Any experience with AOI diopters? Or +20ish diopters in general

I'm in the market for a very high power diopter to complement my Nauticam SMC-1 (for both photo and video use, hence my reluctance to just crop from stills taken with the SMC-1) and came across the AOI UCL-900 Pro. While the SMC-2 is a natural choice for this purpose, the AOI intrigued me with its comparatively low price, size, and weight (350.7 g dry vs 540 g of the SMC-2) while still appearing of high optical quality. Unfortunately, I can find little information online about this diopter (perhaps this is itself a sign), including no measurement its working distance, which is obviously an important factor when working at such high magnification and trying to get light on the subject. I found one review favorably comparing AOI's +12.5 diopter (UCL-09 Pro) to the similarly-powered SMC-1, but that is the best I've got and was hoping that someone here may have experience with any of their line of diopters, ideally the stronger ones (they have a +12.5, +18.5, and +23.5 in their "Pro" line).

I also came across the +23 Weefine WFL-06S aka Kraken KRL-06S, but am currently not putting much weight on that one since its working distance range is noticeably smaller than the SMC-2 (ok it's only a 5 mm difference when each used with the Nikon 105 mm -- as per each company's own reported specs -- but that is big when we're talking about a 9 mm range vs a 14 mm range and trying to get the subject in focus initially!). However, any thoughts on other high-power options are certainly welcome!

One option might be to add a 1.4x to your current setup, you'll get 3.2x magnification at the same working distance as the SMC-1.  Downside is I believe AF doesn't work and you would have to get a custom focus gear plus the appropriate extension.  Might be worth posting this question to see if anyone has done it.

You may also want to consider stacking a second lens like CMC-1 with your current SMC-1. How you stack the lenses will make a difference so try CMC-1 with SMC-1 on top and then reveres the process. 

Thank you so much for your informative replies and creative ideas ChrisRoss and Phil Rudin!

14 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

One option might be to add a 1.4x to your current setup, you'll get 3.2x magnification at the same working distance as the SMC-1.  Downside is I believe AF doesn't work and you would have to get a custom focus gear plus the appropriate extension.  Might be worth posting this question to see if anyone has done it.

 

You are right that a teleconverter could be the ideal option to retain as much working distance as possible. Unfortunately, it seems that the Sony teleconverter is the only available option for Sony full fraem, and the 90mm macro lens is not supported 

12 hours ago, Phil Rudin said:

You may also want to consider stacking a second lens like CMC-1 with your current SMC-1. How you stack the lenses will make a difference so try CMC-1 with SMC-1 on top and then reveres the process. 

This I will certainly try! Especially as I already have both CMC-1 and CMC-2. A much cheaper (well, free for me) option as long as some combination is able to provide acceptable magnification and working distance.

3 hours ago, t.tm.m said:

Thank you so much for your informative replies and creative ideas ChrisRoss and Phil Rudin!

You are right that a teleconverter could be the ideal option to retain as much working distance as possible. Unfortunately, it seems that the Sony teleconverter is the only available option for Sony full fraem, and the 90mm macro lens is not supported 

This I will certainly try! Especially as I already have both CMC-1 and CMC-2. A much cheaper (well, free for me) option as long as some combination is able to provide acceptable magnification and working distance.

You could probably try a Kenko 1.4x?  It requires a 20mm extension and of course a custom focus gear if you need MF.  I think any combination you use is going to have similar working distance to the SMC-2 as the basic concept of the wet diopters is to allow you to focus closer, there will be some variation between different designs but overall you will be closer to SMC-2 working distance than the SMC-1 working distance.

1 hour ago, ChrisRoss said:

You could probably try a Kenko 1.4x? 

Kenko teleconverters are only available in Canon EF mount and Nikon F mount. If you want to use a teleconverter with a Sony E-mount lens, Sony is the only game in town, but it has an element which protrudes into the lens:

Most telephoto lenses have the hollow space inside to fit this element, but the 90mm macro doesn't.

If you want to use a teleconverter with a macro lens on a Sony camera, you need to use a Canon 100mm or something similar.

9 hours ago, Barmaglot said:

Kenko teleconverters are only available in Canon EF mount and Nikon F mount. If you want to use a teleconverter with a Sony E-mount lens, Sony is the only game in town, but it has an element which protrudes into the lens:

Most telephoto lenses have the hollow space inside to fit this element, but the 90mm macro doesn't.

If you want to use a teleconverter with a macro lens on a Sony camera, you need to use a Canon 100mm or something similar.

Right, that does limit you a bit if you want to do better than the 2.3x or so you can get with the SMC-1