G10 Fantasea Bigeye

[bkkchris]

Just received my Bigeye a few days ago. Unfortunately I am too busy at work the next few weeks to take it diving, but I did have a chance to take it for a swim in the pool and play around underwater.

It seems well built. It is very large (as expected due to the G10 port design), so should be amusing to use as a "wet-mount" option if you want to attach it on your strobe arm or something. Its also not the easiest to put on and off, I would imagine with thick gloves it could be even more frustrating.

I shot some very non-scientific test shots and it seems to be pretty sharp and restore the full 28mm, maybe a bit more to my eye.

It holds a lot of air between the back flat glass that sits just above the housing port (that space fills with water and seems to be prone to holding tiny bubbles if you don't pay attention) and the dome, so is a bit buoyant, although I was just in a pool so not very deep.

Overall, it seems like it is probably the best option for a "wide" solution for the Canon housing at the moment. There was no noticeable vignetting at full wide.

Hopefully I can get out to dive in a few weeks and will post a proper review.

If anyone has any experience with the lens before then, I would love to see photos!

 

[uwshutterbug]

Where did you get yours? Everyone seems to be "out of stock", and I'm trying to get one before the July 31.

 

[bkkchris]

I received mine from Jack at Optical Ocean Sales. Although I did preorder the lens, so I don't know what his stock is like now.

 

[uwshutterbug]

Strange, it not even listed in that website, I wonder what the deal is?

 

[Hexanchus]

I got mine from Jack as well - don't know why the lens is not on the site.....try calling him at his 800 number....

 

[xariatay]

Please post some photos... Pools shots are fine & photos of the setup (to guage the size), please... TIA...

 

[JackConnick]

Website glitch, sorry. Should be there now. They are backordered and a few should be back in stock a little after the first, but are being sold on a preorder basis and going quickly. Fantasea didn't judge the demand well enough, I keep trying to order more.

Big Eye G10 W/A lens

I do have the G10 & G7/G9 Red Filters in stock.

Thanks,
Jack

PS, Please post some photos and leave a review here and on my site.

 

[bkkchris]

Here are some photos of the lens on the housing.

And a photo of the camera at full wide without the lens and then full wide with the lens - like I said, very scientific.

 

[JackConnick]

Hey Chris, thanks.

Bigger field of view improvement than I would of thought, quite worthwhile.
Hard to see the corner sharpness, but it looks pretty good. You might try comparing the tiles in the middle and the edges and see what you think, also check for distortion. Maybe post blowups of those areas.

But from this image it all looks quite good. The detail of the texture of the water and pool looks pretty clear.

Jack

 

[Splash-X]

bkkchris,

I can't say thank you enough. I think you just sold me on getting the G10 with the factory housing and using the Lens. Those are EXCELLENT pictures illustrating what the lens looks like on the housing and what a difference it makes.

I've been putting off getting the G10 because I can't decide if I should shell out the big bucks for the high end housing or if I should just get the Canon housing (I have one for a a650IS and I like it). You've made up my mind.