Sea&sea 17-55dx zoom gear+port?

[V_kids]

Currently i'm using S&S DX-D50 with Compact wide port L and CX-compact wide dome (For nikon 12-24dx and nikon 18-55dx).
Is anyone know,
what kind of lens port/dome should i use for nikon 17-55dx?
and which zoom gear should i use for this lens?

thx you


Andree

 

[Mariozi]

Humm...

S&S does not support (officially) this lens, so you are on your own territory.

S&S also does not support the Nikkor 24-85, Sigma 10-20 or 8mm, but I use them anyway, with zoom access.
With the 24-84 I was lucky that my old Hugyfot zoom ring fits perfectly on my S&S housings... (maybe all Hugyfot zoom rings fits S&S housings???)
With the Sigma 10-20 for Nikon housings (S&S support them only for Canons as of now) we found here in Brazil some rubber gears for sewing machines that fit perfectly
As for the 8mm I had to buy an extra pair of plastic fisheye dome shades and cut them off for the perfect circular image, whenever I use this lens I have to unscrew the normal shades and screw in the cut shades.
Also for use of the Kenko Pro300 3x teleconverter I had to sand off some of the frontal "horns" of the base that attaches to the D50 body...
These unnoficial customizations are called "Gambiarras" here in Brazil, we do that so much that me and some friends are almost openning a firm called GambiCorp.
Gambiarra is a GREAT part of UWPhoto from its first days 150 years ago! You gotta get used to it.

Anyway... once you own and use the 18-55, why do you want to go UW with the 17-55??? You will have to do some gambiarra. And if you plan to use them with the dome, the 18-55 is much better (min. focus of 0.28m throughout the entire focal range, versus 0.36m at 35mm focal length for the 17-55).

Do you know the math for zoom DX lenses behind flat ports?
18mm DX x 1.5 = 27mm
27mm x 1.33 = 34mm behind a flat port

You already shoot with a domed 12-24 if you are thinking to improve your WA I humbly think you should try it with a Nikkor 10.5mm.
If you are trying to improve your macro, the money invested in the 17-55 would be better spent in a micro lens 60mm or 105mm (better in my opinion).
Since you have the 18-55

 

[V_kids]

Hi Mariozi!
Thank you for ur advise,
"Do you know the math for zoom DX lenses behind flat ports?
18mm DX x 1.5 = 27mm
27mm x 1.33 = 34mm behind a flat port"

I didn't know about this! is this "x1.33" also happend with Compact dome port? or just the flat dome port?

I played with 17-55dx + compact dome port last nite, it's fit perfectly, but i didnt have the zoom gear. Anyway, forget about the zoom gear. Im not going to use 17-55dx for UW shooting anyway
18-55dx is much lighter and easy to carry+pack


I own Nikon 10,5dx
but i dont have the fisheye dome port. I knew that sea&sea already have the new fisheye domeport (made from glass)
it's kinda expensive, if we compare to the old one.

is there any alternative to use 10.5mm without using fisheye dome?

BTW, yesterday,i tried to do over/under shoot with 18-55dx + compact wide port L.
The result is very bad.
It's not wide enough and so hard to get a shoot


Regards,

Andree

 

[Mariozi]

I didn't know about this! is this "x1.33" also happend with Compact dome port? or just the flat dome port?

This is for EVERY lens behind a FLAT port due to water/air refraction index, if you REALLY love math I can send you a paper on it... Dome ports compensate for this effect, as all light rays pass perpendicularly (90 degrees) through it to the lens, so you don't apply this index to lenses behind it.

I own Nikon 10,5dx
but i dont have the fisheye dome port. I knew that sea&sea already have the new fisheye domeport (made from glass)
it's kinda expensive, if we compare to the old one.

S&S NX Fisheye Dome Port #46401 (the big dome), is made of acrylic, I know because I have and I just polished it myself! Its like new...

is there any alternative to use 10.5mm without using fisheye dome?

No, not officially at least

BTW, yesterday,i tried to do over/under shoot with 18-55dx + compact wide port L.
The result is very bad.
It's not wide enough and so hard to get a shoot

The bigger the port the best for over-unders...

(hope it works)
This was achieved with the Nikon F80s, Nikkor AF-D 16mm f/2.8 fisheye on the big dome of a S&S NX-N80 housing, YS120 and YS90 - Cabo Frio/RJ Brazil. The sea is dark because it is taken at 17:00h.

Also, big domes have their 2nd focal point way further than small domes, this makes them more suitable to some zooms...
2nd focal point is where the infite is focused, so if you lens cannot focus at this close distance, you will have to use close-up filters for using them behind the dome.

Best!