I need a bit of help from canon shooters to converge on housings (except Nauticam, that i know), until i find a way to test them in real life, at least on land.

I have an R5ii, but it guess it applies to most Rxx.

1) How are the position and friendliness of the 2 (or 3) AF buttons (AF-on, * , and [-]) on Marelux, Isotta, Ikelite and Sea&Sea (if someone has one yet?)

2) Anyone found a solution to use a single dome for canon 8-15 and a rectilinear (like the RF 14-35) which is not the 230mm ? How bad would the 8-15 look with a 170 or 180 dome (compared tot 140 assuming the curvature of this one is the best?) ?

3) Anyone using the 8-15 with the canon RF 1.4x teleconverter instead of the Kenko (with the hack on the commlit EF-RF converter) ?

4) How complicated it would be to 3D print a zoom gear for the canon RF 24-50 lens for non Nauticam housing ? (to eventually use the WLL1)

You stated except Nauticam, so I won't be able to help you with your general query but I can give the following tips as a Canon shooter:

1) Positions are irrelevant as you should set the most ergonomic button on your housing (*, AF-on, or any other customisable button) to eye autofocus and the lesser ergonomic button to the usual back button autofocus. Therefore, if * is easier to press on the housing, that will be the eye autofocus, which is what you will be using mostly. I usually use AF-on to adjust the focal plane then continue with eye autofocus for the eye autofocus to work faster and more efficiently.

2) This combination might be a burden if you are mostly using your fisheye lens as 140 mm is optically great (speaking for Nauticam) to be used with the fisheye lens and is super small and lightweight. Therefore, a 2 dome solution would be better prioritising the most used lens in this case (small glass dome for the fisheye and big acrylic dome for the rectilinear if you also want to cut costs).

The single dome solution will be the 230mm glass dome unfortunately as the smaller domes will affect corner sharpness. Additionally, you will need two separate port extensions for both lenses to ensure correct positioning of the lenses.

3) I just purchased a spare adapter just to try this. I'll update this post after I reach a conclusion.

4) Very easy if you can find a good fit design template to be printed.

2). At home, I use both the 8-15mm fisheye in a 140mm dome and 14-35mm rectilinear in a 230mm dome. I recently traveled to Malapascua for Threshers and wanted more reach than the 8-15mm provided, but did not want to lug along my heavy 230mm dome. Instead, I used the 14-35mm in the 140mm dome with the extension I normally use for my 230mm dome (thanks for the recommendation on this, @Chris Ross ). I am not as conscious of edge sharpness as many folks, so opinions will vary, but I was happy with the results.

Here is a sequence with that setup at different focal lengths. (35mm, 27mm, 23mm, 17mm, 14mm)

35mm

27mm

23mm

17mm

14mm (slight interference from dome sun shade required cropping afterwards in post)

On 4/26/2025 at 1:02 PM, Cyrille said:

1) How are the position and friendliness of the 2 (or 3) AF buttons (AF-on, * , and [-]) on Marelux, Isotta, Ikelite and Sea&Sea (if someone has one yet?)

I find the buttons plenty accessible on the Marelux. This is the R6ii housing but it is the same on the R5. I setup the AF-on for my main use as it is very easy to hit - sometime back button focus, sometimes just set to AF-on eye tracking. You also get good access to the M-Fn and Rec buttons if you need to remap. The * and [-] are also easy to access but can take a hand reposition.

Before thinking about 3d printing something - reach out to Marelux if they have a zoom adaptor for the 24-50.

On 4/26/2025 at 10:02 PM, Cyrille said:

2) Anyone found a solution to use a single dome for canon 8-15 and a rectilinear (like the RF 14-35) which is not the 230mm ? How bad would the 8-15 look with a 170 or 180 dome (compared tot 140 assuming the curvature of this one is the best?) ?

I use the Marelux single dome 140mm for a versatile one fits all solution / backup. Go for the 8-15mm fisheye and do not invest in the 14-35mm zoom. The results of the 8-15mm TC 1.4x and 2.0x will be more pleasing than trying to rape the 14-35mm behind a small dome. Instead think about getting the RF 35mm 1.8 macro, which also can be utilized behind the small 140mm dome with a +4 diopter and which give you a flexible very sharp distant shark plus semi macro lens, without having to buy a flat port.

I also own a 230mm dome.

About your questions:

1.) not an issue to worry about with major brands, it’s awesome on Marelux but also fully functional on an INON housing, a friend owns.

2.) skip the 180 idea. The 140mm is full sphere with marelux and nauticam, the 180 is not. Unless you are heavily targeting for over-under split shots the 140mm dome is the way to go for many lenses, especially the 8-15mm FE.

3.) looking into this as I own the 1.4x RF TC and the two Kenko TCs seem to drive down IQ a little bit. There is zoom gear for all three scenarios by Marelux for the 8-15mm. I would need to test if one of the gears also would fit the much thicker bit. There is zoom gear for all three scenarios by Marelux for the 8-15mm. I would need to test if one of the gears also would fit the much thicker Canon RF TC

4.) good approach, however I would see that complementary to the 8-15 FE with TCs not redundant.

Thank you so much for all answers! Super useful.

I am also planning to test the use of the canon RF 1.4x tel with the 8-15 and and com lite adapter. As I am using it for other zoom lens, would be good not to have to buy the kenko.

The more I dig, the more marelux looks attractive !

I was wondering if indeed the 140mm was a total no go, but these pictures clearly show that would work in the blue. 👍🏻👍🏻

On 4/30/2025 at 6:34 PM, JayceeB said:

2). At home, I use both the 8-15mm fisheye in a 140mm dome and 14-35mm rectilinear in a 230mm dome. I recently traveled to Malapascua for Threshers and wanted more reach than the 8-15mm provided, but did not want to lug along my heavy 230mm dome. Instead, I used the 14-35mm in the 140mm dome with the extension I normally use for my 230mm dome (thanks for the recommendation on this, @Chris Ross ). I am not as conscious of edge sharpness as many folks, so opinions will vary, but I was happy with the results.

Here is a sequence with that setup at different focal lengths. (35mm, 27mm, 23mm, 17mm, 14mm)

35mm

27mm

23mm

17mm

14mm (slight interference from dome sun shade required cropping afterwards in post)

8 hours ago, Cyrille said:

Thank you so much for all answers! Super useful.

I am also planning to test the use of the canon RF 1.4x tel with the 8-15 and and com lite adapter. As I am using it for other zoom lens, would be good not to have to buy the kenko.

The more I dig, the more marelux looks attractive !

Also keep Isotta in mind, in this part of the world they seem quite reasonably priced. You can do all of this with their 4.5"dome as well.