Reflections on Domes

Pete Atkinson · Issue 59, Mar/Apr 2011 · pp. 51–54

Products mentioned: Nikonos 15mm, Sigma 8-16, Nikon 12-24, Schneider B&W dioptres, Seacam Superdome, Seacam fisheye dome, Nikonos RS 13mm fisheye lens, Rain-X, RVR Rain Repellant, Solvol Autosol

I must be an anachronism. It’s a danger with increasing age; the world shifts and your world-view gets out of kilter with reality. Thirty years ago I was struggling with domes for home made-housings; where to source them, where to place them in relation to the lens, how to get the best results. I ended up with hemispherical cast acrylic compass domes, with coated, custom- made plano-convex dioptres in obscure strengths, +2.4 for the 8” dome, + 3.3 for the 6” dome. On film, viewed with a loupe, this looked pretty good. Not as good as the Nikonos 15mm lens which, at that time, was the benchmark all dome systems were measured against. And then along came digital. 100% on a good monitor is very unforgiving. So I can’t say for sure whether modern domes are better, or only that they don’t feel better when examined with brutal clarity on a monitor. Here’s a plea to all retailers of domes: put a…