Sony 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS NEW Zoom Gear for 200DL Underwater Housings [VI

The 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS is one of our favorite Sony lenses to use underwater. We designed a brand new zoom gear specifically for this lens to make set up even easier. John Brigham walks you through how to install the new Zoom Gear # 5509.48 and lens in your housing.

Introduction

Here at Ikelite we are always looking to improve the product line and the fit and function of gear sleeves and how they interface with the drive gear of the housing. For example, we have the 16-35 F/4 which the gear sleeve was recently redesigned for. It went from having a two step operation where you had to clamp and an interfacing gear sleeve. To make that a little bit more intuitive we switched it over to a friction fit gear sleeve that is just a single piece by itself.

On the lens itself you'll notice very prominent white letter and we do make an Anti-Reflection Ring # 0923.72 for this. We highly recommend an anti-reflection ring for this because otherwise you're going to end up noticing the white lettering reflecting off you dome port and showing up on your images.

sony 16-35mm f4 lens installation in ikelite underwater housing

Note the two notches on the retaining ring as well as the two notches on the zoom gear sleeve, these will correspond with the retaining ring tool to keep your gear in place once installed.

Installing the Gear Sleeve

For this example I already have a camera installed in the housing. The first step is to remove the retaining ring from the housing and then take the body cap off of the camera. All I need to do is take the gear sleeve and I'm going to drop it down into the opening.

You'll notice that there are two notches on the retaining ring as well as on the gear sleeve. Those two notches correspond to the retaining ring tool, which has two posts that correspond. Because of the length of this particular gear sleeve, you need to align this tool into those notches. Take the retaining ring and drop it down into the port opening and then take the drive gear and you'll notice that the tool falls right into those notches.

Next you'll need to tighten the retaining ring. To do this, line up the retaining ring with the tool and then turn the knob on the side of the housing simultaneously and you'll notice the retaining ring tightening which will hold the gear sleeve in place.

sony 14-35mm lens installation on ikelite underwater housing

The retaining ring tool and zoom gear knob work in conjunction to tighten the retaining ring down and hold your zoom gear sleeve in place properly.

Installing the Lens

To install the lens you'll line up the white indexing dot on the lens with the white indexing dot on the camera body as you normally would. But, because this a friction fit gear sleeve you'll feel a little resistance. Once you get past that resistance you can bayonet the lens onto the camera body as you typically would.

Once you get the lens attached, the drive gear knob on the left side of the housing is going to change your focal length. Test this to ensure everything is operating properly and your focal length is changing as you turn the knob. From there, simply attach the port like you normally would per the instructions in your manual and you're ready to get in the water with the Sony 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS lens.

John Brigham is the Vice President & head of product development at Ikelite. He was born with a flair for design and an entrepreneurial spirit as son of Ikelite founder Ike Brigham. He worked his way up in the business and is a natural fit in the R&D side of things. John dives the equipment as much as possible to test product and put himself in the "fins" of the user. You may also find him on the other end of an email or phone call when you reach out for product advice and support. When he's not underwater he's flying drones, setting off rockets, training his German Shepherd "T2", and spending time with his family.