M Zuiko 7-14 Pro lens

[PhotoJunkie 17]

I am looking for some feedback on the M Zuiko 7-14 Pro lens and what port are you using.

[Interceptor121 773]

I would recommend against any lens wider than 8mm as the domes in the market except the Zen DP230 are not large enough to accommodate the field of view of the lens. As result to avoid vignetting the port is short and the distortion at the edges extreme

[PhotoJunkie 17]

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.

[JackConnick 76]

I think it's a very sharp and fast lens for that format. You do need to use a 170mm dome, port adapter and extension, so it's not cheap to house, but many folks love it for video particularly. You should shoot it stopped down some. This was shot at 7mm f/7.0. It has a lot less distortion than the 8mm FE obviously.

[PhotoJunkie 17]

Jack,

Thanks, I appreciate the picture.  I am not a fan of fish-eye, the distortion is not to my liking, just my preference.

I don’t mind the expense of the port and add-on accessories, it is the price of playing in this arena.

Thanks again,

Brant Emery

[Interceptor121 773]

9 hours ago, JackConnick said:

I think it's a very sharp and fast lens for that format. You do need to use a 170mm dome, port adapter and extension, so it's not cheap to house, but many folks love it for video particularly. You should shoot it stopped down some. This was shot at 7mm f/7.0. It has a lot less distortion than the 8mm FE obviously.

You can see the blur on the edges is quite strong. You need to invest in the 180mm dome and that is still too small

If you are after rectilinear the best option is the Panasonic 8-18mm that fits in the 180mm dome. 170mm is just wide enough for a 9mm lens

[Interceptor121 773]

Panasonic 8-18mm

Encircled by Interceptor121, on Flickr

In my opinion there is no comparison with the 7mm that is just too awkward to fit properly in any dome

[JackConnick 76]

The slight blur was mostly from very cloudy conditions. It would also improve if stopped down more. You can shoot the 7-14 with a 180 dome if you want, this was what I had.

Edited June 13, 2020 by JackConnick

[Interceptor121 773]

The issue is that the radius of curvature of the dome is 11 cm however if the diameter of the port is 170 or 180 you have a situation where the maximum angle is arcsin(9/11)=54.9 degrees or 109.80

The 7mm lens has a fov of 114.2 so all the domes are too small you need 185mm at least to cover the fov so each port will be shorter to avoid vignette the lens will not be positioned in the centre of the hemisphere and the lens will both loose field of view and sharpness ending up being less than 8mm

I have tested the 8mm and it does not loose field of view with the correct extension so ultimately the Panasonic 8-18mm is actually the widest rectilinear lens for MFT

 

[PhotoJunkie 17]

I hate to rain on the party, but I forgot to mention that I am using an Olympus housing.  I was looking at the AOI DLP 08 port.

Talking with Backscatter I was assured no vignetteing with this port.

[ChrisRoss 150]

A 200mm port will be better, Phil Rudin I recall shot the 7-14 in 200mm dome port and liked the results better.  How well it works in your situation depends somewhat on how well they have selected the extension and the difference will be in corner performance.  BTW they say 8" dome port but quote dimensions of 162mm diameter on the AOI website which is 6.3" so I would ask the question which is it? 

@Interceptor121 doesn't like wider than 16mm full frame equivalent for video, but you might be happy with it to get a little wider or you could shoot at 8mm on the 7-14.  Alternatively you could look at the Pany-Leica 8-18mm which is also a great lens and has a little more reach at the long end.  I believe both are regarded as being very sharp lenses.

The issue with 7mm lenses in 170mm ports is you need to install the lens forward of the optimal point with the respect to the dome centre of curvature to avoid vignetting.  None of the domes under discussion vignette, the issue is the non-optimal extension means edge quality suffers and introduces additional distortion.   It's a compromise which may or may not be acceptable to you.

According to the Zen port chart you need 5mm more extension with the 8-18 compared to the 7-14 and 20mm more according to Nauticam.  Whether the 8-18mm is an feasible option for you depends on availability of different extension lengths with the AOI port.  You probably could use the Olympus PER-01 which is 36mm extension instead of the the 22mm long ER-OD_OD-22  AOI extension and wind up part way between what Zen suggests and what Nauticam suggests as the right extension.

To be clear the AOI port and the 170/180mm dome ports do not vignette, the issue is in corner quality.  If you were to go with the 8-18 and PER-01 I would suggest confirming with the store they have the same mount.  Also you don't mention which camera/housing you use the 7-14 can only be used on the EM1/E-1 MkII housings and one other specifically: PT-EP08, PT-EP11 and PT-EP14  - the housings for EM-5 MkII etc use a smaller port system and the 7-14 does not fit through the ports.

 

 

[PhotoJunkie 17]

Thanks Chris,

I have an EM5 first iteration in an PT-EP08 housing.  The AOI DLP 08 is the OMD mount, so the lens should fit.

I don’t mind a little softness in the corners, I just shoot for me.  After diving for over 45 years I’m just collecting memories.

