INON and AOI Wide Angle Wet Lenses for Gopro's

[bghazzal]

Argh - post swallowed by the forum.... retype...

 

Indeed, indeed...

 

I was thinking on inside the actual lens, which might not really be visible from the outside.
Weight pulling on the cover, changing exposure to temp, something like that....

 

Is it a new issue with the waterproofing?
I've snorkeled many times with the GoPro7 without the protective lens cover, never had issues.
You need to remove the protective lens cover to use the dive housing, so I just got rid of it altogether.

 

If it hasn't changed too much, the lens was actually screwed in, and goes quite deep inside the cam.

I changed the lens of my useless GoPro6 for a 3rd party non- distortion 3.37mm lens, and was worried about loss of waterproofing.

But when you unscrew the GoPro lens (don't do it, you will need to adjust focus manually afterwards which is tricky), you realise it's quite sturdy.

 

On the previous models (up to the 7), this is what the actual lens looks like bare:

 

 

(great little product this btw, a 3.37mm non distortion lens by Mapir / Peau Production, good stuff : https://www.peauproductions.com/collections/gopro-hero-7-6-5-cameras-and-lenses/products/3-37mm-f-2-8-87d-hfov-16mp-br-no-distortion-hero-5-6-7?variant=39863341285463 )

 

 

Edited February 10 by bghazzal

[fruehaufsteher2]

Is it possible to have the lens attached to the tripod instead of the GoPro? 
 

That might improve stability because the lens should have more drag than the GoPro…

[Davide DB]

1 hour ago, bghazzal said:

 

I was thinking on inside the actual lens, which might not really be visible from the outside.
Weight pulling on the cover, changing exposure to temp, something like that....

 

This could be an explanation. Maybe the front 52 mm adapter and wet lens reduce the heat exchange.

 

1 hour ago, bghazzal said:

Is it a new issue with the waterproofing?
I've snorkeled many times with the GoPro7 without the protective lens cover, never had issues.
You need to remove the protective lens cover to use the dive housing, so I just got rid of it altogether.

 

Good to know then.

I couldn't find any reliable source stating it.

Problem is that trout spawning last about one month so there's no time to experiment. I got the AOI lens few days ago and the next full moon everything will be over.

[Davide DB]

4 minutes ago, fruehaufsteher2 said:

Is it possible to have the lens attached to the tripod instead of the GoPro? 
 

That might improve stability because the lens should have more drag than the GoPro…

 

Not by default. We should arrange some DIY attachment.

[Nikolausz]

I've just back from the shooting. This AOI is indeed a fantastic lens. I will post some videos soon.

[Nikolausz]

I left my tool I use to position the cameras, so some footage are slant, but I included those, so you can check the corner sharpness. I'm absolutely happy. Even the chub very close to the lens is perfectly sharp.

[bghazzal]

Wow, really great footage indeed from Team River there!
The AOI lens is definitely on the wtb list, when I'll update the action cams.
Do you think it could it could be made to fit on the dive housing of the other action cam contender's nsta 360 Ace, or would that be asking for trouble?

[Nikolausz]

7 hours ago, bghazzal said:

Wow, really great footage indeed from Team River there!
The AOI lens is definitely on the wtb list, when I'll update the action cams.
Do you think it could it could be made to fit on the dive housing of the other action cam contender's Insta 360 Ace, or would that be asking for trouble?

Thanks. I think, it would be not that difficult to produce specific bayonets for popular action cameras, such as Insta360 Ace Pro or DJI Osmo Action 4 (and later). GoPro is still the most popular one, and the underwater housing is the same for many generations (10-12), so it makes sense to support this brand first. I can imagine even that a 3rd party brand will specifically support these alternative action cameras. Finally Backscatter has its own adapter with filter slot. By the way AOI is also designed for smartphones.

[Nikolausz]

I also posted a real comparison including clips taken with "naked" GoPro without the AOI lens. You have to check the corners and the fish swim close to the lens. For me, this lens was my best investment in this year (so far)

 

[Nikolausz]

Today I also observed some problems with the  AOI lens. Probably some sediment particles were trapped between the GoPro and the AOI lens (or in front of the lens), which caused visible errors. This might be a problem in low visibility situations.

[Nikolausz]

7 minutes ago, Nikolausz said:

Today I also observed some problems with the  AOI lens. Probably some sediment particles were trapped between the GoPro and the AOI lens (or in front of the lens), which caused visible errors. This might be a problem in low visibility situations.

 

[Davide DB]

36 minutes ago, Nikolausz said:

 

 

 

Welcome to the club 😞

 

In this case I believe it is because the lens has 10 times the surface area of the gopro and consequently the likelihood of picking up material in sediment-rich waters such as rivers and lakes is much greater.

