Wet Lens Basics?

[reefvagabond]

I just got my first wet lens, a wide angle dyron, off ebay. It didn't come with instructions and dyron's website links for the manual are dead. So I'm wondering if I could get some tips on best practices? Starting with, how do I put the thing on properly? I'm using an ikelite housing for a s95 with a dyron 15mm wide angle with 67mm threads

I need to have water between the lens and my port otherwise the camera picks up the edges of my port. But it looks like once screwed in, the wetlens and port are water tight from an o-ring in the ikelite port. Should I be putting the lens on in the water? Or should I be putting water in between the lens and port at home before the dive? Or in the camera bucket?

Please help a noob. Thanks!

 

[Nemrod]

Most wet lenses that I have seen have little holes in the adapter or attachment to allow flooding. Nothing special needed, just screw it on and go. But, I am not sure exactly about your set up, never seen a Dryon up close. I do know one thing, threaded attachment, I hate R&R of those in the water. Are you sure there are no holes to allow flooding?

N

 

[tursiops]

1. Backscatter, Bluewater, et al sell those lenses. Ask them?
2. Send a query to Dyron?
3. There is a Dyron subforum on SB. Post query there?

Here is the manual for their 24mm lens. Probably similar.
http://web.archive.org/web/20081113115204/http://www.dyron.fr/pdf/DY.67WA24.COLOR.ENdoc.pdf

PS- you can get a bayonet/quickmount adapter for the lens and your camera. Well worth it rather than trying to screw it in, unscrew it all the time u/w.

 

[mmmbelows]

That's the way mine have always worked, put it on above or under water, results are the same, water will flood it. That's kind of the reason to have a wet lens, it allows you to change lens underwater.

 

[mattia_v]

I prefer bayonet mount lenses (all second hand Inon AD stuff at this point), and have a cheap M67 to AD mount converter on the housing. I mount in the water, because you want no bubbles in there, but just try it out to see if it floods properly without (a bucket or bathtub at home should do the trick). I also have lens holders on the strobe arm, so I have the choice of shooting without lens, with wideangle (Fisheye or WA + Dome Inon) or macro (1 or 2 stacked UCL-165), knowing the lenses are safe. Threading and unthreading a lens underwater can be a bit of a pain.

 

[reefvagabond]

I've only tried to flood mine in the sink and it doesn't quite work. There are little air bubbles that come out very slowly but even after a minute it hasn't flooded.

After I screw the lens on while submerged, if I take the lens out of the water, the water between the port and lens stays in place until I unscrew it. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Do I just need to take it deeper so the ambient pressure will force the water in?

 

[tursiops]

I've only tried to flood mine in the sink and it doesn't quite work. There are little air bubbles that come out very slowly but even after a minute it hasn't flooded.

After I screw the lens on while submerged, if I take the lens out of the water, the water between the port and lens stays in place until I unscrew it. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Do I just need to take it deeper so the ambient pressure will force the water in?

Sounds like the little holes may be plugged with salt-water corrosion.

 

[mmmbelows]

Do I just need to take it deeper so the ambient pressure will force the water in?

This could be the issue, maybe not, all designs are a little different and older and cheaper usually means you don't have either the benefit of the better designs and/or advancements in the engineering that came later.

If you are doing your first dive with it and it's not flooding correctly, just remove it underwater and put it back on, it will be flooded then. At least you can still dive and use it until you see if there is a problem or not.

In the end you can at least be relieved in knowing that you will always be able to use the lens by defaulting to screwing it on once you're underwater.

 

[Nemrod]

If there are no visible holes around the perimeter of the lens adapter or housing port then you will need to R&R the lens underwater to flood it. Or get a drill and a drill bit, about 1/8 inch and drill your own. I hesitate to recommend that. I build, modify and alter many things, YRMV. I drilled six holes in my last Ikelite port to resolve the issue. My current and now aging FIX housing has flooding holes in the FIX adapter. The AD adapter has an open back to allow flooding. I just shake the housing gently, actually rock it to and fro and what bubbles maybe in the port go away.

If you look close you can see at least two of the six notches/holes in the adapter on my FIX/S90 and FIX UWL with the FIX port adapter to 52mm female threaded.

N

 

[reefvagabond]

Definitely not salt in the holes, everything is brand new and unused, just an old model.