INON and AOI Wide Angle Wet Lenses for Action Cameras

[Davide DB]

On his YouTube channel, our member @Puccio Distefano has several videos comparing the two current "state of the art" wet lenses for GoPro's.

 

• INON UFL G-140 SD
• AOI UWL-03

 

From his tests he did not find any substantial differences between the two lenses and the AOI cost about half thr Inon. the slight difference in FOV between the two lenses depends on the GoPro 12's automatic stabilization, which cuts slightly more.

The second video has footage more indicative of lens quality. Although it is in Italian, YouTube does an excellent job of automatically translating the subtitles.

 

Comparison of the INON and AOI wide-angle lenses for our GoPro underwater

 

 

 

This video is in Italian language but you can easily add English subtitles with automatic translation.

 

 

 

GoPro 12 with and without AOI UWL-03

As you can see, the edges are significantly better with the lens. In my experience the difference appears with very close objects.

 

 

 

 

P.S.

 

I believe that both companies would need a marketing consultant ( provided with a baseball bat) attending all meetings where product names are decided.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 01:23 PM by Davide DB
Title modified to reflect its wider content

[bghazzal]

Great stuff there!

AOI products are really starting to get an edge these days, it seems.

On the naming, i agree, I agree... Even ChatGPT could do a better job...

It's one of the things that seems to live in a parallel dimension of its own - that said I confess to feeling a somewhat similar confusion regarding names of Sony Alpha cameras and Samsung Galaxy phones, so easily disoriented and probably not much of a reference 😄

[Nikolausz]

There is a Japanese more detailed comparison with more or less the same conclusion:

 

Automatic translation as subtitle works quite well

[bghazzal]

51 minutes ago, Nikolausz said:

There is a Japanese more detailed comparison with more or less the same conclusion:

 

Automatic translation as subtitle works quite well

Yep, I'd never tried for Japanese but it's not bad.


Giving the conclusion (section begining 20.03 minutes in) a quick listen, to summarize he recommends the Inon, as it allows you to shoot in super view mode and switch to wide mode if you feel there is too much corner distortion while keeping roughly the same image quality as the AOI, whereas the AOI would vignette - since a fisheye lens is designed to shoot wider, he feels that Inon gives you more options in this sense.

Note - Not having watched the whole thing, I'm not 100% sure what he means for the corners on the AOI - he uses a slightly technical expression ( 四隅けられる ) which usually refers to vignetting

Edited January 4 by bghazzal

[Nikolausz]

It's interesting that vignetting is not visible in the Italian videos and in the Japanese video only in super view mode and just one corner.  I still think that the differences are not that big.

My only concern is the usability of AOI to take split shots. It's possible with the Inon but I haven't read any hint regarding the AOI.

[Davide DB]

Another detail from the @Puccio Distefano review:

 

INON and AOI shares the same locking mechanism so the lens are interchangeable between them.

But the AOI kit has a mount designed for the original GoPro housing. The box contains different brackets for GoPro housings 7, 8 and 9/10/11/12 (they have the same dimensions).

 

IMHO, for video I would choose AOI. I find the superview FOV unusable for video. A small panning and the angle distortion makes you sick. Who uses a fisheye for video?

[Nikolausz]

One more piece of information I have recently gathered. Backscatter rebranded AOI UWL-03 and in addition they developed a special mount base, with wich you can use specific slot filters:

https://www.backscatter.com/reviews/post/Best-Underwater-GoPro-Wide-Angle-Lens

[Davide DB]

For my needs I would like to mount it on a naked gopro without housing.

DIY printed mount or is there some obscure adapter out there? 

[Nikolausz]

46 minutes ago, Davide DB said:

For my needs I would like to mount it on a naked gopro without housing.

 

Why would you do that?

