nikon 8-15mm aquatica extension port

hello all..

i was buy aquatica housing 3 month ago..

my system is nikon z6 ftz 8-15mm fisheye lens.. and 8 inch dome port

when using nikon 8-15, the aquatica lens port chart does not need extension port...

but i think too closer dome to lens....

i haven't used it in water yet

Need extension port??

my English is not good... thanks 

You are correct, the port chart says you do not need an extension with the 8"dome.  I expect it will work, fine however I would check if the dome shade causes vignetting at the 8mm circular fisheye end of the zoom range, normally the dome shade needs to be removed.  I also believe the lens hood on the lens needs to be removed if shooting at 8mm.  Here is a review article on the lens:  https://wetpixel.com/articles/review-nikon-8-15-mm-f-3.5-4.5-fisheye-lens/P1

Yeah, if you want to shoot the Nikkor 8-15mm at the 8mm end, you ned to remove the lens hood - otherwise it vignettes the circular 8mm image.

Likewise, as Chris explains, you may well have the same problem with the petals on the dome. 

6 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

You are correct, the port chart says you do not need an extension with the 8"dome.  I expect it will work, fine however I would check if the dome shade causes vignetting at the 8mm circular fisheye end of the zoom range, normally the dome shade needs to be removed.  I also believe the lens hood on the lens needs to be removed if shooting at 8mm.  Here is a review article on the lens:  https://wetpixel.com/articles/review-nikon-8-15-mm-f-3.5-4.5-fisheye-lens/P1

thanks answer ChrisRoss ..

i am alredy reading review.

looking at the photo in the review,  the lens appears to be futher behind the dome port

and other housing brands seem to use extension. maybe about 20mm?

of course. it it predicted that the length will vary depending on the brand.

View archived post in: Nikon 8-15mm in the house!

 someone seems to say that there is no quality problem with the no use extension port in nikon 8-15  2page.

I am worried about whether i need to repurchase an extension port that in not in the chart at an additional cost.

if there is an improvement in the quality of the picture, i will prepare an extension port.

5 hours ago, TimG said:

Yeah, if you want to shoot the Nikkor 8-15mm at the 8mm end, you ned to remove the lens hood - otherwise it vignettes the circular 8mm image.

Likewise, as Chris explains, you may well have the same problem with the petals on the dome. 

 

 

thanks TimG..

i will use 8mm less frequently.

and i am have not zoom gear..

if i will using 8mm, i am setting on the land.. and i am remove lens hood, dome port hood..

maybe almost using 15mm

my problem is whether i need an extension port.

I would suggest trying it as is - you can take an image and check for vignetting at 15mm on land and decide if you want to remove the dome hood or not,  On your first dive, take some shots you can use to evaluate it with detail to the corners - even if it is just sand.  If you are happy with the shots - leave it as is.  Normally the manufacturers do a decent job of placing the lens correctly - they have setups to allow them to test the amount of extension needed.

Before worrying too much about your corner quality take some shots on land to compare and be sure you stop down enough, at least f8 - possibly a little more maybe f11-13?  Try a few different apertures to see what you find acceptable.

11 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

I would suggest trying it as is - you can take an image and check for vignetting at 15mm on land and decide if you want to remove the dome hood or not,  On your first dive, take some shots you can use to evaluate it with detail to the corners - even if it is just sand.  If you are happy with the shots - leave it as is.  Normally the manufacturers do a decent job of placing the lens correctly - they have setups to allow them to test the amount of extension needed.

Before worrying too much about your corner quality take some shots on land to compare and be sure you stop down enough, at least f8 - possibly a little more maybe f11-13?  Try a few different apertures to see what you find acceptable.

thanks ChrisRoss your advice.. 

of course, because the lens and dome port are close together, there is no vignetting on land of the lens hood and dome port hood in the 15mm, and in the 8mm, the lens hood and dome port are removed and there is no vignetting.

In fact, I had a job as a scuba diving instructor for more than 300 days a year, but I haven't had a chance to scuba dive since last year because of Covid. so sad....

