The Great Summer 2010 Wet Lens Shoot Out!

[James]

I am starting this thread for folks to post any data they have on wet lenses regardless of the type of camera they are to be mounted on. Please provide the lens, step up rings, housing and camera brand, details of use and sample photos--if you choose to post.

OK, for sometime now over on scubieboard I have been threatening to purchase a Fisheye/FIX UWL-04 lens and the matching 52 mm thread-on adapter (aluminum, about 35 dollars from Reef or Backscatter) and then to have a Wet Mount Lens Shoot Out Extravaganza to find out just who is the baddest, bestest, ultra wide angle lens afloat . Big talk is cheap, action is my game .

So, popping 400 here, 800 there, little ol' Nemrod (that is me) just simply does not have that much money so it took me a few weeks but I now have at my disposal the following equipment :

Inon UFL165AD lens (about 400 dollars)

Inon UWL100-67mm lens with Inon dome kit (about 800 dollars combined)

Fisheye/FIX UWL-04 lens (about 400 dollars)

Fisheye FIX90 housing with Canon S90 camera (about 1200 dollars)

FIX 67mm lens port mounting kit (200 dollars!!!!!!!!!)

FIX 52 mm new style port mount (less than 50 dollars )

10Bar AD to 67mm adapter (10 dollars from Ocean Optical Sales)

DIY Nemrod AD to 67mm adapter (two weeks and a quart of blood to make)

Inon (two) D2000 strobes (about 600 dollars each)

It had been my plan to first test the lenses against one another in the Y pool with some simple shots at a fixed distance to demonstrate their respective DFOV. Then I had planned to be in Destin, Fla for two weeks and with my Boston Whaler as surface support to find a shallow sandy bottom and shoot all three lenses against one another on a test pattern (design open to suggestions) and other objects to simulate real world results. BUT, alas, , British Petroleum has seen fit to destroy the Gulf of Mexico while awarding it's shareholder millions of dollars and so for the second time this year, one of my planned scuba trips is SCRUBBED After the Destin testing I had planned to return to the pool for some resolution testing, so my plan was for there to be essentially three separate test phases.

So, the advantage of having my own boat in Destin would have been that I have plenty of room on board, my wife to support me and hand me things and set up equipment and all the time in the world since it is my dang boat. But like I said-------. So, the back up plan is my upcoming trip to Grand Cayman in July where I will do my best to shore dive some behind the Sunset House with all three lenses, I would much rather do this from my boat . Upon return then I will get the lenses back into the Y pool for phase three sometime in August.

Phase One: Preliminary meet and greet with all three lenses in Y pool scheduled for tomorrow or next Sunday.

Phase Two: was to have been real ocean testing in Destin Florida from the Boston Whaler Nemrod (late June, early July) but now will be during my planned trip to Grand Cayman in July. This is all very sketchy now.

Phase Three: Return to the Y pool in August to aggravate the lifeguards some more and to attempt some simple resolution testing. Suggestions for how to accomplish this, cheap, simple and fast with minimal equipment welcomed.

I may have egg in my face if I cannot pull all of this off but at the very least there will be some comparative photos from all three lenses and anything else that people will loan me if they wish. (I cannot buy anything additional, I am saving a war chest for a Canon/FIX EVIL).

So, please feel free to do simple, elaborate or anything in between tests/shots with whatever you have and post whatever results you have here if you wanna play and participate in the Great Summer 2010 Wet Lens Shoot Out extravaganza!!!!

May the best lens not get lost

James

[James]

The contestants below, mounted the Fisheye UWL-04, left front is the Inon UWL100-67mm with Inon dome kit and last but not to be taken lightly, the Inon UFL165AD:



Here are the various mounts and adapters, across the top is the three piece FIX90 67mm kit, on the bottom row, let to right, the 10Bar AD to 67mm mount, DIY Nemrod AD to 67mm mount, Fisheye supplied 52mm to 67mm step up ring and of course mounted on the camera is the FIX 52mm port adapter:



You can get a good over view of the Fisheye UWL-04 and the FIX 90 housing and the 52mm FIX port adapter here:



The Inon UWL100-67mm with dome:



and



Here is the Inon UFL165AD lens mounted on the FIX90 housing;



James

[James]

I was unable to get into the pool today at the Y due to a lifeguard class, there was just too much going on and I would have gotten in their way, plus, I took a hard fall on my bicycle this morning and am a bit frazzled. I did however, return to the hot tub, took a series of pics with the UWL-04, UWL100-67 with dome and UFL165AD. The photos are posted on the link in my previous post. They clearly demonstrate that all three of these lenses are simply amazing with the FIX90 housing and Canon S90. Picking a winner is going to be hard!

