Nikon 12-24 zoom

Can anyone advise which Subal port will be suitable for this lens in a D10 Hosing.

thanks

ron

The biggest one you can get. A dome made for the 17-35 AFS will be the one you want. You will also need an extension ring but no one knows which one yet.

Cheers

James

I'd suggest a 50 or 60mm port extension ring and whatever dome you already have. And a plus 3 dioptre on the lens.

I doubt that there is an existing subal zoom gear for this lens - which will have to be long because the zoom ring is forward-most on the lens barrel.

Alex

I'm sorry... but did I miss something?

He was asking about using the Nikon 12-24 zoom on the Canon 10D... or was that a typo and he meant the Nikon D100?

Just curious...

The D10 is a Subal housing for the D100.

I'm not sure if a Diopter will be necessary as the lens focuses to just under 12" We'll see.

Cheers

James Wiseman

I'm interested to hear how you get on with the lens, James.

I'm D100ing in the Red Sea from Sunday. V excited here!

:angryfire:

You Nikon guys and your plethora of housings.... MUST BE NICE! LOL

Can't wait to see the pics Alex! Hope you have some great dives!

The 18-35 uses a 40 mm ext. ring and a 60 mm ext. ring with the 17-35. If you use the 9" port.

I have a 12-24mm lens and am still waiting to here from subal via the dealer which is the correct port and ex ring. They tell me it is not just related to the size of the lens but also to finding the correct spot in the lens for the correct focal length. The term nodal point was used. I own a swb port which is a heavy duty dome port and holds the 17-35 with a 50mm ex ring. The 17-35mm is similar in dimension to the 12-24mm.

the other issue is the zoom ring which will have quite a bit of travel to get back to the gear in the housing as the zoom ring is on the front of this lens.

Any info is welcome as i am waiting to try out this lens in the water.

Slarti

I just got back from a trip where I used the 12-24 on 6 dives with an 8" dome and various extension rings. I will evaluate the shots and report which ring gives the sharpest corners.

The nodal point in this lens is not "in the usual spot" because it is optimized for digital.

HTH

James

The Quick and dirty way to find the right ext. ring for your lens. With the lens and camera in your housing open the lens up all the way. Hold the housing out in front of you with your dome port on. Look for your reflection in the lens aperture. Now move the housing around in small circles. If your reflection stays in the middle of the camera's aperture ring and doesn't deviate from it then you have the system tricked out so that the anterior nodal point of the lens is at the focal point of your dome. This will give you your best optics. If you use a shorter ext. ring than the optimal one you will get a closer focusing lens but will degrade the optical quality of your system.

As an example using the Subal housing and the 17 - 35 lens. If you use a 6" dome you will use a 40 mm ext. ring, but a 60 mm ext. ring with the 9" dome.

Interesting. I'll have to try that Dave!

Cheers

James

I've been in touch with Subal regarding using the 12-24 mm lens with the new Fuji S2 housing.

They've only had one lens in their shop just long enough to take basic measurements, but I was told that the lens will require the EXR-50/3 extension ring and preferably the DP-FE2 dome port. (They did not say that the DP-SWB will not work, but that the DP-FE2 will offer superior optical performance.)

It's still unclear what diopter will provide optimal performance.

Lens/port configuration for the S2 will be identical to the D10 (for Nikon D100).

I'm hoping that they will be able to get a zoom gear done in time to ship one together with the new S2 housing.

Robert,

Thanks for the info! Please let us know when you get the S2 housing.

Cheers

James

From Subal Austria re Nikon 12 -24

"Dear Mr. Dixon,

For Nikkor 12-24 mm lens we recommend extension ring EXR-50 and close up

lens +2/77 with DP-FE2.

With best regards,

Sigrid Stepanek

SUBAL austria

A.Stepanek GmbH.

Leopold Werndlstr. 31

A - 4400 Steyr

Phone: 0043-(0)7252-464240

Fax: 0043-(0)7252-464246

E-mail: austria@subal.com"

How big is that Subal dome???? I find that I do NOT need a +2 diopter to use the 12-24 with the Aquatica 8" dome.

I would avoid using a diopter if you can - just one more piece of glass...

HTH

James

I'm sure the 12-24 will work fine without a dioptre, but my understanding of dome optics is that it will be better with a dioptre (better close focus, less CA, flatter field of focus). But I must admit my knowledge of dome optics is not great.

The required dioptre is mainly determined by the diameter of the full sphere the dome would form and therefore is independant of the lens. The Subal fisheye requires a diopter somewhere between 2 and 3.

Incidently, that is the same setup I use with 17-35mm (both on D100 and F100) although I prefer a +3 dioptre.

The great thing about digital, that still makes me buzz everytime, is that do two dives, try each and go with what you prefer and gives the best results! And, James, you are the one trying this lens and your results are hard to argue against!

Alex

Maybe I'll try it and see! All I have is a 77mm +4 right now though, so I'd have to order a +2

Cheers

James

I sent Lee Peterson my 12-24 and managed to rig a Nexus zoom ring for it. He recommended the Nexus 170mm dome with a 20mm extension ring or the Nexus WP-7 (small dome) with 40mm extension. In both cases he recommended a +2 diopter but said the diopter was optional.

He also rigged a zoom ring for my 24-85 f/2.8 zoom micro. Set in macro mode it's a 35-85 with a 1:2 capability.

The full frame fisheye was a no-go, though. There's no practical way to fit the combination in a Nexus without using their older F4 port system. Unfortunately there's no D100 adapter for the older ports. Lee said the Subal's wouldn't take it either. It may be that the Aquatica can take it and no one else. The rest of us will have to wait for the new DX 10.5mm which will be what we want anyway.

Craig,

Bummer about the Raynox fisheye.

If you wouldn't mind, could you send it to me along w/ the 24mm, and adapter ring? I'll see if I can fit it in the Aquatica and I can also try it at the Flowergardens on Monday.

Cheers

James