In the near future I will try without expansion port as you advised in pool.

However, unlike other brands of housing, Aquatica still has doubts about the lack of expansion ports. And compared to photos of other 8-15 housing, Aquatica housing are definitely close in domeport and lens.

i hope there is no optical damage.

Based on the images above, you definitely need an extension ring.

The lens's nodal point needs to sit in line with the dome port's back panel. The issue is not vignetting (although it may do this too) but it will be optically poor if it is incorrectly positioned. 

I would consult with you Aquatica dealer to see what they recommend.

Adam

11 hours ago, adamhanlon said:

Based on the images above, you definitely need an extension ring.

The lens's nodal point needs to sit in line with the dome port's back panel. The issue is not vignetting (although it may do this too) but it will be optically poor if it is incorrectly positioned. 

I would consult with you Aquatica dealer to see what they recommend.

Adam

 

Hello Adam..

 I'm a big fan of you.  I watched all most of Adam's youtube wet pixels videos. ( my english not good. so i used youtube translate)

I chose mirrorless for live view because my eyesight is not good, and because I am familiar with Nikon camera, I planned Z series and studied for a year.

when using 8-15 lens Subal, SeaCam, Nauticam and Issota(focus FTZ extension ring) houses need expansion ring. sea&sea and Aquatica do not need expansionI bought a housing three months ago and a camera a week ago. But I wouldn't have chosen Aquatica if, as Adam said, an expansion ring was needed. ring, the port chart says.

And it took about 70days over to get to Korea after ordering Aquatica Housing. The delivery is very slow. 

The dealer said Canada is delayed in production because of Covid.

After considering nauticam housing and Aquatica housing, I chose Aquatica because of the no need expansion ring.

I am very disappointed in Aquatica. When a camera is pushed into a housing, the front wheel only works in one direction and the opposite direction does not work. It's slipping.

Therefore, if you press the camera with strong force with my hand, the wheel works normally, but if i shake the housing a few times, whell working is have problems with wheel operation.

And the joystick right button doesn't work either.

Aquatica seems to have quality or QC problems.

I told the dealer to bring a house and a camera, but it takes two hours by car.

In fact, I am disappointed and angry at Aquatica.

Anyway, thank you for Adam's opinion.

16 minutes ago, Edy park said:

Hello Adam..

 

 I'm a big fan of you.  I watched all most of Adam's youtube wet pixels videos. ( my english not good. so i used youtube translate)

I chose mirrorless for live view because my eyesight is not good, and because I am familiar with Nikon camera, I planned Z series and studied for a year.

when using 8-15 lens Subal, SeaCam, Nauticam and Issota(focus FTZ extension ring) houses need expansion ring. sea&sea and Aquatica do not need expansionI(Extensions are not required for dome ports that vary in size but are approximately 8 inches or larger.) bought a housing three months ago and a camera a week ago. But I wouldn't have chosen Aquatica if, as Adam said, an expansion ring was needed. ring, the port chart says.

And it took about 70days over to get to Korea after ordering Aquatica Housing. The delivery is very slow. 

The dealer said Canada is delayed in production because of Covid.

After considering nauticam housing and Aquatica housing, I chose Aquatica because of the no need expansion ring.

I am very disappointed in Aquatica. When a camera is pushed into a housing, the front wheel only works in one direction and the opposite direction does not work. It's slipping.

Therefore, if you press the camera with strong force with my hand, the wheel works normally, but if i shake the housing a few times, whell working is have problems with wheel operation.

And the joystick right button doesn't work either.

Aquatica seems to have quality or QC problems.

I told the dealer to bring a house and a camera, but it takes two hours by car.

In fact, I am disappointed and angry at Aquatica.

Anyway, thank you for Adam's opinion.

 

 

 

I think I was a little carried away from the subject.

