Close-up lenses: Inon 165-UCL vs Epoque DML-2

I'm wondering which of the Epoque or Inon close-up lenses is appropriate for a Canon G10. (Ikelite housing, don't worry, I'll find a way to attach it.) So, a few questions:

1) Epoque don't give a power or focal length for their lens, but it's apparently stronger than the Inon UCL-165 (which has a focal length of 165mm). Does anyone know what the focal length or power/dioptre of this lens is?

2) Has anyone used the Epoque with a Canon G-series (7, 9, 10, whatever) camera, and if so, how does it go? Does it limit the min-max focus distance range too much to be useful? (Assuming shooting nudibranch sized stuff.) (Zoomed-in macro performance is about the same, without close-up lens, across the Gs, I think. The G10 focuses closer than the 7/9 when zoomed in, but also has a shorter max focal length.)

3) Does anyone know how strong the Epoque is compared to two stacked Inon 165s?

The lens comparison and advice given by Marine Camera sort of suggests that an Epoque would be appropriate for a G-series, as AFAIK they don't focus closer than 12 inches when zoomed in.

Thanks!

I'd like to add to the question. I have a Inon 165 UCL that i use with a Nikon 105 lens. When I use the 105 by itself I never have problems with purple fringing, with the 165UCL I have problem with fringing when shooting white objects on a dark background. Are there macro lenses where this would be less of an issue?

I'd like to add to the question. I have a Inon 165 UCL that i use with a Nikon 105 lens.

I might be able to answer that one. When you say you're using it with a "Nikon 105 lens", do you mean a 105mm SLR lens? And if so, are you using the Inon either inside a housing or on land (directly attached to the camera lens)? (I ask because I wouldn't expect it to fit on the outside of an SLR housing.)

If you are using it attached directly to the lens, then it's conceivable that the chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is occurring because the UCL-165 is designed to be used wet. Or possibly it just introduces CA whether used wet or dry. Either way, for dry use (including inside the housing), I'd be more inclined to suggest a Canon 250D close-up lens for use with a 105mm lens. Unless your lens diameter is too large for the 250D (max 58mm), in which case you might only be able to use the weaker (but stackable) Canon 500D, or a lower quality close-up lens from another manufacturer. But for dry use, the Canons are the best close-up lenses out there, AFAIK.

Dave S,

Yes I am using the Nikon 105 VR on my D300 (slr). I have the Athena 105 port for my sea&sea housing. The Athena port has a 67mm thread which fits the Inon UCL165 M67, and I am using it wet.

I cannot fit anything on the lens itself inside that port, so I can only use wet lenses. If there is a wet lens that would give me better results, then I would probably buy it and give the Inon to my wife for her g10 (she has an adapter to put it on her canon housing and we share it ). I saw here that the subsee adapter has an "achromatic coating", I am not sure if that means I would get better results with it? Likewise I am not sure how my current results would compare to the Epoque equivalent.

Anyone have suggestions?

Ok, ok. Sorry, I didn't think there was any SLR housing capable of accepting 67mm wet filters.

"Achromat" means a design using 2 lens elements to reduce chromatic aberration; it's not a coating. I'm not sure how well that Subsee magnifier would work, as it looks pretty small, and I would suspect it'd be too small to be used with an SLR lens.

The Canon close-up lenses (for dry use) are apparently acromats, although I'm not sure about the Inon or Epoque. An achromat normally requires 2 lens elements, but that may be different underwater. The Inon has 2 glass lens elements, but I suspect that underwater it might be the case that the air gap between them acts as a single element, while the glass-water barriers cause very little refraction. The Epoque has 4 glass elements, so I'd say it certainly could have greater potential for correcting chromatic aberration.