Fisheye Dome Port for Olympus

Apologies if this has been addressed before. I have read as much as I can on this forum and online, but still have some questions.

I am in the process of building an Olympus system. I have decided on the Olympus 8mm fisheye lens for my beginning wide angle set up as I have been offered a great deal on this lens from a friend who has only used it twice topside. I am aware of the great option of using the Canon 8-15 zoom set up devised by Wolfgang (Architeuthis) and listed on interceptor101's website and this may be an option at a later date.

My questions are, what dome port should I go for to use the Olympus 8mm? I am considering the Zen 100 - 85 with the Nauticam 30mm extension or the Nauticam 140 - 85 with the 17mm extension. I would like to shoot CFWA and hopefully WAM (not sure it will be the best for WAM, if so what other options are there)? with the set up so the smaller Zen port is appealing. What would you recommend? or would it be good to have both? I think some of you do? Also, is it a better idea to go with the N120 over the N85 and get the adapter?

Thanks so much for your input.

Mark

2 hours ago, Mark Green said:

Apologies if this has been addressed before. I have read as much as I can on this forum and online, but still have some questions.

I am in the process of building an Olympus system. I have decided on the Olympus 8mm fisheye lens for my beginning wide angle set up as I have been offered a great deal on this lens from a friend who has only used it twice topside. I am aware of the great option of using the Canon 8-15 zoom set up devised by Wolfgang (Architeuthis) and listed on interceptor101's website and this may be an option at a later date.

My questions are, what dome port should I go for to use the Olympus 8mm? I am considering the Zen 100 - 85 with the Nauticam 30mm extension or the Nauticam 140 - 85 with the 17mm extension. I would like to shoot CFWA and hopefully WAM (not sure it will be the best for WAM, if so what other options are there)? with the set up so the smaller Zen port is appealing. What would you recommend? or would it be good to have both? I think some of you do? Also, is it a better idea to go with the N120 over the N85 and get the adapter?

Thanks so much for your input.

Mark

 

 

Hi Mark,

I own both Zen DP-100 and Nauticam 140 domeports and use with Canon 8-15mm. The Zen DP-100 I own only recently, but I posted some sample images, taken in murky waters (also JonCrow posted some sample images with DP100 there):

View archived post in: Canon EF lenses on MFT cameras?

At the first glance, IQ looks very good (Canon 8-15), but I have to test further in clear waters. I will leave this Friday (July 16th) to the mediterranean and will stay till beginning of August. I will post some sample images here and in case one cannot see then a difference in IQ compared to the bigger Nauticam 140 dome, I believe the difference is really small. In case IQ would be so similar, the smaller dome is certainly the better option (unless you intend to go FF later, then the 140 dome is probably the better choice)...

I have more experience with the Nauticam 140 dome and can say that IQ is brilliant. I used few times the Zuiko 8mm behind the 140 dome (with N85/N120 34.7mm extension). I used the Zuiko 8mm also behind the Zen DP-170-N120 (with a custom made 30mm N85/N120 extension (https://www.unterwasserkamera.at/shop/catalog/en/product_info.php?info=p6901_d-d-nauticam-n85---n120-portadapter-30mm.html) as well as the Nauticam N85/N120 34.7mm extension) and IQ is at least as good as behind the Nauticam 140 port. This is surprising, since the Zen DP-170 is not a fisheye, but a WA domeport and not a complete hemisphere, but it is real. Of course the DP-170 is big, but you can also house a rectilinear WA lens within it (we use Zuiko 7-14mm or Zuiko 9-18mm; maybe the new Zuiko 8-25mm f 4.0 is the perfect choice). You can have both fisheye and rectilinear WA with one dome...

I have the N120 versions, because I want to be flexible (for instance use the Canon fisheye or the Sigma 4.5mm circular fisheye (Canon EF version)). In addition, I plan to go for a FF system in 2022 and can then continue using the domeports. The downside is that you need expensive extensions and adapters in addition (the N120 extensions can be continued to use with FF).

The N85 versions have often built-in extensions, what is simpler and cheaper, but when you want to use another lens (like Canon) or change the system, you cannot use them any more...

=> In case you go for the N120 ports, you have to check with Nauticam/Zen which extension is recommended (they do not state the length of the built-in extensions on their homepages)...

Another lens to consider is the Tokina 10-17mm (Canon EF version), which gives very good results too (Zen DP-170-N120 with Metabones 0.71x speedbooster in my case).

Wolfgang

Thanks for the informative reply Wolfgang. Looking forward to seeing your photos when you return from your trip. 

Nauticam recommends either the 140mm dome or the 4.33” (about 110mm) mini dome.  I recall when that lens and mini dome first came out, people were very happy with the mini dome for CFWA.  A search should reveal those discussions.  I know the measurements don’t seem too different but the mini dome really is tiny and should allow focus right on the port.  

If you plan to stick with m4/3 lenses, the only reason to go to the N120 ports instead of the N85 ports would be to use the Olympus 7-14mm f2.8 or 12-40mm f2.8 lenses.  Having switched from the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 to the Olympus 7-14 f2.8, for both UW and topside, I will say from experience that there is a world of positive difference with the Olympus “pro” lenses compared to their own and Panasonic’s offerings.  

