Zeiss-Sony 16-70mm E-mount NEX Zoom is Finally Here!

[Marshmellow]

Looks like my Zeiss contact was more accurate during his first assessment when he said it wouldn't be available until the beginning of 2014.

I'm hoping his measurements are off a bit too, as 86mm length will be 3mm short of fitting Port 72. Did the lens actually seem to be that long when you played around with it? If it is actually 86mm and 2-3mm too long, I would consider having a machine shop cut off the filter ring if possible or look at the possibility of it being removable/re-attachable.

Did you verify that's it's going to have 1:1 magnification?


As to working in the Sony macro port, that's out of the question, as the Sony 30mm macro is 56mm long vs 18-55 at 83mm vs the Z50 at 86mm.

Looking forward to other APS-C E-mount announcements.

Thanks for the update!

---------- Post added October 24th, 2013 at 06:27 PM ----------

PS. Actually, if the measurements above are fairly accurate, one would only have to add a 30mm extension to get it to work in the Sony 30mm macro port.

 

[Hoag]

OK, first of all, I apologize for resurrecting a thread this old.

The Sony/Zeiss 16-70 f4 OSS lens has been out for a few years now and Nauticam has a port for it that, conveniently enough is the same port as the one for the Sony 10-18 f4 OSS lens, the 7 inch dome port (Part #36129). Has anybody used the 16-70 underwater behind this port? If so, how did you like it and was it worth the extra money for the Zeiss optics?

 

[Nathan Wong]

OK, first of all, I apologize for resurrecting a thread this old.

The Sony/Zeiss 16-70 f4 OSS lens has been out for a few years now and Nauticam has a port for it that, conveniently enough is the same port as the one for the Sony 10-18 f4 OSS lens, the 7 inch dome port (Part #36129). Has anybody used the 16-70 underwater behind this port? If so, how did you like it and was it worth the extra money for the Zeiss optics?

I am currently using the 16-70 for my a6300 in the nauticam housing. the 16-70 works well for me. but I am still new to UW photography and mainly used the 16-70 for topside stuff.

But the images I got from the 16-70 underwater where definitely quite good.
I'm looking to get the 90mm macro as my next lens, since I can't get close enough for some macro shots that I wanted to take.

so I mainly use the 16-70 as a WA lens and zoom all the way to shoot something that may be further away.

sorry I can't help much. I'm still new to this stuff lol.

 

[Hoag]

I am currently using the 16-70 for my a6300 in the nauticam housing. the 16-70 works well for me. but I am still new to UW photography and mainly used the 16-70 for topside stuff.

But the images I got from the 16-70 underwater where definitely quite good.
I'm looking to get the 90mm macro as my next lens, since I can't get close enough for some macro shots that I wanted to take.

so I mainly use the 16-70 as a WA lens and zoom all the way to shoot something that may be further away.

sorry I can't help much. I'm still new to this stuff lol.

Thank you. I have the 10-18mm for wide angle and I was thinking of this lens for those dives that will have both wide angle and macro potential. I don't do much macro, and although this isn't a dedicated macro lens, I had hoped that it would be good enough for my purposes (and it uses the same port as the 10-18mm lens). As an added benefit, it is hard to argue with Zeiss optics.

Best of luck in your future u/w photography.

 

[Marshmellow]

Okay, this will be a long but informative Z16-70 + post for Sony APS-C experimenters out there

The lens works nice in the 7" dome since it's not a FE dome, which helps with corner sharpness when using rectilinear WA lens. The is by no means a compact travel port, as compared to the 4.33. While it might be nice as a video lens for wide angle and zooming in on creatures, it doesn't focus nearly as close as the S18-55 and it really won't function as a macro, because the size of the dome doesn't allow any attachment of a close-up lens and there's a lot of water between the lens and the subject.

The Z16-70 lens does fit the ID of the compact 4.33 port, but there is no Nauticam zoom gear available to work with the narrower port opening of the older style N85 ports. Moreover, the lens at 70mm requires two mini-extensions to work. While it's well known that many rectilinear WA lens do not work well with the extreme curvature of a FE port (which the 4.33 falls under), I didn't find this to be the case with the S18-55, the Z16-70 and even my modified Z12mm (shade system removed) in my 4.33 dome. Corner sharpness is quite acceptable and nearly as sharp as the 7".

