Tetra 5050 housing & INON lenses

[lanwu]

Can anyone verify if these work together??

For sure, the Tetra/L&M sell their own wide & macro lenses for the Tetra housing, but can we use the INON Wide & Macro lenses instead??

Would esp. love to hear from users with this equipement....Tahnks....

 

[dbh]

The answer is yes. Inon actually makes L&M's lenses for them. If you do not have the threaded port, you will have to buy one lens from L&M. I found that the least expensive way to go was to buy the L&M macro lens and port and then get the Inon WA lens (Type 2 I believe). You will eventually want the Inon dome that fits over the WA lens. It is sweet.

Check with Ryan at reefphotovideo.com for pricing. He sold me my Tetra 5050 and all the lenses.

HTH,
Dave

 

[lanwu]

Hi dbh,

Does that mean that the Tetra comes in two models? 1 with a threaded port & 1 without a threaded port? I"m assuming that if it has a threaded port that it's 67mm like the PT015 & Ikelite housings.

I actually have already the INON WA lens (& dome) & INON 165 Macro....The main thing i'm trying to find out is whether I need to buy any extras to use the Macro & WA lens w/ the housing. If the tetra has the 67mm thread on the port, then everything 'should' fit without any extras, yes?

Ah...the other question i have is does the Tetra housing have any similar feature w/ the main buttons (EV exposure, flash, AF mode, exposure mode, etc) to the Ikelite housing of 'hands free' button holding? - The hands free button holding from the Ikelite basically holds these buttons down without the user needing to do it him/herself....INfact, a great feature!!

It actually doesn't look like it does have the hands free holding, so I was also wondering if turning the 'selection' dial can be done w/ for example 'just' the thumb. ...coz with the PT015 housing, i always avoided turning the selection dial this way & always used at least my thumb & 1 other finger as I didn't find it was rigid enough to handle the torque from 1 finger operation.

TAhnks again.....

 

[jlyle]

I looked at the Tetra housing for the 5050 and was surprised that it doesn't have an on/off switch! You have to turn on the camera before you put it into the housing. [The back door of the housing will turn on the camera when you close the case, should you forget.] While power consumption in "sleep mode" is low, I like to assemble the camera/housing the night before I go diving to avoid last minute mistakes.

True, the Tetra allows for direct TTL control of the strobes, but I've found that I like full manual control better.

Thus, I went with the Olympus PT-015.

 

[dbh]

Hi dbh,

Does that mean that the Tetra comes in two models? 1 with a threaded port & 1 without a threaded port? I"m assuming that if it has a threaded port that it's 67mm like the PT015 & Ikelite housings.

I actually have already the INON WA lens (& dome) & INON 165 Macro....The main thing i'm trying to find out is whether I need to buy any extras to use the Macro & WA lens w/ the housing. If the tetra has the 67mm thread on the port, then everything 'should' fit without any extras, yes?

Ah...the other question i have is does the Tetra housing have any similar feature w/ the main buttons (EV exposure, flash, AF mode, exposure mode, etc) to the Ikelite housing of 'hands free' button holding? - The hands free button holding from the Ikelite basically holds these buttons down without the user needing to do it him/herself....INfact, a great feature!!

It actually doesn't look like it does have the hands free holding, so I was also wondering if turning the 'selection' dial can be done w/ for example 'just' the thumb. ...coz with the PT015 housing, i always avoided turning the selection dial this way & always used at least my thumb & 1 other finger as I didn't find it was rigid enough to handle the torque from 1 finger operation.

TAhnks again.....

The Tetra housing does not come with the threaded port and L&M does not sell just the threaded port. You have to buy at least one of their lenses to get one (or maybe you can find a used one somewhere).

I know it doesn't have the hands free button holding and I honestly cannot remember how the selection dial works.

Sorry!

Dave

 

[fpoole]

I looked at the Tetra housing for the 5050 and was surprised that it doesn't have an on/off switch! .

Huh?? Not sure I'm understanding the question, but the ON/OFF switch for the camera ON the housing, Tetra 3030/4040 is on the top dial, where the modes are... I could be wrong, but I would assume it would be there somewhere...
(in writing this realize the my Tetra is the 3030/4040 version and the 5050 IS different, but also thinking it's on there somewhere...

Shouldn't have to turn it on/off BEFORE it goes in... they've been in business long enough to know that...
But?? I could be mistaken as I don't have the Tetra 5050 housing... has happened in the past and will continue in the future

 

[jlyle]

Hey, fpoole!

This is a direct quote from the L&M website:

"Power Switch: The camera [sic] doesn't have an On/Off switch. Either turn the camera on prior to putting it into the housing, or the Tetra's auto-on pin will turn the camera on when you close the Tetra's rear plate. If you're not ready to dive, just turn the monitor off. Soon, the camera will enter its sleep mode. Once in sleep mode the camera consumes very little power."

 

[dbh]

Jim is correct.....there is NO on/off switch on the housing. That was my biggest complaint with it.

 

[fpoole]

LOL.. amazing... who woulda thunk...

It does, say (haven't gone to the site yet) that it will "Auto Turn On??" and then go into Sleep mode.. which for me, doesn't sound bad..., what?? 5 minutes or so and with the monitor off and changing batteries every dive - I do by choice, I wouldn't see it as being a problem... even if I pack it up the night before...

Oh well, live and learn eh?? ;-))
Just when you think you've got a handle on it,
It jumps up and smacks you in the face...

 

[jlyle]

It does, say (haven't gone to the site yet) that it will "Auto Turn On??" and then go into Sleep mode.. which for me, doesn't sound bad..., what?? 5 minutes or so and with the monitor off and changing batteries every dive - I do by choice, I wouldn't see it as being a problem... even if I pack it up the night before...

Using 2300 mAh NiMH batteries in using my c5050/PT-015 housing, I can shoot for over three and a half hours underwater - turning the camera on at the beginning of the dives and off at the end. I don't have to crack the housing to change batteries as often, thus reducing the risk of leakage. The lack of an on/off switch on the housing is a deal breaker for me.