Also the fact that it is a wet lens exposes it to the known problems of other big sisters such as WWL and EMWL.

 

Then in my case something else happens inside the gopro...

 

Sorry I did not shared any other example but therlse are very busy days.

 

 

[Nikolausz]

From AOI press release (from facebook post):

"The popular UWL-03 and UCL-03 will soon be available to DJI and Insta360 users too. Special product preview at TDEX 2024 dive show."

As we expected, it's coming for DJI and Insta360

[bghazzal]

On 5/16/2024 at 2:13 PM, Nikolausz said:

From AOI press release (from facebook post):

"The popular UWL-03 and UCL-03 will soon be available to DJI and Insta360 users too. Special product preview at TDEX 2024 dive show."

As we expected, it's coming for DJI and Insta360

AOI informed me today that the DJI to AOI adapter should be released in July/August period (I imagine same goes for the Insta360)

[bghazzal]

I just got an AOI UWL-03 wide lense + the AOI grip mount, and ran a little twin test the other day, testing difference between shooting GoPros with a wet wide-lense and without one.
 

This was a dual test, as I was also testing how the GoPro7s performed in ambient light with a UR-Pro Cyan 55mm filter and with the original Magic Filter gel in the housing, which is the solution I found to circumvent the lens+ filter issue (more info on this, as well as the ungraded footage, in this thread )

 

Test parameters were as follows:
 

Footage is shot on two GoPro7 black cameras, shooting in 4K 60fps, in a flat profile (white balance native, go pro colours), wide fov, sharpness high, ambient light only.

 

• GoPro 1 on the left side, is mounted with the AOI UWL-03 wide converter lens and an original Magic Filter gel in the supersuit housing.
• GoPro 2, on the right side, is using only a UR-Pro Cyan filter (on a 55mm SRP-Blurfix adapter) on the supersuit housing.

 

- Footage is taken in the afternoon, tropical ambient light only, in slightly murky, greenish/blue water, between the surface and depths of roughly 10m.
Not perfect conditions, with generally brownish - and sometimes bleached out - coral reef / bommies.

- Both cameras are handheld, each in one arm/hand, and the footage is shot in motion, swimming on breath-hold (but without weights),  so not the most stable or consistent with angles, but still gives a good impression.

This is “quick-and-dirty” compared to tray mounted solutions, but closer to the way I use it - I’ve been using the GoPro without a tray for years, but normally hold the housing with two hands – here I had one in each hand, and freediving without weights, so floaty-floaty!

 

- Footage is left unstabilised in post to highlight differences in the lenses' shooting angles.

 

- Test clip is quickly graded in FinalCut ProX (shooting / testing conditions were not fantastic, and I didn’t spend hours on it - this is mostly highlight the differences in filter response)

 

“Side-by-side” (or almost 😁) comparison clip, quickly graded in FCPX:

 

 

 

 

GoPro7 with the AOI UWL-03 - single cam:

 

 

 

 

 

First observations on the UWL-03 lens:

 

The wide-lens is lovely – it’s actually quite easy to handle underwater, feels about twice the weight of a standard GoPro.
It was possible to hold one in each hand to shoot the test - not ideal of course, and this snorkeling/freediving footage isn’t the most stable, but not too bad given the circumstances…

 

The lens widens the basic GoPro fov as expected, reduces working/focusing distance (see closeups), and basic splitshots - within a very limited range - are somewhat possible with the lens (as in the final shot)
 

It also does seem to improve corner warping / deformation underwater (not so much on land), which has plagued GoPros since the GP4 to GP5 design change.

 

This would need to be checks, but the AOI lens didn’t seem to require burping out air bubbles (whereas the UR-Pro / Blurfix certainly does (since I kept descending and ascending while freediving a couple of bubbles made their way into the UR-Pro filter on some of the first clips.

 

There is no vignetting in Wide fov on the GoPro7.
The black corner you see on some of the footage comes from me holding the two cams together in each hand to try to align the cam’s shooting angle.
 

 

Edited June 22 by bghazzal

[Davide DB]

So this AOI lens has the best quality/price ratio.

 

It should considered a default for anyone using an action cam underwater.

[Glowdive]

Hi,

I compared the Inon and AOI (Backscatter) lenses underwater directly, and there is a considerable difference in angle.

Inon conducted this comparison some time ago and released an internal note for dealers, showing photos of the difference in the angle of view. So any Inon dealer should have this information.

However, I decided to test it myself in the bathtub, marking precise references for distance and coverage.