Early NEX shooters like myself relied on the S18-55 and diopters for a single dive set-up in Port 72 and the 4" semi-dome. Both worked fairly well for both WA and macro. Although better macro in Port 72 due to the magnification of a flat port. Conversely, the 4" semi-curved dome works better for WA, but loses the 1.5 magnification factor for macro. Both ports have Nauticam M67 swing mounts available. When the news of the Z16-70 came out I was elated thinking I could perhaps use the lens with extensions in Port 72, but the optics didn't work and there was no way to zoom. I quickly gave up on Port 72, but discovered that the S18-55 and it's zoom gear fit into my 4.33 with a 20mm extension and worked much better for WA. I then grafted my Port 72 swing mount onto the 4.33 shade, so now I can shoot WA and macro with the S18-55 and a CMC-1 as a single dive set-up.

Okay, to keep this thread on track with the Z16-70: Thanks to Mark, a fellow APS-C/NEX experimenter, I learned how to make a custom zoom gear out of tubing and a fiberglass timing belt (I used a 70mm titanium tube with a belt that match the gears on my S18-55 gear). It works nicely with the 4.33 port and Z16-70. This also required an additional 47mm of extension to cover the 70mm reach. N85 17+ 30mm mini-extensions combined work perfectly. I appreciated the return policy from Reef Photo allowing me to test the lens and gear out should it not work. Everything was going fine as a S18-55 replacement until I started to experiment with close up lens. I had made the mistake of assuming they would work, since the Z16-70 has a narrower FOV than the S18-55. I discovered that lens optical design plays a major role in how close up lens function. In short, the Z16-70 lens design does not work with any of my close-up lens (Aquatica+10, SMC-1. CMC-1) in any configuration. Only my lesser powered FIT +5 worked acceptably, the others all caused the image to vignette and sometimes flare. Depressed, I've abandoned the use of the Z16-70 as a WA and macro set-up in my 4.33, especially after all the engineering to make a zoom gear for it. I'll probably sell the gear if anyone is interested in using the Z16-70 in 4.33, knowing they will have to purchase the two mini-extensions for it to work. I also have a like new 7" dome with a removable weight for buoyancy if someone is interested. I only used it for testing.

My NEX7 compact rig is now complete with the renown Zeiss 12mm for WA (focuses within 1-2" of 4.33 dome for WA macro), the S18-55 and CMC-1 for WA and M for a single dive set-up and video. SM is handled with the S90 and CMC-1 (reversed using a male to male 67mm ring) for effective manual and autofocus in Nauticam's N85 to N100 port adapter system.

Cheers and happy diving,

Marshall

 

[Hoag]

Marshall,

Thank you for your very informative response. As much as I hate to admit it, it looks like this may not be an ideal lens for me after all. I recently bought a Sony A6000 and Nauticam housing, For wide angle, I went with the Sony 10-18mm f4 and the 7 inch dome port. I was hoping that this lens would (at 70mm) give me a lens that I could use to shoot subjects such as Christmas Tree Worms, Feather Dusters or the occasional Grouper at a cleaning station, but if I saw something for which I needed a wide angle, I would still have the flexibility to zoom it out and get the wide angle shot.

I have the 7 inch dome, and as you say, it is a fairly big dome (which does have some advantages optically) but is not the most travel friendly dome. With the 10-18mm lens, it will work well for WA, but I was hoping that I wouldn't have to get a second port (more to pack) for those rare times that I do shoot macro.

In the past, for "macro" subjects, I would typically just shoot "Wide Angle Close Focus" and not true macro. (I had the Panasonic 8mm fisheye on a Micro 4/3 camera and it would focus very close.) I was hoping that with the potential to shoot at 70mm, I could use the 16-70mm to achieve the same type of results.

 

[TheToothFish]

Okay, this will be a long but informative Z16-70 + post for Sony APS-C experimenters out there

The lens works nice in the 7" dome since it's not a FE dome, which helps with corner sharpness when using rectilinear WA lens. The is by no means a compact travel port, as compared to the 4.33. While it might be nice as a video lens for wide angle and zooming in on creatures, it doesn't focus nearly as close as the S18-55 and it really won't function as a macro, because the size of the dome doesn't allow any attachment of a close-up lens and there's a lot of water between the lens and the subject.

The Z16-70 lens does fit the ID of the compact 4.33 port, but there is no Nauticam zoom gear available to work with the narrower port opening of the older style N85 ports. Moreover, the lens at 70mm requires two mini-extensions to work. While it's well known that many rectilinear WA lens do not work well with the extreme curvature of a FE port (which the 4.33 falls under), I didn't find this to be the case with the S18-55, the Z16-70 and even my modified Z12mm (shade system removed) in my 4.33 dome. Corner sharpness is quite acceptable and nearly as sharp as the 7".

