I wanna get close!
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okiediver1
Guest
albatross:
Another member here suggested I get these--I didnt want to spend alot of money after buying my WAL--these are inexpensive and there are alot of price ranges to choose from...
You just have to remember that when you "stack" them you must wipe the lens to get rid of any air bubbles on the lens surface that may be trapped by the lens on top of it. I never had that problem though.
Here is a link to an example of these lenses....I was very happy with the results!
LINK TO LENSES
ReyeR
Guest
Sorry Dee, I went WAL first too. But I will get a macro lens soon (before my next dive trip).TedJ:
Okie, those look like land diopter lenses. Do you have any pictures taken with these stacked lenses that you can post - I'd be interested in seeing the results.
From my understanding (land) diopter lenses don't work underwater because they need air between the camera lens and the diopter - but that is just something I've been told. I thought when members mentioned 'stacked' lenses they meant stacking 2 'wet type' macro lenses, like the UN PCU-01 or Inon UCL-165.
okiediver1
Guest
ReyeR,
I dont know much about all that stuff, I emailed a nice guy named John who had pics on the Ike website at that time about a year ago. I have his website info if you would like to ask him some more specifics. Here is what he emailed to me when I asked him about it...
"The close up lenses I used were acquired from Ikelite but they no longer carry them. You will need a 67mm close up lens (if you're using an Ikelite Olympus housings for the Olympus C-series cameras), which is available from just about any camera shop. Most of these are sold in sets, typically a set of three: +4, +2, and +1. You might try B&H Photo Video in New York. One of the lens sets or "kits" they offer is http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph...0___HOCUS67___REG___CatID=0___SID=F51781163C0
They are quite easy to use; they screw onto the outside of the lens port on your housing. Such lenses can also be stacked. Screwing a +4 onto the housing port and then screwing a +2 onto the outside of the +4 will combine for a +6 magnification, which will probably get you into the ballpark of what you're looking for. Remember to burp any air bubbles from the lenses to make sure they don't interfere with the photos. I would always settle to the bottom, establish neutral buoyancy, turn on the camera and strobe, then remove both close up lenses, one at a time, using my finger to wipe away any tiny air bubbles on either side of each lens and from the outside of the lens port. Screw the close up lenses back on and start shooting. The lens port on the housing has holes in the side to help it flood even with an external lens attached. The two close up lenses, when screwed together, will not flood all that well but when you separate them to wipe away any tiny air bubbles, you will also be burping the space between them.
The advantage of having external lenses such as these is that you can remove them when you want a more distant or wide angle shot.
Now let's compare these type of lenses to the "macro" lenses offered by Sea and Sea and Inon. The "macro" lenses they both offer will provide a mild level of magnification and will yield a very flat depth of field. Flat depth of field is a killer in close up photography. On the other hand, the close up lenses discussed earlier give a greater range of focus, a substantial magnification, and a much broader depth of field - everything you want in close up photography. There really isn't any competition. I made the mistake of purchasing the Inon macro lens before Ikelite turned me on to the other variety. The Inon was a huge disappointment (and I have since read similar comments about the Sea and Sea macro lens). After getting the close up lenses and seeing the results, I only saw the Inon one more time... as it went skipping across the otherwise flat surface of an alligator-infested lake in South Florida. To add to the disappointment, I only got two hops out of it before it disappeared forever.
If you have additional questions or I can be of further help, please don't hesitate to write again."
John
This is a shot where I used a +4 lens. They seemed to work fine for me!
I dont know much about all that stuff, I emailed a nice guy named John who had pics on the Ike website at that time about a year ago. I have his website info if you would like to ask him some more specifics. Here is what he emailed to me when I asked him about it...
"The close up lenses I used were acquired from Ikelite but they no longer carry them. You will need a 67mm close up lens (if you're using an Ikelite Olympus housings for the Olympus C-series cameras), which is available from just about any camera shop. Most of these are sold in sets, typically a set of three: +4, +2, and +1. You might try B&H Photo Video in New York. One of the lens sets or "kits" they offer is http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph...0___HOCUS67___REG___CatID=0___SID=F51781163C0
They are quite easy to use; they screw onto the outside of the lens port on your housing. Such lenses can also be stacked. Screwing a +4 onto the housing port and then screwing a +2 onto the outside of the +4 will combine for a +6 magnification, which will probably get you into the ballpark of what you're looking for. Remember to burp any air bubbles from the lenses to make sure they don't interfere with the photos. I would always settle to the bottom, establish neutral buoyancy, turn on the camera and strobe, then remove both close up lenses, one at a time, using my finger to wipe away any tiny air bubbles on either side of each lens and from the outside of the lens port. Screw the close up lenses back on and start shooting. The lens port on the housing has holes in the side to help it flood even with an external lens attached. The two close up lenses, when screwed together, will not flood all that well but when you separate them to wipe away any tiny air bubbles, you will also be burping the space between them.
