Review of the Oly XZ-1

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folks, out of curiosity, will the Fantasea 5137 m67 work? or is it poorly designed? couldn't find a review and no one seems to discuss this optic...

http://www.fantasea.com/Dealer Packages/Fantasea Eyes/Big Eye Chart.html

Fantasea 5137 67mm M67 BigEye Wide Angle Lens - eBay (item 310305799093 end time Apr-20-11 04:04:03 PDT)

The bubble type lenses work, sort of. They are intended to correct for diffraction/flat port effect and restore, supposedly, the field of view above water to below water. This is hardly wide angle, typically around 65 degree field of view.

Not related directly to your question but this page has a number of older lens tests that makes an instructive read, the principles apply to any wet lens and camera and housing. It was those test that inspired my not nearly so good but still useful Great Summer Wet Lens Shootout.

Cameras Underwater: Lenses and Optics.

N
 
As I mentioned in another thread, we tested several wet lenses with the XZ-1 housing. None gave good results except for the Olympus wide-angle conversion lens, which is built specifically for Olympus housings. I was quite impressed by the angle of view and sharpness of the results.

Scott
 
Does anyone know the angle of view of the Oly WAL?
 
100 degrees is what I found.

It is a 100 degree lens, there is no dome port option for it. This looks like a great lens choice (for the Oly in question) but of course is somewhat limited in FOV compared to other options on other cameras. CFWA for example really needs a much wider lens, something more in the range of 130 plus degrees to really pack the visual punch desired. Still, a 100 degree lens does get you closer, eliminates water between subject and camera and will greatly improve any camera/housing capabilities. Looks like a winner for this camera and housing combination.

N
 
this lens was wider than 100 degrees. The spec says 100 degrees but I think it is wrong. I did not measure the exact FOV. It is very wide and also sharp in the corners, unlike the available fisheye lenses for compacts, but like Nemrod of course for true CFWA with a "punch" you would want to use a fisheye lens, which this is not.
 
What limits it to approximately 100 degrees give or take is the flat interface, several of these type lenses in the past, depending upon what camera they are used on etc were as wide as 110 degrees, I think the Zen wide angle used on some Patima housings falls in that catagory as well, a large, nice piece of equipment. None of these lenses are actually rectilinear lenses, in fact, when used above water, if you notice they behave much as a fisheye lens and you will note also the curved lines. Once underwater, regardless, they bow to the laws of optical physics, to get a DFOV much beyond 100 degrees without severe distortion a dome is required.

Without knowing your shooting distance etc it is difficult to calculate anything accurate, I would say it looks like a 100 degree lens and of course you can do some geometry with a known shooting distance and a scale for a subject and calculate it pretty darn close.

I shot a lot of test photos with various lenses last year doing exactly that from a known and consistent distance using a ruler in the photo, many, many more than I posted or would post since they are hugely boring. But it is the only way to really find out what the true working FOV actually is with a camera and a housing.

I came real close to buying one of these (XZ1) but I think I am over it now, I think.

N
 
hey guys

i bring good news!
well, not me. the internet does.

based on the Wetpixel report of the 2011 london international dive show,
there are going to be:-
*Inon will be releasing a new wet lens that will work with the Olympus XZ-1
*Nauticam housings for the Olympus XZ-1 and EPL-2 were being designed as we spoke.

So all is not lost to people who wants to buy xz1 or epl2.
Its nice that manufacturers have been hearing us all along!

cheers
 
That is surely good news.
 
hey guys

i bring good news!
well, not me. the internet does.

based on the Wetpixel report of the 2011 london international dive show,
there are going to be:-
*Inon will be releasing a new wet lens that will work with the Olympus XZ-1
*Nauticam housings for the Olympus XZ-1 and EPL-2 were being designed as we spoke.

So all is not lost to people who wants to buy xz1 or epl2.
Its nice that manufacturers have been hearing us all along!

cheers

any ballpark prices? (to early, dumb ?) :coffee: the link, tnks :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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