New ZEN products for mirrorless housings

[jd950]

Your point is well-taken, Phil. A larger dome or different extension might make some improvements but softer edges are unavoidable for such a wide rectilinear lens. I tend to forget that and get carried away looking for some unobtainable perfection. Human nature I suppose.

 

[decidedlyodd]

I try not to be a pixel peeper and totally accept the compromise that is using a rectilinear ultra wide angle behind a dome, but I'd still like to have whatever's going to work best. Like TheTrickster, I already have the 20mm extension ring, so I don't expect a single part (as opposed to dome plus extension ring) as being that helpful to me.

I really have no interest in using the 12-40 in future since it's just not my style of shooting above or below water. My primary use would be the Pany 7-14 f/4 and maybe in the future the Oly 7-14 f/2.8 (if it ends up being better enough than the Pany) or Oly 12/2 (since I'm planning to use it above water).

Maybe I should shoot an email over to Zen to see if they can provide some more guidance. Since the dome is a special order, I won't have the luxury of exchanging or returning it once it comes in. Hopefully, this is all just unnecessary optimization and I'll be happy either way.

 

[TheTrickster]

Had a chance to take my DP170NM (original type) and 7-14mm out for a dive yesterday. Its nothing special, but at least I got to have a go.

WELL happy with corner sharpness at 7mm @ f5.6

[video=youtube;kWQGvuk4AXw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWQGvuk4AXw[/video]

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

For ODD,

If you intend to use the 12mm F/2, an outstanding lens the port without built-in extension is the better choice shot without the 20mm extension. It can also be used with the ZEN 100mm port or the Nauticam 4.33 inch port. With the 20mm or 30mm extensions you will not be able to use the 12-40 or the Olympus 7-14mm zoom coming later in the year because of the size of the lens and zoom gear.

For Trickster,

Since video crops the top and bottom off the full M43 sensor image the corners don't appear in the frame as they would taking a still photograph at full frame. For that reason corner sharpness at 7mm is more of an issue with stills.

 

[decidedlyodd]

I ended up contacting Zen through their web form the other day. Ryan wrote back promptly to confirm that the new port (DP-170-N85II) has been created to accommodate these wider lenses and their focus gears. It does not sound like it's replacing the existing port (DP-170-N85) or expected to produce better image quality for the Panasonic 7-14. It's really just a set of tradeoffs between these two ports--slightly more compact to pack, better with 12/2 vs. ability to use 12-40 or probably the new Olympus 7-14, no need to purchase an extension ring.

I wasn't really expecting to use the 12/2 with the 170mm dome. My impression is that the 7-14 performs pretty well at that focal length already and I'm unlikely to use the lens anywhere near f/2 in a dome anyways. Moreover, my local conditions don't lend themselves too well to wide angle and when they do it's often the kind of CFWA where a fisheye excels. I'm really getting this dome to use with the Panasonic 7-14 for when I travel to warm water to shoot wrecks and over/unders. For me, the 12/2 in the 4.33" dome or 3.5" semidome with 20mm extension would basically be a compact set up for when I can't or don't want to haul the larger dome yet still need to avoid fisheye distortion or am shooting things that are a bit farther away.

 

[textilet]

Had a chance to take my DP170NM (original type) and 7-14mm out for a dive yesterday. Its nothing special, but at least I got to have a go.

WELL happy with corner sharpness at 7mm @ f5.6

[video=youtube;kWQGvuk4AXw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWQGvuk4AXw[/video]

Trickster was this recorded in 1080p or recorded 4k with the additional crop that 4K applies? I am going to be using the same set up just trying to get a feel for the field of view with the zen+7-14+4k mode

 

[TheTrickster]

Trickster was this recorded in 1080p or recorded 4k with the additional crop that 4K applies? I am going to be using the same set up just trying to get a feel for the field of view with the zen+7-14+4k mode

4K - so with the additional loss of FoV vs 1080.

 

[girellator]

Nauticam could be about to release a 8 inches glass dome port , which could accomodate the 7-14 , 12-40 , 12-50 Olympus and the 7-14 mm Pana , without too much hope concerning the soft corner of the 7-14 Pana at 7 mm .
If anybody has some informations about that dome feel free to share .
Anyway , I think that the weight and the price of such a big dome will not be very low ...

 

[textilet]

4K - so with the additional loss of FoV vs 1080.

Excellent thank you.