I was just wondering if there was anyone else who tinker around to do things like make a manual focus lens for which there is no assigned port somehow work etc by adapting bits and pieces etc.?

I shoot rather a lot with Nikono manual wet lenses, it's rather a pain to get focus correct and they are literally built for it.

I would not want to shoot a manual lens which wasn't a specific corrected wet optic especially behind a dome.

2 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

I was just wondering if there was anyone else who tinker around to do things like make a manual focus lens for which there is no assigned port somehow work etc by adapting bits and pieces etc.?

You'll find a few people on here who are keen to try lenses that are not on the port charts, it's an interesting exercise and some people like the challenge and to try new things. Myself it's an exercise I know a bit about, but for me if it doesn't have AF and auto diaphragm I'm not that interested, apart from Nikonos lenses which are really only readily adaptable to a few specific systems I question if there is any possibility of significantly improved performance, at least as far as lenses behind a regular dome goes.

If you search you might find some posts on specific lenses, popular topics include using Nauticam wet optics in other systems and alternative lenses not on the port chart for the wet lenses. There's also a lot of discussion about 3D printing zoom/focus gears for adapted lenses. I recall a classic I think triplet lens being talked about as well.

4 minutes ago, Chris Ross said:

You'll find a few people on here who are keen to try lenses that are not on the port charts, it's an interesting exercise and some people like the challenge and to try new things. Myself it's an exercise I know a bit about, but for me if it doesn't have AF and auto diaphragm I'm not that interested, apart from Nikonos lenses which are really only readily adaptable to a few specific systems I question if there is any possibility of significantly improved performance, at least as far as lenses behind a regular dome goes.

If you search you might find some posts on specific lenses, popular topics include using Nauticam wet optics in other systems and alternative lenses not on the port chart for the wet lenses. There's also a lot of discussion about 3D printing zoom/focus gears for adapted lenses. I recall a classic I think triplet lens being talked about as well.

I'm interested in having a tinker with some odd macro lenses from China, and also some CFWA lenses such as the Laowa 15mm CFWA lens. Laowa seem to have some unusual lenses in their range actually.

I have tried a verity of manual focus lenses behind a verity of dome and flat ports, including the Laowa 15mm 1:2 macro. I found the Laowa not to be worth the effort. Wide lenses like the 110 degree AOV 15 Laowa need to be to close to get to 1:2 inside a dome port. With wide primes you have the cost of the lens + the custom focus gear and in the case of the 15mm Laowa you would still only be able to get to about 1:4/5 behind a 200mm dome or larger dome. You would be able to do the same or better with the 112 degree 14mm F/4 Viltrox which has a more achievable 1:4.35 magnification at a minimum focus distance of 13cm. The lens retails for $199.00 in the US, got mine on sale for $159.00 on sale and works with Sony FE and Nikon Z. I have also used the Sony 14mm F/1.8, Sigma 14mm, Sanyang/Rokinon 14mm AF lenses and the cheap Viltrox is every bit as good in a dome because of its close minimum focus. Same/same with the Rokinon 14-24mm F/2.8 which has a minimum focus of 18cm, all the other 14-24mm lenses and 12-24mm"s focus to 28cm which is a disadvantage behind a port. The Rokinon is also the only lens that can be used with 77mm front filters.

I used the AstrHori 6mm F/2.8 220 degree circular Fisheye, a manual lens in Bali last year pre-setting the lens at F/11 and just shy of infinity on the focus ring. This gave me around 8 inches to infinity in a 140mm dome. This lens can be had for Sony FE, Nikon Z, Canon RF and L mount systems for a retail of $299.00 US. If you are looking for cheap options to expensive lenses like a Canon or Nikon 8-15mm or 7-14mm for circular Fisheye this is a fun alternative.

I have tried a lot more to numerous to list.

Images from AstrHori in 140 Marelux dome.

Knowing which system the OP is starting from would probably help drive the conversation in productive directions.

A recommendation for FE in a Marelux wouldn't do much for a M4/3 Nauticam user.