[ChrisRoss 150]

1 hour ago, PhotoJunkie said:

Thanks Chris,

I have an EM5 first iteration in an PT-EP08 housing.  The AOI DLP 08 is the OMD mount, so the lens should fit.

I don’t mind a little softness in the corners, I just shoot for me.  After diving for over 45 years I’m just collecting memories.

That's the point it's you who has to be happy with the results. Here's a review of the 7-14 with some pics:

https://www.uwphotographyguide.com/panasonic-7-14mm-lens-review

and this is an EM-1 MkII with a couple of shots from the 7-14 included

http://www.uwpmag.com/?download=99

These are with smaller domes (180mm and smaller) than the dome you are proposing, so you should expect slightly better quality in the corners. 

I mentioned the 8-18 as it's certainly an option and will give you a touch more reach at the cost of a bit less on the wide end.

 

 

[ChrisRoss 150]

PS: I moved the topic to Photo gear and technique as you may get a few more responses in this forum.

[Interceptor121 773]

Uhm no it is not the case I don’t like wider than 16mm the issue is that the domes are to small to contain the lens field of view.
Once you push your 7mm lens close enough to avoid vignette you don’t loose just sharpness but also field of view so the lens no longer accomplishes 114.2 degrees it drops to below the maximum fov of the dome on its own as well becoming narrower than the 8mm correctly positioned and this is why I don’t bother with 7mm lenses


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[ChrisRoss 150]

Certainly agree on the Nauticam and Zen offerings, though it seems people use those ports and are happy enough with what they get.

However the OP is talking about this port:  https://www.aoi-uw.com/products/lens-ports/aoi-dlp-08.html

It looks like a full hemisphere,  so it should be possible to place the centre of the radius of curvature at the nodal point without vignetting but it is not clear if this is the case.  There is no official support for the 8-18 in that dome for an olympus housing - it should work quite well with the 36mm Olympus extension, but that would be a leap of faith to try.

[Interceptor121 773]

Certainly agree on the Nauticam and Zen offerings, though it seems people use those ports and are happy enough with what they get.
However the OP is talking about this port:  https://www.aoi-uw.com/products/lens-ports/aoi-dlp-08.html
It looks like a full hemisphere,  so it should be possible to place the centre of the radius of curvature at the nodal point without vignetting but it is not clear if this is the case.  There is no official support for the 8-18 in that dome for an olympus housing - it should work quite well with the 36mm Olympus extension, but that would be a leap of faith to try.

If it was an 8 inch dome it would be 8 inches wide it says it is 162 so 8/10=0.8
Arcsin0.8=53 max fov 106 this dome fits a 9mm lens


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[PhotoJunkie 17]

Thanks again to all that have responded.

I am willing to accept the corner softness.  I currently use the 9-18 Oly behind a Zen WA 100, the pics are OKish, just not as sharp as I would like to see.  I also use a M Zuiko 12-40 PRO lens behind the same dome with Vignetting below 14mm.

I should be able to resolve the issues with the 12-40 with this AOI port.  The 9-18 would be unnecessary at that point,

I will post some samples when I get the port and lens and have a chance to get wet again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Brant Emery

[ChrisRoss 150]

9 hours ago, Interceptor121 said:

If it was an 8 inch dome it would be 8 inches wide it says it is 162 so 8/10=0.8
Arcsin0.8=53 max fov 106 this dome fits a 9mm lens


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Different sites have different dimensions for the dome no way could 162mm dia be called an 8" dome.  I think it was Bluewater had dimensions of 212 x 122mm which is about right for an 8" dome.  To me it looks like a hemisphere meaning the centre of radius of curvature is right at the port base not buried in the extension like the 170/180mm domes.  This makes it easier to get the entrance pupil at the right spot and not vignette.

To the OP the other consideration is an 8" acrylic dome will be quite buoyant and try to twist the housing up - talk to whoever you buy it from about that issue nd how best to weight the dome down a little

[Interceptor121 773]

Those dimensions are more reasonable. It will be a bubble and then without the correct extension may be positioned incorrectly the lens is long...

With domes trial and error is a risky business

[woj.dop 2]

On 6/14/2020 at 4:24 AM, PhotoJunkie said:

Thanks Chris,

I have an EM5 first iteration in an PT-EP08 housing.  The AOI DLP 08 is the OMD mount, so the lens should fit.

I don’t mind a little softness in the corners, I just shoot for me.  After diving for over 45 years I’m just collecting memories.

I use AOI DLP 08 with Panasonic Lumix 7-14 and I´m very happy with the results:

You can check the photos: https://www.instagram.com/woj.dop/?hl=es

The corners are not perfectly sharp while wide open, but they are more than acceptable for me.

For the Zuiko 7-14 probably you´ll need extension ring tough

[PhotoJunkie 17]

Woj.dop, 

Thanks for the post.  The pictures show all that I need to see, those results will be fine for my purposes.  Nice pictures.

 

Brant