Early NEX shooters like myself relied on the S18-55 and diopters for a single dive set-up in Port 72 and the 4" semi-dome. Both worked fairly well for both WA and macro. Although better macro in Port 72 due to the magnification of a flat port. Conversely, the 4" semi-curved dome works better for WA, but loses the 1.5 magnification factor for macro. Both ports have Nauticam M67 swing mounts available. When the news of the Z16-70 came out I was elated thinking I could perhaps use the lens with extensions in Port 72, but the optics didn't work and there was no way to zoom. I quickly gave up on Port 72, but discovered that the S18-55 and it's zoom gear fit into my 4.33 with a 20mm extension and worked much better for WA. I then grafted my Port 72 swing mount onto the 4.33 shade, so now I can shoot WA and macro with the S18-55 and a CMC-1 as a single dive set-up.

Okay, to keep this thread on track with the Z16-70: Thanks to Mark, a fellow APS-C/NEX experimenter, I learned how to make a custom zoom gear out of tubing and a fiberglass timing belt (I used a 70mm titanium tube with a belt that match the gears on my S18-55 gear). It works nicely with the 4.33 port and Z16-70. This also required an additional 47mm of extension to cover the 70mm reach. N85 17+ 30mm mini-extensions combined work perfectly. I appreciated the return policy from Reef Photo allowing me to test the lens and gear out should it not work. Everything was going fine as a S18-55 replacement until I started to experiment with close up lens. I had made the mistake of assuming they would work, since the Z16-70 has a narrower FOV than the S18-55. I discovered that lens optical design plays a major role in how close up lens function. In short, the Z16-70 lens design does not work with any of my close-up lens (Aquatica+10, SMC-1. CMC-1) in any configuration. Only my lesser powered FIT +5 worked acceptably, the others all caused the image to vignette and sometimes flare. Depressed, I've abandoned the use of the Z16-70 as a WA and macro set-up in my 4.33, especially after all the engineering to make a zoom gear for it. I'll probably sell the gear if anyone is interested in using the Z16-70 in 4.33, knowing they will have to purchase the two mini-extensions for it to work. I also have a like new 7" dome with a removable weight for buoyancy if someone is interested. I only used it for testing.

My NEX7 compact rig is now complete with the renown Zeiss 12mm for WA (focuses within 1-2" of 4.33 dome for WA macro), the S18-55 and CMC-1 for WA and M for a single dive set-up and video. SM is handled with the S90 and CMC-1 (reversed using a male to male 67mm ring) for effective manual and autofocus in Nauticam's N85 to N100 port adapter system.

Cheers and happy diving,

Marshall

Marshall

You seem to have just about every port & lens combo worked out.
Do you have any ideas on getting the Z16-70 behind a flat port on the NEX7 ?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[dlutzer]

Hi Marshall

I was just reading your post on wetpixel about you set up and had 2 questions.

You said that "The focus/video light is an iTorch Pro 6 with white, red and UV lighting. I configured a 52mm filter mount to the front (using home depot plumbing parts) to hold dichroic filters for fluorescent and video work. ". Why do you need a filter if it already has UV?

Second your s2000 strobe uses a mirror and not a cord. How did you manage that?

Really great setup by the way!!

Best,
Dave

 

[Marshmellow]

Marshall

You seem to have just about every port & lens combo worked out.
Do you have any ideas on getting the Z16-70 behind a flat port on the NEX7 ?

Thanks,
Mark

Mark,

The only flat port I ever tried it on was Port 72 ( w/ 20 & 30mm of extension) and it didn't work because the length of the lens when pulled back at 16mm was too far back in the port and vignetted terribly on the wide side. I was more interested in using it in my custom 4.33 WA port for both WA and macro, but as mentioned, the long 70mm end, unfortunately, doesn't work well with +10 and above diopters. The custom zoom gear I made will work with the lens in any N85 port though. I sometimes wondered whether it might work in the 4" semi-dome port that has a swing mount, but never pursued that because that meant carrying a 3rd port. I think it would have the same issue as Port 72 though, since both ports are designed for the shorter S18-55. Might work behind a N120 flat port with it's wider glass, but I don't see any advantage in using the lens that way, since it's not very compatible with diopters and macro is the only reason to use it behind a flat port for it's increased magnification. Not to mention the high cost of N85 to N120 adapters and needed extensions.

The Z16-70 is a great lens and is my primary surface lens now for travel photography. Wish it would have replaced my S18-55 in the 4.33 dome for it's wider FOV and better macro with CMC-1, but the optics just don't work :-( I'm staying with the S18-55 as it has decent WA and works fantastic with the CMC-1 and focuses considerably closer than the Z16-70.

