Marsh

As requested by some members of this thread, here's some photos of the snoot I made for my Z-240.  The optical cables were made with Loc-line hose system and the optics use 8mm optical cable (might be wrong on the size, can't remember exactly) used in swimming pool lighting systems. These gave me much greater light output then the smaller sized packed cable to where I can now shoot at f32!

 

The optical lines attach to the Z-240 using a system made from 4" PVC septic tank caps available at Home Depot.  They also sell short sections of the pipe you'll need to complete the job.  The 1st cap attaches to the Z-240 using the same system Inon uses to attach their diffusers. Since the thickness of the plastic between the two is almost the same, I just sacrificed an extra diffuser I wasn't using and removed it's stainless screws, installing them on the cap, rather than locate the custom hardware someplace else. I also drilled several holes to allow for heat and trapped air release on top and bottom of caps, then painted the inside flat black so light would be so widely dispersed through these cooling holes.

 

The 2nd cap hold the optical lines. I made 3 recievers since I wanted a modeling and focus light with this set-up (2 for the 2 flash tubes, and 1 for the LED).  The blue connectors I came from a Philippine hardware store, so I'm not sure where you'll get their counterpart in your country. Basically it's an plumbing adapter that has a 1/2" male screw end and also a 1/2 female end to accept the optical lines which terminate into a 1/2 male Loc-Line connector. This whole system is easily dismantled for transport and put together in minutes on location.

 

Maybe you might want to trade your custom made Canon port for one of these Edward? :-)

 

Send me a me a personal message for more details.

Hi Jason, 

 

Well, I'd say that qualifies as super macro :-) Too bad the adapter and everything is so expensive, but than that's the name of the game in this playground. I'll look into the Nikonos 80 w/ extension tubes, maybe I can find a set somewhere reasonably priced, along with someone who wants to sell their Nauticam Nikonios adapter. Certainly limits one to that sort of magnification throughout the dive though, but often this is a good way to approach the subject matter. Plus it would work pretty good with my Inon Z-240 and fiber optic snoot system I made that sits in the middle between my L/R flash units mounted to the housing flash mount.  Uses both the Inon flash tubes and the LED modeling light so I can see where the light's going to hit. I can actually shoot at f32 with this et-up for increased DOF. Made the whole thing for less than $50. 

 

It would be great if Sony or Zeiss would come up with a medium wide-tele zoom  that would fit into the Port 72 with some already available compact extension rings. The current 18-200 is too wide physically to fit the compact ports, so it's out of the running. A smaller compact zoom might just work.

 

The 67mm Port 72 swing mount cost me $300 and it's set up to use the wide end of the kit lens and port glass when swung out of the way, so a longer wide-tele zoom would likewise make for a nice single dive lens for bigger stuff plus super-maco capabilities. It wouldn't break the bank with only the required addition of extension ring(s). I think I'd rather have the longer reach than the Zeiss 50 macro, more like how Wolfgang above describes using his Nikon 70-180 with his D300.

 

I lost my shirt selling my new Canon 600D/T3i rig so I'm holding onto this used NA-NEX7 for the foreseeable future. It's just such a great HR compact system. Sooner or later, the lens will arrive. In the meantime I'm getting by with the 18-55 and diopters.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I've attached some photos I've taken with NEX7, F.I.T +5, Aquatica +10 and 18-55 kit lens.

 

Best,

 

Marsh

Wolf Eel,

Great news, especially the release of the Zeiss 50mm macro!  Hopefully this will rejuvenate the NEX line.  I read tonight that they just released a needed firmware upgrade for the camera too. So, looks like things are finally starting to move.

Based on this, I've decided to keep the NEX rig now. Matter of fact,  I just bought an Aquatica +10 (much smaller and lighter than the Subsee) and it looks great even stacked on a FIT +5. I'll put my FIT +8  up for sale and maybe get another FIT +5 for more stacking, even though I probably won't need it and it may shorten the working distance too much.  I don't suspect I'll have much DOF, but hopefully the combination will provide some SM until the Zeiss 50mm macro gets here. I imagine in time there'll be a 100mm macro E-mount available. Also, : Kenko now has a E-mount extension tube set, so that may play a role too if Nauticam can come out with a series of extensions like they have on the SLR side: 20, 30, 40  etc. NEX users can then play around a little more with lens combinations.

Thanks for the info.