Vignetting with S90 FIX UWL-04 and FIX macro lens

[browncd81]

I'm getting bad vignetting with the S90 FIX UWL-04. I'm okay with having to zoom in, but I was wondering if I used the expensive adapter ($199) I'd be better off. Right now I'm using the $48 adapter that came out around April or so. Just wondering if this is the culprit.

I'm also getting vignetting on the macro lens that I bought from FIX. There is a circular hole on the mount and I'm thinking about dremeling it to make it wider. I can't see why it's so narrow. Once again, I have to zoom in before shooting, but I'd rather not be forced to. My question is, before I dremel this hole, anyone know of any reason why/if this would be stupid?

Finally, many of my UWL-04 shots are blurry on the right side of the image. Anyone else get that too?

My attached pictures show the vignetting, the blurriness on the right side, and the macro lens hole that I'm thinking about boring out with a Dremel.

 

[Nemrod]

If you are using the FIX90 housing then I am not having that problem. I use the 52mm adapter (the cheap one) with my UWL-04 and I have no vignetting or only the very slightest hint (at full open aperture, f2.0) in the upper rh corner, nothing like you have and I am shooting at full wide, 28mm.

James

 

[girellator]

I absolutely agree with Nemrod , no vignetting with the 52 mm adaptater the cheap one at 28 mm ( or a slight vignetting in the upper right corner , easy to correct with photoshop )
Don't buy the expensive the expensive one I tried it and I've got bad vignetting with it .

 

[Nemrod]

Let me ask this, are you using RAW and running it through PS or? I have been told, I think by Pufferfish (sorry Puffer, I don't mean to pick on you ) that the RAW images processed with other programs (other than Canon DPP) show a wider FOV, apparently the 10MP sensor is a 10MP "effective" sensor and that there are actually more pixels than are used by Canon internal jpeg or external RAW processing programs.

If this is not the explanation then your camera must be sitting off center or is not fully seated. I had this happen once, playing around, somehow the zoom control jammed and had the camera crooked. Please check and determine that all controls are functional and that the camera is pressed in at all four corners, especially the right side corners, BEFORE closing the case back.

N

 

[browncd81]

Nemrod, I think you may be right about how it's physically sitting in the housing. That may also help explain the right side blurriness. I'll take a hard look at it tomorrow and post some results. Btw, thanks for all your help. I followed the really long thread (53 pages now) and it helped me make choices on what system to get. Other than the vignetting, which is fixable, I'm very happy with the S90 + FIX + UWL04 set up.

As for the RAW question, I now shooting JPEG+RAW, but when I was just shooting JPEG, it was still the same.

 

[Nemrod]

One other thing to check, turn off the IS or set it to shoot only, just as an experiment.

Another possibility, I read on a Canon forum that some Canon P&S cameras had off center sensors, if this is the case, you need to return your camera as defective. Does the out of focus follow in macro or close shooting, on the surface?

If you could set another S90 in the housing and if it centered, well, defective camera.

I think the topic is Canon sensor centering or image centering, not peculiar to the S90 but all Canon compacts. It seems to effect a small number of Canon cameras and is a known issue that should be covered by warranty.

N

 

[browncd81]

Nemrod,

Getting much closer to the solution. I live in Boston and drove to Derry NH (BS East) this morning to get Fred to make some adjustments on the UWL-04. Turns out the threads were off and the adapter wasn't bottoming out to the UWL-04. I have the $48 adapter. Testing that showed some improvement, but there was still a small degree of vignetting.

Next, I thought about the sensor centering issue you discussed. Even though yesterday I tested it on land against a book page, and looked at some land shots I took previously to confirm there is no blurriness on the right side of the images, I still figured the camera could be defective. So we dropped another S90 from the store in the housing and sure enough, no vignetting. I still have the receipt and I bought it 5 months ago so hopefully Best Buy will swap it for me. If so, then problem solved.. IF.. the blurriness is related to the vignetting, which I think is highly probable considering they're both on the right side of the image.

The so called vignetting on the flip down macro lens was only bc I was a dumba** and didn't understand that it's designed for you to be fully optically zoomed. I've always had this fear that zooming out, even if still in the optical range, sacrifices image sharpness. Maybe the sharpness isn't guaranteed to be lost (like if you were shooting on a stand) just by zooming, but zooming risks sharpness due to amplifying the effects of camera motion. Don't know if that's right or not.. guess I need to brush up on my general photography knowledge some.

 

[Nemrod]

Yep, the camera seems defective and my bet is the blurriness as well as the vignetting is due to the camera defect.

I doubt BB will swap unless you got their extended warranty which leaves sending it to Canon for warranty.

What a drag.

N

 

[Nemrod]

Review this page for Canon Image De-centering pertaining to the S90:

Canon s90 hints, tips, issues & links

N

 

[browncd81]

Great news.. I took it to Best Buy a week ago and they sent it back to the factory under warranty.. I had bought it in April. Yesterday I got a call from the Geek Squad who said the factory approved a replacement. Since the Best Buy I was at doesn't carry the S90 anymore, they offered a comparable price replacement. After I told them it was part of a underwater camera system that only fits an S90 camera, they are getting a Best Buy an hour away that still carries it to ship it to them. So, a two week wait for a brand new camera, but I'm not diving during this time so it doesn't matter anyway. Can't wait to take it out and hopefully dive vignetting and right side blurriness free!