Here are my results. Video is in Spanish but it is pretty graphical and doesn't really translation:

Both lenses are good, with excellent sharpness and very close focusing distances that significantly improve the GoPro's capabilities. However, the AOI's angle is not the same as the Inon's. This (having a narrower angle) is not necessarily bad, and some scenes can benefit from it. If Inon states that their lens has a 140º angle, and I trust Inon's technical information, the AOI might be around 125-130º (just guessing here).

Full disclosure: I sell both the Inon and the Backscatter lenses. I just want my customers to have all the information before they buy.

[bghazzal]

17 minutes ago, Glowdive said:

Hi,

I compared the Inon and AOI (Backscatter) lenses underwater directly, and there is a considerable difference in angle.

(...)

Both lenses are good, with excellent sharpness and very close focusing distances that significantly improve the GoPro's capabilities. However, the AOI's angle is not the same as the Inon's. This (having a narrower angle) is not necessarily bad, and some scenes can benefit from it. If Inon states that their lens has a 140º angle, and I trust Inon's technical information, the AOI might be around 125-130º (just guessing here).

Full disclosure: I sell both the Inon and the Backscatter lenses. I just want my customers to have all the information before they buy.

Good to know, thanks - I have the AOI wide lens and find it almost too wide, but image quality gain is worth the transfer to a wider-angle / smaller subjects than what I've been using over the years (medium, then linear fov - the AOI lens, like the two others is designed to be used in wide mode).
 

[Davide DB]

4 hours ago, Glowdive said:

Full disclosure: I sell both the Inon and the Backscatter lenses. I just want my customers to have all the information before they buy.

 

Do you have a feedback for their "macro" counterparts AOI UCL-03 and Inon sibling?

 

Do they focus in a small distance range?

 

[Glowdive]

I have both, the UCL G100 and UCL G55, I will be testing them next month in Komodo. But customers are reporting good results. I can't compare with the AOI UCL 03 though

[Davide DB]

Looking forward to see some test in Komodo then.

 

Thanks

[canislupus]

Hi,

Could anyone give more detail and where and how do you mount a red filter using the OAI UWL-03 lens?

I see that the Backscatter mount has the possibility to mount red filters but I have doubts on how you mount it using the OAI mount.

I was thinking of buying the UAL-03 lens for the Gopro11.

Thank you very much.

[bghazzal]

9 hours ago, canislupus said:

Hi,

Could anyone give more detail and where and how do you mount a red filter using the OAI UWL-03 lens?

I see that the Backscatter mount has the possibility to mount red filters but I have doubts on how you mount it using the OAI mount.

I was thinking of buying the UAL-03 lens for the Gopro11.

Thank you very much.

Very good question - unfortunately there's no option of mounting red filters with the AOI - the only way would be to get their 52mm lens mount, then do GoPro housing > filter > 52mm adapter > AOI lens.
But this will like cause a lot of problems (lens is heavy, so not great, and the added distance between GoPro and wet lens will cause optical issues)

 

However, since AFAIK the mounts are compatible, you can use the AOI lens with a Bacscatter mount - The Backscatter mount is slightly raised and has a slot into. which you can slide their proprietary rectangular filters - if you're happy with using Backscatter filters, that is.

 

What I'm looking into is using red-filter gels inside the GoPro housing, as I'm a little particular about filter composition and a great fan of the UR-Pro Cyan for grading GoPro footage (more on this here and here )

[canislupus]

8 hours ago, bghazzal said:

Very good question - unfortunately there's no option of mounting red filters with the AOI - the only way would be to get their 52mm lens mount, then do GoPro housing > filter > 52mm adapter > AOI lens.
But this will like cause a lot of problems (lens is heavy, so not great, and the added distance between GoPro and wet lens will cause optical issues)

 

However, since AFAIK the mounts are compatible, you can use the AOI lens with a Bacscatter mount - The Backscatter mount is slightly raised and has a slot into. which you can slide their proprietary rectangular filters - if you're happy with using Backscatter filters, that is.

 

What I'm looking into is using red-filter gels inside the GoPro housing, as I'm a little particular about filter composition and a great fan of the UR-Pro Cyan for grading GoPro footage (more on this here and here )

 

Thank you very much bghazzal

I Will have a deep look at the posts you link, good stuff there.

For what I have seen I like better the OAI mount than the Backscatter, but being able to use filters is a good option. Because is the same lens maybe I should go for the Backscatter…

Thanks again.

Cheers.

[Davide DB]

17 minutes ago, canislupus said:

 

Thank you very much bghazzal

I Will have a deep look at the posts you link, good stuff there.

For what I have seen I like better the OAI mount than the Backscatter, but being able to use filters is a good option. Because is the same lens maybe I should go for the Backscatter…

Thanks again.

Cheers.

 

Yes, basically with the Backscatter version you have two filter options. Backscatter slide in filters and in the future the "bghazzal ultimate gel filters" 😜