P6000 Project is done!

[mmakay]

I've been shooting a Coolpix 5000 since it was the hot rig many years ago. With the fantastic combo of WC-E68 wide-angle adapter and dome port, you had respectable wide angle (19mm or 100deg fov!) and could still get good macro shots, without ever changing a wet lens or port.

I hadn't found anything that made me consider upgrading it ... until I saw the P6000. Deep down I knew this camera had what I wanted, but nobody made the housing that would give it the same capabilitiees I love about the CP5K. So, I came up with my own port for Ikelite's housing.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3622/3420485578_fce2934dc5.jpg

I need to test it more. Our next tirp is to Curacao at the end of the month, so I hope to get lots of great shots with it. You can see a little more if you go to my Flickr page:

Flickr: mmakay's Photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36652428@N02/)

[Nemrod]

I love it when people custom make stuff, now that is what they should have done to begin with, very nice work. Hope it shoots as good for you as it looks. Please provide more details of what you did and what WA adapter/lens you have mounted in the port or what? Great work.

N

[randini]

Looks great mmkay!

One question, am I reading this correct that you're using the WC-E68 with the P6000? Doesn't that lens attach via M28 threads? I can definitely see the advantage of using it over the WC-E76 that came out for the P6000 since it is a bit wider. Were those pice on your flickr taken at the widest position or did you have to zoom in/crop a bit?

I ask because on dpreview there was some talk about pretty serious vignetting with the M28 wide angle lenses due to the wider opening of the P6000's lens in comparison to it's predecessors (mainly the P5000 & P5100).

I'm as anxious as Nemrod to see how it works UW. Please give us a follow up once you take it diving.

[mmakay]

Yup, it's a WC-E68. The threads on it are standard 46mm, and I have successfully used it with a 52mm filter adapter and step-down ring. You need a very thin step-down to keep it close enough to the lens to avoid vignetting, but it works fine. For the housing, I made the dome hold the WC-E68, rather than it being attached to the camera directly.

The wide-angle photo on Flickr was at full wide, and was not cropped. I need to take some shots with bright backgrounds to be sure, but I suspect the corners are very slightly dimmed. Still, I'm happy with the results. It's nothing that can't be tweaked in Photoshop.

[randini]

I see. Thanks for the details. The WA lenses that showed vignetting (we're talking black corners up until about 3 steps of zoom) were the ones with 28mm threads. 46mm is also the thread size of the WC-E76 that came out for the P6000 so the 68 should work quite well with the UR-E21 adapter (and sicne the 68 is an older lens, it should cost substantially less than the 76). I'm wanting to upgrade my P5000 for this camera more and more.

Can't wait to see the field tests.

[mmakay]

I've seen the E68 for less than $20 second-hand.... Unfortunately, my port wasn't nearly so inexpensive.

[mmakay]

Curacao '09 - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36652428@N02/sets/72157617530789898/)

First blue water shots have been posted. I'm pretty happy with the set up.

[mmakay]

Curacao '09 - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36652428@N02/sets/72157617530789898/)

First blue water shots have been posted. I'm pretty happy with the set up.

[funscuba]

Can i ask u, what lenses did u use for ur P5000 as macro and WA ? I do have an ikelite housing.

[randini]

according to OP, he/she was using the coolpix 5000, not the P5000. The Ike housing for the 5000 had a dome port that would go on over the nikon add-on WA lens. The modification he made here was for the Ike housing to the new(er) P6000.

For your P5000, since you have the Ike housing which has M67 threads on the outside of the lens port, your best bet is getting one of the M67 wet lenses, like the Inon or the Ikelite.

[gert7to3]

How is the P6000 lag time and focusing sensitivity compared to the Coolpix 5000? I am pondering the P6000 vs. Canon's G10. I would be upgrading from an Oly SP-350. Any opinions would be welcome.

[Larry C]

You have some really nice shots in there Mickey. Did you pull the WA for your tight shots or just zoom? I was quite impressed with the sharpness on the shrimp & blenny pics. Great color, too.

[randini]

It's not a wet mount WA. It's the Nikon ad-on lens that goes attached to the camera (and OP built his own port for it), so yea he must have zoomed.

[slowhands]

I saw this project and wanted to duplicate it. Unfortunately the dome port from Ikelite is no longer available (Ikelite 9306.75). According to the designer, it was a port intended for another camera housing (for the discontinued Nikon 8400) and the lens was the Nikon WC-E68 which the designer had on hand from his trusty Nikon Coolpix 5000. He machined a custom port adapter between the Ikelite port and the Ikelite P6000 housing. A real mix and match solution, but the results were excellent!

Because the Ikelite dome port is not available, a creative substitution is necessary. Ikelite does make several dome ports for video cameras that may be adaptable. This is a work in progress.

The Nikon WC-E68 lens is captive in the port, dry mount if you will. I think it has to be, since the opening in the housing is smaller than the WC-E68 -- in other words, you could not stick it through the port if it was hard mounted to the camera. Optically, it just happens to be an excellent match to the P6000 camera, having a wide rear lens and 46mm threads, same as the newer WC-E75 which Nikon recommends for the P6000.

Apparently, it did not vignette at maximum wide angle, but there may have been some dimming of the corners, tolerable and fixable in photoshop if necessary. The combined camera and conversion lens has a widest focal length of about 18mm while retaining excellent optical properties. Yet this housing and port is reasonably compact, compared to adding a dry mount lens with hood to the housing.

This won't be an easy project, but it should be well worth some effort.