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Welcome Kolin. Loved your video and subscribed!

Brilliant video. Very nice soundtrack as well! Thanks for sharing!

The larger domes have a larger radius virtual image located further from the dome which the rectilinear lenses cope with better as they focus further away with reduced magnification and more depth of field. The aim with a dome is to place the entrance pupil at the centre of curvature of the dome and this is fixed by dome geometry. Some domes are full hemispheres others are smaller segments of a sphere. A full 180° hemisphere has the centre of curvature level with the base of the dome glass and this is true regardless of dome diameter. Compact domes which are a smaller segment have the centre below the edge of the dome glass, which means it's back inside the extension ring. This present a problem for fisheye lenses as they will vignette when the entrance pupil and centre of curvature coincide. Do note that many domes labelled as fisheye or hemisphere domes are not quite 180° domes. The entrance pupil for most wide angle lenses is close to the front of the lens and this needs to be placed at the centre of curvature. There are two criteria, first to place the centre of curvature at the entrance pupil position, second check it does not vignette at this position. Compact domes are designed generally such that a 16mm lens light cone will coincide with the base of the dome when the entrance pupil is at the centre of curvature. Wider lenses need to be placed further forward so the entrance pupil is in front of the centre of curvature to avoid vignetting - which is not ideal. The Nauticam 180mm dome is an example of a compact dome designed for the light cone of a 16mm rectilinear lens. Fisheye lenses are fundamentally different to rectilinear lenses as the plane of sharpest focus is actually curve, not a flat plane. They work much better with dome ports for this reason. A 15mm fisheye lens produces an image that is 180° on the diagonal on full frame, a 15mm rectilinear, the diagonal field is only 110°. Fisheyes just work better in domes and will produce excellent images in small dome ports as long as they are full hemispheres that can accommodate the 180° diagonal field. In Nauticam for example the 140mm dome is a hemisphere, but the 230mm dome is a not a full hemisphere hence Nauticam recommends the 140mm dome as the best solution. they will also work with a 100mm (4") dome but the corners tend not to be as good. So smaller is not necessarily better for fisheyes, you just don't need the huge domes that many rectilinears need. Regarding your question about the 15mm lens yes it's quite wide but for rectilinear lenses a larger dome radius is better. The wider the lens the more important to get the positioning right as the corners are imaged from the far ends of the virtual images which is further from the ideal plane of focus and the more likely it will need a large dome to perform well. The thing to recognise is that all of this is important to get the best from your equipment, however there are diminishing returns. Fisheyes seem to be less sensitive to dome position, but are very prone to vignette. Many manufacturers make extension rings in 10mm increments of size, a few in 5mm increments. Getting it exactly right will of course be better, but there are limits to how close you can get to ideal based upon hardware limitations. It is easy to obsess about this an suffer paralysis by analysis. In Sea frogs the most likely issue with the Tokina is if the extension of the dome is too long it will vignette, the Tokina is a short lens making this more likely.

I just went to Bay Photo and looked at the Framed Print options. The absolute biggest "image display" options are 18"x30" or 20"x32" on a 24x36 frame. Such a thin matte would probably look like garbage. Selecting only the cheapest options. such a print is $270. A full $100 more than a 20x30 metal print and you can not to any bigger using a frame. No telling if the quality of that frame and glass is any good, and it would likely be a lot heavier.

Price reduction, now asking $1,200 excluding shipping/ fees

Considering the cost of the Nauticam dome, I would probably go that route myself.

"Metal prints are much cheaper than framed glass prints, more durable, and look sharper. Especially when you get into the poster sized 20-30 inch size range." This depends intimately on how expensive your frames are. 20x30 inch metal prints are like $170 (Bay Photo) 20x30 glossy photo prints are $40 leaving $130 for framing. You can certainly spend less for matting/framing/glass but you could also spend more. Bill

Collecting this one!

Most Acrylics have the same refractive index as water and are practically invisible. However they scratch more easily than glas. Small scratches become invisible as soon as water enters. Bigger scratches can be polished but the optical surface will degrade. Optical Glas is much more sturdy and will last longer. However anti reflective coating and other optimizations need to be applied for making it good glas! If you manage to scratch the glas by hitting a rock the glas is cactus. But it is very unlikely that you will ever have scratches on the hardened surface. Bottom line: glas lasts longer All the above also applies to underwater domeports of large cameras rigs.

