INON UFL165 lens, D2000 Strobe ---what camera?

Hello,

I have the INON UFL 165AD lens, 105AD lens and the D2000 INON strobe. I am going to use these initially with a PT-035 housing and an Oly 770SW camera. I bought this camera mostly for use on my boat and kayak, however, I bought the housing as well. Thing is that I realize this camera may be somewhat lacking when it comes to UW photography especially in terms of natural light and manual controls.

My question number 1, what camera and housing would you recommend as an upgrade for the accesories I already have other than the Oly and PT-035?

Question number 2, what results might I expect from the Oly and PT-035? Any tips for it's use would be appreciated.

Question number 3, what about the Fantasea and Nikon P5100 with the items listed above?

I just want interesting snaps for web and email and prints--not a pro.

Thank you,

CD

Hello,

 

I have the INON UFL 165AD lens, 105AD lens and the D2000 INON strobe. I am going to use these initially with a PT-035 housing and an Oly 770SW camera. I bought this camera mostly for use on my boat and kayak, however, I bought the housing as well. Thing is that I realize this camera may be somewhat lacking when it comes to UW photography especially in terms of natural light and manual controls.

 

My question number 1, what camera and housing would you recommend as an upgrade for the accesories I already have other than the Oly and PT-035?

 

Question number 2, what results might I expect from the Oly and PT-035? Any tips for it's use would be appreciated.

 

Question number 3, what about the Fantasea and Nikon P5100 with the items listed above?

 

I just want interesting snaps for web and email and prints--not a pro.

 

Thank you,

CD

Are you Nemrod on SB?

One option for Q1 would be the Canon Powershot A570 with the Canon houisng. Seems to be getting pretty good reviews from it's users (at least over on SB it is) and Inon makes a AD mount for the housing. Since the OZ is only 4x on it, the WA lens shouldn't have the same problems that the G7 & 9 were having. The D2000 should work great with it (or just about any digicam from what I've read).

Q2: I don't really know. The camera is quite limited in it's controls and I haven't seen any shots taken with it. But for simple snaps to share with family & friends it'll probably work fine. Since you already have it and the housing, you might as well just get an AD apdater for it from Inon (it's only $60 from Inon) and try it out.

As for Q3: There's no *official* way to mount the AD lenses on the Fantasea housing (at least none that I've found -- I have a Fantasea housing for my P4 and was looking as well before jumping into getting any lenses). The housing for the P5100 has a 46mm threaded lens ring (I've been considering getting one for my P5000 but the lack of a bulkhead has been holding me back).

There is an Ikelight AD mount adapter that is made to go on Ikelite housings with 55.6mm diameter lens ports (it slips on around the port). The lens port on Fantasea housing for my P4 is tapered from 55.5 near the base to 54.2 at the lens ring (pictures of the P5000 housing make me pretty certain that it's very similar if not the same), so it seems like it should work on a Fantasea housing as well. It might require something like a little sheet of inner tube rubber between the adapter & port ring to help keep it in place, but the Fantasea add on lenses use an o-ring seal on housings that don't have threaded rings (like the one for my P4) and it seems to work OK (or so I've been told). I'm considering getting the Ike AD adapter (it's only $50 at Reef) and trying it out. But, I don't have any AD mount lenses and am not ready to get any yet, so it's a moot point for me, at least for right now it is.

Thank you for your thoughts. LOL, it is amazing how the internet is a small world. I belong to forums from astronomy to tractors to aviation and photography and of course scuba and boating. I generally segment my screen names using the same name as closely as possible for various subject forums. Sooo, yeah.

I thought I would toss the question on here as well to get a wider net. It is my belief now that very few of these lenses are in use,especially in the west, due to expense and some diffuculty to find them. I think the boat is being missed here on thee, they seem to be of very high quality, needing only a suitable camera to get some really amazing capabilities.

I am sure a bayonet adapter could be fabricated for the Fantasea or even machined from scratch but I wonder if the optics from the P5100 lens will match up with the UFL165AD--from an optical sense.

CD

Thank you for your thoughts. LOL, it is amazing how the internet is a small world. I belong to forums from astronomy to tractors to aviation and photography and of course scuba and boating. I generally segment my screen names using the same name as closely as possible for various subject forums. Sooo, yeah.

 

I thought I would toss the question on here as well to get a wider net. It is my belief now that very few of these lenses are in use,especially in the west, due to expense and some diffuculty to find them. I think the boat is being missed here on thee, they seem to be of very high quality, needing only a suitable camera to get some really amazing capabilities.

 

I am sure a bayonet adapter could be fabricated for the Fantasea or even machined from scratch but I wonder if the optics from the P5100 lens will match up with the UFL165AD--from an optical sense.

 

CD

I thought the setup sounded too familiar. No worries on asking here as well, Nothing wrong with betting your hedges.

I have not seen anything at all shot with the P5100 underwater with or without add-on lenses. I have seen a Flickr gallery by a guy that uses a P5000 UW does use Inon WA & close up lenses (he posts here under the name jugglematt). Here's a link to a post of his where he points to his flickr gallery: LINK. Take a look at his stuff and judge it for yourself. Since the optics of the P5000 and 5100 are similar (if not identical - there was no mention to any changes in the optics in the upgrade), I'm sure his results should be able to give you and idea of what the P5100 is capable of.