The OP specifically ask about the Laowa 15mm for CFWA. If you are not aware this is a full frame lens. Nikonos lenses were also mentioned and they are full frame lenses. In addition for Nikonos lenses you need an adapter only made by Nauticam for sony full frame cameras. cameras.

The images were taken with the AstrHori in a Marelux 140mm dome port which is simply a fact, this is a port that can also be used on Nauticam and several brands.

If you would like to start a thread regarding unsupported M4/3 lenses I would be happy to help with that. Housing brand has little to do with camera/lens combos as most work in many different housings with proper extensions.

15 minutes ago, Phil Rudin said:

The OP specifically ask about the Laowa 15mm for CFWA. If you are not aware this is a full frame lens. Nikonos lenses were also mentioned and they are full frame lenses. In addition for Nikonos lenses you need an adapter only made by Nauticam for sony full frame cameras. cameras.

The images were taken with the AstrHori in a Marelux 140mm dome port which is simply a fact, this is a port that can also be used on Nauticam and several brands.

If you would like to start a thread regarding unsupported M4/3 lenses I would be happy to help with that. Housing brand has little to do with camera/lens combos as most work in many different housings with proper extensions.

I'm just saying if we knew what housing, body and intended image projection we're dealing with it would drive the conversation into more productive directions.

10 hours ago, Phil Rudin said:

I have tried a verity of manual focus lenses behind a verity of dome and flat ports, including the Laowa 15mm 1:2 macro. I found the Laowa not to be worth the effort. Wide lenses like the 110 degree AOV 15 Laowa need to be to close to get to 1:2 inside a dome port. With wide primes you have the cost of the lens + the custom focus gear and in the case of the 15mm Laowa you would still only be able to get to about 1:4/5 behind a 200mm dome or larger dome. You would be able to do the same or better with the 112 degree 14mm F/4 Viltrox which has a more achievable 1:4.35 magnification at a minimum focus distance of 13cm. The lens retails for $199.00 in the US, got mine on sale for $159.00 on sale and works with Sony FE and Nikon Z. I have also used the Sony 14mm F/1.8, Sigma 14mm, Sanyang/Rokinon 14mm AF lenses and the cheap Viltrox is every bit as good in a dome because of its close minimum focus. Same/same with the Rokinon 14-24mm F/2.8 which has a minimum focus of 18cm, all the other 14-24mm lenses and 12-24mm"s focus to 28cm which is a disadvantage behind a port. The Rokinon is also the only lens that can be used with 77mm front filters.

I used the AstrHori 6mm F/2.8 220 degree circular Fisheye, a manual lens in Bali last year pre-setting the lens at F/11 and just shy of infinity on the focus ring. This gave me around 8 inches to infinity in a 140mm dome. This lens can be had for Sony FE, Nikon Z, Canon RF and L mount systems for a retail of $299.00 US. If you are looking for cheap options to expensive lenses like a Canon or Nikon 8-15mm or 7-14mm for circular Fisheye this is a fun alternative.

I have tried a lot more to numerous to list.

Images from AstrHori in 140 Marelux dome.

Cheers Phil, looks like I can cross a few off the list!

To answer @Grantmac 's question - fullframe macro and CFWA - Nikon Z.

Hard to beat a 8-15 behind the 140mm dome like Dave Hicks uses.

If there is a lens combo that works for Nikon FF he's probably tried it.

Both those use cases want an AF lens.

3 hours ago, Grantmac said:

Hard to beat a 8-15 behind the 140mm dome like Dave Hicks uses.

If there is a lens combo that works for Nikon FF he's probably tried it.

Both those use cases want an AF lens.

The only thing, for me, to bear in mind with the 8-15 is that it hardly merits being considered as a zoom. It’s really two lenses: a 15mm FE; and an 8mm lens that produces a circular image. The later is interesting but has very limited use. There’s precious little useable zoom between the two.

