Diopter for Canon RF100 recommendation

[Landvogt1893]

Hello everyone,

I’m currently looking for a new diopter. So far, I’ve been shooting with a Canon R5 and the RF 100 in a Nauticam housing, currently using the SMC-1 and SMC-2. The SMC-1 has already been sold and will be replaced with an SMC-3.

I’d also like to replace the SMC-2, as it’s simply too specialized and hardly usable due to its very short minimum focusing distance.

 

Would you recommend replacing the SMC-2 with a CMC-1 or something from the AOI series? Maybe the 90 or 900 Pro?

[CaolIla]

Hi, Hallo
I have like you a R5 with the RF100 a SMC-1  Happy with this setup.

I'm looking for an other wet-lens with more magnification as the SMC-1...   I was looking for the SMC-2... 

If you sale it... I can be interessed. 

 

[Chris Ross]

4 hours ago, Landvogt1893 said:

Hello everyone,

I’m currently looking for a new diopter. So far, I’ve been shooting with a Canon R5 and the RF 100 in a Nauticam housing, currently using the SMC-1 and SMC-2. The SMC-1 has already been sold and will be replaced with an SMC-3.

I’d also like to replace the SMC-2, as it’s simply too specialized and hardly usable due to its very short minimum focusing distance.

 

Would you recommend replacing the SMC-2 with a CMC-1 or something from the AOI series? Maybe the 90 or 900 Pro?

The CMC-1 is more powerful compared to the SMC-1, the CMC-2 is similar in power to the SMC-1 with slightly more working distance.

 

The Port chart for the RF-100 has magnifications and working distances for all the Nauticam diopters, the CMC-1 sits between the SMC-1 and SMC-2 in power: 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iTINzEby0S-7GndOhEjQZRP-CgyumZx3/view

 

You can see that the CMC-2 has very similar magnification to the SMC-3 with very slightly more working distance.  UNless you feel you need a little more power than the SMC-3 It doesn't seem like any of the Nauticam diopters offer anything in the way of improvement.   The CMC-1 offers a little more power but almost in the same boat as the SMC-2 for working distance.

 

What are you looking for?  a bit more power than the SMC-1 or a bit less with more working distance?  It does get hard to compare lenses from different manufacturers as they all use different methods to rate them and there are very few comparison tests between brands out there.

 

 

[CaolIla]

Thanks for the link I discover the MFO-1 for the RF100...

OK it's "only a 1,6x but the usage range is incredible.

Did someone here allready test it ?

[CaolIla]

Find a review from @Alex_Mustard

and ordered a MFO-1....    Please, no comment 🤣

[Landvogt1893]

10 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

 

What are you looking for?  a bit more power than the SMC-1 or a bit less with more working distance?  It does get hard to compare lenses from different manufacturers as they all use different methods to rate them and there are very few comparison tests between brands out there.

 

 

 

I am looking for a significant increase compared to the SMC1 – already on par with the SMC2 but easier to handle. With the AOI diopters, I often read that their design allows more light to reach the lens, making them easier to work with. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any information about the working distance yet.

[Giancarlo M.]

39 minutes ago, Landvogt1893 said:

 

I am looking for a significant increase compared to the SMC1 – already on par with the SMC2 but easier to handle. With the AOI diopters, I often read that their design allows more light to reach the lens, making them easier to work with. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any information about the working distance yet.

 

If you are not in a hurry for the purchase, I am starting a new project for an article on the forum, just on wet lenses, in testing I have retrieved, AOI Pro series +12 +18 + 23 , Weefine +6 + 12 +23.
I'm going by the Italian distributor Nauticam today to retrieve more lenses to test.
The purpose is just to verify the real magnification ratio, and working distances. If I have time even at different apertures.
By the end of January everything should be ready

[Alex_Mustard]

1 hour ago, CaolIla said:

Find a review from @Alex_Mustard

and ordered a MFO-1....    Please, no comment 🤣

 

I have not tried the production version of the MFO yet. I think they have been in high demand and Nauticam haven't been able to supply one yet. 

