Right now I've got an 8mm fisheye + small dome and 60mm, so I've got bendy wide angle and macro covered, but now I have my 12-50mm lens + the nauticam port with an M77 thread I used to use/may still use for macro. I'm missing a rectilinear wide angle option so best option seems to get a wet lens to convert. Options I know so far:

WWL-1 (if I could find one second-hand) screws straight onto an M67 so I guess I could use my flip diopter holder and not flip it? Not sure if there's a better M77 - > M67 conversion or if I need to do M77 -> bayonet -> M67. Limited to 14mm but the nauticam port already screws things up around there so not really an issue

WWL-1b: Integrated float collar so yay, I'd need a bayonet holder which seems to limit the zoom again to >16mm or thereabouts

WWL-C : Would work at the full 12mm end but again not really relevant so only benefit is cheaper + lighter?

I've seen this thread a few places and the consensus seems WWL-1b. Was wondering if I've missed any options; is the Marelux Aquista roughly the same thing? Do they accommodate M77 on their bayonet mounts?

I've also little interest in removing this underwater so not committed to the wet lens option but rectilinear m43 lenses don't come up often in conversation, not sure what the feelings are there.

Any and all advice is helpful!

Hi Sean

I’m in a similar position. I’ve got the 8mm and 60mm M43 lenses. I moved to them from an APSC system using a 10-17FE and a 60mm or 105mm.

With my old system I was never convinced by the kind of mid-zoom. Neither fish nor fowl. In addition, I’ve always been convinced that it makes better sense to dive with one format in mind: WA or Macro. This makes kit choosing relatively simple and, for me, helps me focus on appropriate subjects.

I’ve just finished my first dive trip with my new system. I thought it very good. But I did wonder about something a bit wider than the 60mm. Not come to any conclusions yet! Maybe something in the M43 30mm range?

I had a couple of options with the APSC. But it was rare that anything other than the 10-17 or the 60 came out of the cupboard. Food for thought.

Keep in mind the WWL is a bit of a fisheye.

Have you considered defishing in post? Or do you want something tighter than the 8mm in addition to being rectilinear?

There have been people who like the 8-25 but that's a pretty expensive lens which needs expensive ports.

Hi @sean.mcdive

I recently helped a buddy setup an m43 rig. His primary lens is the 12-50. For wide to medium he added the WWL-C and has fantastic results. As a long time Nauticam wet optics user I saw no significant difference between my WWL-1B quality and that of his -C. The noticeably smaller -C option takes advantage of the entire zoom range while being more proportionally sized for the m43 footprint. This also gave an incredible range of photographic options during his dive. The minimal fisheye effect is far less than the 8mm and covers a rang that is not found in other lens choices.

Coupled with the unique Nauticam zoom gear, he also has a decent macro at ~42mm with this single lens. Yes, the dedicated 60 macro will be sharper, but this creates a bit of an all purpose option.

Enjoy!

chip

Like Chip, I would look at the WWL-1C with your 12-50 and M77 port along with a M77 to Bayonet Mount Converter II ... going to 110 degrees.

Or, if you wanted wider, reaching 130 degrees, (and were ok to buy more parts) ,consider a Panasonic 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH, again with WWL-1C but would need a new port and the M67 to Bayonet Mount Converter II.

The WWL-C as others have said will work with the 12-50. It is still a sizable chunk of glass and you need to work out what to do with it when it is not mounted. Some people here are happy to do this, others less so, it's not like a wet diopter that can go in a pocket and its a big lump to carry on a strobe arm. To mount it Nauticam sells a dedicated M77- bayonet converter. The downside is that it only gets to 110 deg with the WWL-C as it vignettes at 12mm-14mm or so., This is the diagonal field of a 15mm FF lens, but due to the barrel distortion you get the horizontal field of about an 18mm FF lens, so it would be like a 9-18 Olympus with a bit more reach.

If you want something in between you could look at something like the 12-40 - I use it a bit diving around Sydney, the 12-45 is also an option, they get to about 0.3x up close to the dome and are sharp and contrasty lenses which will work in smaller ports as they are only 24mm equivalent. Part from the you are getting into needing an N120 port with Nauticam for the likes of the 8-25 and 7-14 - nice lenses but even the 170-180 ports are a little small for them to do their best. In fact the Olympus 12-40 getting 0.3x is very close to the 12-50 in macro mode. I've heard of people using it in 140mm domes.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

I share everyone's trepidation about removing a giant chunk of glass underwater so I'd use a bayonet mount and keep it there, not concerned about switching WA <-> macro underwater.

Like @Chris Ross said, the WWL-C is limited to 110 degrees because of vignetting at 14mm with the dedicated port + M77 bayonet at least according to Nauticam's compatibility chart, this https://www.backscatter.com/images/article/content/wwl-1/83201-WWL-1-Port-Chart.pdf claims there's some at 16mm for the WWL-1? Seems like the extra 20 degrees at the effective widest end could be worth the hassle of a slightly larger wet lens.

@Grantmac yeah this is to have a bit more flexibility with big animals and such (with the 8mm fisheye + minidome feels better suited for CFWA) in addition to just having a rectilinear option. Could defish in post but I'm a processing noob and seems a bit more fun to get things right in lens

Also helps switching from 60mm (+flip diopter) to 12-50 + WWL-x since I can use the same port for both. And despite the WWL's price still looks cheaper than another lens + ports + dome.

If you run the port for the 60mm macro then the WWL-C won't vignette at 12mm.

4 hours ago, Grantmac said:

If you run the port for the 60mm macro then the WWL-C won't vignette at 12mm.

@sean.mcdive if this is confirmed not to vignette, using the 12-50 in the 60mm macro port would be a better option and it sounds like you already have everything needed apart from the WWl-C

I ran the 12-50 in that port with the WWL-1, it had to run at 14mm because of the WWL-1 but not because of the port.

Also compatible with more diopter mounts. But you give up the rather dubious "macro" setting.