If you add a 1.4 TC it becomes much more interesting as a lens on FF. Used on an APS-C body it’s a great with or without a TC.

4 hours ago, Grantmac said:

Hard to beat a 8-15 behind the 140mm dome like Dave Hicks uses.

If there is a lens combo that works for Nikon FF he's probably tried it.

Both those use cases want an AF lens.

A new lens starts shipping in a couple of weeks for Nikon FF Z mount - Tamron's new 12-20 F2.8 AF rectlinier lens - the reviews so far have suggested that it is very very good. I'm not really a fisheye fan as I like straight lines on a wreck to be straight lines (or very nearly straight lines) in an image as well, and the reviews have shown that there is very little distortion of straight lines when shooting at 12mm. It is certainly going on my spreadsheet of lenses to consider.

Edited August 14Aug 14 by CCRphoto

1 hour ago, CCRphoto said:

A new lens starts shipping in a couple of weeks for Nikon FF Z mount - Tamron's new 12-20 F2.8 AF rectlinier lens - the reviews so far have suggested that it is very very good. I'm not really a fisheye fan as I like straight lines on a wreck to be straight lines (or very nearly straight lines) in an image as well, and the reviews have shown that there is very little distortion of straight lines when shooting at 12mm. It is certainly going on my spreadsheet of lenses to consider.

The reviews suggest it’s good? Underwater? Too many WA lenses are great topside. Underwater? Not so much. Housing them can be a disappointing experience. If only someone would build the Tokina 10-17 for FF and APS-C. And M43.

I think the Tamron 12-20mm will be well suited to U/W work simply because at 12mm if will focus to 18cm. With the proper extension it should work well behind domes in the 200mm and larger range. This is not the case with lenses like the Nikon Z 14-24mm F/2.8 and Sony FE 12-24mm F/2.8 GM that only focus to 28cm.

Another excellent very wide lens is the Laowa 12mm F/2.8 AF for FE & Z. This lens will focus to 14cm and is usable behind a 140mm dome with proper extension. This lens is much less expensive than the 12-20 at $699.00. If you want a less expensive fisheye that natively mounts on Nikon Z checkout the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 AF MAX Fisheye Lens (Nikon Z).

Edited August 14Aug 14 by Phil Rudin

12 minutes ago, TimG said:

The reviews suggest it’s good? Underwater? Too many WA lenses are great topside. Underwater? Not so much. Housing them can be a disappointing experience. If only someone would build the Tokina 10-17 for FF and APS-C. And M43.

You probably went through much the same pain at the time as I did when "proper" housings for SLR's first came out and everyone was trying to figure out which lenses worked and which ones didn't - and at times we couldn't work out why one would work and another one didn't.

13 minutes ago, Phil Rudin said:

I think the Tamron 12-20mm will be well suited to U/W work simply because at 12mm if will focus to 18cm. With the proper extension it should work well behind domes in the 200mm and larger range. This is not the case with lenses like the Nikon Z 14-24mm F/2.8 and Sony FE 12-24mm F/2.8 GM that only focus to 28cm.

Another excellent very wide lens is the Laowa 12mm F/2.8 AF for FE & Z. This lens will focus to 14cm and is usable behind a 140mm dome with proper extension. This lens is much less expensive than the 12-20 at $699.00. If you want a less expensive fisheye that natively mounts on Nikon Z checkout the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 AF MAX Fisheye Lens (Nikon Z).

Good to hear your thoughts that the Tamron has a good chance of working well underwater.

That Laowa 12mm working behind a 140mm dome sounds excellent for reef scenes in the Red Sea etc!

Keep in mind you can lens correct a fisheye to rectilinear and there are wreck shots which really suit an uncorrected fisheye.

Adding a TC to the 8-15 is popular for a reason as well.

On the less expensive side I'm going to experiment with shooting a EF-S version Tokina 10-17 on my Sony FE, so far it gives full frame coverage from 16mm. I might even try a TC to see if I can get FF coverage on the wide side.

