In a previous thread I mentioned I'd had some success with a DIY mini-dome for an Ikelite housing. That port is ok for a Tokina fisheye with 1.4 TC but is a bit too long for the Tokina without a TC.
So, I needed to build another mini-dome for the Tokina on its own and here's what I did. I took an old Ikelite flat port – a short one that was used for film cameras with standard 50mm lenses – not much use these days. I just needed the rear section of this port to mate with the housing, and part of the barrel.
I ordered an acrylic dome from a company that specialises in blowing domes to size. Mine needed a 4 inch outer diameter to match the barrel diameter of the Ikelite port.
I cut through the barrel of the flat port with a hacksaw, smoothed the cut edge with fine wet and dry paper, and glued the dome onto the rear portion of the barrel using acrylic cement.
The most time-consuming part was fashioning a shade. I used a short section of 4 inch diameter PVC pipe and just gradually shaped it until it didn't show up in the frame with the Tokina set to widest.
I painted the shade flat black and spot glued it to the barrel of the port using contact cement. It can still be removed if need be.
The finished product.
Barry (Dupsbear) pointed out that the small 4 inch diameter of this port will probably impact on image resolution, and I may find this to be the case when I get around to using it. Unfortunately at that point I'd already ordered the dome, so decided to go ahead with the project anyway. Still, for an all-up cost of under 50 AUD, I guess I could lash out and make another one if need be.
There are a couple of other mods on this housing that can be seen in the photo above. I've fixed a strip of plastic 'wood' (modwood) to the Ikelite baseplate to give the housing a firm base to sit on, and I've replaced the circular zoom control knob and aperture control knob (obscured) with Ikelite 'wing nuts' that they use to secure their handles to the baseplate. This allows very easy one finger control of zoom and aperture, even while wearing thick neoprene gloves.
