Ikelite Zoom Ring with Tonkina 12-24 -Am I missing something?

[c-dog]

Nikon D70S, ikelite housing with tonkina 12-24 lens and 5503.51 port. I dove with this lens & port setup for the first time last weekend. The zoom ring does not fit over the lens and the lens does not fit through the housing port hole when the zoom ring is in there. The only way I could get the zoom to work underwater was to put the lens on the camera after the camera was in the housing. To take the camera out of the housing, I had to stick something (pencil) through the front of the housing to release the lens from the camera. An I missing somehting here? This seems like alot of trouble, do most people just not use the zoom function with this lens and housing setup. I do not like taking the lens off of the camera body at sea. Got some good pictures though.

Thanks

 

[Warren_L]

With the zoom gear for the Ike setup, they are plastic and the sizing is not done to a tight tolerance - which means that you have to play around with the fit using the rubber strips. Either that, you can use the zoom gear that uses the springs. But I find the plastic collar to be better once you get the right fit. And yes, you will have to put the lens on after the camera body has been mounted in the housing. That's just the way it is. However, you should not have to use a pencil to release the lens - there should be a lever on the housing to do that. You just have to make sure it is positioned properly when loading the camera body.

 

[RonFrank]

What Warren said!

I use this setup with the D200. I use the zoom clamps with the springs. There are two sizes, and they have rubber self stick pads so that the larger clamp fits lenses that are kinda in between sizes. However the rubber is needed to make the clamp grip the zoom ring, so if the ring fits without the rubber, still add the thinest ones to make a better fit.

 

[c-dog]

So thats what that lever on the housing is for. I missed that one. Oh well, i'll blame it on seasickness or some residual narcosis. Thank you for answering my question. I will not feel so bad taking the lens off of the camera while unloading it from the housing now that I know that that is how it was designed to be done. Is this just an ikelite thing or is it the same way with the more expensive housings while using wide angle lenses?

Thanks

 

[fppf]

Why do you guys need to take off the lens to put your camera in the housing?
I never need to take off my lens. I set the back half of the housing on a towel. Then double check all camera settings, install the spring clamp ring on the zoom (I added rubber strips as well), then place the camera in the housing. I then wipe down all the oring grooves with a lint free cloth and install the main oring into the front half of my housing. I then carefully install the front half placing it over the lens. The only control that gets in the way is the one to release the lens! I though about just removing it but I can rotate it around out of the way. I then install the plastic drive ring for the zoom and oring. Remove the lens cap and install the lens port.

I would never take off a lens with the camera body laying on its back, thats trouble waiting to happen.

 

[Warren_L]

Who said anything about the camera body laying on its back with the lens off? I don't use the springs as I've found the plastic zoom ring sized properly with the rubber strips to grip the lens barrel works better for me - which cannot go into the housing while on the camera body. When the lens is off the camera body, in the housing or not, it is always faced downward.

 

[fppf]

Ah, so you have the plastic gear ring on the lens with rubber strips. Ok then you would need to install the lens after putting the camera in the housing.

Looking at the newer housing they are made so you can have the camera face down.

I have the older aluminum housing which is backwards from the newer ones. I must lay the camera on its back to put it into the housing.

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/2d100.html

 

[c-dog]

With my 18-70 nikon lens there is no need to take the lens off of the camera to load or unload from the housing. But the Tokina 12-24mm lens does not fit through the forward hole in the housing. Even without any spring clamps or plastic zoom rings. It has to be "backed in" and attached to the camera body while the camera body is already in the housing. Since the lens does not fit through the port hole in the housing, I have to take it off of the camera body to take the camera body out of the housing. I guess it is just a wide angle lens thing. I wonder if this is just an ikelite housing issue.

 

[RonFrank]

I wonder if this is just an ikelite housing issue.

I've been told that yes it is. Not so much an issue, just they way Ike designed things a while back.

Lensmounts are a tricky thing. Over the years we have seen lenses go from skinny short/long things, to wider fat things (sometimes still long). Nikon has been lucky that they have been able to keep their lens mount for so long. Now to go FF digital (IF they choose to do so) most *experts* say they will have to go with a wider mount, or move the sensor back (wider body).

Ikelite has been using the same port design for a goodly while. Now with lenses growing in width, Ike has to either work out keeping the port size the same to fit existing ports, or to redesign the port opening, and then junk EVERY port on the market. For obvious reasons, keeping the existing port design is ideal.

Other housing manufactures started with a wider port width to begin with, or they changed them along the way. This allows for a fatter lens to fit without removing the lens from the body.

I don't see this as a huge deal. I've been told that Nexus, and Subal housings can load the camera with the lens installed. I don't own these housings, so I'll take peoples word on it.

 

[fppf]

So if the lens is bigger than the opening for the port, how does the lens fit inside the port, which is a smaller hole than in the housing?