Laowa 10mm Setting It Up // DLM Ikelite Underwater Housing Assembly [VIDEO]

Featuring Jean Rydberg

The Venus Optics Laowa 10mm f/2.8 Zero-D Full Frame rectilinear is an affordable new option for super wide-angle underwater photography. Jean shows you how to set it up in your Sony 200DLM/A or 200DLM/E underwater housing.

Scroll for video transcript.
 

Anti-Reflection Ring

First I'm going to remove the lens cap of my lens and you can see that there's some bright white lettering around that with some kind of record groove rings. To avoid reflections of that into a dome port when I shoot this underwater, I'm going to add a simple anti-reflection ring that's going to cut down on reflections. It's not going to affect anything else about the lens whether you're shooting on the surface or underwater so it's great to have that stuck on there and just leave it on there.

When I peel it off the backing I find it's easiest just to align kind of the center point of the anti-reflection ring with the outer edge of the lens front and I'll just put that on there and push it down with my thumb or finger and that's ready to go.

Removing the Lens Hood

Now that I have that anti-reflection ring attached I need to do one more thing and that is remove this lens hood from the front of the lens. It is a removable feature and I'm just going to rotate it counterclockwise and take it off and put it with my other spare photo gear.

That lens hood will prevent this lens from fitting through the extension that we need to use on the dome port so you do need to have that removed before you try to put it in this housing.

Extension and Dome Port

I'm going to flip my dome port over and notice that both the extension and the dome port have three thumb screws in them. On the Dome Port # 5516.82 I'll go ahead and loosen these thumb screws so that none of the threads are protruding into the inner diameter of the dome port. That's important so that it doesn't catch the o-ring as this gets assembled.

Then I'm going to lubricate the o-ring on the Extension # 5516.65 so I just put a very small amount of lubricant on my fingers, and I'm going to put the remainder of it on the inside sealing surface of that dome port. It's really important that I'm only using Ikelite brand lubricant because that's the only lubricant that we've tested to ensure that there's no chemical incompatibilities with either these o-rings or these materials.

When attaching dome port and extension, make sure all of the thumbscrews line up and they're not overtightened.

Then I'm going to align the thumb screws on the extension with the thumb screws on the dome port then push them together and finger tighten the thumb screws. You don't want to use a tool to tighten the thumbscrews because you don't want to over tighten them, just tightening them until they stop. These do not create the seal and in fact if they're too tight they could negatively affect the seal so only tighten them until they stop.

Now I can set that aside and turn my attention to the housing. I've got my camera body already installed in this housing. What I'm going to do is now go ahead and put a little bit of lubricant on the o-ring that's on the port base on the DLM housing just like I did with that extension before and then I'll put the remainder of that lubricant on the inside of the extension where the o-ring seals.

I also want to go ahead and loosen the thumb screws on my extension so that they don't protrude into the inside diameter.

Installing the Lens on the Camera

Now when my hands are clean I want to take the body cap off the camera body and the back cap off the lens. The lens has a red dot on the back that indicates an alignment with the white dot on the camera body and I just click that in with the bayonet fit.

To avoid any vignetting, ensure that the hoods of the dome shade are on the top and bottom of your image.  

Installing the Extension and Dome Port on the Housing

My dome port has some large projections (dome shade hood) and some small projections and I want these large ones to be on the top and bottom of my image. If I was to put them on the sides then I might get vignetting, they might actually show up in my picture. You want to always put them on the top and the bottom. Line that up accordingly and push it down until it hits and it's flush and then I'm just going to use my fingers to tighten up those thumb screws. Again not too tight, just until they stop and just with my fingers.

Now what I'm going to do is I have a vacuum valve which is optional installed in this housing. I'm going to use a vacuum pump to check for leaks prior to entering the water and I'm ready to shoot with the Laowa 10mm lens. If you're shooting this lens let us know what you're capturing underwater.

Products Used

• DLM 8" Dome Port # 5516.82
• DLM Extension # 5516.65
• Anti-Reflection Ring # 0923.88

Additional Viewing

Laowa 10mm FIRST RESULTS Underwater with the Sony a7CR [VIDEO]

Sony Custom White Balance Shortcut for Use in Underwater Housings [VIDEO]

Customizing the Dial Functions on a Sony Mirrorless Camera for Underwater Use [VIDEO]

Rectilinear vs Fisheye Lenses for Underwater Wide Angle Photography [VIDEO]

Ikelite DS232 Strobe Features // The ULTIMATE Strobe with Video Light All-In-One [VIDEO] 

Jean Rydberg is the President & CEO of Ikelite. She has lived her whole life in landlocked Indianapolis, Indiana, but is no stranger to the water as a daughter of Ikelite’s founder Ike Brigham. She has traveled around the world shooting and testing gear and enjoys new challenges in both photography and diving. Jean loves to learn about the creative ways photographers achieve their visions. More than anything she wants to show aspiring underwater photographers that excellence is attainable with any system. When she's not working she's spending time with her husband and two daughters.