Hi Edy,  I would suggest contacting Aquatica, they are quite popular housings and I'm sure they work well for many people.  There may be some tricks to installing the camera to get it to engage the dials properly.  By all means ask them about extension for the 8-15 it does look well forward in the dome.

7 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

Hi Edy,  I would suggest contacting Aquatica, they are quite popular housings and I'm sure they work well for many people.  There may be some tricks to installing the camera to get it to engage the dials properly.  By all means ask them about extension for the 8-15 it does look well forward in the dome.

thanks comment Chris

I've tried removing the eye piece, I've tried removing the trigger, and so on. can't working aperture wheel, down, left, ok buttons

i am send e-mail to aquatica about 8-15 Extensions Ring, video...

i hope the problem will be solved.

In fact, I believe that button problems and wheel problems will be corrected and solved after service.

However, I hope Aquatica's port chart for 8-15 Nikon lenses will not be revised and misunderstood like me.

It's a different story,  

The Canon 8-15 lens needs to be extension ring to the Aquatica Port Chart.

Hi Edy

I'm not sure it helps - and see what Aquatica says - but for me with a Subal housing the Nikkor 8-15 needs a 20mm extension with an 8" domeport

Tim

4 hours ago, TimG said:

Hi Edy

I'm not sure it helps - and see what Aquatica says - but for me with a Subal housing the Nikkor 8-15 needs a 20mm extension with an 8" domeport

Tim

 

thanks you Tim

I started talking to Aquatica by e-mail.

I'm not sure, but I think Aquatica housing is around 20mm with the naked eye.

But it's a little too much for an individual like me to measure. Perhaps too long an extension ring will cause vignetting.

I think Aquatica will teach me a good solution. First of all, I will wait while solving the button operation problem.

It's a little different from the extension ring, but I think I found the cause of the button failure myself.

The ok button, down button and right button, which are not working as shown in the picture, are slightly higher on the camera body, and the rear connections of the housing are made lower to suit the camera height.

With the camera mounted on the housing, pull the lower part of the camera a little bit with force to operate the aperture wheel normally.

And if you infer that the upward button always works, it seems that the bottom of the camera body goes deeper into the housing than the designed one.

Maybe it's a camera alignment problem. I think the lower part of the camera body goes in a bit more than the angle designed in the aquatica housing.

However, when I close the back plate of the housing, the camera is pushed back, so I couldn't check if the button was working properly.

I'm going to deliver this to Aquatica.

On 4/28/2021 at 6:15 PM, adamhanlon said:

Based on the images above, you definitely need an extension ring.

The lens's nodal point needs to sit in line with the dome port's back panel. The issue is not vignetting (although it may do this too) but it will be optically poor if it is incorrectly positioned. 

I would consult with you Aquatica dealer to see what they recommend.

Adam

 

Hello Adam....

 I needed some advice 

English is not my first language, so please understand if there is word bad.

I already wrote it, but you are my big fan. Your writing and video helped me a lot with the theory of underwater photography.

Aquatica sent me messages first and exchanged a few emails.

I believe that button manipulation problems will be corrected.

As you may have already read, it's about the 8-15 lens extension.

At first, I received an e-mail from Aquatica that they would talk to the engineer about the 8-15 lens and let me know.

The next e-mail I've received is...

"For the 8-15 lens,we have some customers using without an extension ring and some use with one of our shirsest rings,both getting good results.

For sure with an extension ring you will need to remove the dome shade,so you will not get vignetting.

Next week I do have an order shipping to my dealer in Korea,in the shipment we can include this short extension ring,and you can give it a try."

"shirsest" is probably a typo. shortest

So I compared all the expansion rings of other brands. Of course, I expect the difference in distance from the sensor to be different for each brand, but just for my reference.

First of all, the Canon 8-15 and Nikon 8-15 use the same extension ring for most brands (Nauticam has 10mm longer Canon).

But I think Aquatica's extension ring is probably the shortest 48456 (16.5mm/65in).
By the way, there is a port chart in Aquatica to use 48463 (21.5mm/.82inch) for Canon 8-15 lenses.

