canada_diver
New
Hi, I'm upgrading to an APS-C or FF camera/housing/lens, and landed on the Sony ZV-E1 (with strong consideration for the Sony a6700 and Canon R8) with the Ikelite housing.
I apologize deeply in advance for writing a novel. Any help would be appreciated.
I like shooting wide 4k60 video clips (something I currently do and love!) If easy/economical to do macro as well, great, but not a priority. I prefer natural light, and have a pair of small 3000 lumen orcatorches for cenotes/night dives/wrecks/safety, and no plans to change them. I color grade and edit in DaVinci.
Anyway, I thought I was finally over the hump, and then ended up down the wide angle lens in domes rabbit hole, and I feel like my head is going to explode.
"What matters for positioning is the lenses entrance pupil, not the front element. Where this pupil is located is dependent on lens construction, and may not be marked or disclosed by the manufacturer."
"If you use wrong extension with a port, 4" dome better than 9" dome"
I had this naive notion I could get a 6" dome and something like a 12-14mm or 14-35mm and all would be well. Now I'm reading articles on Kraken Sports KRL-01 wet lens paired with Sony 28-60mm kit lenses because Full Frames apparently need 9" domes minimum or the corners will be soft, expensive wide angle lens can be worse than cheap lenses because of chance and the positioning of the entrance pupil, etc.
I travel carry-on only throughout Southeast Asia to scuba dive with a 40L backpack and a 17L on my front to fly cheap (I only bring my regulator/wet suit/mask/dive computer/GoPro) and avoid damage to my scuba gear and electronics (or airlines losing my luggage), so an 8" dome feels like it's probably doable given it's 2lbs, but definitely worried I'll just get worn down by the size and be miserable trying to force the issue (I can wear the camera around my neck to save room, and the small Ikelite i can fill with clothes, so the dome is my main concern with space. The ZV-E1s size is a big selling point for me, as is the small housing.)
I really love diving and filming equally, so if it physically fits in my bag and they let me on the plane, I will probably accept the anguish. But I'm not 100% sure.
There's a 7kg limit but I've only been weighed once, and they only weigh your big bag, which comes to 8.8kg and they let me through without issue. (I can switch my nearly 3kg regulator to my 17L bag to add the 8" dome and other stuff to my 40L to stay under 9kg, but that's a last resort.)
Lens Choice. I am completely lost. I don't know what to do.
1) Kraken Sports KRL-01 Wet Wide Angle Lens on a flat port with the Sony 28-60mm (the Nauticam WWL-1 Wet Wide Angle Lens is too expensive). The weight is the same as the dome IIRC but seems smaller? Would this be more travel friendly? How good is the quality of a Kraken wet lens vs. an 8" dome? The zoom through seems to have caveats and is confusing to me. The ability to swap to macro in the future on the fly seems cool, but I've heard it's better in theory than practice?
2) ??? on a 8" Dome Port with ??? lens and possibly and extension? from this port chart: https://docs.ikelite.com/reference/port-chart-dlm-a-system-sony.pdf
The Sony 12-24mm or something in the 14-35mm range feels like it would offer nice ultra-wide with the ability to punch in to fishes that look too small or a whale in the distance. How unwieldy is an 8" dome port for travel? I'm concerned about how well these lens have been actually tested with the domes. Nauticam has serious testing but too pricey. I'd hate to spend 600 or 1000 on a lens and it be great topside and bad underwater.
3) Giving up on Full-frame and moving down to the a6700 and getting ??? with a 6" housing to shoot wide with less issues? Would ASP-C be too much of a step down for wide angle video using natural light? A podcast of underwater photographers said the advantage of a FF wide angle is lost because you have to close the aperture down more so the light loss evens out the battle with APS-C, and that you only gain that advantage back using wet lens, but they dive with Nauticam lens so not sure the same applies to the cheaper Kraken. "because you need to shut the aperture down on FF to stay sharp, u throw away the 1.5 stops of advantage you have over cropped"
4) Locking myself in the closet and weeping
Oh and I'm getting impression from reviewers the 8" dome needs a Trim Weight System for DLM Mirrorless & Compact DSLR Housings with a weight on it for buoyancy?
