Phil Rudin

I don't wish to beat this to death Romik but I am sure my A7R VI with 66+ MP would expose flaws slightly more than the A1 50MP. I would expect F/8 to render slightly better images than the F/11 I was shouting due to refraction. I have attached a full frame image and a more than 200% crop at 70mm and F/11. The crop appears sharp to me.

First of all I have used WACP-C and 135D, both Nauticam and the Marelux lenses are excellent choices paired with the FE 28-60 or FE 28-70mm lenses. If you are relaying on the attached review site then read the Sony FE 28mm F/2 review. If by your logic we should be using the best under $500.00 lens for WACP-C/135D then the 28mm would be it according to your source. But because everything in underwater is a trade off most chose a zoom over a fixed lens. The first reason I think the Aquista 135D is better than WACP-C has to do with physics. The larger diameter glass produces better image quality in most cases. Making WACP-C better than WWL-1/B, WACP-2 better than WACP-1 and Aquista 135D better than WACP-C because glass diameter between WACP-1 and WACP-C. Many other factors are involved but most get back to the U/W photo trade offs like cost, weight, size, travel, brand loyalty, system compatibility and much more. I have tested all of the wet lenses listed above and many more from AOI, Inon, Kraken, OM/Olympus, Weefine and more. I have come to the realization over the years that in-water testing is the best metric for evaluation. Example, the original WWL-1 was first sold without a float collar, none existed other than in one of the prototype lens mounts which had a small aluminum . After in water testing by Peter Rowlands suggested to Nauticam that they come up a flotation device and the float collar was offered as an accessory. This is also the way that we discovered bubbles being trapped between the flat port and WWL. I am attaching several photos the first is with a Sony FE 16mm F/1.8 in a 180mm dome port. I am showing this photo because of another urban legend that rectilinear lenses are softer in the corners than fisheye lenses like the 8-16 and assorted 130 degree wet lenses. The first image was shot at F/8 and is much sharper out into the corners than any 180/130 fish I have used. The second image is at 28-60mm at 28mm with the WACP-C and A7R V at F/11, 1/200th, ISO-400. Sharp center light but begins to fall-off in sharpness as you move out from the light. The third image is at 28-70mm at 28mm with Aquista 135D and A7R VI at F/11, ISO-640, 1/250th. The center light is just as sharp as with 28-60mm and with the 135D fall-off in sharpness as you move out extended beyond where it does with WACP-C. Closeup sharpness at #1 60 and #2 70mm appears equal as well. Be aware all images are full frame and shot in A priority with AV light.

I am not sure your example makes sense. The 60mm end of the 28-60 has a max magnification of 1:6.25 while the 28-70 II at 70mm has a magnification of 1:5.5. It can also focus well beyond 30 FPS and unlike the 28-60 it also has in lens stabilization. If you are suggesting that the IQ at 70mm is worse than at 60mm or that the 28-60 has some other medical advantage I offer these images to compare. Like many of you I have look at terrestrial reviewers and flat charts to adnauseam over six decades. Everything in photography and even more so in underwater photography is a tradeoff. My opinions are based on years of U/W tests both my own and others I trust. The first image is the 28-60mm at 60mm with WACP-C and A7R v, shot at F/11, 1/160th sec at ISO-400. Second image is the FE 28-70mm II with MX 135D and A7R VI, shot at F/11, 1/250th at ISO-640. Both images un-cropped and both taken at same distance from the glass +/- a MM or two

Marelux lists the Nikon Z 24-50mm F/4-6.3 and Z 24-70mm F/2.8 S II. You can also consider the Sony FE 28mm, FE 28-60mm and FE 28-70mm lenses with Megadap adapter.

To use WACP-1 on a Marelux housing I use a 20mm NA to MX adapter. So 20mm replaces the 35.5 needed on NA which puts the camera about 15.5 or more like 17mm further back into the housing.

They have a Marelux to N120 20mm coming. MX to NA N100 not yet announced.

