FX, mini domes and wet dioptres

Hi All,

The Nikon D800 was announced last week and since it's such a beast of a camera i'm for the first time thinking of getting this full frame camera instead of the D300s successor (which unfortunately isn't very likely to be announced soon i'm affraid). But before i decide to make the jump to FX or not, i'd like to know a few things that aren't clear to me and i hope that you wetpixelers can give me some advice.

Right now i use a Nauticam 4,33" minidome (on a Hugyfot housing) with the Tok 10-17mm and i love that combination. Can the same dome also be used with the Sigma 15 mm FE lens? I read in Alex' article about minidomes that the shades of this lens are too big in the Zen minidome with close focussing, but i wouldn't mind dremeling them off to make it fit. Is there anyone who did this with satisfying results?

My second uncertainty is about the +5 and +10 Subsee diopters i use with the 60mm and 105 mm macro. I love them a lot in DX mode but are there people who have experience with these diopters with FF sensors? Is the quality still good enough or will the inside of the diopters be visible in the picture?

Does anyone know whether Nikon will continue to produce semipro DX cameras after the D300s? I know the D7000 does a great job but if you get the D800 and you use it in DX mode you basically still have a D7000 with a better buffer and focussensor.

Hopefully your wisdom will make it easier for me to decide what to do...

cheers, Udo

Does anyone know whether Nikon will continue to produce semipro DX cameras after the D300s?

I heard that they will and it is coming sooner than expected. Heard it might be called D500, rather than D400.

Alex

I heard that they will and it is coming sooner than expected. Heard it might be called D500, rather than D400.

 

Alex

That sounds like good news to me... i guess it'll have a tweaked version of the 24 MP sensor that's in the Sony a77?

D500 coming soon, that sounds good news.

I just hope it has the low light capability of the D7000 or better, flash sync speed like the D70 and an LCD screen as large as the D800 for old guys like me with declining eyesight!.

But who will have the first housing Nauticam or Subal?

That is just gossip, BTW. No insider info.

Alex

Yes but gossip is great.

It keeps us all interested

Yes but gossip is great.

 

It keeps us all interested

There seems to be some truth in this gossip... http://nikonrumors.com/2012/02/15/nikon-wi...s-in-2012.aspx/

Anyway, i'm still intestested is knowing possibilities for housing a Sigma 15 mm FE on a FF sensor behind a 4.33" minidome? Anyone??!

cheers, Udo

Hello Udo!

If you have a dome that does not vignette with the tokina-DX combo, it will not vignette with a 15mm-FX combo because the angle of view will be the same (as long as the porthole-to-camera distance is maintained, which is normal)...

Hello Udo!

 

If you have a dome that does not vignette with the tokina-DX combo, it will not vignette with a 15mm-FX combo because the angle of view will be the same (as long as the porthole-to-camera distance is maintained, which is normal)...

Hola David!

My common sense tells me it should work as well, but sometimes (only somethimes....) my common sense is wrong.. I have a friend who tried to use the same Nauticam mini dome as i have on his Ikelite housing with a D700 and the Sigma and that didn't work out wel. mainly because the Ikelite housing is too big, so that the lens is always too deep inside the housing but besides that, the Sigma has no internal focus (as far as i know) which means, as far i i know, that the nodal point is moving forward if you focus closer; which result in more (significant?)corner unsharpness.

best, Udo

There seems to be some truth in this gossip... http://nikonrumors.com/2012/02/15/nikon-wi...s-in-2012.aspx/

 

Anyway, i'm still intestested is knowing possibilities for housing a Sigma 15 mm FE on a FF sensor behind a 4.33" minidome? Anyone??!

 

 

cheers, Udo

I have the Sigma 15mm on a Subal 4 " Minidome for D3s (FX) and it works fine. I think the Subal Minidome is same/similar than the Zen. However, to mount it without an extension ring you must shave a bit the fixed mounted sun shields of the lens. But that is easy, there are many instructions in the web.