Sigma 15 FE in Ikelite 5503.15

Hi there,

I'm looking to get the Sigma 15 to use on my Ikelite housed film SLR until I get a digi and a 10.5 mm FE...:shock:

Anyone tried the Sigma in the 5503.15 port, rather than the 5503 that Ike recommends on his site? :?

Cheers,

A.

I guess I'm really asking...

Does it fit?

And is it a viable combo?

Why would you want to use a port that is not recommended by the manufacturer???

Having used both the Nikon 16mm fisheye and the Sigma 15mm fisheye on a Nikon D100 I can tell you this.....

Both of these 2 lenses work in the standard #5503 port on a 1.5X camera with no vignetting. The Nikon DX 10.5mm NEEDS the #5503.15 because it "sees" the same fisheye view a Nikon 16mm does on a film camera. (See the footnote on Ikelite's port chart for Nikon lenses, mentioning the #5503.15 port is REQUIRED for using a 16mm fisheye on a FILM camera body.)

That said, (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe the Nikon 10.5mm DX fisheye lens and Nikon 16mm fisheye lens are the exact same body dimensions...If so, either will physically (and optically) work in the #5503.15 Ikelite port.

David Haas

Ikelite dealer

Hi there,

 

I'm looking to get the Sigma 15 to use on my Ikelite housed film SLR until I get a digi and a 10.5 mm FE...:shock:

 

Anyone tried the Sigma in the 5503.15 port, rather than the 5503 that Ike recommends on his site? :?

 

Cheers,

 

A.

I would email Ike first but yes, in your situation I would get 5503.15. The 5503.15 for lens with coverage over 110 degrees . 5503 is for lenses 17mm to 28mm. On digital cameras 5505 is ok with the 15 fish but I would worry that the 15fish would vignette with the 5503 on a film camera. The only resason I can see not list 5503.15 besides Ike forgetting that some people still use film is that 5503.15 is for "lens less than 2.5 inches" and the lens is 2.5 inches long. It might be a tight fit but if it does it is the port you want.

The 5503.15 is REQUIRED for that lens with full frame cameras...

Why would you want to use a port that is not recommended by the manufacturer???

Because if it can be shown to be dimensionally and optically correct we can have more lens versitillity with less ports to buy and carry. This isn't such a big deal with extension rings but ports take up space fast.

So it looks like I could be down to as little as three ports for 6 lenses:

for wide angle FE:

5503.15 15mm, 10.5mm

for wide angle zooms and fish portriats (macro):

5503.55 12-24mm, 18-70mm 60mm micro

OR: 5503.50 12-24mm 60mm (if you don't care about the kit lens)

for true macro with or without diopters (almost like 2 lenses):

5508.05 flat port with focus 105mm

I think its quite reasonable to travel with this number of lenses and ports. I think its quite unreasonable to travel with all the recommended ports for this number of lenses which would mean carefully researching dive sites, weather/dive conditions and focusing on a specific goal a priori. I'm quite happy to focus on a specific goal for a given dive and think this improves my photography. But when travelling to an unknown destination I need the fexibility to change my shooting style/goals once I get to know the area and my divemaster.

If you use the recommended ports you would need:

5503.15 10.5mm

5503 15mm fe

5503.55 18-70mm

5503.50 12-24mm

5502.41 flat port 60mm

5508.05 flat port with focus 105mm

All of these are optimal and truly the best ports for any particular lens. For example, using the 5503.15 with the 15mm on digital does not take advantage of the added lens shade on the 5503 that does not vigenette on digital. But really, 6 ports for 6 lenses?

I think the truth of the recomendation is a function of the way its presented on the website and the difficulty of testing every port/lens combination. Ikelite has thankfully done a lot of work laying out some detailed info optimized for each lens. Clearly other good combinations exist that are optimized for your kit.

I'm going to wait and see what the 8" port will look like before I house the 10.5mm. At that point I think I will try to pare down my port collection.

Perhaps my purchase of the 5503, 5503.55 and 5502.41 were a mistake in retrospect.

I asked Duane at Ikelite if it was possible to use the 5503.15 or 5503.50 instead of 5503 for the Sigma 15FE on a Nikon D70... the answer was no, the 5503 is required.

How about the Nikon 16mm FE?

One can, according to the Ike port chart, use the Nikon 16mm/f2.8 FE in the compact dome 5053.15. So the dimensions are okay.

And this lens is not too dear as Nikon goes, albeit AF rather than AF-S; hey, it's a f/2.8 fisheye, AF should be fine.

However, I don't know if the optics of the 10.5 and 16 are similar enough for one dome to work very well for both lenses -- their entrance pupil locations should be nearly the same if the port is to be used without extensions. The 10.5mm's entrance pupil is about 87 mm (see below) in front of the film plane, but I can find no info in a quick online search for the Sig15 or Nik16).

Anyone out there have numbers for these lenses?

If you wanna read about why this might matter, you can take a look Jolly's feature,

http://www.wetpixel.com/module-pagesetter-...-1-pid-57.phtml

But I have no idea of the pupil location for the lenses we're talking about here ... and don't have them in hand to measure, either. I will try to confirm the 10.5 entrance pupil later this week (UPS tracking says it is getting close!).

Let us know how it all turns out..

Sources:

The tables by Joe Wisniewski, http://www.swissarmyfork.com/lens_table_1.htm

don't have them, "plattro" at http://www.kekus.com/forum/showthread.php?...goto=nextoldest says

the Nikon 10.5 has En of 87mm and the 14/2.8 is 97 mm (both +/- 5mm).

Cheers,

Chris

Wow!

Thanks everyone for your input. In answer to why I might want to take this route - UWPhotoNewbie has hit the nail on the head - port minimisation for travel.

The information provided by Chris is extraordinary and I would love to hear from someone who has any updates to the optics questions he poses.

Thanks again - what a wonderful resource this place is

Also looking forward to more news on the 8" port from Ike.

It would be absolutely sensational for those under/overs that I've struggled with thus far.

Wonder whether he'll announce at PMA :?

I have bought a used ikelite d70 housing. I have the port for the 10.5 mm. My problem is that the 10.5 mm is verry expensive, but I want to use the camera. Is it possible to buy a sigma 15 mm Fe and use this in the 5503.15 ? I understand that there are better ports for the sigma 15 mm FE. Did anybody try it?

My advice would be to skip the 6" domes and trade up to the 8" dome system. The shortest extension #5510.10 works great with nearly every WA lens. It works perfectly with the 15mm and the 10.5mm and the Tokina 10-17mm. Its a much better port and travel system.

I did as I suggested above and moved over to the 8" system and am very happy. Less gear and a better port to boot. I sold the ports I had and paid for the upgrade since I had so many ports and needed less gear to cover the same lenses. I would sell the port you have on Wetpixel and upgrade.

The 15mm is a great lens. If you are on a budget though I'd look at the tokina 10-17mm instead. This lens covers both the 10.5mm and 15mm range and is highly rated. It costs the same as the 15mm. You give up some quality and f2.8 but these are pretty insignificant differences. This lens is also supported by the same 8" dome extension as the other 2.

Totally agree with Newbie - I took the same route. Skip the 6"