[Davide DB]

I'm testing this one and I cannot use the GoPro housing

[Nikolausz]

You may consider the T-housing and this adapter:

https://actionpro.de/product/adapter-for-inon-lenses-t-housing-fuer-gopro-hero-11-10-und-9-kopie/?lang=en

 

[Davide DB]

1 hour ago, Nikolausz said:

You may consider the T-housing and this adapter:

https://actionpro.de/product/adapter-for-inon-lenses-t-housing-fuer-gopro-hero-11-10-und-9-kopie/?lang=en

 

 

I cannot use T-housing either. I'm using the Digipower extended battery with that enclosure so I need a special adapter 

[bghazzal]

Sounds tricky - all Inon products are made for the GoPro dive housing.

 

If the wide lens only come with custom SD mounts, one way to approach it would be to find some kind of adapter to get the wide lens to fit to a regular threaded mount, then use step-up/down rings

You could maybe use something like this with the Digipower frame, since it mounts on the bare camera's lens protector, but this would need to be tested given the Digipower frame's added bulk

 

 

 

 

Otherwise Puluz makes an adapter that fits directly on the bare cam's lens like so:

 

 

Then it's just a question of making the wide lens of your choice work with a 52mm thread.

Edited January 5 by bghazzal

[Davide DB]

Thanks the Ulanzi adapter is not going to work because attach on the top/back of the GoPro housing and the Digipower adds a frame around the camera while the Puluz is interesting and could work. The AOI has an optional 52 mm adapter 

[Nikolausz]

2 hours ago, Davide DB said:

 

I cannot use T-housing either. I'm using the Digipower extended battery with that enclosure so I need a special adapter 

https://actionpro.de/produkt/t-housing-aluminiumgehaeuse-h10-power-f-gopro-hero-10-und-hero-9/

This one is for digipower extended battery and compatible with the adapter. Maybe I'm wrong

[bghazzal]

3 minutes ago, Nikolausz said:

https://actionpro.de/produkt/t-housing-aluminiumgehaeuse-h10-power-f-gopro-hero-10-und-hero-9/

This one is for digipower extended battery and compatible with the adapter. Maybe I'm wrong

Nice find! Allows the use of the Digipower extended battery kit down to 250m apparently

[Davide DB]

33 minutes ago, Nikolausz said:

https://actionpro.de/produkt/t-housing-aluminiumgehaeuse-h10-power-f-gopro-hero-10-und-hero-9/

This one is for digipower extended battery and compatible with the adapter. Maybe I'm wrong

 

Wow I didn't notice it! Thanks 

A lot of options.

Right now I prefer the cheapest solution: I'm using it on a river in 50 cm of water (three of them) to film trouts so if i can avoid to buy a housing...

[hellhole]

to cut away a little bit on the wife angle stuff

 

i think that this M67 filter adapter from inon is very interesting if you add the 67mm variable filter that they have

http://www.inon.jp/products/gopro/hero/sdfrontmaskhero9.html

 

i did it a few times, although for sure its not as wide, but it helps with the white balance.

 

i wish now, that they can combine these 2 things that they have.. put a smaller variable filter before the wide angle lens!!!

[bghazzal]

1 hour ago, hellhole said:

to cut away a little bit on the wife angle stuff

 

i think that this M67 filter adapter from inon is very interesting if you add the 67mm variable filter that they have

http://www.inon.jp/products/gopro/hero/sdfrontmaskhero9.html

 

i did it a few times, although for sure its not as wide, but it helps with the white balance.

 

i wish now, that they can combine these 2 things that they have.. put a smaller variable filter before the wide angle lens!!!

Yep, totally agree - one of the reasons I didn't upgrade the GoPro7 I was using was primarily the lack of filter adapters for standard housings. I considered switching to the Dji Osmo at one point, but same issue, worse maybe.

Despite all the "no-filter required" statements found online, I'm used to and enjoying grading GoPro flat footage, and for that shooting flat with a good filter (I was using UR-Pro Cyans filters, 55mm and 52mm), then adjusting the white balance in post (since there is no way to custom WB underwater) works really well (here's a sample, or a more recent one here, all shot in ambient light  + filter, WBed and graded in post)

Started doing this on the 4 (which, as an aside, had really good image quality, something was lost in the upgrades to the 5 and up - though of course there were other improvements, colour, low light, stabilisation, waterproofing) and never looked back.
 

