D200 Aquatica

I am about to get myself the Aquatica housing for the D200. It comes with the 8" dome behind which I will initially be using the 12-24 Nikon, and maybe later moving to the 10-17 Tokina or something similar.

The housing comes with twin 5 pin Nikonos bulkheads and I would like to add the Sea & Sea TTL converter with the Inon 240.

What I would like to know is my thinking and plan going to work?

Is there anything I have missed that is blindingly obvious to anyone?

I am a little inexperienced with the whole diopter aspect to correct for corner warping that's known with this lens, how bad is it and what visible effects does the diopter produce? Will I loose some of the wide field of vision?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Richard

I am about to get myself the Aquatica housing for the D200. It comes with the 8" dome behind which I will initially be using the 12-24 Nikon, and maybe later moving to the 10-17 Tokina or something similar.

The housing comes with twin 5 pin Nikonos bulkheads and I would like to add the Sea & Sea TTL converter with the Inon 240.

What I would like to know is my thinking and plan going to work?

Is there anything I have missed that is blindingly obvious to anyone?

I am a little inexperienced with the whole diopter aspect to correct for corner warping that's known with this lens, how bad is it and what visible effects does the diopter produce? Will I loose some of the wide field of vision?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Richard

You may need a spacer between port and housing 'cos the 12-24 is a big lens. You certainly do with a Sea&Sea housing. You'll also need a plus4 dioptre close-up lens so that it will focus easily and you'll get corner sharpness.

Have you checked the Aquatica site for the lens charts? That should cover your questions regarding the need for diopters.

I don't think the edge distortion sometimes seen with the Nikon 12-24 will be corrected by a diopter. If you keep your subject away from the edges, distortion is not a problem. A diopter, which may be needed to enable the lens to focus closely on the apparent image created by the dome, will not hurt image quality. I also have the Tokina 10-17, and usually prefer using it instead of the Nikon 12-24. Both are good lenses, but I'd start with the 10-17 if I were you. Along with checking diopter needs, be sure to determine if a port extension is necessary for any specific dome/lens combination to perform well.

HI,

I use the Nikon 12/24 with my D200 I use a 4x diopter with a 35mm extender with my W/P dome port a have some

exellent results without softening of the edges, I would say like others have look on the Aquatica website to match ports

to lenses, but I will also say that these are not always right as I have found out, or I should say I have been told by the

Seacam importer in the UK. So it may be useful to find the importer & ask the questions, good luck with your findings.

Andy

Hi, thanks for all the feedback, seems a mixed bag of opinions!

The lens issue is a contentious one, some people it seems don't mind the corner warping you sometimes get with the wide angle zooms and others do and put on a diopter if it is required.

A diopter is an easy purchase if need be, but it may be necessary as I don't want the corners of my pictures looking stretched. I have experienced it with a canon 10-22 when using an aperture of 4-5, higher than that and the effect is lessened.

I don't always have the luxury of being able to isolate my subject with a featureless background, sometimes but not all the time so that isn't really an option.

Aquatica recommend the extension I'm getting so that shouldn't be an issue either, hopefully. They don't recommend a diopter though, interesting.

I remember seeing a while ago some really good diagrams of light rays entering dome ports and the bending that occurs and how the apparent image is "seen" by the camera. Can't seem to find it anymore, might have been written by Messrs Mustard or Cheng?

I'll do more research on that, but I am also still interested in knowing if the 5 pin nikonos bulkhead, TTL converter, inon 240 combination will give me reliable TTL?

Anyone?

Thanks once again for all the feedback

Richard

The Nikon 12-24 also generally suffers from soft focus in the corners. A diopter goes a long way in solving this problem - like a +4.

Richard I have a Sea and sea TTL converter.

I'll be there on the 12th August so you are more than welcome to try it out.

Richard I have a Sea and sea TTL converter.

I'll be there on the 12th August so you are more than welcome to try it out.

Hey, thanks, I get back from a filming trip about then so that would be cool.

I love new toys!

Finally get my trusty D200 out to Blue corner!

Yes I love new toys as well......10-17 Tokina to play with this trip.

Yes I love new toys as well......10-17 Tokina to play with this trip.

I feel a nudibranch population explosion coming on.....

You know me, 105mm for the sharks and mantas and 10-17 for the nudis and ghostpipe fish!