Hi Alon, Without reservation I am sure that I have used and/or reviewed more wide lenses for Sony full frame cameras than most if not all on this site including many using Sony A1, A1 II and all the A7R cameras including the current A7R VI I am using. With all of the wide rectilinear lenses I have tested for over more than a decade it has become clear that lenses with a minimum focus distance under 20cm alway outperform regardless of port size. For example the Laowa 12mm F/2.8 (14cm minimum focus) in a 140mm dome out performs or is equal to lenses like the two Sony 12 to 24mm's that focus to 28cm in a 230 dome port. You may also want to consider that many after market lenses preform just as well as the Sony lenses and should be considered during your lens quest. You can find my lens reviews by going to uwpmag.com and drop my name Phil Rudin into the back issues search engine. If you intend to look at wet-wide lenses for your Marelux housing you should consider looking at the Marelux Aquiata 135D which is a dry (direct) mount lens (no bubble issues). The 135D has better IQ than the WACP-C, is slightly lighter, does not require an adapter like the Marelux N100 to MX 17mm, has a slightly wider 135 degree AOV and mounts directly to your housing using the Sony FE 28 to 60mm lens that is so popular. You may also want to consider that the 135D cost $700.00 less than the WACP-C and that Nauticam folks should be the ones considering buying a $200.00 Marelux to Nauticam adapter for this lens. Now that I have raised some eyebrows let me also say that it is urban legion that the 28 to 60 has superior IQ to the Sony FE 28 to 70mm. In fact the new 28-70 released with the Sony A7 V has better AF, zooms much more smoothly (28-60 sucks in this regard), has better corners and is every bit as sharp as the current 28-60. Even the ten plus year old 28-70 has IQ that would not allow you to see a difference using a wet wide lens. The 28 to 70 and 28mm F/2 were used for several years with wet wide lenses before the 28-60 was even released with few IQ complaints. The bottom line is simply because a Sony lens cost more does not necessarily make it a better choice for underwater use. In several cases less expensive Sony lenses like the 16mm to 25mm F/2.8 G will out preform the GM lenses simple because of the 18cm minimum focus distance V. 25 to 28cm.

I have used all three of the Tamron lenses that go to 1:2, 20mm, 24mm and 35mm. Minimum focus distance runs from 10.92cm 20mm, 11.94cm 24mm and 14.99cm 35mm. All three have the same 67mm filter thread which makes the lenses the largest at the end of the lens closest to the port glass. Since none of these lenses will work well behind a flat macro port they need to be used with a dome port. All three lenses are 63.5cm long. Now the question becomes since minimum focus distance is from the outside glass surface to the sensor how much extra minimum focus distance will you have. Distance from the lens mount to the sensor is about 16mm, add that to the 63.5 lens and you get 79.5mm. The 20mm has a minimum focus distance of 10.92cm or 109.2mm subtract the 79.5 and you get 29.7mm or 1.17 inches from the lens to the subject. If you consider how far back from port glass the lens will need to sit to be able to focus and not hit the port glass then 1:2 will likely be inside the dome not outside. Even with the 35mm you are at 70.4 or 2.77 inches from the subject which with a 140mm dome may get you within 32mm 1.7 inches from the subject. This is the best case scenario out of the three lenses. In addition consider that auto focus macro lenses 1:1/1:2 need manual focus to get all the way to max magnification, most are more like 1:1.3 rather than 1:1 using AF. I think best case scenario you would more likely be working in the 1:3.5 to 1:4.5 range with these lenses. For comparison the Sony FE 35mm focuses to 22.1cm a 1:4.2 giving a working distance of about 132mm or 5.2 inches which will get you to 1:4.2 with no problems in a 140mm dome. It remains to be seen how well any of these lenses may work behind the Marelux 80mm dome coming toward the end of the year.

The latest update I was given is late Q4.

My Panasonic 8mm review using Zen 100 was published a year before the Olympus 8mm was even released. I had moved on to the NA140 & Olympus 8mm for the 2017 review.

Regarding the new port chart the NEW N100 140mm II (#37188) with removable shade now appears to have a bayoneting shade while the older 140mm N120 has a shade where you loosen Allen screws to remove the shade. The new Sony N100 port appears to be the N120 140mm (#18816) II also with bayoneting shade for the Canon 7-14mm fisheye lens with a N100 to N120 adapter added. It will be interesting to see if the extension is fixed or removable and the same 35.5 mm length recommended for the old N120 140mm port with the Sony 8-14mm fisheye. Both ports, N120 and N100 (assuming the extension is included) retail for $1600.00.

The ZEN Underwater DP-100-N85 port was made for the Panasonic 8mm not the Olympus 8mm. It is I believe the only 100mm port for Nauticam made in N-85. The difference between the length of the two lenses is about 28.3mm. The closest extension is a 26mm for the 2X tele converter. The combo of the zen 100 and 26mm extension may work but it would need to be tested before making a purchase. I reviewed the ZEN 100 port in UWPMAG.COM back issues issue #79 using the Pany 8mm. I also reviewed the Olympus 8mm fisheye in the Nauticam NA140 dome in issue #97. The 140mm with Oly/OM 8 requires a 17mm extension while the Pana 8mm is used without extension but vignettes a bit in the corners. The photo is the Panasonic 8mm in an Ikelite housing system.

