Wet lens for 60mm macro lens +5 or +10?

[clairegoodwin 0]

Looking at getting a wet lens. I have a D500 in an aquatica housing. I usually use a 60mm lens for macro. It looks like the +5 will magnify 1:1.2 wheras the +10 will magnify 1:1.5 so thinking the 10+ makes more sense. Any advice on which to choose? Is a flip holder worth it? (The aquatica one is more than the lens!). Thinking I may go for the aquatica system but open to other suggestions.

 

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[troporobo 252]

I had both the +5 and the +10 diopters but on a m4/3 system with a 60mm lens so my experience will not be directly transferable to your DX system so take it for what is worth.  The extra magnification of the +10 made a very big difference for the smallest subjects, however,  the shorter working distance increased the challenges of getting close enough and lighting the subject.  On my system, the front of the diopter needed to be within about 50mm of the subject, which could be really tough with a pair of strobes in a tight space. I got rid of the +10 and now use only the +5.  I can crop into the frame if needed.  Finally, the flip adapter is indeed a great thing to have, screwing those diopters on and off while under is a pain in the neck!

[Interceptor121 843]

You need to think about working distance

A +5 will focus 20 cm from the back at infinity a +10 will focus at 10 cm

If your 60mm can already focus at less or around 20 cm there is no point getting a +5 diopter as you will not get any closer than what you already are

[ChrisRoss 150]

I assume you mean that the focus point is 20cm from the sensor plane.  The Nikon 60mm f2.8G lens focuses 18.5cm from the sensor at min focus distance and is about 89mm long. I would guess that the front of the port is about 12cm from the sensor so your working room is about 6.5cm when you are focussed at 1:1 which is already in the not so easy to light territory.  You can check this out on land by moving the housed camera physically closer to a target until it won't focus closer.  It sounds like there is limited opportunity to focus closer with a wet lens.

The 105mm macro on the other hand focuses at 31cm or so and as a result is better able to make use of closup wet lenses.  About the only way I could see achieving more magnification with the 60mm would be using a 1.4x - I'm not sure how the 60mm behaves with a 1.4x - AF may or may not behave well and the nikon version of the 1.4x probably does not fit.  You would need to add extension to your port equivalent to the thickness of the converter. 

Another alternative might be the Nikon 85mm macro lens which is 28cm min focus distance.  Nauticam specify the same port combo for this lens as the 60mm f2.8G so it might fit in your Aquatica port????  it is 9mm longer according to the specs.  That still does 1:1 but 10cm more working distance and might be an option for a wet lens.

[Interceptor121 843]

No am talking about working distance from the port the diopter at infinity will focus from the back of the rear element
The land calculations do not matter much


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[clairegoodwin 0]

Thanks all for the advice. I hadn't really thought about working distance and obviously need to. I'll look into the lens combinations suggested. Although may just stick with current set up as not sure I want to more macro for a whole dive - the wet lens appealed as could flip it down.

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[jasdivr 1]

Anyone using the +23 Kraken diopter with Olympus 60mm. I am presently using the Saga Trio but would like to get super macro if I can. I may be handicapping myself using the 12-50mm port instead of one for the 60mm.

[troporobo 252]

If you are using the 60mm macro lens, there is no difference in imaging between the dedicated port and the 12-50 port. They are both flat and within a couple of mm of each other in length.

I still sometimes try to get the front of the port or diopter as close to the subject as possible for maximum magnification. But honestly, I usually get better images by standing off a bit, and cropping to taste later. 

[vlada 0]

Claire, 

I have exact same set up as you (D500 in Aquatica) and 60mm lens (old version) and I got a +5 wet diopter from Aquatica and absolutely love that set up. +5 definitely provides significant magnification Vs just using 60mm and based on my experience so far, i would not be getting a +10 one as that one would be nearly impossible to focus i think. 

I picked up a focusing trick on here - if i see a suitable subject, i firstly focus with the 60mm, then swing the wet lens in place and then the system focuses easy. If you do nto focus w/o wet diopter sometimes it hunts too much. 

Also, with 60mm, you distance to subject is pretty close, so need ot be more careful with lighting and pick subjects carefully. 

Here are some quick grabs - excuse the poor image quality - these are JPEGs from Ipad, did not have time to work with originals yet - but shows what is possible. 

 

[clairegoodwin 0]

@vlada thanks very much for the reply and info (only just spotted it). Great pictures. Nice to hear it works for you with the 60 mm.

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