sigma 17-70mm in a Sea and Sea

[Notorious 0]

Hey folks,

I'm intersted in giving the sigma 17-70mm a punt in my sea and sea 350D housing.

Only thing is, there is no support for it on the sea and sea site. I'm already using a sigma 10-20mm without zoom gear (not a problem as I use it for the 10mm end). But there would be no point in getting the 17-70 withought the gear.

Sooooooo, does anyone know a gear that would do the trick? Or somthing that I could modify?

I know it's a long shot but there might be someone out there......?

Thanks again

Rob

[Gudge 52]

The outside diameter of the zoom ring on the lens is 70mm. This may help others to give you an idea of what Sea & Sea zoom gears for other lenses may fit. I can't help in this area as I'm using a Subal housing.

[Notorious 0]

Thanks Gudge....and for your earlier info on DiveOZ!

Cheers

Rob

[tomeyer 3]

The gear for the nikon 18-35 gear will work but you'll have to file a small notch in it.

 

Tom

[Notorious 0]

Tom, Thats interesting news. Do use this nikon gear in a canon housing? I just want to make sure before I spend $$$$ on a cog!

Cheers

Rob

[tomeyer 3]

A friend of mine uses it with his Nikon. I didn't notice you were using Canon when I posted but the diameter is the same for both brands. I would e-mail Ryan just to be sure.

 

Tom

[kbs 0]

I'm also interested in this lens/enclosure combo, and emailed Sea&Sea about it.

Here is part of their reply:

Currently we do not offer a zoom gear that will fit that lens, nor will

there be one in the future.

 

I guess its up to us consumers to find a workable solution.

 

-kbs

[Ryan 48]

I've never actually held the Canon variant, but the Nikon was a very easy modification to the 18-35 zoom gear as stated above.

 

I'd be willing to make one for anyone that sent me a lens.

[rodriguezfelix 0]

After you solve zoom gear issues, you may want to figure wich port you must use for this lens, I use this on an Ikelite and with 6" dome port I had to dremmel tool the shade in order to reduce vignetting, I think this work better under a bigger dome port since doesn´t need a diopter to focus.

[Notorious 0]

I think I've solved the port thing already, though need to do a final check. Using a Sea&sea housing, extension 40 and the Athena dome. When wide the lens sits back in the dome where it should and when focussed close and zoomed for macro the front of the lens very nearly touches the glass dome. (this is the bit i need to do a final check with....don't want any scratches!)

I'm hoping this wil all work as it could be quite a versatile setup.

[kbs 0]

I have the extension 40 and the Sea&Sea fisheye dome port, and the rest of the message from Sea&Sea about this lens is that those ports should work:

 

The fisheye dome and the extension 40 should work. It close focuses well

enough to not need a diopter (7.9").

 

Thank you for your inquiry.

 

-kbs

[Notorious 0]

Thanks KBS, the Fisheye dome is nearly twice as seep as my Athena, that's why I'm thinking i might need to throw a SX ring in there as well.

[rodriguezfelix 0]

Really versatile setup, and excellent lens.

[tkr 0]

- just the post I was hoping to find after a month away.

 

I have the Sea & Sea DX50 housing and after a fisheye and macro lens a better close focus mid range range zoom really interests me. Can anyone help me with the following queries:

 

Regarding getting a zoom gear to fit, the specs indicate the Sigma 17-70 has a diameter of 79.0mm as opposed to the Nikkor 18-35 having 82.7mm. Surely to get this zoom gear to fit something has to be used to pack out the space rather than file something off? How exactly to you get this zoom gear to fit?

 

I have the Sea & Sea compact dome port. Would a 40mm extention ring be all that is needed to fit the sigma?

 

What would be required to use this sigma behind the NX flat port (even if it is optically not that great at the wide end)? Would a 40mm ring do the job? Would a 22mm ring or the SX ring be long enough. Any vignetting at the wide end?

 

Thanks for any reply

[Notorious 0]

Hey, well I finaly got my sigma 17-70mm. Been testing it out of water and think it's FANTASTIC, thanks for the recomendation Gudge!

RE the lens in the Sea&sea. TKR, I have a 40 ring and the Athena dome which is roughly the same size as the S&S compact dome. With this configuration the lens DOES touch the dome at about 55-60mm zoom. This is without a filter in place. So I would say that an SX ring should be used with the 40 when using the compact dome or the Athena dome.

 

Cheers

Edited September 4, 2006 by Notorious

[tkr 0]

Thanks for the feedback Notoious. I'm not sure if I like the sound of having a lens that can be zoomed out to bang in to the port. Using two extention rings sounds costly too.

This lens certainly does have large change in length when zooming. I'm not sure how good optically this arrangement can be underwater.

