Practicality of swapping wet lenses underwater

[Dsix36]

I began with a small point and shoot with wet-mateable lens. I had a location on the strobe arm to hold the unused lens. i like this system as I always had the right lens with me and could change my photo plans underwater according to my environment.

I made sure to keep a wet-mateable setup when I upgraded my camera system and now only use the wide angle lens on most dives and do not even carry the other lens. I make the decision prior to diving.

Also very easy to drop a lens when trying to change them (so I have been told )

 

[Nemrod]

I love the capabilities of the Olympus but the down side is having to choose lenses before the dive. I just know a manta is going to swim past when I have a macro lens on.

By the time the time you swap lenses and reset the manta ray will be long gone. Even with the ability to swap lenses underwater you still have to have a plan. If you just swim along taking snaps then you will have just a bunch of not very good snaps.

Threaded lenses are not really practical to swap underwater, between dives, yes, during the dive, not really. A bayonet, I have the AD bayonet for my FIX/S90, yes, I can swap lenses from none to wide angle to macro during a dive. The LD bayonet sounds like it may work with the Nauticam/RX100.

If catching that manta ray is important I would prefer the camera with the most responsive shutter.

N

 

[dhaas]

The whole idea of being able to shoot EVERYTHING on a dive is a myth in my opinion......As Nemrod says by the time you realize you have the wrong lens angle on your rig the critter has gone

You will be much more successful going in with a set camera angle and frame SIZE and look for creatures and vignettes that fit the "frame". I do this with a SLR but practice it with a compact rig leaving one setting on the WIDEST zoom position and if a camera has any "C" (custom settings) set them up for other shooting parameters.

For threaded lenses I advise mounting BEFORE you enter the water. "Wet" lenses you should look for any air bubbles trapped and not escaping between port lens and rear element. Fan around your mount holes and make sure all bubbles have been evacuated.

Even in the most calm conditions removing and replacing fine threaded typical 67mm set ups is asking for cross threaded or dropped lenses Bayonet "wet" lenses are possible as long as you have a place to stash it when not using it. For some this is a challenge and can lead to dropping it too and I've picked up many a lens from "quick change" mounts over the years.

YMMV

David Haas
www.haasimages.com

 

[BlueDevil]

By the time the time you swap lenses and reset the manta ray will be long gone. Even with the ability to swap lenses underwater you still have to have a plan. If you just swim along taking snaps then you will have just a bunch of not very good snaps.

Threaded lenses are not really practical to swap underwater, between dives, yes, during the dive, not really. A bayonet, I have the AD bayonet for my FIX/S90, yes, I can swap lenses from none to wide angle to macro during a dive. The LD bayonet sounds like it may work with the Nauticam/RX100.

If catching that manta ray is important I would prefer the camera with the most responsive shutter.

N

Thanks for your input. This is certainly an issue worth consideration. I guess I don't envisage that I would be swapping lenses frequently during the dive, but would just like to know that I can if I need to. Things can happen pretty fast underwater and it is quite possible that an opportunity may be lost before being able to change lenses.

There is a dive site very close to where I live and it has a variety of photographic possibilities. With an SLR or ILC it would be quite reasonable to choose a macro lens with a plan to specialise in that for the dive. A couple of years ago though I was diving this site when a massive school of fish went through. This was a once in a lifetime event. For over 20 mins I was totally immersed in this school of fish no matter what direction I swam. We would be talking thousands of fish. With a macro lens fitted an amazing opportunity would have been lost. On the other hand with wet lenses, since this school of fish hung around for so long, it would have been easy to change over to a WA. I am just using this as an example of where I envisage wet lenses could be an advantage.

I don't doubt that the best photos would be gained with something like an OM-D and the appropriate lens for the task at hand. However I have seen some excellent photos taken with wet lenses on the RX100. At this stage budget is a consideration and I am not sure I can meet the cost of extra lenses and ports that would be required to build a good interchangeable lens system.

