Ikelite Housing for Panasonic LX100

http://interceptor121.com/2014/12/03/panasonic-dmc-lx100-ikelite-housing/

Interesting port system some challenges with the controls

Very informative, thanks.

I read that you will see reflections of the internal port lens if you use WD-4 and shoot into the sun.

Very informative, thanks.

I read that you will see reflections of the internal port lens if you use WD-4 and shoot into the sun.

However the key issues is the non availability of focus mode switch

Hello,

I own the Ikelite housing and I am just back from some dives with it in the Dutch Caribbean. Here are a few comments regarding the housing. I used it almost only for video with a URPro filter and the UCL-165 macro lens down to 60m.

Overal, the housing is fun to use. Insertion of the camera is a bit tricky the first time because of the wheel at the back of the housing but not complicated. All buttons are responsive and you don't have to do weird move with the controls to access some functions.

Being from the UW video world using regular camcorders, I was very pleased to discover the camera has an excellent low light behavior in comparison to my Canon HF-S10 camcorder. Autofocus was also quicker. I tried additional focus mode such as subject tracking (you select a target and then the camera continuously focus on it) and it also worked nicely

Regarding macro, you have to zoom almost halfway to avoid vignetting using the UCL-165. I haven't had the time to develop a tripod for the housing therefore testing macro was not that simple but non moving macro subjects were okay as autofocus was fine.

I am currently working on an addon (micro RC servo and 3D printed gears) to add access to focus mode switch and front ring but overal I would say the lack of focus mode switch is not, as it may seem (and worried me), a substantial key issue for video including macro video.

The macro mode is useful not just in macro but to use the zoom with the dome otherwise you have a big piece of glass only working at wide end or there about. Will need to see when someone wants to some wide angle how does this turn out

We'll see when I have a chance to test a "proper wide angle" like the Ikelite WD4 which I am not ready to buy yet and seems to be the only option for Ikelite.

I tried my old UWL-100 with its half dome and you get lots of soft corner so it's bad. I don't think there's a way to overcome this even using the macro mode. I may be wrong but I don't believe any M67 lens might do the trick on this housing considering how far you need to zoom (due to the length of the Ikelite port) to remove vignetting and then soft corners with the UWL-100 but I only have one lens to test and I am not an expert in that kind of optics.

With the bare flat port, it's wide enough for me considering I have a Gopro to go wide when needed and I am mostly interested in medium/macro filming.

The Inon UWL-H100 is the only one that will work with this but only with the nauticam short port. You need to get a wetmate or another dome option. Most likely nauticam and fantasea minidome will work fine but you need to put the camera in macro mode fixed

The flat port is 24*1.33=32mm which is 68 degrees diagonal which is not a lot at all let alone pincushion distortion

The wetmate or WD4 is a must and that will only give you 80-84 degrees another limitation of the ikelite housing though for video that is ok except wrecks

Thanks for the infos on those lenses. Which "wetmate" lens do you refer to ? It seems like this name is shared by several manufacturers ?

Regarding Fantasea, if you refer to this product ( http://reefphoto.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5328) , the M67 thread of the dome will probably not fit out of the box with the ikelite M67 adapter ( http://www.equip-u.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=13694 )

If there is an m67 thread you need no adapter. Nauticam is glass, fantasea plastic

The Ikelite housing does not have a M67 adapter. I've printed mine. One can be bought from Ikelite. While the nauticam can probably fit on it, the M67 thread on the Fantasea dome seems very short considering the thread on the Ikelite adapter is recessed.

Fantasea have a new version that is the copy of the nauticam but in plastic

Your talking wide angle? The adaptor say it will vignett severely with wide angle adaptors.

This adapter only restores the air field of view is not a wide angle lens. So if you have no vignette on land with the ikelite adapter you can add the wetmate