Best,

Marshall

Hi Marshall

I was just reading your post on wetpixel about you set up and had 2 questions.

You said that "The focus/video light is an iTorch Pro 6 with white, red and UV lighting. I configured a 52mm filter mount to the front (using home depot plumbing parts) to hold dichroic filters for fluorescent and video work. ". Why do you need a filter if it already has UV?

Second your s2000 strobe uses a mirror and not a cord. How did you manage that?

Really great setup by the way!!

Best,
Dave

Dave,

Good question on the UV. I have the original iTorch Pro 6, rather than the Pro 6 Plus model. Supposedly, the latter has stronger UV LED's. However, either model's UV won't compare to the 2000 lumens behind blue filters. The luminescence provided is much more powerful than the iTorch's UV LED's, especially for WA video, hence the use of a blue filter. For fluorescent macro, the iTorch UV probably might work fine and no filter is needed. I also use blue filers for my Z-240 and S-2000 for fluorescent still flash work. I used the UV on the iTorch to hunt for images, than switched to blue light to hone in for better results.

As to the S-2000 mirror, Inon's S-2000 and Z-240 Type 4 flash's have more sensitive sensors, so you can configure one with this handily little mirror that normally comes with the S-2000, but can be purchased separately. My 2nd main flash (Z-240 Type 3) has the optical cord and acts as the trigger. The S-2000 (now actually another Z-240 Type 4) is attached to a removable ultralight arm so I can position the flash behind the subject for rear lighting and trigger it with the main flash. I believe Inon's wireless set-up (use of the mirror) may trigger with what little light that escapes from the housing optical port when the camera flash fires, it's that sensitive, but I'm not sure about that. Hope to try rear lighting out in my next dive trip.

Best,

Marshall

 

[TheToothFish]

Mark,

The only flat port I ever tried it on was Port 72 ( w/ 20 & 30mm of extension) and it didn't work because the length of the lens when pulled back at 16mm was too far back in the port and vignetted terribly on the wide side. I was more interested in using it in my custom 4.33 WA port for both WA and macro, but as mentioned, the long 70mm end, unfortunately, doesn't work well with +10 and above diopters. The custom zoom gear I made will work with the lens in any N85 port though. I sometimes wondered whether it might work in the 4" semi-dome port that has a swing mount, but never pursued that because that meant carrying a 3rd port. I think it would have the same issue as Port 72 though, since both ports are designed for the shorter S18-55. Might work behind a N120 flat port with it's wider glass, but I don't see any advantage in using the lens that way, since it's not very compatible with diopters and macro is the only reason to use it behind a flat port for it's increased magnification. Not to mention the high cost of N85 to N120 adapters and needed extensions.

The Z16-70 is a great lens and is my primary surface lens now for travel photography. Wish it would have replaced my S18-55 in the 4.33 dome for it's wider FOV and better macro with CMC-1, but the optics just don't work :-( I'm staying with the S18-55 as it has decent WA and works fantastic with the CMC-1 and focuses considerably closer than the Z16-70.

Best,

Marshall





Dave,

Good question on the UV. I have the original iTorch Pro 6, rather than the Pro 6 Plus model. Supposedly, the latter has stronger UV LED's. However, either model's UV won't compare to the 2000 lumens behind blue filters. The luminescence provided is much more powerful than the iTorch's UV LED's, especially for WA video, hence the use of a blue filter. For fluorescent macro, the iTorch UV probably might work fine and no filter is needed. I also use blue filers for my Z-240 and S-2000 for fluorescent still flash work. I used the UV on the iTorch to hunt for images, than switched to blue light to hone in for better results.

As to the S-2000 mirror, Inon's S-2000 and Z-240 Type 4 flash's have more sensitive sensors, so you can configure one with this handily little mirror that normally comes with the S-2000, but can be purchased separately. My 2nd main flash (Z-240 Type 3) has the optical cord and acts as the trigger. The S-2000 (now actually another Z-240 Type 4) is attached to a removable ultralight arm so I can position the flash behind the subject for rear lighting and trigger it with the main flash. I believe Inon's wireless set-up (use of the mirror) may trigger with what little light that escapes from the housing optical port when the camera flash fires, it's that sensitive, but I'm not sure about that. Hope to try rear lighting out in my next dive trip.

Best,

Marshall


Marshall,
I want to buy your custom zoom gear for the Z16-70. Please tell me how you want to do the transaction.
Thanks,
Mark