Thanks!
I apologize deeply in advance for writing a novel. Any help would be appreciated.
I like shooting wide 4k60 video clips (something I currently do and love!) If easy/economical to do macro as well, great, but not a priority. I prefer natural light, and have a pair of small 3000 lumen orcatorches for cenotes/night dives/wrecks/safety, and no plans to change them. I color grade and edit in DaVinci.
Anyway, I thought I was finally over the hump, and then ended up down the wide angle lens in domes rabbit hole, and I feel like my head is going to explode.
"What matters for positioning is the lenses entrance pupil, not the front element. Where this pupil is located is dependent on lens construction, and may not be marked or disclosed by the manufacturer."
"If you use wrong extension with a port, 4" dome better than 9" dome"
I had this naive notion I could get a 6" dome and something like a 12-14mm or 14-35mm and all would be well. Now I'm reading articles on Kraken Sports KRL-01 wet lens paired with Sony 28-60mm kit lenses because Full Frames apparently need 9" domes minimum or the corners will be soft, expensive wide angle lens can be worse than cheap lenses because of chance and the positioning of the entrance pupil, etc.
I travel carry-on only throughout Southeast Asia to scuba dive with a 40L backpack and a 17L on my front to fly cheap (I only bring my regulator/wet suit/mask/dive computer/GoPro) and avoid damage to my scuba gear and electronics (or airlines losing my luggage), so an 8" dome feels like it's probably doable given it's 2lbs, but definitely worried I'll just get worn down by the size and be miserable trying to force the issue (I can wear the camera around my neck to save room, and the small Ikelite i can fill with clothes, so the dome is my main concern with space. The ZV-E1s size is a big selling point for me, as is the small housing.)
I really love diving and filming equally, so if it physically fits in my bag and they let me on the plane, I will probably accept the anguish. But I'm not 100% sure.
There's a 7kg limit but I've only been weighed once, and they only weigh your big bag, which comes to 8.8kg and they let me through without issue. (I can switch my nearly 3kg regulator to my 17L bag to add the 8" dome and other stuff to my 40L to stay under 9kg, but that's a last resort.)
Lens Choice. I am completely lost. I don't know what to do.
1) Kraken Sports KRL-01 Wet Wide Angle Lens on a flat port with the Sony 28-60mm (the Nauticam WWL-1 Wet Wide Angle Lens is too expensive). The weight is the same as the dome IIRC but seems smaller? Would this be more travel friendly? How good is the quality of a Kraken wet lens vs. an 8" dome? The zoom through seems to have caveats and is confusing to me. The ability to swap to macro in the future on the fly seems cool, but I've heard it's better in theory than practice?
2) ??? on a 8" Dome Port with ??? lens and possibly and extension? from this port chart: https://docs.ikelite.com/reference/port-chart-dlm-a-system-sony.pdf
The Sony 12-24mm or something in the 14-35mm range feels like it would offer nice ultra-wide with the ability to punch in to fishes that look too small or a whale in the distance. How unwieldy is an 8" dome port for travel? I'm concerned about how well these lens have been actually tested with the domes. Nauticam has serious testing but too pricey. I'd hate to spend 600 or 1000 on a lens and it be great topside and bad underwater.
3) Giving up on Full-frame and moving down to the a6700 and getting ??? with a 6" housing to shoot wide with less issues? Would ASP-C be too much of a step down for wide angle video using natural light? A podcast of underwater photographers said the advantage of a FF wide angle is lost because you have to close the aperture down more so the light loss evens out the battle with APS-C, and that you only gain that advantage back using wet lens, but they dive with Nauticam lens so not sure the same applies to the cheaper Kraken. "because you need to shut the aperture down on FF to stay sharp, u throw away the 1.5 stops of advantage you have over cropped"
4) Locking myself in the closet and weeping
Oh and I'm getting impression from reviewers the 8" dome needs a Trim Weight System for DLM Mirrorless & Compact DSLR Housings with a weight on it for buoyancy?
Thanks!
