old stuff...

Hi everyone,

I know this forum is about digital underwater photography but I hope some of you out there are shooting under water long enough to tell me your experience. I wouldn't know where else I could ask this.

I own a Nikonos V along with 28 and 15mm UW Nikkor lenses. To me the 15 mm still is among the best wide angle lenses as far as image quality is concerned. I wouldn't know of any digital which comes close at such a wide angle of view - if YOU do, would you please let me know?

But what I really want to know is if you think - or know from experience - if the 13 mm on the Nikonos RS is even better? Can it compete with the old 15 mm, quality wise?

And how does the Nikonos RS 20 to 35 mm compare to the old, non-AF, fixed focal length 28 mm UW Nikkor? Can it reproduce equally brilliant as the old fixed focal length 28mm, over its whole focal range?

Thanks for sharing thoughts and experience!

All wide angles behind a dome retain their field (angle) of view, so there are a number of wider lenses. the nikonos 15mm FOV is 94 degrees (google search). Fisheye lenses , including the 10-17mm FE zoom from tokina, of all brands yield around 180 degrees.

Also, modern wide angle zooms yield FOV;'s around that. My canon 10-22mm (new acquisition) has 107 degrees at its widest end....

As for the nikonos questions.... I dont know....

Hello,

I used the Nikonos RS system for fifteen years with all of the lenses including the 18 mm germany made 100 degree AOV and the 2X tele converter for the 50 macro. The Nikonos 15 mm is still one of the best water contact lenses made and many RS users I know used the RS for macro and the fisheye and the 15 mm/Nikonos V for wide angle. I had the 18 mm and it was my prime wide angle lens. I did not use the fisheye very much but I loved the size and quality of the images when I did use it. The 20 to 35 mm is also a very sharp and is a great mid range zoom for sharks and models in the pool.

Remember that the Nikonos lenses are water contact lenses where the front element is part of the lens configuration and as such Nikon assigned the 15 mm, 20-35, etc. based on the out of water angle of view. Once under water that angle is reduced so where a 15 mm above water would have an AOV of around 110 degrees the Nikonos 15 underwater is 94 degrees.

Only 100 of the 18 mm lenses were made from glass from the land 18 mm and a eight inch glass dome port so works the same as a housed land lens and retains the 100 degree AOV of the lend lens.

In digital you can find many lenses wider than the 15 or 18 mm and you can read several threads in the DSLR section as to how they work on the 35 mm sensor cameras.

I still have an RS body and 50 macro which I intend to sell if you are interested.

Phil Rudin

http://www.sfups.org/Galleries/PhilRudin/index.html

To me the 15 mm still is among the best wide angle lenses as far as image quality is concerned.

Today's 20MPixel+ sensors far exceed 35mm film in terms of the image detail that they can capture. Underwater wide-angles behind domes struggle to provide good enough images to satisfy such sensors. Given that Nikonos lenses cannot be used with digital sensors your comment is relevant only for film and no direct comparison is possible and the 15mm certainly was a good lens for film usage - today its design is dated and above water ultra-wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) designs are almost certainly designed to produce better image quality - even if this cannot as yet be translated to image quality underwater.

I have shot w. an N5 and 15mm lens, and all manner of digital cameras. I think that a 15mm fisheye on a DX type digital camera yields the same field of view, overall sharpness, and close focus as the the Nikonos 15mm.

I haven't use the RS fisheye but I have heard that most of the RS lenses are land lenses adapter for underwater use via a dome port (designed by Nikon). So it's still a land lens behind a dome - what all of us are using now-adays. But given that the dome was designed by Nikon it's probably an optimal design - so that counts for something.

Cheers

James