Canon Powershot SD990 IS -Ikelite housing and Inon UFL-165AD fisheye lens?

Hello,

I am considering the Canon Powershot SD990 IS and would like to use the Inon UFL-165AD fisheye lens with it. I'd rather not use the Canon housing, so I would like to know if the fisheye lens would work with the Ikelite housing for the SD990 IS?

Would there be a lot of vignetting? How much? Is there a reasonable workaround the vignetting, such as zooming in? If so, how much would I have to zoom in?

Are there any issues with using the Ikelite SD990 IS housing and the Inon closeup lens?

Thank you.

-Dana

We usually don't do extensive testing with the UFL-165 lens. In general, the bayonet style Inon lenses vignette a bit more than the threaded lenses on our housings.

I had a few pictures taken to show the gain you can reasonably expect from using the UFL-165 on our SD990 housing. Keep in mind that there is supposed to be water between the lens and the housing port so results will very slightly in actual use.

Upper Left: Camera alone in full wide setting.
Upper Right: With UFL-165 and camera in full wide setting. Image has been cropped in Photoshop to eliminate vignetting.
Lower Left: With UFL-165 and camera zoomed one stop.
Lower Right: With UFL-165 and camera zoomed two stops.

The yellow boxes are intended to offer a comparison to the angle of view of the camera alone in full wide setting. Most people choose to zoom slightly to eliminate vignetting as this avoids the need to crop each photo.

There should be no issues using a close-up lens with the housing.

Hope this helps you in your decision.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

Jean,

Thank you so much for the detailed reply, and the sample photos. That's very helpful and much appreciated!

I was wondering if you wouldn't mind posting the original, *uncropped* "With UFL-165 and camera in full wide setting". That would be very interesting to see how much you actually had to crop off.

Also, a somewhat related question regarding the bayonet mount adapter that would be needed to make this fisheye lens mount to the Ikelite housing... There are set screws that attach this adapter to the barrel part of the lens port, correct? How securely do these set screws fasten, and how does one properly line up the adapter? I would be concerned about (1) the adapter falling off the housing, and with lens attached that would be most unfortunate ($$$), and (2) the adapter slipping off on its rotation. The Inon fisheye lens has a hood around it that I think needs to be in the proper orientation for minimizing lens flare. With the Inon closeup lens, this rotation of the lens isn't an issue, of course, but with the fisheye lens, it would be an issue.

Thank you again for your help,

Dana

You would want to attach the lens to the adapter and then align and tighten the adapter onto the housing's port. Once tightened securely it should not rotate much (if at all) when removing and replacing the lens. Since the set screws recess into a groove in the port, it's virtually impossible for the adapter to fall off if they are tightened.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

Bummer... I had high hopes for that setup.

Out of curiosity, can you post a shot with the Ikelite wide angle lens instead of the Inon fisheye? 46mm threaded #6420.46 Ikelite W-20

Thanks again, Jean. Really appreciated. Wow, that's a lot more vignetting than I would have hoped :-(.

CompuDude:

Out of curiosity, can you post a shot with the Ikelite wide angle lens instead of the Inon fisheye? 46mm threaded #6420.46 Ikelite W-20

Click to expand...

I would love to see this as well. The suspense is killing me .

-Dana

The performance of the W20 lens with the Canon SD990 is excellent. This photo was taken with the camera in full wide from the same distance as the other photos.

Thank you, again! Wow that's a huge difference! Based on these sample photos, the W20 lens seems like the better choice for wide angle if you MUST have the Ikelite housing for your Canon Powershot SD590 IS. Too bad it's not a bayonet mount lens, as those I believe are easier for quickly taking on/off the housing.

Oh, now I am wondering whether the coverage would be the same for the W20 under water. With Inon lenses they make sure to say that angle coverage under water is different from in air. Would the same apply to Ikelite lenses? Wider coverage in air, less coverage under water, I believe is the pattern.

-Dana

As of this afternoon we're looking into a new adapter that should provide dramatically better results with the UFL-165 and other Inon bayonet style lenses when used on ULTRAcompact housings. I'll have more information in the next week, and will post promptly.

Due to refraction (water/glass/air interface), the angle of coverage of any wide angle conversion lens is very slightly less underwater than it is above water.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

Ikelite Staff:

As of this afternoon we're looking into a new adapter that should provide dramatically better results with the UFL-165 and other Inon bayonet style lenses when used on ULTRAcompact housings. I'll have more information in the next week, and will post promptly.

Click to expand...

This would help tremendously (!). Any idea how long to market?

Thank you,

Dana