Nauticam alternative zoom/focus lens gear for Panasonic Leica lenses

[thani 86]

Is there an alternative lens gear to Nauticam?

I came a cross Deepshots on the net. They only have a zoom gear for the panasonic leica 8-18mm.

Any experience or advise is appreciated. 

[Interceptor121 712]

deepshot works very well they have 8-18 7-14 and 8mm fisheye Panasonic lenses

If you look on thingyverse there are other free 3D designs from Eric dont remember surname in france those can be hit and miss as depend on tolerances

I do not have any Nauticam zoom or focus gear!

[thani 86]

Thank you. Deepshots looks good. You’ve mentioned you do not use autofocus anymore in another thread, do you rely on the manual focus button on the GH5 or do you use the focus gear all the time?

[Interceptor121 712]

Thank you. Deepshots looks good. You’ve mentioned you do not use autofocus anymore in another thread, do you rely on the manual focus button on the GH5 or do you use the focus gear all the time?

If you disable continuous focus you can refocus with half shutter or you can use manual focus and back button it's a matter of preference
For wide angle it may be useful to use back button and leave it fix for the dive in case you have nothing to focus upon

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[bubffm 178]

I can warmly recommend Deepshot gear. I used several of them and they all work flawlessly

[tursiops 81]

1 hour ago, bubffm said:

I can warmly recommend Deepshot gear. I used several of them and they all work flawlessly

Well, yes, but they are not as nice to use as the offical Nauticam gears. I have two Deepshots for my two macro lens (30 and 60) and, yes, they do work, but they are much more finicky to use because they slide around on the lens and it is too easy to get them in a position where the small wheel to focus with binds. And I focus a lot in macro. But, they are much cheaper. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by tursiops

[Interceptor121 712]

Well, yes, but they are not as nice to use as the offical Nauticam gears. I have two Deepshots for my two macro lens (30 and 60) and, yes, they do work, but they are much more finicky to use because they slide around on the lens and it is too easy to get them in a position where the small wheel to focus with binds. And I focus a lot in macro. But, they are much cheaper. 

You have a set of allen keys if you want you can secure them in any case using a focus gear with the Olympus 60mm is horrible you need to wheel a lot better to use back button on a fixed point if you need to


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[tursiops 81]

7 hours ago, Interceptor121 said:

You have a set of allen keys if you want you can secure them in any case using a focus gear with the Olympus 60mm is horrible you need to wheel a lot better to use back button on a fixed point if you need to


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I get close with the S-AF on a thumb button,  then fine-tune wuth the wheel.

I was confused. My 30mm zoom gear is Nauticam and of course works fine. The 60mm gear is 3D printed but not by Deepshots; it slips fore-and-aft, and has no set screws.

[bubffm 178]

Of course you can never beat the precision of the original metal Nauticam gear at multiple times the cost over printed plastic gear. But I had much worse printed gear from other sources. The deepshots always did the job.

[hyp 104]

I've made gears for myself and my parents' Subal housing before. It's not that difficult and after the first one, every one has worked on first try. For N85 Nauticam it's a bit harder because the small port opening. With my used Nauticam housing and port came a Gear for the 12-40 lens that I've just adapted by using a different inner plastic piece. Personally I find the Nauticam gears way overpriced (except the 12-50 gear which is a marvel of engineering). 

That said, I sometimes wish for a bit more engineering background. It's kind of hard to know how much friction/tolerances one needs for a good fit. 

[Architeuthis 138]

For some lenses I have original Nauticam Zoomgear and for others I use D&D, like this one, for example: https://www.unterwasserkamera.at/shop/catalog/en/product_info.php?info=p5833_d-d-na-em-olympus-m-zuiko-digital-ed-12-40mm-1-2-8-zoom-gear.html

Nauticam zoomgear is overpriced and i find it not really professional quality, especially when I see that insulination from insulated wire is used to make the gear fit firmly. D&D zoomgear is at least as good and costs substantially less...

Wolfgang

[Interceptor121 712]

For some lenses I have original Nauticam Zoomgear and for others I use D&D, like this one, for example: https://www.unterwasserkamera.at/shop/catalog/en/product_info.php?info=p5833_d-d-na-em-olympus-m-zuiko-digital-ed-12-40mm-1-2-8-zoom-gear.html
Nauticam zoomgear is overpriced and i find it not really professional quality, especially when I see that insulination from insulated wire is used to make the gear fit firmly. D&D zoomgear is at least as good and costs substantially less...
Wolfgang

I actually think that €95 for 3D printed gear is very excessive.
Deepshots is max £60 for large zoom gear
There are free designs on thingyverse you can print for £10. Sometimes they do not work so you need 2-3 attempts
I have two deepshots and two self printed once on the lens I notice non difference
When you have something like the pana 14-42Pz then you need an engineered piece. One of the reasons shops suggest this lens is so you can’t buy a 3D printed gear. Sad....


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[hyp 104]

Even if you get a design printed by someone like Shapeways or 3D-Hubs it will be massively cheaper than most other options. It helps if you know your way around a 3D modelling software.

[Davide DB 418]

I can confirm that this printed model for 12-35mm simply doesn't work:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2827917

I missed two dives and lost my clips. Never again.

Once I bought the original Nauticam version i understood that it's not a problem of material but the design is completely wrong.

Your mileage may vary with other projects. 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Davide DB

[hyp 104]

I've always made my own designs. If they didn't work I knew who to blame. After I got the original Nauticam 12-40 gear I adapted their design, so that I could still use the original gear on different lenses. 

My verdict: If you have money, buy nauticam. If you're broke learn how to design gears yourself. 

[rollin 12]

I use deepshots on my three lenses and they work fine.

 

[Etc 11]

On 8/24/2019 at 11:20 PM, Interceptor121 said:

If you disable continuous focus you can refocus with half shutter or you can use manual focus and back button it's a matter of preference
For wide angle it may be useful to use back button and leave it fix for the dive in case you have nothing to focus upon

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How do you manage when shooting VFR???

Edited January 2, 2020 by Etc

[Interceptor121 712]

40 minutes ago, Etc said:

How do you manage when shooting VFR???

Even better as auto focus doe not work on VFR usually

[Etc 11]

21 hours ago, Interceptor121 said:

Even better as auto focus doe not work on VFR usually

Ok. I understood that you did't have any focus gear. You meant that you don't own a Panasonic...

As far as I'm concerned Autofocus/continous focus/back focus, will never work when shooting VFR (HD or 4K)

[Interceptor121 712]

I own a Panasonic and autofocus does not work on VFR but generally auto focus is a bad idea underwater combined with domes or wet lenses in video
Usually you can focus at the start of the shot and everything will stay in focus with a wet lens
With flat ports it will be as land so you may use it
With domes depends on the lens
I never use focus gears with MFT cameras as focus by wire is painful underwater


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[Lionfi2s 74]

Just to make it clear, autofocus works underwater continuous autofocus is miss and hit as it is on land on the GH5. VFR is manual focus only on GH5

Edited January 3, 2020 by Lionfi2s
typo

[Interceptor121 712]

27 minutes ago, Lionfi2s said:

Just to make it clear, autofocus works underwater continuous autofocus is miss and hit as it is on land on the GH5. VFR is manual focus only on GH5

Yes what I meant is that for VFR video the focus is only at the start of the shot. Besides this is my default setting anyway