Nemrod

That is a good idea. I think I may try that, thanks. Not for my WWL but for my 4.33 dome that often goes naked and I go paranoid. I could do as you suggest, cut a section from an old wet suit leg that is of the correct diameter and make it the right length. Then cut a circular piece and use AquaSeal to glue it into the leg piece. Making a cap that will slip over. Then sew in a bungee loop to help hold it in place and add a bolt snap. Good idea. I would still clip it to my scooter or butt rings to get it out of the way. I often dive in just a rash guard and swimsuit so no pockets or zippers to stuff things into.

I have tried to use neoprene covers in the water for domes and found them to be difficult. As well salt crystals can form and even sand can accumulate on them which is not good for your lens dome. I understand the OP and many divers here use a conventional BC, I am diving a backplate (Oxy textile Ultralite usually) and VDH or Oxy wing. These are fitted with a one inch crotch strap that has both a front scooter ring and a rear "butt" ring. Clipping the cap off with a bolt snap to the scooter ring, again, I never notice the cap. The cap does not hang down because it is buoyant. I think it floats up between my legs, really do not know as I never feel it or see it. Occasionally I will clip it to my butt ring, especially if there is not a sausage clipped there. If you look closely at the attached selfie might can see the WWL-1 lens cap between my legs. I am pretty clean in the water. In hundreds of dives I still have my cap and unscratched lens. Yes, those RIBs are hell on unprotected domes. So are rinse tubs. I ask the crew not to put my camera in the rinse bucket but sometimes, before they learn to accommodate me, they do. Another issue I have with the neoprene covers is I have not been able to tether them and they invariably go away and hide, usually forever. Anyways, everyone has their way of doing things, this is mine ands it works for me but it is certainly not the only way.

I always go in and come out with the cap installed on the WWL-1. During the dive I clip it off to my scooter ring on my crotch strap. I never notice it and it causes no problems or drag. My WWL-1 is also secured to the housing with a lanyard. I do these two things because there is not always a bottom that can be reached and I have seen too many scratched domes which usually happens during handoffs to get on and off the boat or during shore entries. The cap is slightly buoyant. Again, I never notice the cap clipped off during the dive. The security lanyard to the lens itself does not interfere with my removing the lens to burp it but certainly provide piece of mind. Not my WWL-1 and NA6400, but some years back during a poor handoff to me in rough water, the crew dropped my camera (FIXS90) on the deck and knocked the wide angle water contact lens (an Inon with dome) off the port which rapidly disappeared into the depths. It was a drift off Jupiter, it was gone and we were gone. However, the boat went back later and found my lens and got it back to me so all ended well. I drilled two small holes on the periphery of the WWL-1 cap. I pulled a piece of cave line through and then attached a bolt snap which in use clips to the lens lanyard which clips to my Nauticam handles. When I remove the cap upon entry, I clip it to my crotch strap scooter ring. My camera housing coil tether also clips off to the scooter ring. This method is not new to me, I began doing this after the lost lens incident. I have my old Canon FIXS90 rigged nearly identical to my Nauticam NA6400. There are no scratches on my 15 years old Inon lens and not a single scratch to my now 5 years old Nauticam WWL-1.

The Inon lenses typically are Type 1 or Type 2. It is possible to get the rings through DiverVision (?) to convert them. This conversion moves the rear element fore and aft in relation to the port:

David my belief system is that the UWL-H100 will work but that the UWL-100 will not :(. Here is my NA6400 fitted with the UWL-100, Port 35 and 35mm lens. The lens front element is very close to the port glass. Unfortunately for me since I all ready own it, the old UWL-100 just did not work (yet, not entirely given up). As large as the Nauticam WWL-1 is, underwater it handles well and I have no difficulty poking it into tight spots. The reason I was fooling with the UWL-100 was I had thought as has been suggested to remove the dome for a more compact semi-wide angle range lens.

Thanks. I have the old Inon UWL100 from previous cameras but it will not work with the APS-C size sensor. At least I have not gotten it to. However, I am aware the UWLH100 does work but Inon has I think discontinued this lens for some reason. I imagine I could find a used one. I like the Nauticam lens because it was inexpensive (well, not really). With dome the H100 is not much smaller than the WWL-1 but without the dome that is a good bit smaller and lighter. Inon lenses come in Type 1 and Type 2, I forget which is which but generally they can be converted from one to the other. The difference is how much the rear element protrudes. Here I am in the Bahamans with my old Ikelite and Oly 5050 and the Inon UWL with dome. I wish it would work with my Sony but it vignettes and the corners and periphery are horrid. I have tried with a 35 port and Rokinon 35mm prime, still no go.

This is an elementary question that I should really know the answer to but I do not completely. I have the Nauticam 4.33 dome which is used with the Sony S6XXX series (and others) with the Sony 16mm pancake and with both the wide angle and the fisheye snap on converters. But I also have a Rokinon 10mm fisheye lens. It produces cleaner images for surface photography but it is manual focus and manual focus aperture. I would preset probably f11. But I would either need to have a gear printed for focus or preset focus. Domes produce a virtual image, can I preset focus to that virtual image and then not really need to worry about focus? If distant or near dome objects are not clearly focused it really does not matter perhaps for CFWA and fisheye shots? I once had an Ikelite bubble housing with a Nikon FM camera. I recall presetting focus and aperture but for the life of me I have no idea where the slides are from some of those shots nor do I recall if it was okay or not. I do not remeber.