---------- Post added January 7th, 2013 at 04:50 PM ----------

The whole idea of being able to shoot EVERYTHING on a dive is a myth in my opinion......As Nemrod says by the time you realize you have the wrong lens angle on your rig the critter has gone

You will be much more successful going in with a set camera angle and frame SIZE and look for creatures and vignettes that fit the "frame". I do this with a SLR but practice it with a compact rig leaving one setting on the WIDEST zoom position and if a camera has any "C" (custom settings) set them up for other shooting parameters.

For threaded lenses I advise mounting BEFORE you enter the water. "Wet" lenses you should look for any air bubbles trapped and not escaping between port lens and rear element. Fan around your mount holes and make sure all bubbles have been evacuated.

Even in the most calm conditions removing and replacing fine threaded typical 67mm set ups is asking for cross threaded or dropped lenses Bayonet "wet" lenses are possible as long as you have a place to stash it when not using it. For some this is a challenge and can lead to dropping it too and I've picked up many a lens from "quick change" mounts over the years.

YMMV

David Haas
www.haasimages.com

Thanks for your input also. As you say the best results are probably going to result from choosing one specific type of photography before starting the dive. I accept the truth in this but still lean towards some versatility during the dive.

I am venturing into an aspect of photography that I haven't explored before so am soaking up all the advice I can get at present.

 

[Mike]

Hope I'm not hijacking this, but since this is a discussion about swapping wet lenses...

Is there a trade off in quality with a wet lens? What are the cons? I realize you won't be able to do over/unders with one. Following this thread I see that INON also offers a dome port for the lens in discussion. The only wet lens I've used didn't offer this option, so why does INON offer a dome port for a wet lens?

 

[Interceptor121]

The lens is wet but the inon dome is sealed with oring in front of the lens
You can stay with the flat one or buy the add on
If you get the dome it increases field of view and from what I can see with the lenses I have makes it also a bit sharper in the corners

 

[Damselfish]

I love the capabilities of the Olympus but the down side is having to choose lenses before the dive. I just know a manta is going to swim past when I have a macro lens on.

The rest of us appreciate when photographers set up for macro and attract mantas.

 

[Larry C]

Generally, when I dove a P & S, I used an add on wet lens. I started with threaded lens, then got an Inon AD mount. The threaded lens is harder to put on. Also, If you put it on too tight you can unscrew the port while trying to remove it. (Ask me how I know this?!!) The threads should be lubricated so they don't corrode. The bayonet type with a lens holder is much easier to use. I never had an issue with when to change the lens. Unless you're hunting tiny jellies and such, the wide angle works in mid-water and when you're looking for shots of big animals and big schools of fish or the underwater landscape shot. If you didn't put your WA lens on, you can still shoot that stuff with the native lens, it just won't be as pretty. I only put the macro lens on for muck diving and searching for blennies in brain coral or pigmy seahorses, etc. Again, if you don't go too small, the native lens can do it, just not as well. The Sony doesn't do macro, so you have to zoom or use a macro lens for the really little stuff, but fish portraits and things like that will be fine.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Hope I'm not hijacking this, but since this is a discussion about swapping wet lenses...

Is there a trade off in quality with a wet lens? What are the cons? I realize you won't be able to do over/unders with one. Following this thread I see that INON also offers a dome port for the lens in discussion. The only wet lens I've used didn't offer this option, so why does INON offer a dome port for a wet lens?

You can do over/unders with the FIX Fisheye UWL-52/67 Wide Angle Dome wet lens.

 

[Interceptor121]

As a user of the Sony RX100 I can tell you that compared to other cameras this requires a lot more in terms of changing lens in water
The reason is that the close up performance is not as good and the camera captures a relative large size and struggles even with a nudibranch of a few cm
So you would need a diopter and you will definitely take it on and off several time during the same dive
The LD adapter from Nauticam is well built and does a fine job, there are other cheaper options than the Inon UWLH-100 however you really don't want to be screwing and unscrewing a diopter many time
Even if you put grease (by the way some people manage to contaminate the lenses with the grease I am one of those) the M67 just dost not like to be abused too much