So it's the weekend and it's dawn in Canada, so you won't get a reply, but I sent you an e-mail saying I want to test two, 48456 (16.5mm) and 48463 (21.5mm) if possible.

But there are some questions here.

1. As Aquatica said, if vignetting occurs when using a short extension ring at 15mm, we should use it without an extension ring. Diving would be hard without a dome hood.
 

2. According to the Nikon 8-15 lens review, I saw a post in your article that the vignetting got worse because of the expansion ring. July 6, 2017
https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/60171-nikon-8-15mm-in-the-house/

Could you share your opinion on this?

3. For reference, compared to Aquatika's Canon Lens Chart, Canon 8-15 does not have any benning for the dome hood, but I actually do not understand if Nikon expects that even 5 mm short expansion rings will cause vignetting.

I want you to let me know your opinion. Thanks a lot.

And I always watch your posts and YouTube well. Thank you.

Hi Edy,

I think that it is probably not a good idea to compare either extensions or other lenses. Although you can draw some general characteristics, the position of cameras within housings varies which affects the required extensions. Similarly, different lenses haver different nodal points, which pretty which means that each type (brand/focal length etc.) of lens has fairly unique characteristics.

So Seacam's extensions will not be the same as Aquatica's and what is needed for a Canon 8-15mm will likely not be the same as that needed for the Nikon 8-15mm!

From a purely theoretical standpoint,  the issue here is not vignetting. Any lens will benefit from a dome port curve that is as gradual as possible. The more curved the virtual image presented to the sensor, the greater the corner distortion. While a fisheye lens "hides" this better than a rectilinear lens, it is still there. By pulling the lens back away from the dome, will allow it to use the full curve of the dome. 

I use a 20mm extension with the 8-15mm and my D850 in a Seacam housing and (typically) a 7" port. I find it provides acceptable (to my mind) corners down to about f/8 or so. I can use the same port to about 12mm before it vignettes, and if I remove the dome shade, can use it all the way to 8mm. I should stress that these findings may not work with your housing/port...

Adam

Hello. I'm writing again to wrap up this topic.

aquatica say, Both are good for image quality, but with extended rings you can get better results.

As a result, the Aquatica portchart does not sound like the optimal extension for the lens.

Aquatica recommended the shortest extension ring, but fortunately, the dealer had several expansion rings in stock, so we were able to test them.

As Aquatica said, instead of the shortest extension ring, I buy a longer 21.5mm product number 48463 ring. I buy an extension ring that is 5mm longer than Aquatica recommended.

21.5mm was also non-vinetting, and it has quite a spare length.

It is difficult for me to identify the difference in quality between the extension ring recommended by Aquatica and the 21.5mm I chose.

I blame Aquatica for having customers check the extension ring themselves.

Port Issues Quality Issues Assembly Issues

 it's the worst for me, scuba diving and buying a fourth house for 15 years.

Edy, When you say that the 21.5m extension does not cause vignetting that is because you are only using it at 15mm (which is apparent from the lens and dome hood in the photos). Even without the lens hood on, I am pretty sure you would have vignetting with the 21.5mm extension as you move to shorter focal lengths.

As for the correct dome placement, it would be great to see some comparison shots with the different extensions since, like you, many others probably also shoot this lens at 15mm exclusively. 

1 hour ago, steelhead said:

Edy, When you say that the 21.5m extension does not cause vignetting that is because you are only using it at 15mm (which is apparent from the lens and dome hood in the photos). Even without the lens hood on, I am pretty sure you would have vignetting with the 21.5mm extension as you move to shorter focal lengths.

As for the correct dome placement, it would be great to see some comparison shots with the different extensions since, like you, many others probably also shoot this lens at 15mm exclusively. 

If I take a picture at 8mm with the extension ring I'm currently using, there will be no vignetting if I remove the lens hood and dome hood.

Nikon 8-15 lenses vary in circular size depending on focal distance. I didn't see the vignetting in either focus.