Which diopter for my Aquatica?

I am thinking of buying a diopter for my Nikon 60mm lens (I have a D200 in an Aquatica housing), but I don't know anything about them, other than that I see great shots of extreme macro critters, mostly taken with diopters attached......

I met a guy recently who had a Woody's diopter, attached to the outside of his Aquatica housing with a piece of 4" plastic waste pipe, looked pretty rough but did the job (like a few scuba instructors I know....). From what I can make out, the Woodys diopter fits a few different diameter ports, but perhaps not the Aquatica port (#18426) because of it's tapered/ridged design?

I have also been reading some old threads from 2005, and it seems that people are/were divided over whether the 60mm is practical with a diopter, well, whether the nudis find it practical, not having room to pose, as opposed to the 105mm giving a bit more room to manoeuvre and position strobes. Someone also recommended a Kenko 2x teleconverter for my 60mm. Would this reduce the image quality at all?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

I am thinking of buying a diopter for my Nikon 60mm lens (I have a D200 in an Aquatica housing), but I don't know anything about them, other than that I see great shots of extreme macro critters, mostly taken with diopters attached......

I met a guy recently who had a Woody's diopter, attached to the outside of his Aquatica housing with a piece of 4" plastic waste pipe, looked pretty rough but did the job (like a few scuba instructors I know....). From what I can make out, the Woodys diopter fits a few different diameter ports, but perhaps not the Aquatica port (#18426) because of it's tapered/ridged design?

I have also been reading some old threads from 2005, and it seems that people are/were divided over whether the 60mm is practical with a diopter, well, whether the nudis find it practical, not having room to pose, as opposed to the 105mm giving a bit more room to manoeuvre and position strobes. Someone also recommended a Kenko 2x teleconverter for my 60mm. Would this reduce the image quality at all?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Unfortunately - as told directly to me by Woody of Woody's diopter fame - the largest plastic adapter for the Woody's diopter is still too small for the Aquatica macro port - and from what I have been told from others there is no wet diopter currently available without modification that will fit the Aquatica macro port - so it is either do it yourself time or some unknown to me "plan B'.

Good luck - and I would love to hear a good "plan B" so I do not have to resort to my plastic modeling skills last used in 1968 when I was in 8th grade.

Andy

Aquatica now offers a slimline macro port that may accomodate wet-lenses. Is this one too wide:

http://www.aquatica.ca/subpages/catalog/product/ports.asp

Cheers

James

I was in Backscatter a while ago in Monterey and was looking at a wet diopter that would fit the Aquatica macro port. Unfortunately I cannot remember who makes it, so you might want to check with them. The diopter was mounted on a hinge which connected to a ring that tightened around the barrel of the port. It was a nice design as all you had to do was flip the hinge to detach the diopter from being used. No having to stow it, or have it hanging from a tether. I recall it being quite pricey too - something like $600 or so.

I have used dry diopters on my 105mm, but have not considered using any on my 60mm. With the shorter working distance, a diopter on the 60mm I kind of think it might be a bit too close to allow for proper lighting, but that's not to say it can't be done.

The slim port # 18428 has the same frontal dimension but DEMA is coming and new stuff is always showing up at these pesky trade show, so who knows...

Warren, the adapter you mention is called the Macromate 2x adapter. I have one for my Aquatica standard dome port, and it fits/works very well.

I have had very good results shooting with that adapter in Lembeh - you can use it to increase the magnification or to get a greater working distance (this makes the 50/60mm macro lens the perfect macro lens). And optical quality is pretty damn good as well - I have a bunch of large A3 prints framed in our dive shop and they are critically sharp from up close; I have also not had any problems with editors and my stock agency complaining about image quality.

Very heartily recommended. It is quite expensive for what it is, but then, so is everything related to underwater photography.

Vandit