Canon G15 and Inon ZM80 Wide-Angle Lens with Nauticam Housing - Sample Images

[Hetland]

Please keep in mind, this is the second time I've used the camera/housing/lens. I have no experience shooting wide-angle, and my single strobe had a bad cell (I think) so it wasn't operating the way I'm used to it operating. This is also the first time I've shot in Manual mode on a camera underwater. I used manual, auto, and sTTL settings on the strobe throughout the dive, depending on what I had going on with the camera. These photos were taken in about 90 feet of water.

I'm really happy with the ZM80. It can focus within millimeters of the lens, and I'm happy with the distance focus too (again, keeping in mind that it's new to me). I shot some video too, but it was shakier than what I usually produce. I'm pretty sure the image stabilization is the culprit. Because you have to zoom out to use the lens, I think it's wise to disable IS in the camera for shooting video with this lens on. I'll try that on my next trip.

 

[Interceptor121]

1 & 3 good.
4 you made a mistake with the flash it seems would have been good
2 & 5 the camera lens combination soon lacks depth of field even at small aperture it seems. The corners are soft. As far as I remember the G series have sharp corners so this must be the lens limit

It would be interesting to look at the video. When you shoot videos with canon cameras they default to 1/50 at widest aperture and set ISO accordingly. It is possible that the wide aperture does not work with this lens and the image has focus blur and not an issue of image stabilization.
Canon IS is pretty good in video and I never had any occasion where I wanted to turn it off

 

[Hetland]

1 & 3 good.
4 you made a mistake with the flash it seems would have been good
2 & 5 the camera lens combination soon lacks depth of field even at small aperture it seems. The corners are soft. As far as I remember the G series have sharp corners so this must be the lens limit

It would be interesting to look at the video. When you shoot videos with canon cameras they default to 1/50 at widest aperture and set ISO accordingly. It is possible that the wide aperture does not work with this lens and the image has focus blur and not an issue of image stabilization.
Canon IS is pretty good in video and I never had any occasion where I wanted to turn it off

I've posted the video below. I shot in 1080p, but set my output to 720 to keep the file size down. There were some spots where it hunts focus, which I didn't notice as much as on my G11 (no wide lens on it), but I think because you're zoomed out the IS is more noticeable. I'm not the most stable shooter in the world, and, I'm carrying a lionfish bag that acts like parachute while swimming, but I feel that some of the shake is the camera and not me. I'd be interested in opinions either way.

I agree there's softness in the corners, and a bit of distortion at the far edges. In the last photo, I'm about 30 feet from the stern of a wreck that's 130 feet long. This is the first time in six years of diving the area that I've found viz this good so close to shore, but for 100 feet of background, I'm happy with the level of distortion and softness. It helps that it works well for close-in shots too. I think when you factor in that element, it makes the lens worth the cost.

[vimeo]67701268[/vimeo]

 

[Interceptor121]

I have looked at the video and you are right there are some issues with the IS, at the start of the clip you can see the vignette move right and left that is the IS, however afterwards the little vibration is mostly you and actually is not too bad
I believe the continuous autofocus is too quick. Generally that is not an issue with a normal wet lens with ample depth of field but this lens is somewhat shallow as you can see from the soft corners all over.
I would focus manually the camera at infinity and lock it as opposed to let it go by itself. As you are already zoomed out and have a lens it should work

The video mode of the G15 unless you have made some bad choices in the encoding is basic and there is quite a bit of color banding with the blue going on. You may want to lock exposure to -1 or similar. I have a similar issue with my LX7 but only when I point it to the sunball here you have noise pointing down that should not happen in any circumstance.

If you have a G15 this lens is definitely worth the investment as it is the only way you can shoot close focus wide angle, which is a favorite in UW photography.
However the lens design is an issue in video as we can see here. I believe an S100/S95 with a normal wet lens produce much better footage that is sharper.
Still Inon have delivered a lens that expands greatly on the G series ability that so far were only limited to macro so well done.
Maybe the dome improves things a bit but am not sure how much. The corner distortion will probably increase even if depth of field should be better

 

[Hetland]

I believe the continuous autofocus is too quick.

I agree, I think I had that turned off on my G11, so I turned it off on the G15 too, and will see if it improves.

The video mode of the G15 unless you have made some bad choices in the encoding is basic and there is quite a bit of color banding with the blue going on.

It's more noticeable in the conversion. FYI, I didn't adjust white balance in any of the photos or video.

You may want to lock exposure to -1 or similar.

Yes, it's super bright. I'll try bumping down the exposure and maybe using the ND filter. The ND filter did well for shooting near the surface where I had some sunlight blowing things out

If you have a G15 this lens is definitely worth the investment as it is the only way you can shoot close focus wide angle, which is a favorite in UW photography. However the lens design is an issue in video as we can see here. I believe an S100/S95 with a normal wet lens produce much better footage that is sharper. Still Inon have delivered a lens that expands greatly on the G series ability that so far were only limited to macro so well done.

I think I can mitigate some of the negatives once I get more comfortable with the camera and do some experimenting. It's rare for me to be able to shoot anything further than 20ft away in my area, so this will last me for 2-3 years until it's time to buy another camera. I think I'll eventually get a Subsee +5 for macro and super-macro, but it will be hard for me to take this lens off my camera.

Maybe the dome improves things a bit but am not sure how much. The corner distortion will probably increase even if depth of field should be better

I think the dome just adds an air bubble, so I'm not optimistic that it would solve corner sharpness. I'll probably stick with the bare lens and wait to see what others can do with the dome before pulling the trigger.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

 

[coralcruiser]

Hetland - I believe that Chili has posted some shots using the WA with the dome on his G15. You might want to shoot him a pm for his input.