Interceptor121 842 Posted February 15, 2015 I didn't take detail measurements but it was quite close around 4cm from the front of the diopter. I use the 14-42mm with wet wide angle lenses and with the gx7 ex tele mode I can get around 18mm width. This is a much better working option as with the UCL100 or any +10 diopter you are limited between 7.5 and 4 cm outside this range (at least at full zoom) you have no focus at all. So am thinking about this lens only for stills. For video I am planning to use the weaker UCL-165 as it works from 14 to 7 cm which makes the lens worthwhile using and with ex tele I can zoom 2.4x more. If I had the GH4 I would be looking at two 6 stacked with this lens. Obvious with another lens like the 12-50 is completely different and a single plus 10 looks more interesting. I think the 14-42 is the most versatile lens of all for video due to the power zoom and the fact that is stabilised but more important for me it takes wet lenses so I can almost use it as a camcorder as I can zoom through from 100 degrees to 85mm with flat port for portraits and then with a diopter can get into macro Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
escape 84 Posted February 16, 2015 (edited) Ok, another lazy test. Min size to fill the frame. GH4 + pz 14-42 at 42mm.Please note, this is not magnification test and wet diopter will work completely different when underwater. CMC 17mm at 4cm SMC 24mm at 6cm Aquako IV (2.5x) : 20mm at 5cm Subsee +5 : 40mm at 10cm Subsee +10 : 27mm at 6cm btw, it was very interesting how you attache zoom gear on pz 14-42. I haven't try this lens underwater yet but so far footage looks reasonably sharp and OIS working well.I think it should be good for medium size shot in mid water with handheld (Thanks Peter). Edited February 16, 2015 by escape 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScubaBob 37 Posted February 17, 2015 btw, it was very interesting how you attache zoom gear on pz 14-42. I haven't try this lens underwater yet but so far footage looks reasonably sharp and OIS working well. Have you tried assigning the electronic zoom to a function key and using the up and down arrows to zoom? I do this and land and it works great (I don't believe the GH2 has this - or at least I haven't found the option). I haven't tried this lens underwater, but thought about doing so using the camera to zoom and building custom gear to engage the manual focus. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
escape 84 Posted February 17, 2015 Have you tried assigning the electronic zoom to a function key and using the up and down arrows to zoom? I do this and land and it works great (I don't believe the GH2 has this - or at least I haven't found the option). I haven't tried this lens underwater, but thought about doing so using the camera to zoom and building custom gear to engage the manual focus. Honestly I just figured out zoom control working without touch screen. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick Hope 151 Posted February 18, 2015 I haven't tried this lens underwater, but thought about doing so using the camera to zoom and building custom gear to engage the manual focus. Great idea! I really wish Nauticam would offer that as an option. I bet there are some existing Nauticam parts that could be adapted to do most of it for you but it would need someone with a stock of Nauticam parts/spares to work out which. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetrickster 328 Posted February 18, 2015 I'll see if I can print something to work, using the existing zoom gearing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mintakax 0 Posted February 18, 2015 Have you tried assigning the electronic zoom to a function key and using the up and down arrows to zoom? I do this and land and it works great (I don't believe the GH2 has this - or at least I haven't found the option). I haven't tried this lens underwater, but thought about doing so using the camera to zoom and building custom gear to engage the manual focus. I wondered if this was possible and now I see that it is. I bought the zoom gear but have not used it yet, so I can still return it. Using the zoom gear does seem like it might be slightly more convenient .... Can someone who has used the zoom gear comment ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetrickster 328 Posted February 18, 2015 I have the gearing and its good to use! Nothing wrong with it. You have to hold the housing knob either forward or backwards to engage the switch - but it works well.. I to be honest, didn't know you could assign buttons for the zoom (apart from the on screen ones)! I'm going to have a look at the lens and gearing tonight to see if I can make a focus gear for it (just for info, more than need ) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScubaBob 37 Posted February 18, 2015 I asked Jussi at Deepshots (he makes custom 3d printed gear) and he said he could make the custom gear for the focus - however he's in the UK so he would need access to someone with the zoom lens, the housing and the GH4. (or similar camera/housing). If there's someone in the UK to work with him, maybe we can get a group together to split the R&D costs? http://www.deepshots.co.uk/2014/06/new-deepshots-products-60mm-focus-and-14-42mm-ez-zoom-gear/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScubaBob 37 Posted February 18, 2015 I have the gearing and its good to use! Nothing wrong with it. You have to hold the housing knob either forward or backwards to engage the switch - but it works well.. I to be honest, didn't know you could assign buttons for the zoom (apart from the on screen ones)! I'm going to have a look at the lens and gearing tonight to see if I can make a focus gear for it (just for info, more than need ) Richard I would definitely be interested in a Print! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Interceptor121 842 Posted February 18, 2015 Out of interest seeing that the pz14-42 has focus at start of shot and you can refocus why would you need manual focus? Looks like autofocus works wonder for me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScubaBob 37 Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) Out of interest seeing that the pz14-42 has focus at start of shot and you can refocus why would you need manual focus? Looks like autofocus works wonder for me Ok, probably a 1000 different scenarios I can think of For example, you have focus locked on the eye of blenny, which is perfectly in your lower right power point. The fish moves and the eye is now in the lower left power point, still a great shot. If the gods are on your side and you are in focus tracking mode you may be ok. But they aren't, so you're not and the eye is out of focus. You can either re-establish focus and reframe your shot hoping the blenny doesn't move, or use the manual focus knob slightly and using peaking, get yourself back in business. Edited February 18, 2015 by ScubaBob 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kc_moses 142 Posted February 18, 2015 Well, from my experience, the manual focus would be handy. Say if you shoot at Manual Focus mode, you use the back button to set initial focus, and shoot the nudibranch. As it craw toward the screen, you have to pick up the camera and move backward, or use the back button focus technique to refocus again. But if you have a manual focus knob, you can actually "pull focus" and smoothly adjust the focus. I found that using the back button to re-focus a subject that just moved would give the effect as if the camera is focus hunting. Sometimes when you use the back button focus, it might just focus on the face (like the seahorse), but the eyes is not that focus, just the snout of the seahorse is sharp. This is when it would be nice to have the focus knob to bring up the enlarge screen and really focus on the eye especially with the help of peaking. I don't use pinpoint focus so this is the way I did when I test out the GH4. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetrickster 328 Posted February 18, 2015 Richard I would definitely be interested in a Print! Happy to get you a print of the gearing in the post. :-) Will have a proper look at the current zoom gear and lens in the morning (bit late in the day now) and get a model knocked up. Once it's done Ill send you one, and if anyone else is interested I can either send a print or provide the STL file (which you can use with any 3D printer or print service like ShapeWays. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick Hope 151 Posted February 19, 2015 Hmm... I wonder if I can assign buttons to do the zoom on my Olympus 12-50 and do a similar mod to change the zoom knob to a focus knob... In any case I'm interested in this mod and it could be enough to make me switch lenses to the PZ 14-42. In my experience so far auto focus for macro has been an irritating, inaccurate workaround that has resulted in half of my footage making a quick exit to the recycle bin. I'm confident a manual focus knob will help hugely. But I need to review how I'm doing my auto focus. How are you guys doing it exactly? By the way, I've ordered the Dive and See 7" monitor. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScubaBob 37 Posted February 19, 2015 I stopped doing it (AF) with the 12-50. Manual focus mode, and I use back-button focus to get close, and use the peaking and repositioning the camera as needed to fine tune. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Interceptor121 842 Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) If you try to move the focus knob or button when you are at high magnification the camera will shake even on a tripod. Even when I use manual focus i focus at the start of the scene and then don't touch it anymore for really small things. For subjects that are bigger I don't use tracking focus ever just continuous focus with the subject in the centre and I never have an issue. Operating the focus control at high magnification just means trashing a few seconds of footage from what I have experienced and I have yet to find a camera that could not focus properly on a medium size fish. Panasonic has auto focus just at the start of the clip once focus is locked if you don't have depth of field the only meaningful think for me is to stop refocus and start again. Subject of 10-15mm in The frame shake a lot if you touch anything on the camera. Manual focus is useful if the camera fails to find focus initially (subject among particles or moving within coral etc) but during the scene not so much for me Edited February 19, 2015 by Interceptor121 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetrickster 328 Posted February 19, 2015 After having a look at the current zoom gearing, it looks like it will be super easy to make it work with the focus switch. The issue with this gearing is the springs - its quite a clever solution from Nauticam, if you're happy using the zoom gearing as a basis for the focus gearing, all that needs to be replaced is the top part (see photo) which I've redone for the smaller focus switch. Will get the printer warmed up this weekend and get one printed and see how it works. Ultimately a complete solution not using the zoom gearing would be good - but for now, this will do! ScubaBob - whats your mailing address! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick Hope 151 Posted February 19, 2015 I stopped doing it (AF) with the 12-50. Manual focus mode, and I use back-button focus to get close, and use the peaking and repositioning the camera as needed to fine tune. By auto-focus I didn't mean continuous auto-focus, which hunts horribly (I've also just about given up using it). I mean temporary auto-focus at the beginning of a shot, which I do in manual focus mode by moving the rectangular yellow box to my subject and pressing the "AF/AE Lock" button. I guess I'm using 1-Area auto-focus. Wish I could make the yellow box smaller for more accuracy. Maybe I should be using Pinpoint auto-focus??? But trying it now I can't get the pinpoint near enough to the edges of the display. I badly need to go through the manual again I guess But even if that temporary auto-focus is more-or-less right, it's often not spot-on and I want to tweak it with a manual focus knob. Sometimes it's difficult to move the camera because of the situation, or you don't want to upset the subject or the seabed by shifting around. ...Even when I use manual focus i focus at the start of the scene and then don't touch it anymore for really small things... For me also it's primarily for the start of a scene that I want manual focus, but also occasionally readjustments during a shot. I'd expect to trash that part of a shot where I readjust because of wobbles and errors, but not always if I got lucky of if there's important action at that moment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kc_moses 142 Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) Nick, the technique you're using is call "Back button focus", that's set the camera to MF, then have the AE/AF Lock button set the focus just one time. That's how I'm doing it now with my LX100. You can also do the "Back button focus" while your camera is set to AF, you just need to make sure to set the camera so that when the shutter is half press, it doesn't do AF/AE lock. I don't think I would use AF this because if I don't set the camera to MF, it won't bring up the magnifying window, so I'm scarifying the feature of moving/resize the yellow box. The LX100 only have 3 Fn buttons so..... I have to choose what features I have to stick with. As for turning the knob while in recording, it could be done without causing shake. On the NA-LX100, the knob is very smooth. If you have a heavy tripod ankle on the sand, it's not a problem. Also, if your body lay on the bottom on the sand completely, it will also not cause shake. My buoyancy is not perfect to the point that I can float in mid air and turn a dial without attempt to pick up the camera. Also, turn the know while you're exhaling. Edited February 19, 2015 by kc_moses Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick Hope 151 Posted February 19, 2015 Thanks. Are you using back button focus with 1-Area or Pinpoint? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kc_moses 142 Posted February 19, 2015 I only use 1-Area at this point. Never tried pinpoint. I tried out the Tracking when I test dive the GH4 and got error from time to time. There are time when I lock the tracking for one or two seconds, then the fish go back to the hole and had to restart the process. So depends on the subject, I might try tracking again, just hope if I come across any seahorse, they wouldn't turns their back on me. Not sure if I can do tracking on nudribranch, they don't have eyes to track, well, the camera doesn't know what nudribranch eyes look like! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Interceptor121 842 Posted February 19, 2015 Tracking=waste of time if you focus on center and keep you lens on the subject you can use continuous auto focus otherwise use manual or refocus and move the camera. Tracking doesn't even work on land why bother underwater? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetrickster 328 Posted February 20, 2015 Progress on the modified zoom gear. Once I had taken it apart. I realised the amount of effort Nauticam put in to it!! It's taken 3 trial prints to get this fair. Only thing concerning me is the wall thickness (in plastic) and the 3 small screws that will hold it together. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thetrickster 328 Posted February 20, 2015 99% there with the focus gearing. Just ran out of time today, positioning screw holes. Thinking Monday its a done deal. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
