By: Todd Winner
Images by: Todd Winner and Mike Brock
The Nauticam 0.36x Wide Angle Conversion Port, WACP, has been getting a lot of attention lately and rightly so. In my opinion it is one of the most exciting products that has been designed for underwater photographers in years. Most of the information that has been coming out has been related to Canon and Nikon cameras and if you are one of the many Sony full frame shooters you may have been feeling left out of the excitement. Well not any more! We have completed or testing with the Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS and the results are exceptional.
Sony a9, 28-70mm, WACP
The WACP is a true water contact optic. Like the legendary Nikonos film lenses it is designed to be exclusive used in water and not air. Domes suffer from corner softness especially when shooting with wide apertures. Water contact optics correct this corner softness allowing you to shoot at wider f/stops. In addition the 0.36x Wide Angle Conversion Port increases the angle of view of any lens used behind it up to a maximum of 130°. This is a field of view that sits between the popular full frame fisheye lenses (180 degrees diagonal) and ultra wide rectilinear zooms (approximately 110 degrees).
Still from video, a7rIII, 28-7-mm @28mm, WACP
Still from video, a7rIII, 28-7-mm @70mm, WACP
Although it looks like a standard port it is really a lens. The lenses that we use with the 0.36x Wide Angle Conversion Port act as the internal components of the lens, performing auto focus and electronic aperture. When placing a lens behind the WACP there is a 0.36x conversion, so a 28mm 75° lens effectively becomes a 10mm 130° lens. It is not limited to prime lenses or a single fixed focal length, the 0.36x Wide Angle Conversion Port is designed with full zoom through capability. The Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS gives you almost a 3x zoom range and is able to focus as close as the front dome lens element. You can easily get wide, medium and tight coverage all on the same dive! If you switch to the Super 35 mode on the Sony bodies you can achieve even more reach. This is incredibly useful when shooting video.
a7rIII, 28-7-mm @28mm, WACP
The set up for the Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS requires a 35.5mm N100 to N120 Port adapter, (37303) a 20mm extension ring, (21120) and a SE2870-Z zoom gear (37141). For more information please see the product links below.
Sony a9, 28-70mm, WACP
Sony a9, 28-70mm, WACP
To see more of Mike Brock's work: website