Kudos to Nauticam for resurrecting an idea from the mid-1990's (to my knowledge) introduced by Ultralight Control Systems. ULCS's first "flip tray" was designed for the Nikonos RS and simply bolted onto the flip tray using the tripod thread on the bottom of the camera. It had a push button on the rear which allowed you to flip from landscape to portrait orientation very quickly. I used the flip tray all the time with my well used RS. It also had an accessory padded grip for the right hand which could hold or slip your hand between the camera and grip for wrist support and one handed shooting. It also allowed you to attach a light meter on top, quite handy. ULCS later gave me a prototype to test out for camera housing use which looked a bit like the NA release. At the time the tray needed some work and I don't recall if it was ever released. The photo is my Nikonos RS setup with the flip tray before I moved to Inon Z220 strobes.

I had the new Sony FE 8-14mm F/3.5 G in the pool today and I will add some on my thoughts. As I am sure most of you know the lens is light and small for a 8-14mm fisheye 314g compared to 476g for the Canon 7-14mm F/2.8 to 3.5 L and 504g for the 7Artisans 10mm F/2.5 MAX. Canon is the widest at 7mm with an AOV of 190 degrees while the 7Artisans is 185 degrees and the Sony is 180 degrees. All focus to 15cm and all can be used in a 140mm dome port. Price ranges from Canon at US $1899.00 Sony at US $1598.00 and 7Artisans at US $449.00. I included the 7Artisans lens because between the three it is by far the best value being equal to or in some cases exceeding the Sony at 14mm. I will not comment on the IQ of the Canon because I have never tested that lens. For the attached images I used the Sony A7R IV camera which gives 66.5 MP files and 28.4 MP files in APS-C mode according to the Lightroom meta data. The Sony can zoom from 14 to 9.5mm while in APS-C before starting to vignette. At 8mm the APS-C crop vignettes in all four corners and cuts off the top and bottom of the full circle. I tested the lens using a Marelux A7RVI housing, MX 140mm dome which has a removable bayoneting shade and a 20mm extension, this is the same combo I use with the 7Artisans 10mm. I also used two Marelux Apollo-S strobes attached directly to the housing grips. All of the images are full frame with no crop. I have not yet received the zoom gear for the lens but hope to have it for DEMA. For these tests I locked the lens at 14mm and then at 8mm which to me are the most useful ends of the lens. I included one APS-C shot with the vignetting at 8mm. Regarding the issue of tele converters the diameter of the protruding glass is the issue, it would not fit into the 8-14 even if you had enough depth inside the lens. I don’t really see the upside to using a full frame lens with a 180 fisheye and a tele converter to begin with although I have never tried this combo. The crop of 1.4 or 2X allows you to zoom through most of the fisheye range but using a tool (the tele converter) that was intended for use with long lenses in the 300 to 800mm range does not seem like an optimal design. It seems to me that the AOV range covered is less than you would get using a wet wide lens like Aquista 130/WWL-1B or Aquista 135D. The range for 135D is 135 degrees using a 28mm to 58 degrees at 70mm. This lens is not rectilinear so exhibits the same distortion you would expect if you reduced the AOV of a 14/15mm fisheye. For these tests I had the IBIS turned off and the subject recognition set to all types of subjects.

As you may or may not know the sunshade needs to be removed from ANY port to use the 8mm end of the lens. The photo shows the shade removed. The photo below shows how I take the system into the water. In the water cover is removed and slipped over my arm. If I want to shoot the 8mm circular fisheye end of the lens I then remove the shade.

For Marelux system users the Sony FE 8-14mm zoom gear will be #51117. Used with a 20mm extension for 140, 210 and 230mm dome ports. The Marelux 140mm port already has the removable bayonetting sunshade introduced four years ago at DEMA with a retail price of $1180.00 in the US.

The difference being that the 60mm APS-C macro on Sony full frame still has a 1.5X crop factor which makes it a 90mm equivalent while the MV-60 with 100mm macro on full frame becomes a 60mm +/- with a full frame image.

Samyang/Rokinon FE 28-135mm F/2.8 AF zoom another new lens coming for Sony FE. it will be interesting to see if it will work with some larger diameter wet wide dry lenses and how far past 28mm if can zoom before hitting the wet lens.

This lens is a hard pass for me, at 0.5 meters in AF you will be at or greater than 1:10 magnification. If you have a focus gear made (unlikely to be supported by most manufactures) at 1:1 you will be 49mm (1.9 inches) from the subject. Inside even the smallest dome my guess would be that you would be able to use lens at 1:2 but not 1:1 simply because of the space taken to use the lens inside a dome. If a realistic maximum magnification is more like 1:2 behind a very small port the much better choice would be the now over four year old $249.00 retail Tamron 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 Macro. This is a lens that can be found in the used market for less than half the Laowa lens price. The lens is much smaller and lighter using the popular 67mm filters associated with many Tamron lenses and others. It requires no custom focus gear and has excellent AF. At 1:2 the lens minimum focus is a more manageable 15cm/6 inches. I would suggest that if you are considering a 35mm with macro capabilities you should checkout Christopher Frosts reviews for both these lenses. The Tamron is highly recommended and the Laowa not so much. The big issue for the Tamron 35mm macro is that it is only made for the Sony E mount in full frame. Laowa has some excellent lens choices for U/W use like the steller 12mm F/2.8 Lite Zero-D not sure the new 35mm is one of them. I have suggested several lenses for Marelux to test in the new 80mm dome port and the Tamron 35mm will be added to that list.