14 minutes ago, troporobo said:

Nauticam recommends either the 140mm dome or the 4.33” (about 110mm) mini dome.  I recall when that lens and mini dome first came out, people were very happy with the mini dome for CFWA.  A search should reveal those discussions.  I know the measurements don’t seem too different but the mini dome really is tiny and should allow focus right on the port.  

If you plan to stick with m4/3 lenses, the only reason to go to the N120 ports instead of the N85 ports would be to use the Olympus 7-14mm f2.8 or 12-40mm f2.8 lenses.  Having switched from the Panasonic 7-14mm f4 to the Olympus 7-14 f2.8, for both UW and topside, I will say from experience that there is a world of positive difference with the Olympus “pro” lenses compared to their own and Panasonic’s offerings.  

Good points, thanks troporbo.

I use the Panasonic 8mm in a Zen 100mm dome n85.  Results are very good.  The panasonic lens does give purple fringing in the far corners (at least on my olympus body) but by all reports you don't get this on the Olympus lens and the image is good right into the corners.   All reports I've seen indicate the 100mm dome is fine for m43 use. 

As for the N85 vs N120, with the fisheye lenses there is only 30mm extension required so it's not really practical to use an N120 unless you decide to use the 34.7 N85-N120 adapter that Wolfgang reports works well. 

While it's tempting to try and get a one size fits all solution, if you are keen on WAM, then the smallest dome is what you want,  you can demonstrate this for yourself by viewing a small object with the lens on your desk with the fisheye lens and you can see how rapidly the subject gets smaller in the frame, with WAM you might be working with a subject nearly touching the dome.  A cm or two difference in distance to the lens makes quite a difference  in subject size.

1 hour ago, ChrisRoss said:

I use the Panasonic 8mm in a Zen 100mm dome n85.  Results are very good.  The panasonic lens does give purple fringing in the far corners (at least on my olympus body) but by all reports you don't get this on the Olympus lens and the image is good right into the corners.   All reports I've seen indicate the 100mm dome is fine for m43 use. 

As for the N85 vs N120, with the fisheye lenses there is only 30mm extension required so it's not really practical to use an N120 unless you decide to use the 34.7 N85-N120 adapter that Wolfgang reports works well. 

While it's tempting to try and get a one size fits all solution, if you are keen on WAM, then the smallest dome is what you want,  you can demonstrate this for yourself by viewing a small object with the lens on your desk with the fisheye lens and you can see how rapidly the subject gets smaller in the frame, with WAM you might be working with a subject nearly touching the dome.  A cm or two difference in distance to the lens makes quite a difference  in subject size.

 

 

Thanks Chris, this helps a lot. I read your piece about the purple fringing with the Panasonic a few days ago. I was also looking for a 30mm N85 -N120 adapter from Nauticam today and noted that there was only the 34.7. Based on the answers I have so far, the DP-100 N85 with the 30mm extension seems a good fit for the purposes I mentioned.

18 minutes ago, Mark Green said:

Thanks Chris, this helps a lot. I read your piece about the purple fringing with the Panasonic a few days ago. I was also looking for a 30mm N85 -N120 adapter from Nauticam today and noted that there was only the 34.7. Based on the answers I have so far, the DP-100 N85 with the 30mm extension seems a good fit for the purposes I mentioned.

The 30mm extension adapter Wolfwang mentions is a custom made item, Nauticam only offers the 34.7 which allows you to adapt EF lenses to m43.   I think Wolfgang's solution using the 8-15 is an excellent one as being able to zoom in provides great flexibility and opens up to be able to shoot smaller subjects, but the expense is high by the time you buy the lens, metabones, adapters/extensions and dome port. 

Note that you can't repurpose the N85 dome for the Canon 8-15 later on as it needs the larger diameter extension to fit the lens/zoom gear.  To use the Canon 8-15 the zoom knob is on the 34.7mm adapter so it can use the Canon Zoom gears, but even then you need the 3D printed zoom gear adapter as the 34.7mm is selected to allow use of the speed booster not the smart adapter which is a different length.

9 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

The 30mm extension adapter Wolfwang mentions is a custom made item, Nauticam only offers the 34.7 which allows you to adapt EF lenses to m43.   I think Wolfgang's solution using the 8-15 is an excellent one as being able to zoom in provides great flexibility and opens up to be able to shoot smaller subjects, but the expense is high by the time you buy the lens, metabones, adapters/extensions and dome port. 

Note that you can't repurpose the N85 dome for the Canon 8-15 later on as it needs the larger diameter extension to fit the lens/zoom gear.  To use the Canon 8-15 the zoom knob is on the 34.7mm adapter so it can use the Canon Zoom gears, but even then you need the 3D printed zoom gear adapter as the 34.7mm is selected to allow use of the speed booster not the smart adapter which is a different length.

Yes, Wolflgangs set up with the 8-15 is awesome, but as you say, it is expensive. Thanks for clarification that if I go with the DP100 - N85 I will not be able to use it with this set up later. Thanks so much for your direction.