As also stated in my last post, my trip to Destin with the Boston Whaler Nemrod is canceled due to oil spill. Therefore my next opportunity to get the lenses in the water will be (aside from the Y pool, lol) will be in July when I go to Grand Cayman.

IMO, based on what I am seeing, there is no clear winner, I can see a lot more here than I can describe and demonstrate in a hot tub. Based on this preliminary ACTUAL back to back demo shoot, I would say that:

1. Starting fresh, get the 52mm FIX adapter and the Fisheye UWL-04 and as to macro, beats the c---- out of me.

2. If you already own a Inon lens or similar Ikelite or Epoque lens, this thread has provided info on how to mount those lenses and I would save my money and shoot what you got. The AD lenses with the FIX 67mm kit and the 10Bar adapter are clearly the winner for changing lenses underwater between port, macro and wide angle and ultra wide angle.

3. The dome equipped UWL100-67 weighs in at approximately 2 pounds and 9 ounces, the Fisheye UWL-04 weighs 1 pound and 8 ounces. In terms of dimensions, diameter, length, they are so close it is a wash. The UFL165AD weighs approximately 1 pound and maybe an ounce.

4. My bet is that when push comes to shove, the UWL100-67 with dome is the winner, why, because this lens is all optical coated glass including the dome and it just does not have any real tendency to show flare which I can see already, initial impressions, the UWL-04 is less flare prone than the 165AD and neither the 165AD or UWL-04 suppress flare like the all glass UWL100-67.

Inon 165AD at twenty inches from subject:





165AD up close, about seven inches:





Inon UWL100-67 with dome kit at twenty inches:





Inon UWL100 at about seven inches:





Fisheye UWL-04 at twenty inches:





Fisheye UWL-04 at seven inches:





About four inches with the Inon UWL-67 and dome:



One other observation, I concede that the UWL-04 may be the widest by a hair. All shots in Av mode, f4.0. No flash. Any corner darkening that you see in any of the photos is 99% the result of surface interference and shadowing from the back lighted hot tub in my wife's bathroom.

Note, the Inon lenses were all shot with the camera zoomed to 35mm and the Fisheye UWL-04 full wide (28mm).

James (aka N)

[scottg]

this is going to be great, I'll get a few people locally here to join in also.

[James]

Thanks, I hope others contribute with test shots from any and all wide angle, fisheye, MACRO lenses on any P&S type camera--NOT--just the FIX90. I have received many requests for such photos and while they may not be of help to some, others get a lot from this type show and tell and have told me so. I know I do.

Update, I have made arrangements I think to use the local university pool, maybe, this weekend when there is a scuba class in for training. So, I just need to figure out what to shoot for a target? I want one series of shots with all three lenses with a fixed object for magnification/FOV comparison similar to what used to be on the fix.jp web page and them something to do a preliminary IQ test. It is not my plan to do a full scientific optical resolution test, lol, I just want to have a general comparison of the three lenses.

Thanks,
James

[CompuDude]

Great work, James! I'm excited you finally got you UWL-04 in, that looks like a doozy of lens, if big and less compact than the UFL-165AD.

If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. I could possibly ship you some of my gear to add to the mix, if you want.

Or perhaps if I get a chance, I'll run a bathtub test of my own with my macro lenses and a ruler... although it seems like there may be just enough manufacturer variation among cameras and mounts that I'm not certain every test would apply to every setup.

[seekncritters]

Wonderful job! Thanks for sharing all of this, James. This is quite a big plan you've made. Looking forward to hearing more about your tests! Lots of tradeoffs between these lenses. I'm wondering if the baddest, bestest lens (for quality) might also be the biggest, most massive and pricey-est .