The Mini is 60 x 40 x 20mm. The FlashFuel 2100 is the current solution for stills and the RMT5 with be the video solution for now. As you have stated Marelux has many "brilliant" design ideas and I can only say stay tuned and we will all see what comes next. My understanding is one cable bundle.

It will be interesting to see if it is #1 auto focus and # 2 for full frame or perhaps APS-C. In advance of the Laowa announcement Marelux has just released info on an 80mm acrylic dome port for the canon EF-S 35mm f2.8 is stm macro lens. This is an APS-C macro which will need a EF-S to RF adapter. The FF crop factor for Canon is X1.6 so a FF equivalent of 56mm. I believe this new port will be excellent for a verity of full frame, APS-C and M4/3 lenses macro lenses in the equivalent 35mm to 60mm range. At 80mm this would be the smallest dome that I am aware of (Zen has a 100mm). I suspect it may resolve some of the issues associated with shooting shorter macro lenses behind flat macro ports. Also keep in mind that lenses like the Tokina 10-17mm have been adapted to very small dome ports.

Several battery solutions that are not DIY from Marelux. Marelux first offered MiniBat 1500 for $128.00 While they came up with a better design not offered by anyone else. MiniBatt 1200 is a 1200 mAh battery pack designed to fit inside the housing under the tray and is 6X4X2cm and 61.5g. This is much like the design of others with a mini USB-C charge and camera connection. OK for multi brands where it will fit. Marelux then redesigned many of their new housings for use with FlashFuel 2100. The patented design serves two functions, first as a manual flash trigger and also as an additional power scorch for the camera. FF2100 has a 2100 mAh battery to power the camera via USB-C and a second CR123 lithium battery with a capacity of 1000 to 1200 mAh depending on the battery to power the manual flash trigger. Because the Marelux Apollo strobes in MTL mode can fire at up to twenty frames per second a power source was needed that could keep up with the flash. The original MX manual flash triggers with two CR2032 achieved around 100,000 to 140,000 flashed depending on the batteries being used and the FF2100 should achieve around three times that amount. FF2100 retails for $348.00 and because it is manual it works between all camera brands Marelux supports. Marelux also makes a TTL flash trigger that fits into the same housings listed below if you don't need the additional battery power. It has a manual or TTL mode switch, USB-C charging with realtime battery level indicator and retails for $348.00 in Sony, Canon, Nikon and Panasonic models. For video monitor users Marelux will soon introduce the Neptune RMT5 a 3000nit five inch LCD monitor which also adds to the battery supply. In addition to working as a video monitor it also provides a massive 6000 to 10,000 mAh of power. The RMT5 battery compartment can use 21700 or 18650 batteries (with the included adapters). The monitor also has a remote trigger port which allows it to be remotely triggered from 1 to 2 meters away using a waterproof cable. Vacuum-Safe, Zero-Leak Cable Engineering all three custom cables for the Neptune RMT5—HDMI, Power Supply, and Remote Trigger—are engineered with a specialized internal air-block barrier. Both the electrical wires and the connector assemblies are completely sealed internally. This prevents internal air migration, ensuring your housing maintains a perfect vacuum seal throughout the entire dive. RMT5 will retail for $1499.00. Compatible housing models: MX-R5II, MX-R6III, MX-A7V, MX-A1II, MX-A7CII, MX-A6700, MX-Z8, MX-Z6III, MX-GH6/7, MX-S1RII and the new MX-A7RVI. With more designed for new cameras going forward.

Correct GeckoSub, these are with the 140mm Marelux fisheye dome port.

The WWL-1B and most wet lenses in general use 28mm at the widest 130 degree FOV, end with the longest zooming being the Sony FE 28-70mm which zooms to 59 degrees. I reviewed WWL-1B in UWPMAG.com issue #120 and the original WWL-1 before the Sony FE 28-60mm existed in issue #114 if you care to lookup the benefits V. Sony FE 16-35mm lenses that are 107 to 63 degree and rectilinear.

The Viltrox 14mm F/4 is a 112 degree AOV auto focus lens which sells for less than 1/3rd the cost of the Nauticam adapter for Nikonos lenses. Secondly the widest Nikonos rectilinear lens is the 15mm and it is 94 degrees.