9" vs 8" dome with DX camera

Hi,

will a 9" domeport give better corner sharpness with dx Format than a 8" domeport?or wil an 8" domeport give the same cornersharpness asan 9" with FX?

How about the Sea&Sea corrector lens.Wil it also give better corner sharpnesswith a DXwide angle lens?

Rob

What len(es) would you be using, Rob?

I had no problems with edge sharpness with a Tokina 10-17 or Nikkor 12-24 on a DX camera in an 8" dome. I don't think a 9" dome would make much difference.

The problem with your question is that you have not specified whether the domes are full hemispheres or partial hemispheres. Image quality depends on the radius of curvature rather than the physical size of the dome. The bigger the radius, the better.

That said, I have used the Seacam Superdome, which is a 9" diameter partial hemisphere when shooting DX to get the possible image quality even with the 10.5 mm fisheye lens.

I have been using and testing the Sea & Sea corrector lens. I posted my results here -- http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=54681

These results were done on full frame. I would expect improvements as well with DX a.k.a. APS-C.

Hi,

 

will a 9" domeport give better corner sharpness with dx Format than a 8" domeport?or wil an 8" domeport give the same cornersharpness asan 9" with FX?

How about the Sea&Sea corrector lens.Wil it also give better corner sharpnesswith a DXwide angle lens?

 

 

Rob

Hello Tom and Tim,

I am thinking of going back to DX ( the comming nikon d500). I am now shooting a Nikon d800e but am not satisfied with the sharpness of the pictures. The heavy 9" dome is also a problem for travelling.

So lenses I will be shooting are the nikon 10.5 FE, Nikon 16mm FE lenses.The Nikon 10-24mm or nikon 12-24 mm ( wich will be better ?) reticular.Domeport Seacam superdome 9" or Subal 8" FE dome:

I visit the Boot in Düsseldorf yesterday and spoke with Subal's owner Mr. Harald Karl. I was very surprised on how positive Subalhousings have incorperated new and very practical things ( domeport and extensionrings Lock, getting the ISO button on the right place on the housings for the D5 and D500). Seacam isn't so inovative.Mr Karl told me that a new housing for the Nikon D500 will probebly on the market in May.

Rob

Hey Rob

I can sure understand the temptation to go back to DX with the D500. But having said that, I am delighted with the results from my D800 and sorry to hear you are having sharpness problems.

I did have that issue using a Nikkor 16-35 with an 8" (Subal) domeport and +2 diopter. Edges were awful. But the 9" is WAY better (still with the +2 diopter) but, agreed, not the easiest to travel with; and with a Sigma 15mm in the 9" dome the images are terrific. I never tried the Sigma in an 8" dome but others have said it works well.

I was happy with a Nikkor 12-24 in an 8" port with a +2 diopter when I had a D300 - so DX sensor. As I said earlier the Tokina 10-17 with either an 8" (with +2 diopter) or 4" port were also really good. As was the Nikkor 10.5 in either port. Sorry, no experience of the Nikkor 10-24.

Did you get any idea at Boot of how Subal will trigger fibre optics with the D500? Are they building-in some sort of trigger?

HiTim,

yes fibre optics will be possible with the Subal D500 housing via some kind of an TTL-converter acording to Mr Karl. This is also 1 reason why I could make the switch to Subal ( I willbe able to use my Inon strobes again without having to buy expensive Synchron cords for S6 flash sockets). It will also be possible tuse my Seacamports with the Subalhousing.

Rob

Thanks Rob

Interesting........

Hello Tom and Tim,

 

I am thinking of going back to DX ( the comming nikon d500). I am now shooting a Nikon d800e but am not satisfied with the sharpness of the pictures. The heavy 9" dome is also a problem for travelling.

So lenses I will be shooting are the nikon 10.5 FE, Nikon 16mm FE lenses.The Nikon 10-24mm or nikon 12-24 mm ( wich will be better ?) reticular.Domeport Seacam superdome 9" or Subal 8" FE dome:

I visit the Boot in Düsseldorf yesterday and spoke with Subal's owner Mr. Harald Karl. I was very surprised on how positive Subalhousings have incorperated new and very practical things ( domeport and extensionrings Lock, getting the ISO button on the right place on the housings for the D5 and D500). Seacam isn't so inovative.Mr Karl told me that a new housing for the Nikon D500 will probebly on the market in May.

 

Rob

Keep in mind that these are all fairly old lenses. The 10.5 dates to the early Nikon digital cameras with their low megapixel counts. The 16 is a "dinosaur". Residual aberrations may become more evident with higher resolution such as the D500. I believe that Subal also makes a Superdome similar to Seacam's - I would not be surprised if the glass for both comes from the same source.

Seacam just released a Compact Port - see Wetpixel reports from DEMA2015. It appears to be intermediate in radius between the Superdome and the much smaller Wideport. BTW I have used the Wideport with the 14mm D lens with acceptable results -- I recall that this shot was done with the Wideport and 14mm: http://www.salmonography.com/Salmonid-species-galleries/Pink-Salmon/i-XT46cJZ/A

This was not a planned over-under shot. The water was so shallow that I could not submerge the port very far - the housing was on the stream bottom.

Tom