14-30 Z-mount with S&S IRC?

This has been discussed before, but did we ever get a conclusion on benefits from the Sea and Sea Internal Corrections Lens with the Z-mount 14-30, behind a 230mm dome?

I have the 77mm version for my 16-35, and I think it worked wonders there.  I need the 82mm version for the 14-30, but it wasn't really designed for that lens.

The S&S correction lens as I understand it is designed around a port more so than a lens it's function is to flatten the field so it progressively brings the edges of field into focus at the same focal distance as the centre.  It doesn't need to completely flatten it, only enough so that stopping down the lens bring the corners in.   It effectively feeds the lens an image that is equivalent to having a much larger diameter dome so the lens does not need to stop down so far to bring the corners into focus.

It is of course possible for a lens to behave badly with it as wide angle lenses often have a curved focal surface that relies on stopping down to bring into focus across the field.  This may interact with the correction from the S&S lens, but I expect most lenses would be OK with it as it is hard to imagine how presenting a lens with a flatter virtual image could do anything but help performance.

I shoot with the Z 14-30 + S&S M82 Internal Correction Lens + Zen 230mm glass port and am satisfied with the results. The corners of my shots at 14mm are in focus, but slightly distorted (stretched) and easily fixed with the Distortion slider in LR. Once I correct the distortion in LR the images are much better. Here is my earlier post on this subject - 

View archived post in: Sea & Sea Internal Correction Lens + Nikon Z 14-30mm

I have also discovered if you zoom-in just slightly to 16-18mm, the corner softness disappears even without the S&S lens, but sometimes still have to correct the corner distortion in LR. 

I'm sold on them enough to get one in 82mm size now - but I can't find any for sale.  Used to be $400 a few years ago. Discontinued?

2 hours ago, phxazcraig said:

I'm sold on them enough to get one in 82mm size now - but I can't find any for sale.  Used to be $400 a few years ago. Discontinued?

 

Believe they are discontinued, might be worth trying around to see if any stores are holding stocks.

Seems the S&S IRC is discontinued - or maybe the $400 one is.  I see B&H and Adorama have $600 versions listed, but special orders.

I found an online store still advertising one at $399.   I'll see if my order actually goes through.

Talked to the store owner after I placed the order.  He called S&S and found out the following:

1. IRC's are now special-order status

2. Price has increased from $399 to $599

3. Delivery of my 82mm may not come until September.  (Meaning it will miss the next dive trip.   Then too, I'm still waiting on a Nauticam housing, viewfinder, extension and macro port for my new Z9.)

I bought one about a month ago at Reef Photo in South Florida for $600. When I asked about the price they said that’s the new retail price from S&S. Check with Reef. 
 

https://reefphoto.com/products/sea-sea-m82-internal-correction-lens

That’s really useful. Thanks!

I have one on the way.  And better yet, it looks like I'll have everything else I need to use that filter, meaning Nauticam housing and related bits are supposed to be here soon.  Along with new wetsuit!

Now I'm wondering if I have the correct extension for the new lenses.   I am now shooting a Z9 with 14-30 behind a 230mm dome on a 50mm extension.  My 16-35 used a 90mm extension.

The 105s macro is going into a new Macro Port 80 instead of the old Port 87 from the 105vr.

I have a lot to learn when I dive again.  Should be fun!

So they are no longer discontinued then - just reverted to special order status?  Seems like they withdrew them to test the water for a price increase perhaps? 

I used the Z 14-30mm with the Z-6 in an Ikelite housing with the S&S 82mm correction lens. 

First I would say that the lens is excellent but if you are using the S&S lens you need to stick to a 230mm or larger port. I got sad results with the Ikelite eight inch compact dome. Second the S&S lens was designed for 16-35mm zooms both F/4 and F2.8 to be used in 230mm or greater dome ports. I suspect the wider 14mm end will be a bit softer in the corners due to the AOV difference. 

I have also used the S&S lens with a 16-35mm and the 180mm dome port. Results can be worse with the S&S lens than without. It will also distort a bit on the top side if shooting splits because it is water corrected.

Last Sea & Sea has changed hands within the last year and moved to all new facilities with a reorganization and new product development. The S&S correction lens is not a big selling item so I would give them a little slack while they reorganize. 

7 hours ago, Phil Rudin said:

I used the Z 14-30mm with the Z-6 in an Ikelite housing with the S&S 82mm correction lens. 

First I would say that the lens is excellent but if you are using the S&S lens you need to stick to a 230mm or larger port. I got sad results with the Ikelite eight inch compact dome. Second the S&S lens was designed for 16-35mm zooms both F/4 and F2.8 to be used in 230mm or greater dome ports. I suspect the wider 14mm end will be a bit softer in the corners due to the AOV difference. 

I have also used the S&S lens with a 16-35mm and the 180mm dome port. Results can be worse with the S&S lens than without. It will also distort a bit on the top side if shooting splits because it is water corrected.

Last Sea & Sea has changed hands within the last year and moved to all new facilities with a reorganization and new product development. The S&S correction lens is not a big selling item so I would give them a little slack while they reorganize. 

Technically I think that the S&S lens is designed around a port configuration not any lens in particular.  What it is doing is changing the shape of the virtual image that the camera lens is focusing on so that it is flatter and is actually quite a simple lens.   The important parameter will be distance of the lens from the virtual image.  If this is in the right ballpark it will work.  This is shown by people using it with a wide range of ports in 230-240mm size and a range of lenses.

I'm not at all surprised to find it doesn't work with the ikelite compact port as that port places the lens well forward of the centre of curvature of the dome so the S&S lens would be much closer to the virtual image.    The Nauticam 180mm dome would be a similar situation as the dome is not a full hemisphere, the entrance pupil to the lens is forward of the centre of curvature and the distance to the virtual image is less. 

The 14mm lens certainly won't be as good in the corners but it will still be 1-2 stops better than the bare lens.  This is due to the greater field of view of the 14mm lens.  The S&S lens does not completely flatten the image it might change the radius of curvature of the virtual image that of a 230mm dome to something like you would get from a 250-300mm dome but at the same distance from the dome surface as the 230mm dome.  Suitability of the lens can be judged by the performance of the bare lens in a 230mm dome.

As to the the change in hands, I would not be surprised that the S&S lens is something that is out-sourced to a lens making firm, it is possibly a plano-convex lens, they are commonly used for field flattening in other applications - it is a single element lens according to the specs.  No doubt it is a great product but I would expect the cost to manufacture one is not all that high.

I received my 82MM IRC lens yesterday.   Apparently Sea & Sea has some sitting in stock somewhere so once it was located they just sent it on.  Of course at the higher price.   Hope it works like it did for the 16-35 because it sure made a nice difference there.

The rest of my Nauticam rig is supposed to arrive later today - just after I leave on a trip through Sunday.   Sigh.  Hard to imagine a worse time to ship that to me. 

Should have a report on how well things work by the end of August.

I was able to briefly test the 14-30 with IRC today in a shallow pool.   I was also testing a new wetsuit, plus new housing/camera, so a few things on my mind.   I did take a few shots - plus a selfie - just to shoot something, but I didn't have any subject.   Anyway, did most of the shots at F4 before I noticed, then took a few at F10.

The results were not impressive, but it's early days.   Sides get smeary and corners worse, but a fair amount of that might be the focus point I used.    50mm extension plus 230mm Nauticam dome.