What wide angle setup

[jstuart1]

I discovered using wide angle lenses for videography on land and would like to use it on my Ikelite housing for the HC1. Do you just use a wide angle lens screwed onto the housing? Do you use just a dome port or both? I would appreciate suggestions on how to set up for wide angle shooting.

THanks
Judy

 

[ronrosa]

I discovered using wide angle lenses for videography on land and would like to use it on my Ikelite housing for the HC1. Do you just use a wide angle lens screwed onto the housing? Do you use just a dome port or both? I would appreciate suggestions on how to set up for wide angle shooting.

THanks
Judy

Your Ikelite HC1 housing can use a Inon UWL 100 wide angle lens screwed into the threads of your flat port. You can add the dome attachment to the UWL to get another 20-30 degrees of coverage.

If you can find a local Inon dealer you should check whether or not the setup will vignette with your housing/camcorder.

The UWL 100 is negative and will make your housing front heavy. Adding the dome attachment makes it even more negative. I believe you can change the buoyancy with your Ikelite, which you will want to do if you go W/A.

My recent post video "Fun with Black and White" was shot with the Inon UWL 100. The really wide footage like the opening scene and the crows nest was shot with the UWL 100 plus dome.

I like to shoot W/A on wrecks and for reef scenery.

 

[Phil TK]

.

The UWL 100 is negative and will make your housing front heavy. QUOTE]

Actually it will probably weight the housing just right. My own Ikelite housing (pc1000) feels unbalanced without the WA lens attached.
To get the bouyancy and balance just right on my Ikelite I ditched the twirly knobs that sit on the handles (these knobs it seems, were perfectly designed to snag on hoses and d rings etc.) and took out the bolts on the top. I left the bolts in on the bottom of the handles and secured them with two M8 aluminium nuts. I leave off the lead weighted 'foot' The housing and camera are now just a few ounces negative and the balance is great, I can flip the housing with a flick of the fingers and it does a neat somersault in the water. This means that it's centre of bouyancy is very close to it's centre of gravity -just right.
By the way,the holes left at the top of the handles are ideal for zip tieing on a couple of climbers clips. When I do shore entries I clip the housing onto my bc's D rings and it sits nicely on my chest.( I rest my arm on top of the housing in rough surf when entering -this stops the housing hitting me in the face) Sometimes when on a busy boat I find it easier to clip up the housing and enter the water down the ladder, putting on my fins in the water, -rather than wait to have the camera handed to me.
Phil TK

 

[ronrosa]

That's good the Ikelite housing with the W/A lens is balanced and almost neutral.

My Gates housing with the lens was very front heavy and negative. I ended up using some foam around the lens to make it neutral.

 

[HowardE]

I use the Sony .6X WA lens screwed onto my camera directly. I have an HC-30 in an Ikelite housing, and the ike housings leave room for a lens adaptor.

 

[ronrosa]

I use the Sony .6X WA lens screwed onto my camera directly. I have an HC-30 in an Ikelite housing, and the ike housings leave room for a lens adaptor.

That's good to know. I would have thought the housing and/or port would not be big enough to fit an internal W/A lens. Sounds like a much cheaper and less weighty way to go.

 

[HowardE]

That's good to know. I would have thought the housing and/or port would not be big enough to fit an internal W/A lens. Sounds like a much cheaper and less weighty way to go.

I would of course check with ikelite before investing. It said on the specs for my housing that a WA lens WOULD fit.

After reading the ike specs for the HC-1 - they don't allow for room inside the housing with this model.

Optional (not an Ikelite product) Inon UWL-100 wide angle lens or Epoque conversion wide lens attach directly to the outside of the port to provide even greater wide angle coverage, but the camera must remain in the wide angle position where these lenses are designed to operate. Many other housings for these cameras can not provide choice of either the view screen or magnified viewfinder, or include the URPro filter. The Ikelite design leaves almost nothing to be desired for safety and capability.

Sorry for any confusion.

 

[amadeusmattes]

I talked with someone at Ikelite last week concerning a W/A lens for the Sony HDR-HC1. He informed me that they are currently working on a lens that will fit inside the housing. He said to look for it within 3 months.

 

[marshallkarp]

You learn from your mistakes as you go along with video. I started out shooting with my Sony DCR-TRV30. I noticed that the underwater video footage was really compact and close in. On my Key West trip last week, I got the Sony wide angle lens, screwed it on to the existing lens, and put the whole set up in my housing.

Wow, what a difference that wide angle lens made. Everything is much more in the viewing perspective. Haven't tried a dome yet, but I am satisfied with the wide angle lens.

 

[Scubacastor]

I have a UWL-100 and the sony wide angle lens. I use a HC-42 in a ikelite housing

The quality of the UWL-100 is better than sony's in the air (less distortion)

BUT

lots of vignetting and bad distortions underwater for the UWL-100 (try both type I and type II). The Sony lens is just perfect for the job.