It won't be poster worthy IQ, but lots of winning shots have been made with that lens. I will likely look at the Laowa AF 8-15 when it becomes available, especially if it can accommodate a TC.

10 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

A new lens starts shipping in a couple of weeks for Nikon FF Z mount - Tamron's new 12-20 F2.8 AF rectlinier lens - the reviews so far have suggested that it is very very good. I'm not really a fisheye fan as I like straight lines on a wreck to be straight lines (or very nearly straight lines) in an image as well, and the reviews have shown that there is very little distortion of straight lines when shooting at 12mm. It is certainly going on my spreadsheet of lenses to consider.

That is a big lump of glass, 90mm diameter. 580 gr and $AUD2800 in round numbers. Keep in mind that very wide rectilinears produce weird perspective effects with the foreground objects looming very large.

2 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

That is a big lump of glass, 90mm diameter. 580 gr and $AUD2800 in round numbers. Keep in mind that very wide rectilinears produce weird perspective effects with the foreground objects looming very large.

That weird perspective could work well in some situations - and be a downright pain in others!

I think there’s two aspects to this - using a very specific lens that’s off the charts and then the « tinkering » , i.e. how to actually fit it in a system.

Tinkering is a fun project for some «dry » evenings /weekends but ultimately only rewarding if the photography gains something from it.

I adapted a manual fisheye for a simple m43 system and that was fun (you can find a post somewhere on this site). For dome-ports, a simple way to verify a reasonably correct position is to take a split shot and look at whether off-center vertical lines match between above and below. There are also some reports on this on the forum, @DreiFish has included this in his testing-routine which I think is as good as it gets.

The MF fisheye exercise is image -wise of course nonsense for m43 because the AF lenses exist and are even quite affordable. For me, it was a test to see whether I like shooting a FE (which I bought for above-water use) under water.

Fisheyes can be used fix-focus as @Phil Rudin described and I got some good shots with my setup. I can change focus for CFWA but that is difficult to verify under water. Keeper-rate is so-so. Rectilinear wide lenses have a shallower depth of field than FE and are more sensitive to the curved virtual image - that does not make focusing easier. And I think doing macro with an MF lens will be very challenging. Yes, one may anyways choose to pre-focus an AF lens and then use focus-peaking to pull the trigger. But having at least the option of AF will make you more flexible and faster for unexpected opportunities.

What’s better, a sharp frame that you need to crop or the ideal focal length and framing but slightly out-of-focus?

AF may not be what I miss most on my FE, but changing the aperture is important for sunball shots and those are a staple for FE. I am looking out for a second-hand Panny 8mm on the classifieds, that’s the bottom line.

2 hours ago, Klaus said:

am looking out for a second-hand Panny 8mm on the classifieds, that’s the bottom line.

I am sorry I sold that lens and the minidome several years ago. The quality was great, but for video it was really not very usable except few cases.

I still remember its MFD and ability to focus on the dome and even inside it.

Once I went for a dive in a mountain lake with 40 meters of visibility. From the bottom I had filmed all the houses in the village and the trees. AMAZING!!!

I went back home all excited, only to find out that the camera had focused always and only on a tiny speck of dust on the inner surface of the dome.

Mountain legends say that on foggy nights the curses of a stranger can still be heard echoing in the valleys.

P.S.

No, I did not notice it on the small display given the huge depth of field of the FE and at that time I still missed the wonders of focus peaking.

Interesting experience, thanks for sharing (and not re-iterating the curses).

It would be nice to be able to program two focus positions into the camera, say on an Fn button or so, for a given lens. Then we could have it all- fix-focus for reef and CFWA plus AF if we want to. And the ability to switch rapidly and reliably between all this. Does that exist?

Those were the times of the legendary cracked GH2. Like a tuned scooter.

I never investigated the Panasonic custom modes C1, C2 , C3, C4 I think tou can have different AF types but not fixed focus points.

regarding my sad story, today it is impossible not to notice it. Focus peaking for video and for photos the various AF modes show you exactly what it focused on.