Which Dome Port?

[t4838596a]

Hi,
I just recently purchased an Ikelite housing for my Nikon D40. Along with my D40 i also got a Tonkia 10-17mm fisheye lens. Thiers alot of ports to chose from , can you tell me which one i need? Also, I read that for the port I might need to change the port locks??
Thanks in advance.
-Tom

 

[Ikelite Staff]

There are two port choices for the Tokina 10-17mm lenses:

Standard port #5503
Modular port #5510.45 dome plus #5510.10 port body

The modular port provides the advantages of increased corner sharpness, easier over-under shooting and interchangeability. Also the modular 8" dome port can be used with the shade attached without vignetting. The shade must be removed on the 6" dome port for use with this lens.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[slowhands]

I love that lens, but how do you focus it on a D40 underwater? It's not AF-S. I would think the Nikon 10-24 might work out better? Just saying....

 

[t4838596a]

I love that lens, but how do you focus it on a D40 underwater? It's not AF-S. I would think the Nikon 10-24 might work out better? Just saying....

I'm not sure what you mean? Will the lens be worthless?

 

[Ikelite Staff]

Correct, thanks for catching this. The Tokina 10-17 is not an AF-S lens so it will not be able to auto-focus with the Nikon D40 camera. If you were to set the gear and sleeve drive for focus, you would lose your ability to zoom. It's not a great application for that particular camera.

This also applies to D60, D3000 and D5000 models.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[t4838596a]

gear and sleeve drive? please explain. maybe im not at a total loss.

 

[Ikelite Staff]

The lens clamp & gear sleeve set which comes with the housing is typically used for zoom, with the lens left on auto-focus. You could set the clamp on the focus ring of the lens instead of the zoom ring and the gear sleeve would then drive focus on the lens.

Here's a link to a page which explains the installation of the clamp and gear sleeve set:
http://www.ikelite.com/downloads/instructions/Quick_Start_pdf/Zoom_Clamp_and_Sleeve.pdf


Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems

 

[slowhands]

I'm not sure what you mean? Will the lens be worthless?

The Tokina 10-17 is a superb lens for underwater, but it will not autofocus on the D40. That's because the D40 does not have a focus motor (for cost reasons). You could zoom it but not focus it. Or manually focus it, as Jean suggested, but not zoom it. That would be very awkward underwater. It's not a good match for this camera. A better match for the D40 is any AF-S lens, such as the Nikon 10-24mm AF-S lens - an outstanding lens too.

If you want to use the Tokina, you could consider a different body such as the the Nikon D80 or D90, which will autofocus the lens.

The dealer who sold you your setup can advise you of what works well with what -- that's his job. Or you can ask more questions here. That's the problem with underwater cameras, there can be a lot of subtle issues you need to know before you buy. Take your time and get the right stuff.

 

[John Gulliver]

With all due respect, telling someone who has just bought a housing for his D40 and a Tokina 10-17mm lens that he should have bought a different lens or a different camera is hardly helpful. Why hasn't anybody pointed out that if he sets his Tokina wide open (to 10mm) before putting the camera in the housing he will be able to use it (with manual focus as suggested) with good results? Since most underwater photographers seem to use the lens wide open 90% of the time, not being able to zoom underwater will not be a big deal.
And while we are on the subject of unhelpful advice, Ikelite's recommendation on their website to use a +2 dioptre with the Tokina 10-17mm surely takes first prize since nobody makes filters or dioptres for domed lenses as far as I know.

 

[Ikelite Staff]

And while we are on the subject of unhelpful advice, Ikelite's recommendation on their website to use a +2 dioptre with the Tokina 10-17mm surely takes first prize since nobody makes filters or dioptres for domed lenses as far as I know.

Sorry about that, I must have made a copy-paste mistake when I reformatted the lens charts a few months ago. The information has been corrected on the Nikon chart.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems