Wide angle for SP-350 W/PT-030 housing

[Cudabait]

Hi folks,

There's probably something already in this thread about this.......however, if any of you have any ideas about a wide angle set up for this camera & housing I would appreciate the suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Regards,

 

[ce4jesus]

Hey Cuda,
My 2 cents worth...spring for the Inon setup. I did WA on the cheap by buying Sea&Sea 16mm WA wet conversion lens made for a Nikonos. I used a 46mm-58mm step up ring. The lens simply threaded into the end of the port on the PT-030. Lens is superb, works great. Slight vignetting at the widest angle but a touch on the zoom (f2.9) fixes that. If you search on Wetpixel.com :: Underwater Photography and Videography for the SP-350 and WA I've taken some photos.
The reason I recommend the Inon setup...bayonet style lens mounts. I took off my WA last year in Cozumel...screwed on the macro with a little silt in the water. No issue and it went on fine. I then went to switch back to the WA...and the macro lens was stuck. The port on the PT-030 is aluminum. Although I didn't cross thread the port when I put the lens on, when I took it off a grain of sand caused it to come off cross threaded. Needless to say a trip to the resort facilities shop got the lens off but stripped the Oly Port of any threads in the process. So while threaded lenses work, you have to be extremely careful underwater when attaching and removing them. BTW...the 16mm can be seen on Ebay upon occasion for around $100 used.