Help Zoom Sleeve with Nikon 12-24 dx

Hi

I Have a D-100 and a Nikon 12-24 Dx lens I am having trouble attaching this seleve in a Ikelite houseing. I cant get the gears to mesh and then close the case. I have tried all sorts of combinations with no luck. Any and all help welcomed

Joe Parisi Salem Ma.

Sorry for the double post.

I have a D70 with a Nikkor 12-24 in an Ikelite housing. Maybe I can help ... I'll try.

Not sure where you are running into trouble so let me list basic steps and then maybe you can be more specific about where you are having a problem.

1. Mount the camera on back plate without lens, insert in case, and latch.

2. Slide/press sleeve onto lens with teeth nearest the camera end of the lens. I slide/press mine on until I can only see one row of the rubber lens grip showing.

3. Insert lens in camera and turn counter clockwise to lock in place. At this point the sleeve gear teeth should be engaged with the housing gear and you should be able to zoom the lens with the housing knob.

4. Put dome port in place on the housing and close the port latches. Test again to make sure that lens can still be zoomed with the zoom knob.

Given the above sequence, where are you having trouble?

Mine is the same as described. It took a little work to find the correct place to mesh the gears. Once you get it check the placement and it gets easier each time.

I have a molded D100 housing.

Hi

Thanks guys , You helped me solve the problem.

1 I was trying to close the case with the camera , lens & gear mounted.

2 When I found the " spot " for the seleeve and closed the case, then mounted the lens . ALL WAS WELL

3. Most important the set screw that attaches to the zoom knob . was loose so it would trun if no load was on it . but as soon as the gears meshed and a load was applied , it just spun on the shaft. I tighted it and was Ok.

NB check all those small screw and allen conections !!

Thanks again

Joe Parisi Salem MA

Update: The Ikelite site recommends #5509.12, a special internal port sleeve with rubber pads, to operate the zoom lens. However I was not successful in getting this sleeve to operate without binding. So I tried the #5509.28 for the Nikkor 18-70 that came with my housing. It works perfectly.

Note: I used the plastic assembly with the two springs but I did not use the foam pads that were in the box.

I suppose everone's milage varies on this one but for me the correct gear was the only one to work with the 12-24mm.

Before my 12-24mm gear came I tried to use the 18-70mm gear and it didn't work. I got the spring clamp over he lens but the gear sleve wouldn't fit over it. It caused the sleve to bow into an oval shape and of course didn't work right. The diameter of the lens was too big.

I'm sure this is why Ikelite eliminated the clamp in the 12-24mm sleve--there just wasn't room.

I assemble my camera in the housing as Peter states with one exception:

3. Insert lens in camera and turn counter clockwise to lock in place. At this point the sleeve gear teeth should be engaged with the housing gear and you should be able to zoom the lens with the housing knob.  

I place the sleve on the lens from the back (the filter thread is too wide for the sleve to go on front first) and slide it a bit forward. After I insert the lens I slide the sleve backwards onto the gear until it engages. Then I test the zoom, install the port and test it again. I noticed that sometimes the gear slips and pops out without the port installed. It never does this with the port on and I never dive without the port.

I don't think we have this figured out yet.

When I got my housing there were in fact 3 sleeve assemblies in the box. One I paid for and two "free" ones.

1. The foam mount one which is recommended for the Nikkor 12-24. This is the one I ordered and tried first.

2. A standard sleeve with spring clamps. I don't know the part number on this one. But it didn't fit the lens without bowing the sleeve as described earlier in this thread.

3. A special low profile sleeve with spring clamps part # 5509.28 for lens zoom rings 2.8" - 3.0". This assembly differs from the standard assembly in that the ridges on the sleeve and the spring clamp assembly have a lower profile such that the sleeve does not bow when assembled to Nikkor 12-24 lens. This is the assembly that I am currently using and it works great.

Bottom line, I don't know what others are getting when they order just the D70 housing. But I feel I got the prize.

I have exactly what UWphotonewbie has for my 12-24 DX and it works just fine.. (ie. sleeve with no clamp needed)

Peter, you may have the "first generation clamp and sleeve" for the 12-24DX...

Maybe Ike will see this thread and pipe in...

M.

ps. I use the spring clamps and sleeve for 18-70 DX

Can someone post pictures of the different sleeves and mounts for the D70 with the 12-24?

When I bought my D70 with the Kit Port, it came with 2 zoom gears. Never really understood why, and I never could figure out what the foam pads were for.

I just assembled them on the kit lens and it worked, so I never even looked at the other zoom gear that came with it.

When I got the 12-24 lens and port, it did not come with a zoom gear at all. So then I went back and started messing with the 18-70 zoom gear and could never really get it to work, so then I tried the "other" one that I had and was able to make it work, but as mentioned in this thread, it just doesn't seem to fit right.

I'd prefer to get mine working as recommended by Ikelite.

My setup.

Second pic.

What you can't see in the pictures is how free the sleeve is e.g. if I lift the sleeve up and let go, it easily falls down.