Thanks for linking to this. I've been trying to wrap my around the effect dome radius: bigger seems to improve the corner sharpness, but on another hand, and from one thing I think I understand from that article, it moves the ideal spot of "light convergence" way back, behind the camera itself (I'm referring to the "Correct Dome positioning" part in the article) - an hemispheric dome will help with that, as it brings that convergence point closer to where the lens would be. So, won't a smaller dome work best with fisheye lenses ? I'm thinking here of a 4 inch dome with a Tokina 10-17mm. In your initial sentence "a 6"dome is really too small for a 15mm rectilinear lens", I think of a 15mm as a very wide angle lens, which should benefit more from smaller radius, right ? Me, confused.

Hello everyone, I've designed another new part that might be helpful to others here. The tip of one of my Nauticam hand pumps for the vacuum system was broken and cracked. I didn't want to buy a new pump, so I removed the front part and redesigned it. It works with TPU95 and TPU90 for printing. Compatible with both old and new Nauticam vacuum valves. https://makerworld.com/de/models/2274007-tip-replacement-for-nauticam-hand-pump#profileId-2479239 Greetings from Switzerland, Tino

Some really nice clips there Kolin. Some of the macro stuff is as good as anything out there!

Hello, I would your opinion between a wet lens with glass esternal dome versus the related acrylic version - same INON GR140 ZD - where glass is much more expensive. Someone told me that optical glass is (of course) much better, others that acrylic dome is easier to remove small scratches ( a friend of mine told me the opposite)... The truth is in the middle? Ciao

@Dave_Hicks is probably much better at designing things like this than I am, but if he gets too busy, I would be willing to play around and see if I can come up with something.

@ChipBPhoto If you still need the STL for that combination let me know... I have one that works with N100 and not with N120 (so suitable for Sony Housings and using the zoom wheel at the housing.)

Thanks Tim!

Hey everyone! I recently put together a video diving into the cold, rich waters surrounding Vancouver Island. This video takes you below the surface to explore towering kelp forests, rocky reefs, and the incredible marine life that thrives here in the Pacific Northwest. From massive octopus, curious kelp crabs and schools of rockfish to the colorful invertebrates that cling to every surface, the dive reveals a hidden world shaped by powerful currents and nutrient-rich waters. Vancouver Island is home to some of the most diverse cold-water ecosystems on the planet, and every dive feels like stepping into another universe. This journey highlights not just the beauty of these underwater landscapes, but also the delicate balance of life beneath the waves. Whether you’re a diver, ocean lover, or just curious about what lies below, this video offers a glimpse into a thriving ecosystem that few get to see up close. Filmed in: Nanoose Bay, Port Hardy & Browning Passage, Vancouver Island. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and critiques! Thank you for watching!

Bought

Hey Robin! Great to have you with us. As an ol’ Wetpixel hand you’ll see lots of familiar names. Welcome!

I'm Robin from Brighton, UK. I was a long time reader of WetPixel back in the day, and have been taking underwater photos on and off for the last 25 years, finally now making a forum post!

I've looking closer that FB page and the last post is from 2014 🙄 and Mr. Chen is their CEO. I also sent an email to Divervision and this is their answer "Howshot 140mm dome port has the same curvature with the one of Nauticam 140mm dome port. The material of the Howshot 140mm dome port is Zeiss glass and aluminium port base. Besides, Howshot 140mm dome port has inside coating the same as the one of Nauticam. " I feel like buying that dome...

Nauticam N85 Mini Extension Ring 30mm (PN 36630), purchased for a port configuration that I ultimately didn't use. Has never been underwater or seen salt water. €175 (retail €230) Condition: New in box - Never Dived Details: Pristine anodised finish with no marks or wear O-rings in perfect condition, never lubricated All original packaging included Compatible with all N85 Micro Four Thirds housings (NA-OM1, NA-EM1X, etc.) This extension ring is essential for certain macro port/lens combinations - please check Nauticam port charts for your specific setup. Why selling: Configured my system differently and this remained unused in my kit. Location: Cork, Ireland (willing to ship EU/UK/worldwide) Happy to answer any questions about compatibility or provide additional photos.

Sounds like the problem I had. In my case Backscatter did all the talking to Nauticam and had them send me a new trigger.

Thanks, Chris. I’ve already deactivated First-frame exposure lock, but unfortunately that didn’t change anything. I have, however, now been able to clearly identify where the problem lies. Using a different LED trigger (from TRT Electronics), burst shooting between the Nikon Z8 and the Retra Maxis works flawlessly (tested at half power or below). This effectively isolates the issue to the Nauticam LED trigger. I had already contacted Nauticam a couple of weeks ago, but at the time they weren’t able to provide any helpful solution. Now that the root cause is clear, I’ve reached out to them again to explain how frustrating it is to run into this issue with a brand-new housing. I am not keen to spend any more money on another LED trigger and also not on having to rip out the pre-installed Nauticam one. I’m very curious to see how they respond.

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