Underwater Case for Epic/Scarlet

[Michael Hastings]

Does anyone know where I can rent a underwater case near belgium/netherlands. Or how much it cost to buy one?

Cheers,

Kevin: You can buy a very nice Epic housing for between $5800 and $8000. We rent for $550/day $1900/week, with flexibility for travel time.

We have a couple rental units on hand and new ones in process that can be completed in a just a couple of days.

Not quite as pretty as Pawel's but in some ways more functional, tested in use by multiple owners for over a year, and less than half the price.

[Pawel Achtel]

There is a lot of disinformation in Michael's post.

Firstly, chromatic aberration is mostly relevant to flat ports. A 14mm lens behind a flat port has not only a narrower field of view than the Nikonos 15mm, but creates chromatic aberrations exceeding 18 pixels that are not possible to correct in software or in any other way. It also creates severe distortions. According to my measurements and theoretical calculations, such system fails to resolve even fraction of standard definition in the corners.

Domes, however, create image plane curvature resulting in soft edges. On S35 sensor and 90 degree view even the best terrestial lenses fail to resolve standard definition around the edges. For wider angles, it gets worse, much worse. For wider sensor, it gets worse expotentially.

Nikonos 15mm does not "use a dome". It was designed specifically for underwater use and does not suffer from image field curvature that otherwise is created by a dome port.

There is no evidence that 2/3" chips were able to resolve even standard definition across the entire frame whether through dome ports or any other optics. Certainly, not at 100 or 110 degrees.

We all care about image quality, but it strikes me that no other manufacturer is prepared to publish any data of the optical performance. The facts speak for themselves.

Of course, opinions vary. Our competitors see "serious limitations", others, like Bob Cranston, see it as the best underwater housing ever made.

[C.H.Haskell]

Thanks Jason,

Yes, we have just released DeepX. It is the smallest housing for the Epic/Scarlet available. It is also the only housing that can resolve 5k underwater and the only one that does not introduce any distortions.

This rig looks awesome, a bit too pricey for me but like how small it is.

[Jason Sinclair]

I am not promoting this product. I just think it is cool. (But if Pawel want to give me one for the work i have done i wouldn't say no ;)

Pawel mentioned this product to me at a Red meet when it was in its early stages over a year ago. I was impressed. I do not work for this company and have no relation to it. However i find Pawel extremely intelligent and knowledgeable and a person who's prime interest is always the best possible picture. I find these people rare and when i find them i support them.

Michael i think your product is good too. I didn't realize that there was video software to correct the chromatic aberrations. I think if this was available for 5k i would like to know processing times and also the results.

However, for me i like primes so working with the nikonos lenses is a no brainer over a zoom. Also, using software to correct issues doesn't appear to me to be a good solution but would love to see the results if you have any.

Also these lenses were invented for underwater use and are legendary. We have all seen the results from years of national geographic. They are super clear.

I am gathering too that the distance between the last lens element and the port dome is very important in the increase in chromatic aberration.

I was under the assumption you could change these lenses underwater. Maybe Pawel can chime in if i got my information wrong???

Like i said. This is the system i would go for in that price bracket. If i had less money to spend i would choose something cheaper of course. As always, test.

[David Nardini]

I can assure you cannot change prime Nikonos lenses underwater (the range finder lenses were : 15mm, 20mm, 28mm, 35mm and 80mm ... these are not to be confused with the Nikonos RS lenses ... different glass).

You might be thinking of wide angle adapters or close up diopter kits that were available for the 28mm, 35mm & 80mm Nikonos lenses ... these were indeed wet systems and could be swapped underwater.

In my experience, nothing comes close to the UNDERWATER optical performance of the 15mm (and, in my experience I've never seen any wet lenses that work with the 15mm).

David.

PS : Late June will be in the RedSea testing out the 15mm of an Epic also ;-)

[Will Keir]

Yeah, I am just a little behind you in time but looking forward to some underwater shots soon. Does any place in LA rent your gear?

Hey Will,

They are $20k without the lens and $21k with a serviced Nikonos 15mm. They are now sold by Band Pro, Burbank.

The package includes titanium side handles and titanium bottom (or top, they fit either way) rails.

If you are quick, there is one listed on eBay that is still at the introductory price of $15,750 and, if you are really quick, I have one with me in LA now. I'm going back to Sydney tomorrow (Wednesday) late afternoon.

I had a pleasure diving with Bob Cranston and Peter Kragh off Catalina yesterday and Bob absolutely loves it. He said that this is what he wants to use for his Epic, which he took underwater for the first time inside the DeepX. He thinks it is the best housing for the Epic, so I'm obviously very happy to hear this coming from Bob.

[Will Keir]

i find Pawel extremely intelligent and knowledgeable and a person who's prime interest is always the best possible picture.

Yeah Pawel seems to be on his game in the foreign world of under water photography. I would like to engineer underwater housings like this but the insurance company would stop paying for all the ruined epics eventually.

20k is out of my budget currently, wish you guys could offer a solution for half, maybe something with a limited depth option better than a plastic bag?

[Pawel Achtel]

Yeah, I am just a little behind you in time but looking forward to some underwater shots soon. Does any place in LA rent your gear?

PM sent

Hey Pawel I am curious if you would publish Bob's report on using DeepX in full please?

http://www.bandpro.com/news-a-events/244-deepx-bob-cranston.html

Bob is currently filming for television and uses his HD-CAM rig. He has no need for Epic housing at present. He said to me that if he had a feature, he would like to film it with DeepX. He liked it better for the flexibility, size and image quality over the Gates Deep Epic (of which he spoke highly). It was this comment that made me very happy because his first choice is essentially my dream housing that I designed with all my skill, experience and pretty much unlimited manufacturing capability and expense. We seem to like it for the same reasons. Bob sounded like a kid in a toy store when he experienced how low he could place DeepX to get very low angle shots, which he couldn't do with any other housing.

I can assure you cannot change prime Nikonos lenses underwater (the range finder lenses were : 15mm, 20mm, 28mm, 35mm and 80mm ... these are not to be confused with the Nikonos RS lenses ... different glass)....

Correct. You can also add Sea and Sea 12mm fish eye that's pretty good and not overly distorting on S35 sensor. And, for those still feeling limited, there is Aqualens dome port that allows just about any wide angle manual Nikon land lens to be placed behind a dome...albeit resulting in an inevitable image plane curvature caused by the dome port like all other housings.

We are working on an RS electronic adapter for DeepX. I think the zoom and the RS fisheye are worth the effort.