The advantage of having external lenses such as these is that you can remove them when you want a more distant or wide angle shot.
Now let's compare these type of lenses to the "macro" lenses offered by Sea and Sea and Inon. The "macro" lenses they both offer will provide a mild level of magnification and will yield a very flat depth of field. Flat depth of field is a killer in close up photography. On the other hand, the close up lenses discussed earlier give a greater range of focus, a substantial magnification, and a much broader depth of field - everything you want in close up photography. There really isn't any competition. I made the mistake of purchasing the Inon macro lens before Ikelite turned me on to the other variety. The Inon was a huge disappointment (and I have since read similar comments about the Sea and Sea macro lens). After getting the close up lenses and seeing the results, I only saw the Inon one more time... as it went skipping across the otherwise flat surface of an alligator-infested lake in South Florida. To add to the disappointment, I only got two hops out of it before it disappeared forever.
If you have additional questions or I can be of further help, please don't hesitate to write again."
John
This is a shot where I used a +4 lens. They seemed to work fine for me!
Okiediver, I am curious about a couple of things. One of course is that since the lens are made primarily for land use, do you get any problem with rust etc with exposure to seawater. Also, your picture does not give me much idea about the magnification of the lens when used underwater, do you have any picture of nice and small critters?
How easy is focusing when using the stacked lens (especially stacking +2 and +4) and how about with the zoom set at 80mm or 105mm? The website mentioned magnification and ability to get closer to the subject, I guess with 2 Inon Macro lens, I can already pretty much get as close as I can without actually touching the subject with the external lens but I am curious about the magnification and ability to use zoom at the same time. Any info would be appreciated.
How easy is focusing when using the stacked lens (especially stacking +2 and +4) and how about with the zoom set at 80mm or 105mm? The website mentioned magnification and ability to get closer to the subject, I guess with 2 Inon Macro lens, I can already pretty much get as close as I can without actually touching the subject with the external lens but I am curious about the magnification and ability to use zoom at the same time. Any info would be appreciated.
Maybe I'm just dense but what is the advantage of a macro lens, or stacking the macros, over the macro and Smacro features of the 5050?
Dee, well you should get 2 benefits, one is you get more magnification at the same distance with macro lens than with no macro lens so the little creature will fill your frame a bit more (double macro is quite a bit better than single macro lens in this respect, with single macro lens, I have not noticed significant gain in magnification) and secondly you can get closer. While you can get really close in supermacro mode, you can't use the zoom so the tiny critty won't fill up the frame as much as using zoom in macro mode and move closer than the 8 inch limit with the aid of macro lens! Basically if you want to take a picture of a skitish goby/blenny etc, macro lens will not be as useful as you will still need to get closer but for the cowries, tiny nudi, shrimps that are a littel skittish but do not swim away etc, the macro lens are quite handy.
AAaaaHHhhhh.....Now I understand. I didn't think/remember that you can't zoom while in SMacro. I got used to using the C-4040's macro sweet spot, which let's you get about 4" from the subject, but that sweet spot is harder to find on the C-5050 but it's there!
Which macro lenses do you have? What about this diopter kit I read about, is that the same thing? Or close?
Which macro lenses do you have? What about this diopter kit I read about, is that the same thing? Or close?
Right now I use 2 Inon UCL-165 which is relatively new. I think Inon release it sometimes in the middle of 2003. There is another Inon Macro lens that has been out for awhile that has less magnification and does not let you get quite as close. I don't know anything the diopter kit yet but I am also very curious about it.
okiediver1
Guest
Ssra30,
I pulled my lenses out again this morning, and other than a very tiny area of discoloration on the inside thread, my +4 is fine. They are glass lenses. I also was not very careful about rinsing my gear after diving, partly because there was no where to rinse it (Bonaire-shore diving) and partly because I didnt realize the importance of this. Im new to all this photo stuff! I also did nt see all this tiny stuff! Where the heck do you guys find these things? Im also afraid of hurting the reef or something because its so difficult to stay still--Im still getting used to holding this big camera and strobe. Most of my eel shots were taken with the +4 lens.
I pulled my lenses out again this morning, and other than a very tiny area of discoloration on the inside thread, my +4 is fine. They are glass lenses. I also was not very careful about rinsing my gear after diving, partly because there was no where to rinse it (Bonaire-shore diving) and partly because I didnt realize the importance of this. Im new to all this photo stuff! I also did nt see all this tiny stuff! Where the heck do you guys find these things? Im also afraid of hurting the reef or something because its so difficult to stay still--Im still getting used to holding this big camera and strobe. Most of my eel shots were taken with the +4 lens.
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