Does Nikon make a digital Nikonos?

[Md Spear]

well, now I'm worked up.
I like the idea of using my nikonos 15mm on w digital u/w camera.

 

[Cp111]

Cp111,

This is really exciting news! Any chance you can show a side-by-side pic of the Nikonos V + 15mm U/W Nikkor next to the Nauticam Nex-5 + 15mm U/W Nikkor? (I'd like to get some idea of relative sizes.)

Thanks,

Ronald

I don't have a Nikonos V to shoot next to it... but I can give you the dimensions of the NEX-5 housing:
Dimensions: 164mm (W) X 83mm (T) X 118mm (H)

It's quite small, only a tad larger than the most compact P&S housings.

Cheers,
Cp

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

In inches that's 6.46 x 3.27 x 4.65.

Nik V body only is 5.75W x 3.75H x 2.00D.

 

[bvanant]

well, now I'm worked up.
I like the idea of using my nikonos 15mm on w digital u/w camera.

The only problem is that with the cropped sensor it will not look like the 15 shot on film but more like a 24 mm lens. Still impressive, but not near as wide.
Bill

 

[rx7diver]

I don't have a Nikonos V to shoot next to it... but I can give you the dimensions of the NEX-5 housing:
Dimensions: 164mm (W) X 83mm (T) X 118mm (H)

It's quite small, only a tad larger than the most compact P&S housings.

Cheers,
Cp

In inches that's 6.46 x 3.27 x 4.65.

Nik V body only is 5.75W x 3.75H x 2.00D.

Thanks. Yes, quite small! Small size is one of the things I really like about the Nikonos V. The fact that this housing is small, too, is really exciting!

The only problem is that with the cropped sensor it will not look like the 15 shot on film but more like a 24 mm lens. Still impressive, but not near as wide.
Bill

Thanks. This is one of my concerns, also. However, a good thing is, the lens' ability to focus remarkably close should still be preserved, I think. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[bvanant]

The close focus distance of the Nikonos 15 is about 12 inches, while the sony 16 mm behind the Nauticam dome supposedly is a bit closer, like only 8 inches. I don't know that the old S&S 12 mm looked like.
Bill

 

[davelew]

The only problem is that with the cropped sensor it will not look like the 15 shot on film but more like a 24 mm lens. Still impressive, but not near as wide.
Bill

I think it's a little wider than 24mm.

With my micro-four-thirds system (2X crop factor instead of the 1.5X on the Sony), the Nikonos 15mm lens acts like a 39mm lens behind a dome port or a 25mm lens behind a flat port. I would expect the NEX system to be wider because of the larger sensor.

I have a fisheye lens for really wideangle stuff, but the Nikonos 15mm is a fantastic lens for fish portraits and wide angle macro, even with the 2X crop factor.

Here's a shot taken with the 15mm on a micro-four-thirds camera, showing the kind of subject that it excels at with a cropped-sensor camera:


P5051101 by davelewinn, on Flickr

 

[rx7diver]

Great info, bvanant and davelew! Thanks.

Love your 15mm stuff on flickr, davelew!

 

[Edward Lai]

I had the chance of testing this lens underwater with the Nex-5 camera and housing briefly in August last year, while I was still learning how to use the camera, and a first time user of Nikonos lens.

Unfortunately weather and visibility was both very bad, and the location didn't have much interesting subjects for wide angle.

I did find the TTL using Inon strobes worked well (in M or A modes), and the edge and corner sharpness was really remarkable compared with normal wide angle lenses behind a dome. Here are some photos:

nauticam.smugmug.com/HousingTests/NA-NEX5-TEST-w-Nikonos-15mm/15322127_h4s8S

(please copy and paste to your browser as I can't post URLs yet)

Pardon me for the boring subjects.

Edward

 

[davelew]

I had the chance of testing this lens underwater with the Nex-5 camera and housing briefly in August last year, while I was still learning how to use the camera, and a first time user of Nikonos lens.

Edward, did you try your setup with any Nikonos lenses other than 15mm? I'm curious to hear other people's opinions on the Nikonos lenses with digital cameras.

The 15mm was by far my favorite (it almost seemed to "want" to be focused and sharp, while the 80mm lens was a constant struggle to get anything other than a blur). I also got some nice shots with the Nikonos 28mm and the Nikonos closeup kit. In the future, I'll probably bring the 15, 28, closeup kit, and my non-Nikonos fisheye lens.