BTW the price on the Inon fisheye lens went up...it's $459 before tax/shipping.

-Dana

[James]

Yes, I will do my semi-best.

The prices on these things can be a challenge. I suspect the price increases that have occurred may be finally a reflection of the Inon "conduit" into North America and of course general cost increases, who knows, thanks for the update seekncriiters.

In addition to the price increase on the UFL165AD there is a rumored design change involving the anti-ghost petals/shade. I have not been able to confirm if there has been a change or was a change, only that there is more than one image of the 165AD floating around with different shades? Anyone who can confirm or dismiss this info please do so.

Given the prices of Inon equipment comparatively the Fisheye UWL-04 is a well priced and well made piece of equipment,of course, they get back at you on those dang FIX mounts at 200 dollars a pop and at a minimum the 52mm FIX90 port/lens adapter is needed priced between 35 and 50 dollars.

James

[DevilDiver]

Sea & Sea DX 2G (or DX 1G) and FIX UWL-04 Fisheye

Objective:
Find the maximum wide angle conversion available for the Sea & Sea DX-1G & 2G.

The Sea & Sea DX-1G & 2G housings have a proprietary bayonet mount designed to use Sea & Sea wet mount lenses (They offer a Sea & Sea 1.25X Close-up and a 19mm Wide Angle Wet Lens). I am a big fan of wide angle and wanted to find an option for a super wide Fisheye lens. By using the 125 adapter ring for the Sea & Sea close-up lens + a 62mm-52mm step-down ring I was able to create lens adapter that allowed a Sea & Sea bayonet mount to be added to the FIX UWL-04 Fisheye wet lens.

62mm-52mm step down ring, Sea & Sea 125 adapter ring and FIX UWL-O4 Fisheye Lens



Fix Fisheye UWL-04 with DIY Sea & Sea DX 2G housing with bayonet wet mount adapter ring using 62-52mm step up ring.


Fix Fisheye UWL-04 with DIY Sea & Sea bayonet wet mount using 62-52mm step up ring



OK..First I know these were taken in a bathtub and the lighting is done with the cameras flash, focus was not the priority here just a demonstration of the difference of available field of view with the Sea & Sea DX 1G or 2G camera/housing with no added lens, DX 1G or 2G + Sea & Sea 19mm wide angle wet lens and the Sea & Sea DX 1G or 2G + FIX UWL-04 Fisheye. All photos were taken from approximately the same location at 14" away from the subject.

When using the FIX UWL-04 I had to bump the cameras zoom 1x to get rid of the dark corners (vignetting).

Sea & Sea DX 1G without added wet lens @ 14"


Sea & Sea with Sea & Sea 19mm wide angle wet lens @ 14"


Sea & Sea DX-1G with FIX Fisheye Wet Lens @ 14"




Fix Fisheye UWL-04 with DIY Sea & Sea bayonet wet mount adapter ring using 62-52mm step up ring.

[James]

I have come to a conclusion, underwater lens testing is not for the faint of heart or lazy. I have gone to great effort to get this far and some expense I might add. OK, this first round of pool tests is just that, a first go through. I was NOT interested in focus, white balance, exposure or anything other than demonstrating the relative field of view from a known distance at a known target. I plan to return tomorrow to continue. Then after real world shooting of all three lenses in Grand Cayman I plan to return yet again to the pool and actually shoot the target carefully for resolution which will mean I will have to get serious about focus, holding steady, etc.

A bit of info, the Fisheye UWL-04 was mounted using the new single piece FIX 52mm mount. The Inon UFL-165AD was shot suing the FIX 67mm mount kit and my Nemrod AD-67mm adapter (similar to the 10Bar version) and the Inon UWL100 with dome was shot with the FIX 67mm mount kit.

Fisheye UWL-04 at 5 feet feet (full wide at 28mm):



and




The UWL-04 at 2 feet:



UWL-04 at 1.0 ft:



Inon UFL165AD at 5 feet (zoom at 35mm):



and



Inon UFL165AD at 2 feet:



Inon UFL165AD at 1.0 foot:



Inon UWL100-67 with dome (zoom at 35mm):

To be continued.

James