Edited September 4, 2006 by tkr

[Notorious 0]

I'll let you know, just call me guinea pig!

[Gudge 52]

Regarding getting a zoom gear to fit, the specs indicate the Sigma 17-70 has a diameter of 79.0mm as opposed to the Nikkor 18-35 having 82.7mm. Surely to get this zoom gear to fit something has to be used to pack out the space rather than file something off? How exactly to you get this zoom gear to fit?

The figures you have quoted above are the maximum diameter of the lenses. I don't know about the Nikkor 18-35 but the zoom control on the Sigma 17-70 is slightly smaller at 70mm diameter. I'm guessing the zoom control on the Nikkor is about the same.

 

This lens certainly does have large change in length when zooming. I'm not sure how good optically this arrangement can be underwater.

I've done a few dives with this lens now and have no real issues. Here's some threads on DDN showing results achieved with the Sigma 17-70

 

First UW Pictures with Sigma 17-70

 

More Sigma 17-70 Shots from Ningaloo

 

Sigma 17-70 Tryout

[tkr 0]

Thanks Gudge for all the information. Some excellent attatchments.

It looks like a 40mm ring plus dome on your Subal is good for this lens. The photos show well the range of subjects the lens can do.

 

The use of a dioptre puzzles me though. Is it really needed?

I would also be interested to hear if you have used this lens behind a flat port and how you got on.

[Gudge 52]

The use of a dioptre puzzles me though. Is it really needed?

I would also be interested to hear if you have used this lens behind a flat port and how you got on.

I have been using the dioptre to increase the magnification I get at 70mm for macro shots as opposed to the normal reason of using a diopotre to allow a lens to focus on the virtual image created by the dome port. The dioptre is probably not needed with the Sigma 17-70 lens even when using the smaller radius Subal SWC dome port I have as the minimum focus distance of the lens is very small. It definitely wouldn't be needed with larger radius ports such as the Subal DP-FE. I'm planning on doing a dive without a dioptre fitted in the near future to see what difference it makes to the results.

 

I haven't used the 17-70 behind a flat port because:

• The performance of the lens at 17mm behind a flat port will be less than desirable; and
  
• I'm sure there will be vignetting problems at the 17mm end of the zoom as well
  

[Notorious 0]

Ok, I have the 17-70 now in my S&S housing. It needed an extension 40 and an extension SX to fit behind my Athena dome at all zoom ranges. There is no vigneting at 17mm.

I used a Nikon 18-35mm zoom gear which needed quite a bit of filling to fit! Next time I'll check what they are made from before I buy, I was expecting to file a plastic gear only to find it was made of a rather nice peice of Alu! I felt pretty bad butchering it with a dremmel!

 

I really like this lens top-side and a few test shots in a pool look very promising and sharp.

I'm going to dive this setup tomorrow and post some shots.

[photovan 0]

Can't wait to see the pics from this lens as I am considering adding it to my kit too.

darren

[Gudge 52]

Can't wait to see the pics from this lens as I am considering adding it to my kit too.

darren

 

Why wait! Here's some results from me and others with the 17-70:

 

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.p...77140#msg177140

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.p...79968#msg179968

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.p...84571#msg184571

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.p...85649#msg185649

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.p...85795#msg185795

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.p...86311#msg186311

 

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.p...86592#msg186592

[jossthediver 3]

Ok, I have the 17-70 now in my S&S housing. It needed an extension 40 and an extension SX to fit behind my Athena dome at all zoom ranges. There is no vigneting at 17mm.

I used a Nikon 18-35mm zoom gear which needed quite a bit of filling to fit! Next time I'll check what they are made from before I buy, I was expecting to file a plastic gear only to find it was made of a rather nice peice of Alu! I felt pretty bad butchering it with a dremmel!

 

I really like this lens top-side and a few test shots in a pool look very promising and sharp.

I'm going to dive this setup tomorrow and post some shots.

 

 

 

Hello, I see that you have had your Sigma 17-70 for some time now. I have just bought a S & S housing for D300 and the Sigma lens (on someone's recommendation) Nikon mount, and HSM. Would you still recommend the zoom gear for the 18-35 or has something better materialised in the meantime?

[LyN 0]

Hello, I see that you have had your Sigma 17-70 for some time now. I have just bought a S & S housing for D300 and the Sigma lens (on someone's recommendation) Nikon mount, and HSM. Would you still recommend the zoom gear for the 18-35 or has something better materialised in the meantime?

The HSM version of the lens is quite wider compared to the non-HSM one, so I doubt the same gear will fit. At least, the Ikelite gear for the non-HSM does not fit at all. In fact, for the HSM version there's no gear, so I had to build it myself...

Hope this is not the case with S&S...