who' shooting what ?

There has been quite a bit of discussion over a number of topics on the best combo's.

I was just wondering what port / ring / diopter coimbo's the members were using.

I have been shooting the D2X /Subal combo with 12-24 +2 diopeter/ 50mm ext / DE2 Dome and experiencing less that 100% results - is it me ???? ( it could be i need new glasses )

Wondering who's shooting what and when.

Peter

On the Wetpixel shark trip, I shot the Sigma 12-24 behind the Seacam Superdome with no diopter.

Cheers

James

Hi Peter,

I am interested in this combination, as I plan to buy a 12-24 for my D2x. Can you post some samples?

Thanks,

Luiz

I use D2X in Subal housing with FE02 domeport, not sure of the extension ring since there is no label on it but 50mm sounds about right (sorry, just told my Subal dealer to get me stuffs for the 12-24mm Nikkor lens), no diopter and the combination seem to work well. Just got back from a quick weekend trip and used the 12-24mm on 2 dives. I will have some pictures posted in the next couple of days but from my preliminary look at some of the pictures, there weren't very noticeable cornor softness and the camera will focus within inches of the dome.

Hey Peter, i use th 12-24 on the 8 inch Aquatica dome with an extension, no diopter.

WHen i get really close to a subject, about 6 inches (15cm) then there is definitely corner softness that is rather unacceptable. (I come from Nik V and 15mm so nothing will stack up to that)

AM thinking of adding a diopter but not sure if that will help. From some old threads around here the 12-24 is known for softness in the close up stuff.

Think i just stay two feet away from subjects instead and not concentrate on CFWA too much unless i zoom in to 16mm or so

Mike

First, I don't use a Subal and digital BUT I used to use a Seacam with an S2Pro and the 12~24. I used the WidePort (very similar to Subals SWB Port) and a 35mm extender. I tried it with diopters and without. I found this set-up to be fine for distant shots at 12mm without the diopter, fine for closer shots at f/11 or smaller without the diopter until I got to about 15~16mm focal length below which it produced soft corners. With the diopter things improved somewhat and it produced very good results from close-up from about 15~16mm to 24mm but below ~15mm needed f/11 or smaller to produce reasonable corners. I never got around to trying it with a bigger port but it should have been better (I prefer a smaller port in rough conditions).

I've said this before and no doubt will again. When the field of view exceeds about 90 degrees (20mm on 35mm format), it is difficult to achieve good corners close-up (in both theory and practice). Also, no dome will work perfectly throughout a wide-angle's zoom range either and most people seem to opt for optimisation at the widest angle setting.

For the best results you should use as big a dome as possible, and just looking through the posts here, this seems to be the case. I would try +2 and +3 diopters if you can do so to see if either give a significant improvement too. I'd also try not to shoot much below f/11 if working very close.

If you are shooting CFWA, and use a 12-24, try a +2 dipoter....it will sharpen the image. A +2 won't do much for far distances, but does a better job on close ups than without a diopter.

Joe

Hi!

I'm using Sea&Sea DX-D70 and Compact Macro Base/Compact Macro Port S/60mm-2.8 and NX Fisheye Dome Port/12-24 no diopter. Still a novice and not to much to show...

/riki