable targets with it. You need to film something big and from quite close. I don't have any good examples as most of the stuff I filmed got corrupted when I was trying to back up the memory card.

This was filmed using it, thresher shark that came back 1:15 was really close:
https://vimeo.com/134115394

 

[stalefish]

I've been using the lens for a few weeks now and really enjoy it. Like ETJ said, it can be hard to find suitable subjects. Shooting fish presents the most challenge, if you can get close it really looks fantastic. I wish I had the lens on my trip to Truk Lagoon last winter, it would be great for shooting shipwrecks. I have two other issues that are minor but worth mentioning. I dive with a drysuit/dry gloves, the required cage for mounting the lens makes it difficult to operate all the camera buttons while wearing bulky gloves. Also, I normally shoot with an SRP filter, with the lens/cage I can't use the filter anymore.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll do my best to answer them.

Here's an example of a fish getting really close...


Here's a video I put together showing the difference the lens makes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR0saIdrm3A

 

[kevindale222]

thanks guys, really appreciate it.

Am thinking of getting dome for an upcoming trip in sept to Galapagos Islands. What are your thoughts??

Thanks Kevin

 

[fbk]

I watched the youtube link from stalefish, the distortion near the edges with the dome on looks horrendous, look at the right hand side at 0:20. I wouldn't ruin my galapagos footage using one, gopro is plenty wide enough as it is, although for wrecks etc it might be useful if it didn't distort the image so badly, IMO.

 

[kevindale222]

Yeh. A lot of domes have soft corners. I guess it's the compromise for the wider angle of view. I hadn't noticed it until you chirped up. . I kinda had my heart set on it until that comment FBK. . Was thinking it would work great for sea lion/whale sharks/marine iguanas encounters? I no the hammerheads and other sharks tend to be s bit more skittish so can either take lens off or narrow the FOV. I like the closer focus the lens has too. What are your views on the distortion STALEFISH?

 

[stalefish]

Yeh. A lot of domes have soft corners. I guess it's the compromise for the wider angle of view. I hadn't noticed it until you chirped up. . I kinda had my heart set on it until that comment FBK. . Was thinking it would work great for sea lion/whale sharks/marine iguanas encounters? I no the hammerheads and other sharks tend to be s bit more skittish so can either take lens off or narrow the FOV. I like the closer focus the lens has too. What are your views on the distortion STALEFISH?

I noticed the soft corners but I don't think it "ruins" the footage at all. It's pretty minimal in my opinion. How often is your subject of interest that close to the corner? Did you notice the corners before it was mentioned? I think the other benefits out weigh the soft corners.

Good discussion anyway.

 

[fbk]

It all comes down to whether you NEED the lens to fit everything in... For most marine animals other than 30ft whale sharks that are right on top of you, Gopro FOV is tons wide enough, and in any case being slightly further away from really large subjects so as to not scare them off is generally a good thing provided the vis isn't terrible. For wrecks and 30ft fish I imagine that dome would be awesome.

Stalefish your video was excellent in illustrating the increased FOV the dome offers at the same working distance and I didn't mean to criticize it at all. For me though Kevin, for a trip to Galapagos or similar I would stick with a Gopro in std housing with a good quality filter and be happy with the beautiful sharp wide HD image it offers at minimal expense.

Once you start wanting to do more, adding lenses and domes, special housings etc, you start getting into significant $ outlay on a setup which may not be compatible with future Gopro's, and almost certainly not any other camera. I went down that road already and my advice would be that you would be better putting the money towards a compact camera/housing setup with what are arguably some of the better and more versatile interchangeable lenses that Inon (for example) offer, rather than a proprietary dome for the already wide Gopro.

Here is some manta ray footage I took in Komodo in May. Panasonic LX7, no filter or lights (custom WB) and Inon UWL-H100 lens. This lens gives about the same FOV as a std GoPro (100°) and even then you can see me zooming in... wider isn't always better