Seafrogs Waterproof Housing Lens Compatibility

[MBTS]

Hello all, I am hoping someone may be able to help me out here. I have been looking all over to find out if the Sony E 30mm f3.5 Macro lens is compatible with the standard port on the Seafrogs Waterproof Underwater Housing for Sony A6000 A6300 A6500, and am getting conflicting answers. The housing I have is the old version (purple plastic hue), not the new salted version, and I cannot find a compatibility list for the older version. An old post here stated that the old Meikon housing, which is the forebearer of Seafrogs, would just barely fit the lens with a slight modification. The problem is I don't know if that Meikon housing is the same as what I have.

For clarification, this is the housing I have: The seafrogs website only lists the new version, which does show the 30mm Macro as being compatible: SeaFrogs UW housing for Sony A6xxx series Salted Line with Aluminium Pistol Grip & 6" Optical Glass Dry dome port (White) / GEN 3

Any thoughts?

 

[Barmaglot]

I haven't tried it specifically, but the Salted Line housing with short macro port fits the 16-50mm very closely, and the 30mm macro does fit inside, so I'm reasonably certain it will fit into the older fixed-port housing. That said, I've found the 30mm macro requires one to get too close for actual macro shots - you're better off fitting a wet close-up lens to the 16-50mm.

 

[Barryattle]

I used the old school Meikon (hinged back, no interchangeable port - but black, not purple) housing with the Sony 30mm macro. It mostly worked, but was not perfect. I had to take out the little rubber spacers that hold the camera back a few mm in the case to get it to fit and found that:
1) I had to be very careful with the on/off switch when putting the camera in and be sure to test it before splashing, as sometimes it would just not engage with the camera's power switch and I'd have to open the case, reposition a bit, and try again; also, sometimes underwater I could turn the camera on but not off, though usually a few tries would get it to work.
2) the buttons on the lower/right side of the pad (so ISO, exposure adjustment, and I think rarely the center button) would often not work properly (invoking a different function than desired). Not a deal-breaker as one can set a programmable button for ISO adjustment.

I moved to the salted version when I got a good deal on a used one and am happy not to deal with those issues anymore, but I was using it for a few years with just intermittent annoyance and occasional inability to take photos when I forgot to check on/off function before diving.

I see @Barmaglot just put in a comment. I much preferred the 30mm macro, even with those issues, to the 16-50 kit lens with a wet diopter; I found that was much harder to get pictures in sharp focus, the depth of field was paper-thin, and you still had to get really close for macro shots. For the price, the 30mm Sony macro is a great lens, plus 30mm is decent for wider-angle shots, which a much more expensive 60mm or greater macro lens (which would also require me to buy a new, long port) would not be.