Sony NEX 5 e mount lens

[sevans0579 0]

Hi

 

Was wondering if anyone could help me out, basically I hear that Sony are going to introduce new lens's for the NEX soon. Basically I am after a macro lens for my current set up (Sony NEX 5)with the Nauticam housing.

 

I have the 18-55mm with the flat port but was wondering if anyone is using the Sony alpha lens (macro) with the adapter? and does it work ok and fit the port? or any other lens with there specific lens adapter?

 

As I can see the 18-55mm is a great lens but I think I am going to need a macro, also do i go for 60mm or 105mm, new to the macro world! Any advice would be greatly appreciated or any simple solutions?

 

Many thanks

 

Scott

[Cp 29]

Hi

 

Was wondering if anyone could help me out, basically I hear that Sony are going to introduce new lens's for the NEX soon. Basically I am after a macro lens for my current set up (Sony NEX 5)with the Nauticam housing.

 

I have the 18-55mm with the flat port but was wondering if anyone is using the Sony alpha lens (macro) with the adapter? and does it work ok and fit the port? or any other lens with there specific lens adapter?

 

As I can see the 18-55mm is a great lens but I think I am going to need a macro, also do i go for 60mm or 105mm, new to the macro world! Any advice would be greatly appreciated or any simple solutions?

 

Many thanks

 

Scott

 

Hi Scott,

 

I've tried the alpha macro lens with the adapter.... for Nauticam housings, a different port is required. While it does produce sharp images, the focus is very sloooowwwww. Maybe I just don't have enough patience. But it's possible this combination can improve so we shouldn't write it off just yet. Note that it takes a firmware update to both the camera and the lens to be able to autofocus. Maybe another firmware update will make it a bit snappier.

 

Once thing to try if you haven't - add a wet closeup lens to the 18-55. If you have a Nauticam, there is an adapter available that presses onto the 18-55 port that allows you to add a 67mm wet lens.

 

I'm hopeful about Sony releasing a real e mount macro lens too... or maybe Sigma or one of the other 3rd part manufacturers will get one out before they do.

 

Cheers,

Chris

[bvanant 191]

Hi Scott,

 

I've tried the alpha macro lens with the adapter.... for Nauticam housings, a different port is required. While it does produce sharp images, the focus is very sloooowwwww. Maybe I just don't have enough patience. But it's possible this combination can improve so we shouldn't write it off just yet. Note that it takes a firmware update to both the camera and the lens to be able to autofocus. Maybe another firmware update will make it a bit snappier.

 

Once thing to try if you haven't - add a wet closeup lens to the 18-55. If you have a Nauticam, there is an adapter available that presses onto the 18-55 port that allows you to add a 67mm wet lens.

 

I'm hopeful about Sony releasing a real e mount macro lens too... or maybe Sigma or one of the other 3rd part manufacturers will get one out before they do.

 

Cheers,

Chris

I agree with Chris. Underwater the 30 macro with the alpha adapter is so slow as to be mostly unusable. However if you put a good diopter on the 18-55 and a SubSee on the front you can get some really nice macro shots. Alternatively get the Nikonos adapter and the Nikonos 35 with an extension tube and getting some nice macro stuff works fine.

Bill

[sevans0579 0]

@ Chris & bvanant, Thats great many thanks for the advice!

 

Could you explain please what the diopter does, I have never seen one, although i know Nauticam does one and not totally 100% sure what it does, does it effectively bring the subject closer in when extended to 55mm? what does it make the lens equivalant too?

[adamhanlon 0]

Hey Scott,

 

How are you doing?

 

The diopter allows the lens to focus closer-so effectively increasing the potential subject's size.

 

I'm not sure what it will do specifically with your set up (although I'm sure others will). I would guess that it will allow 1:1 i.e. life-size which is the definition of macro!

 

Adam

[sevans0579 0]

Cheers Adam! all things good this end, how about yourself, hope all is well!

 

Think at the moment I might try the diopter as I could be waiting a long time for a e mount macro lens, was hoping there was a 3rd party macro lens which would work with the Flat Port, guess i will just have to be patient!

[gadgs311 0]

Consider getting an Inon UCL-165 or an F.I.T. +5 or +8? I'm thinking of doing the same as well.

[Marsh 9]

I shoot with the NA-NEX7 housing and use the 18-55 kit lens with Aquatica's new +10 sealed close-up lens (similar to the Subsea) stacked on a F.I.T +5 for maximum magnification. The Aquatica is really sharp and much smaller and lighter than the Subsea which is now deigned for full frame cameras. I have this mounted on the new port 72 swing mount to easily move it into position. When swung out you have an 18mm which is probably equivalent to a 28 to 35mm SLR full frame view. It all makes for a nice general purpose set-up where you can take photos of reef scape or other divers at 18mm or zoom it out to 55 and swing the diopters into place for pretty good medium to close macro depending on the combination of diopters. I can focus on subjects about 1" or less from the lens to give me at least 1:1 macro if not a little more. I miss my Canon 100mm set-up though to be honest. Like you and others, I'm biding the time when someone will release a longer lens, either a dedicated 60-100mm macro or a medium length 16-105mm zoom. The latter can be used in the same manner as the 18-55. Of course, none of these lens exist at the moment, only rumors.

 

For macro lighting, I built a snoot fiber optic lighting system for an Inon Z-240 that focuses both the Inon's 2 flash elements and the LED modeling light using 3 fiber optical cables onto a tiny spot. The bright LED modeling light shows me where the focused flash output will be which is a big help. It basically focuses the light around 1" in front of the Aquatica +10 for some interesting super-macro lighting effects. It works so well, I can shoot at f32 which helps with the shallow DOF. The whole things swings out of the way on a ball joint when I want to use the 18-55 without diopters (here I have I have a right and left mounted dual Z-240s for standard lighting, the 3rd Z-240 for the snoot is mounted between the 2 on the flash socket on the housing with a video/focus light on the post to the right). In the future I'm going to replace the two L/R Z-240's and move back to 2 Inon S-2000's to make for a smaller, lighter compact system since I shoot mostly macro and don't need the Z-240's modeling lights.

 

For wide angle I use the 4.33 inch port with the 16mm pancake and either of the wide angle or fisheye adapters. It's a nice affordable way to get 3 wide angles with minimum investment, as you can pick all 3 up for around $300 or less on eBay. Plus, it's really compact for traveling. Since I usually use this mostly for video, I'm not as concerned about soft edges as some people report. I haven't done much testing on sharpness to really comment on their quality. They seem okay for video and I've gotten some good stills out of them. The 18-55mm really surprises me though when I can get good focus out of it which can be trying at times with the diopters.

 

All in all, it's a nice compact system.

 

Good luck. Lets hope for some good macro lens soon, but don't hold your breath :-)

[Mark K 5]

Scott: will you consider using the SEL 30/3.5 macro under water? It can use your existing port as well