Can you fix a small chip in a glass dome?

[00wabbit]

I got into a small situation today where I had to focus more on myself than my camera for a moment and managed to nick my glass dome (inon Dome for UWL-100)

I can edit it out of photos if it's an issue, but it shows up in my videos also. Is there any way to "fill" it or do something so it is less noticeable in videos? Would the DIY chip repair for car windshields work?

 

[Interceptor121]

I would contact Inon as the lens is most likely coated on the outside and reparing with a windscreen type of technology will introduce more optical aberrations than leaving as is and correcting in photoshop
For video take the dome off entirely you don't really need it

 

[CheddarChick]

I wonder about the structural integrity of the dome...Would deep pressure cause it to fail? I guess it would depend on the size of the chip...

 

[Stoo]

For video take the dome off entirely you don't really need it

I think the housing will fill up full of water if he leaves the dome off...

A friend chipped and badly scratched his 9-incher years ago. I seem to recall that the manufacturer told him it couldn't be repaired. He put up with it for a while, then replaced it. That was probably 15 years ago though, and it might be that something has changed. (and on a film camera, so Photoshopping wasn't an option).

 

[Interceptor121]

I think the housing will fill up full of water if he leaves the dome off...

Inon domes are attached on a flat wet lens. They are not real dome ports so it can be taken off just fine
The field of view will reduce and this for video is also not a problem

 

[00wabbit]

Photoshop is no problem. Usually I just shoot stills. Occasionally I shoot video. Leaving the dome off for video isn't really an option because I would be shooting stills on the same dive.

As far as the structural integrity. The chip is very small and not ver deep but it is enough to block the light coming through it so it makes a dark brown dot on the video. Combined with the cameras image stabilization it becomes a bouncing dot in the upper left of the video. I may try to rotate the some tinplate the dot at the bottom where it may be less noticable because it will be on a darker background usually.

 

[Interceptor121]

The lens has the smallest field of view on the vertical axis. If you have an m68 thread and can undo it you can try and rotate the mount until it goes right up or right down. You can test on land as the field of view is near enough the same. Inon domes are 6mm optical glass you need far more than a chip to have such issues of pressure