However, I have had MFO prototypes since April and taken one on every trip as it is so useful. The production MFO is a little different to the prototypes - and I will wait to shoot it before posting a review (I obviously have lots of sample images and test images from the prototypes). What the Nauticam lenses always deliver is excellent sharpness across the frame. Some others are sharp in the centre and blurred in the corners. 

[CaolIla]

I ordered from a web shop in France (with a shop in Paris) The status was "In stock" 

I hope it is. Delivery beetween the 30/12/2024 and 3/01/2025 Not sure it will be the case.

But I have now 2 month left before the next trip... 

[Chris Ross]

14 hours ago, Landvogt1893 said:

 

I am looking for a significant increase compared to the SMC1 – already on par with the SMC2 but easier to handle. With the AOI diopters, I often read that their design allows more light to reach the lens, making them easier to work with. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any information about the working distance yet.

I think you are running into a problem with the basic physics.  Diopters work by allowing the lens to focus closer, so if you want more magnification you lose working distance, yes there is some leeway to design lenses so that they achieve the same magnification with increased working distance, but I think in most cases this is a small improvement. 

 

Diopters are more powerful on long focal length lenses so another approach might be to use a different base lens or add a 1.4x to your RF 100mm. This would give you 2.3 x 1.4 = 3.2 x at the same working distance as your SMC-3.  Another possibility might be to use the 180mm EF macro lens with the SMC-3.  ON the port chart with the SMC-1 it achieves 3.6x and 63mm working distance.  To use the RF-100 with a 1.4x you just need an extension tube the same dimension as the Canon 1.4x.  You would of course have to research what impact this has on autofocus which will probably slow down a bit.

[Tom Kline]

If the SMC-2 is too powerful there is not much point to another diopter alongside either a -1 or -3 given the extended focusing range intrinsic to the RF100.

Edited Tuesday at 06:12 PM by Tom Kline

[Landvogt1893]

On 12/24/2024 at 2:07 AM, Chris Ross said:

I think you are running into a problem with the basic physics.  Diopters work by allowing the lens to focus closer, so if you want more magnification you lose working distance, yes there is some leeway to design lenses so that they achieve the same magnification with increased working distance, but I think in most cases this is a small improvement. 

 

Diopters are more powerful on long focal length lenses so another approach might be to use a different base lens or add a 1.4x to your RF 100mm. This would give you 2.3 x 1.4 = 3.2 x at the same working distance as your SMC-3.  Another possibility might be to use the 180mm EF macro lens with the SMC-3.  ON the port chart with the SMC-1 it achieves 3.6x and 63mm working distance.  To use the RF-100 with a 1.4x you just need an extension tube the same dimension as the Canon 1.4x.  You would of course have to research what impact this has on autofocus which will probably slow down a bit.

 

On 12/24/2024 at 7:11 PM, Tom Kline said:

If the SMC-2 is too powerful there is not much point to another diopter alongside either a -1 or -3 given the extended focusing range intrinsic to the RF100.

 

I understand how a diopter works, but there are some diopters that make it easier and allow more light onto the lens and others that don't, hence this thread.
I need something strong like the SMC 2 🙂

[Chris Ross]

9 hours ago, Landvogt1893 said:

 

 

I understand how a diopter works, but there are some diopters that make it easier and allow more light onto the lens and others that don't, hence this thread.
I need something strong like the SMC 2 🙂

 Are you talking about more working distance or are you thinking a different shape to let light get on the subject more easily?

[Tom Kline]

Getting more magnification generally means getting closer (keeping the same lens). One will get more magnification along with greater working distance using a longer focal length lens. But they are more difficult to use due to the narrower angle of view one gets with a longer focal length. There is no free lunch. Also using a diopter instead of a teleconverter (TC) will yield a larger working aperture, i.e. brighter (if this is what you meant by "allow more light onto the lens"; lens shades are used to avoid this as this is generally a not desirable). TCs were used quite a bit to get greater than 1:1 a few years ago).