G11 and G12 Best Setup for housing and wide angle / macro

[mct]

Dear All,

I know there are thousands of topics about this title. Please trust me I have read almost everything on this forum before sent this post . But somehow every conversation goes to some other details and at the end of the day I couldnt find what Im looking for.

Before my post thank you for your understanding

Here is my question. I will going to Sipadan/Malaysia and Bali for diving trip and I would like to have good pictures at there. Im currently using G11 with WP-DC34 housing and also Intova IS4000 strobe. Actually I was thinking that I got good results with this setup until start my search over internet. And I noticed that Im a real beginner for underwater photography. And for now Im looking for better setup.

But I need complate information from someone (who have well knowledge). Because I dont want to spend some money for nothing.

First of all I found Fantesia Bigeye port for wide angle, Inon wide angle, Ikelite Wide angle and fisheye wide angle lenses. But When I want to use other than big eye lens I need to change my housing too. So for this decision please help me. Which setup is correct for me. I would like to have wide angle shots.

If I choose WP-DC4 with bigeye ? Is it enough? It says about 100 degree coverage.

Or if I decide to change my housing to Ikelite with Wp-4 wide angle is it really metter for spending many instead of using bigeye and current housing. (they said that Ikelite should have better wide angle lens)

What I need to do to use Inon lenses(as I heard Inons are the best wide angle lenses). If I buy this one can I change it underwater.

If I buy Rec Sea, Patima or Fisheye FIX housing can I use Inon lenses or I have to use Fisheye Wide angle or housing brand's wide angles. And how can I keep away myself from vignetting problem.

And If I invest these kind of many for new housing and equipment is it metter to use them instead of WP-DC34 and applicable wideangle lenses. (I know bigeye and others for WP-DC34 doesnt have same spesification with other).

And I also try to figure out about wet lenses and dry lenses. As I understand Inon leses are dry ones Like fisheye lenses. And we can not shange them underwater right?

Which one is better between. Fisheye FIX Wide Air Lens for Canon WP-DC34 housings, Fantesia BigEye, Ikelite Wp-4 and dyron.

As you can see Im totally confused. So thats why Im writing to you.



Thank you everybody.

 

[mnewt]

Hi there

I'd be the first to admit that I'm not the most knowledgable person on this forum, but will happily share the limited experience that I have.

I have a G11 camera with a FIX Fisheye housing. I am very happy with the Fisheye lens and the results I have got from it. However, it is a dry port which means that it cannot be changed underwater. I do not find vignetting a problem with this lens - the user manual suggests you zoom in a notch to elimate any vignetting, but I personally haven't needed to. I have attached a couple of photos so you can see the results

I could be wrong, but I am of the understanding that you cannot fit the Inon wet wide angle lenses to any G11/G12 housing due to the (relatively) long barrel on the cameras (can someone please confirm this?). For this reason, many people go with the S90/S95 setup. You can however fit an Inon macro lens to G11/G12 housings with the aid of an adaptor.
I personally have not had any experience of the Bigeye lenses, but 100 degrees is not wide enough for me. Although this is personal preference, I'd want something a bit wider for the schools of barracuda around Sipadan. However, with your current camera, you would need to invest in a new housing and lens to achieve this.

Apologies that I have not answered all you questions (I'm a reletive newbie here), but hopefully, this will go some way to answering some of them.

 

[mct]

Mnewt. Thanknu very much for the reply. I know i my post was some complicated because i sent ir in hurry

İ thinkni need to change my housing. But fisheye housings is very expensive around 1.100 usd. Because of this i started to thin to buy a new housing for my d90 because ikelite housings are around 1400 usd for d90. İm not sure which one is a better option for me. Because d90 is mich more complicate solution i guess.

And do u know what is the viewing degree of your fisheye lens. And what r u doing when u want to take macro photo. Can u change fisheye len underwater?

Thanks alot again.

 

[mnewt]

The fisheye lens for the G11/G12 is a dry port. According to backscatter, the viewing degree of the lens is 165 degrees. In order to attach it, you need to take the normal port off the housing and attach the wide angle lens/port in its place. This cannot be done underwater (as you would flood the housing). In other words, once I attach the wide angle lens/port, I'm stuck with it for the whole dive (in other words, no macro).

It is because of this that some people go with the S90 or S95 camera. Same image quality but you can attach different lenses to the front of the housings whilst underwater (so called wet lenses) - these include the Inon wide angle lenses. Incidently, there are many threads related to this topic. Just look for threads such as "S95 vs G12" or similiar.

Buying a housing for your D90 is a whole new ball game. The Ikilite housings are not only bigger, but heavier as well (and a SLR housing is bigger than a compact housing).You will also have to buy the port for the housing seperately. This must be the correct port to go with the particular lens you are using. Once again, others on this forum know a great deal more about it than I do. For myself, I decided that the SLR route was just a bit too bulky/heavy for my needs.

I appreciate that this may not help you much. It all comes down to how much you are willing to spend and what your priorities are in terms of requirements.

 

[Wantonmien]

mct

I consider myself a bit of a novice with a camera underwater, and currenlty use a G12, WP-DC34 housing, Inon D2000 stribe, and have a single flip over FIT wet lense for some macro - the gear is great, but getting the settings right for each subject a nightmare -- For past few weeks I have been shooting in AV mode, F at 4.5 - and varying strobe power depending on first attempt. I'm not yet shooting in RAW, so results I am getting are almost all 'as shot' with very little editting - I'm a long way from the qulaity of some guys/gals pics, but kinda happy in that results are giving me good colour and memory. Have a look at a few here -

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/taiwan/387062-longdong-bay-n-e-coast.html

cheers