I see no reason that even using the current battery port of Inon that a booster pack could not be designed as an accessory to screw on to the existing design for longer battery cycles between charging, stacking the batters four by four. I too am skeptical of huge GN claims from numerous manufacturers using four AA batteries. But it probably is time for a Z420. The recycle time and battery life would be compromised for higher power shots but most shots are not done at full dump and when they are it is CFWA stuff that is not going to swim away so it is possible to endure a longer charge cycle perhaps. Maybe. Anyways, I am interested what is offered. The new product does not need to be as powerful as the big Retra or that chunky but strong Backscatter strobe. An increase in power, addition of HSS and maintain the current form factor, weight, buoyancy and reliability is enough. A GN of 33 to 40 is enough but for all but the most demanding FF shooters.

I am in for the ZXXX quite possibly. I replaced my D2000 strobes (dead and dying) with two S220 strobes because there was nothing else I could afford that was as compact as the D/Z Inon case that promised the reliability track record of Inon. It would be nice if they also had HSS. I wonder if they could use the same case as the Z330 but include a peripheral heat sink sandwiched between the dome and the body. Not as heavy as the Backscatter strobe. A GN in the 40 range would be nice.

The SeaFros dome looks interesting and inexpensive. But I do not think it will thread into the Nauticam 67mm to bayonet adapter? The Nauticam adapter requires the lens rear element to protrude considerably. What I was wanting to do is to have the ability to go from CMC/SMC to the Wet mate lens. Thus the need for small size. I would park the unused lens in the dock which is attached to the bottom of my Nauticam housing. I have a dome port with fisheye lens, the WWL-1 and Inon H100 and those cover wide angle well for me. I also have the CMC macro lenses. What I do not have and apparently is not made is something small and light and dockable that covers the normal view angles of a 28-75mm (kit type) lenses. It is kind of strange in way that such a thing is not made. Here is a photo of my NA6400 rig with the WWL-1 in the dock and CMC on the port:. To be clear, I was just playing around, no way I would swim around with the WWL-1 hanging on that dock, just much too big and too cumbersome to be practical. However something like the Wet Mate lens that started this thread that if designed for APS-C/FF cameras would be much more compact. Oh well 🙂.

I have been speaking to David. He has a lot of unique ideas 😍. Per the vendor, the lens should work with one inch sensor compacts. I did not dwell on that question as I have an APS-C. But, what we really need, at least this ---> we<--- is a wet mate air lens for larger sensor cameras that simply restores the air FOV of the camera lens for in water use and reduces edge distortion and pincushion. Not a big ultra wide angle lens like my superb $WWL-1$ or similar. Something much smaller and lighter when the mission really only wants a normal lens perspective and FOV. Oh well, still looking.

Okay, just to bring this to an end. I spoke with the vendor and they will of course take the lens back. Per my discussion with them this lens is intended only for compact cameras and will not work with an APS-C sensor camera. Not the vendors fault and I should have done more homework but really, nothing in the description of the lens or any information I could find would have told me that it was designed only for small sensor compacts. I guess we know now. Thanks, James

Thanks. You are correct. I have only installed the lens dry. I will call my vendor tomorrow. This lens is fairly new and does not sho up in any of the charts for compatibility and from the description I may have assumed too much. I would not get the lens wet in the case I need to return without further info from the vendor which is a reputable business I have used for many years and value. It is possible that once the port space is flooded that the vignetting would be decreased. I can live with a little bit on the widest end for my use but still, I would have thought in lieu of inclusion in port charts that Nauticam would have given some general compatibility statement. I am mounting it via the Nauticam bayonet system. Perhaps if mounted direct to the port threads it would vignette less certainly but I do not want to have to remove the port bayonet system that works just fine with the CMC lenses and the WWL-1. I will provide the vendor conclusion as soon as I speak with them.

Sorry to bother folks with what is probably my misunderstanding. I bought this lens for use with my Nauticam NA6400 and the kit lens 16-50mm. I normally shoot the WWL-1 or the CMC1/2. I thought this Wet-Mate dome was intended to use on the naked port to restore UW angle and reduce pincushion distortion when zoomed wide. However, I just received the lens and installed to the port and the lens vignettes badly until zoomed in to 23mm. Did I misunderstand the purpose of this lens or was it intended for compact cameras? The description of the lens does not specify that it is for compacts? I like my WWL-1 and use it often but wanted a lighter option for fun fish pics, diver photos and general use to swap with my CMC macro lenses. Anyone know what si up with this lens and if there is an alternative for my proposed purpose to the 38013? I may need to return it I suppose. Thanks for any help, James

I was in the older forum, did not post often, but hopefully this new forum will continue to be a great resource. I read and learn, thanks to all of the pros who post here. I am currently using a Nautican NA6400, two Inon S220 strobes and mostly use the WWL-1 for CFWA shots. Trying to get more into Macro which I am pretty bad at :). I wanted new Z330 strobes after my old D2000 strobes became non-useful but as we know Inon disappeared the Z330 so I grabbed a couple of the S220 strobes as they will remain useful even if I get more powerful strobes eventually. I have been interested in photography and UW photography my entire life. Used to own and shoot a Nikonos III. Mostly just lik to amuse myself and try to grow my capabilities. Thanks for listening. Hope the image does not break your computer screens! [url=https://postimg.cc/0zz8J796][img]https://i.postimg.cc/2Sw3MxJx/Screen-Shot-2021-11-15-at-8-08-55-PM.png[/img][/url] James