Sea & Sea Internal Correction Lens + Nikon Z 14-30mm

As promised, I would like to share the results of adding a Sea & Sea M82 Internal Correction Lens to my Nikon Z 14-30mm behind a Zen 230mm glass dome port. I had to adjust the Distortion slider in the Lens Corrections in LR to between -30 and -50 to fix the distortion in the corners, but the corners are reasonably sharp. The corners look 100% better with the S&S Correction Lens after adjusting the Distortion in LR. Here are some sample photos @ 14mm, ISO 800, f/18, 1/125sec

Thanks, Larry. 

I have a question: When you use lens corrections to "flatten" the image, doesn't that effectively remove the "real" corners?

It would be interesting to also see the photos without any corrections or changes (i.e., straight out of the camera) for comparison.

Thanks!

- brett

6 hours ago, TmxDiver said:

Thanks, Larry. 

I have a question: When you use lens corrections to "flatten" the image, doesn't that effectively remove the "real" corners?

It would be interesting to also see the photos without any corrections or changes (i.e., straight out of the camera) for comparison.

Thanks!

- brett

Before using the S&S Internal Correction Lens the corners of my wide-angle shots with the Nikon Z 14-30mm rectilinear lens were blurry, even with a 230mm dome and stopped down aperture (f/16 - f/18). From what I understand the S&S Internal Correction Lens helps the lens focus closer and bring the corners into focus, but not like a diopter because you keep the same FOV (maybe the experts can explain this better). Unfortunately, the S&S lens attaches to the front filter threads of the Z 14-30mm behind the dome port so it cant be removed for a before and after comparison shots. Here is an unprocessed export with the Z 14-30mm and 230mm dome without the S&S Internal Correction Lens and you can clearly see the blurry corners in the coral (you can also see the distortion) 

- ISO 800, 14mm, f/18, 1/125sec

Larry

Thanks, Larry, this is really helpful.

Any chance of a blow up of a couple of the corners of the landscape image with the two gorgonians on the right-hand side?

Hi Tim,

Here are the corners with the two gorgonians on the  right-hand side. It's not perfectly focused but I am happy with it.

Larry

Much appreciated, Larry. Yeah, looks pretty good. I believe the S&S lens is hard to find now?

6 hours ago, TimG said:

Much appreciated, Larry. Yeah, looks pretty good. I believe the S&S lens is hard to find now?

Thanks Tim. I found one at Reef Photo for $600 US. When I asked about the price they said that that is the new retail price for the lens… Ouch! The Nauticam WACP is looking like more of a bargain every day with the cost of setting up a wide angle rectilinear kit that produces sharp corners!

Wow, yeah, that’s seriously pricey. I thought they were expensive when a price of $400 was being quoted a couple of years ago. 

Guys: Surely at f/18 with a big dome, corner sharpness shouldn't really be an issue? Perhaps the Z14-30 is just one of those lenses that does not work well with a dome port?

Ultimately at f/18 softness may be caused by diffraction as much as optical issues.

With anything but the brightest (shallow) reef scenes, you are also going to need to push ISO so hard that you are going to be bumping into noise problems..

3 hours ago, adamhanlon said:

Guys: Surely at f/18 with a big dome, corner sharpness shouldn't really be an issue? Perhaps the Z14-30 is just one of those lenses that does not work well with a dome port?

Ultimately at f/18 softness may be caused by diffraction as much as optical issues.

With anything but the brightest (shallow) reef scenes, you are also going to need to push ISO so hard that you are going to be bumping into noise problems..

Hi Adam,

Yes, you are correct. The Z 14-30mm does not seem to be a good lens for underwater wide angle at 14mm. But, 14mm is really wide for a rectilinear lens. Zooming in just a tiny bit to 16-18mm the blurry corners almost disappear. So with the exception of blurry corners at 14mm, I have found the Z 14-30 to be an excellent lens.

I am fairly happy with the results I got with the S&S Correction Lens at 14mm, although it was expensive as discussed. Next time I go out with it I am going to take a series of shots at 14mm from f/4 - f/18 to see how much correction I am actually getting.

You are also correct that some of the issue is the distortion in the corners (or this this what you are calling diffraction? Where the corners look stretched?). As I mentioned, I was able to fix this in LR with the Distortion slider.

I am thinking I may add the Nikon F 8-15 Fisheye to my kit, but that’s another topic.

Larry