nauticam housing and optimum (reduced) number of ports

[kkfok]

Just in case if there is anyone interested in the new wide converter DMW-GWC1 with 14mm F2.5, I just tested this combination in a 3.5 dome port and it is working perfectly.

 

[Long-John-Silver]

Nice to know. We are updating the posrt chart by ourself

What is the FOV of the 14mm + wide converter?

Bye

 

[kkfok]

Nice to know. We are updating the posrt chart by ourself

What is the FOV of the 14mm + wide converter?

Bye

It is 22mm (full frame equivalent)

 

[Kevster]

Where did you get the wide angle convertor.
Most of the online stores i use have none in stock yet.

 

[kkfok]

Here you go
https://www.panasonic.hk/eshop/html/eng/accessories/pdt_detail.asp?pdtsku=DMW-GWC1

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

At the time I tested the Panasonic 8mm fisheye and the Olympus 12mm I only had the 4.33 inch dome port. I expect the 12 mm would also work with the smaller 3.5 inch dome port which has now been discontinued I think. While I did not shoot the 12mm F/2 at F/2 you need to keep in mind that AF works off of the widest F/stop so all things being equal an F/2 lens should focus faster than say an F/4 lens regardless of the F/stop being used at the time you lock focus. I think the 12mm is an outstanding U/W lens and should be added to the Nauticam list of lens choices for M43 cameras. I am now using the Olympus E-M5 out of water and hope to see a housing for this camera come to the market soon.

Phil Rudin

 

[Long-John-Silver]

Hi Phil,

Do you have something to show shot with the 12mm?

I was thinking buying one for video.

Thank you in advance

 

[jd950]

At the time I tested the Panasonic 8mm fisheye and the Olympus 12mm I only had the 4.33 inch dome port. I expect the 12 mm would also work with the smaller 3.5 inch dome port which has now been discontinued I think. While I did not shoot the 12mm F/2 at F/2 you need to keep in mind that AF works off of the widest F/stop so all things being equal an F/2 lens should focus faster than say an F/4 lens regardless of the F/stop being used at the time you lock focus. I think the 12mm is an outstanding U/W lens and should be added to the Nauticam list of lens choices for M43 cameras. I am now using the Olympus E-M5 out of water and hope to see a housing for this camera come to the market soon.

Phil Rudin

For some reason, Nauticam seems unable to get their port chart updated. If Phil is right about the 3.5 port being discontinued, then the chart not only fails to list current lenses that can be accommodated, but it also lists a discontinued product. Perhaps they are spending a lot of time and effort promoting new housings for the D800 and Canon 5D, but it is a shame that they would neglect something like this.

There seems to be interest in the new Oly 12-50 lens and Panasonic will have a fast 12-35 out before the end of summer. I wonder if these will be accommodated?

I am probably missing some important point, but if the 12mm works well in the 4.33, and that port also works for the 8mm, the 3.5 is probably a slow seller since it is listed for the 14mm which I would assume is not a popular UW lens. If they listed it as the 12mm port then it would probably sell.

Interesting that the 14 works in the 3.5 with the converter. I would have thought that it would need a larger port. kkfok, does it vignette wide open in the 3.5? I wonder how the combo works in the 4.33?

 

[Long-John-Silver]

No excuse, it's just an excel file :fire:

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

The problem with both the 12-50 and the coming Panasonic 12-35 is that they both have controls on the lens which can not be accessed from the camera body, just like the Pana 14-42 power zoom. This will require a port with a control for those lens functions, I.E. zoom and/or macro. The fact that the 12mm works in the 4.33 inch dome port does not mean that a better choice could not be offered by Nauticam and others. The idea of one size fits all offen does not always allow for the very best optical performance of a given lens. Just to add a lens as good as the Olympus 12mm to the lens chart without testing all options would not be my choice. Testing every lens with every camera Nauticam is making a housing for becomes a real challenge I would think.

Case in point, I just did a week of diving with the NEX-7 in a Nauticam housing using the outstanding E-mount Zeiss 24mm F/1.8 lens using the Nauticam four inch port for the Olympus 9-18/14-42 and other zoom lenses. The images are the best I have seen out of my NEX-7 to date. If there is interest for this lens I would hope that Nauticam and others making NEX-7 housings would design a proper port for the lens as the port I used is to long. While it works it is not the best fit for the lens which will focus to about four inches from the subject. In this port more than an inch of that distance to the subject is inside the port, not where it needs to be. The Ziess 24mm is also not listed on the Nauticam chart, not because it can't be used but because a proper port has not yet been designed.

Phil Rudin