There's really 2 approaches to action camera footage: people who will be working on GoPro UW footage in post (in which case a flat profile + filter will get best results in post), and those who are trying to get the best results in camera which, in my opinion, doesn't work as well with GoPros underwater.
Shallows will be good enough, but footage will be difficult to adjust in post and colour results not as smooth.

The Inon 67mm filter mount is great - I probably would use it with stepdown rings with my filters - I'd like to try the Inon variable red filter, but filter quality is actually important here - I've tried shooting with a Keldan Spectrum Filter on the GoPro and results were bad for instance - I haven't tried Magic Filters on the GoPro, which would be interesting, but the now legacy UR-Pros Cyan I've been using since the GoPro4 to 7 just work well. 

Would love to see more convincing clips shot with the variable filter, as clips like this are not the most convincing, and I imagine it would be difficult to have an idea of the adjustments made in-situ on a GoPro (well, this is where a bigger screen might come in handy)
 

I will upgrade at some point as I like the idea of simplicity of a GoPro in a BCD pocket, but personally wouldn't spend a lot of money on accessories trying to bulk up and improve what is a great little camera as is.
Despite the screen, handles a wide lens (on a camera which is already wide-enough for most applications....), it will still be a GoPro, with no manual WB, no aperture control, etc...

Closeup lenses will indeed make closeups possible, but shooting actual macro on a GoPro sounds like a headache more than anything else, as for handles (which I used at one point, I had a tray on the 4 which had no in-camera stabilisation), a two handed grip directly on the sides housing also works really well (maybe better actually, but shh) especially with the fantastic stabilisation introduced on the 5 and up.

Edited January 10 by bghazzal

[hellhole]

i think its worthwhile to upgrade to the GP10 at least.  i find that the AWB does a pretty good job on quite a bit of the footage.  i am also quite surprise with the software the help to correct the colours on the footage when i use the Wide angle lens.

 

i have not tried to do a step up from 52/55mm to 67mm to use the variable filter.  but i think it will work as well..

[bghazzal]

I'm jappy to see Inon is giving us filter mounting options again (even if it's intended for their lenses), as it's not really in the zeitgeist.
There's no reason stepping to a 67mm filter won't work. Stepping down is more risky because of vignetting risks, but the go pro lens is small. Original SRP UR-Pro filters were 55mm, but the glass 52mm UR-Pro I have doesn't vignette as well, so no issues stepping up to 67mm.

edit - The sidestep-slide on yearly GoPro cam upgrades and image quality is now in a seperate thread
cheers

b

[Nikolausz]

On 1/10/2024 at 3:56 AM, hellhole said:

to cut away a little bit on the wife angle stuff

 

i think that this M67 filter adapter from inon is very interesting if you add the 67mm variable filter that they have

http://www.inon.jp/products/gopro/hero/sdfrontmaskhero9.html

 

i did it a few times, although for sure its not as wide, but it helps with the white balance.

 

i wish now, that they can combine these 2 things that they have.. put a smaller variable filter before the wide angle lens!!!

Actually the Backscatter version of AOI adapter allows the usage of filters:

https://www.backscatter.com/Backscatter-Sharp-Wide-Lens-Pro-Package

 

[bghazzal]

Nice, thanks - but it's a bayonet system, right? The specs read QRS-2 Bayonet System, which mean that any 52/55/67mm threaded filter would need to be made to work with a bayonet mount first.

Edited January 12 by bghazzal

[hellhole]

i seen this... 

 

not sure if i wanted another 'system' .... but i think they could be all the same...

 

i have the inon and aoi ones... not sure if i want another one.. but the filter in system is a plus...

 

but i really like the inon variable filter options... i think i will try that option out more first

[JS1221]

I'm hoping Backscatter starts selling the mount on its own for their lens. I already have the AOI wide angle lens (UWL-03) but the Backscatter mount allows it to be mounted on a selfie stick, which is what my wife uses.