Interesting phenomenon, why do eyes see perfectly sharp but a lens cannot focus in aquarium?

Jeeter001 wrote:

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

Does your camera use some sort of infrared focus assist?

I'm suspecting your camera is focusing on the acrylic itself.

No I am in manual focus mode, turning the focus ring. That's what interesting about it. If I turn the focus wheel while looking through the EVF the image gets less blurry to a point and then starts getting more blurry. It never reaches focus. There is no feature in the image that ever comes into perfect focus. If I drop the camera down so the light path is near perfectly perpendicular with the glass, then I can get features in the image to come into focus.

Here's an illustration of what I'm talking about:

Nice illustration...

It may have to do with the border angle for total reflection that demand domeports for wide angle photography UW. When you exceed this angle it will not be possible to see into the aquarium at all. When you adjust the zoom of your camera to give similar angle of view than your eye, the images must be the same (the retinas are just the sensors of our internal cameras (our internal sensors are, however, curved, not flat, what also could make some difference under borderline conditions)). Position of camera and eye must be exactly identical, not just roughly similar, to make comparisons meaningful...

It also may be that you just exceed the focus range of your camera and you are too close: when going further away with the camera, the picture should become sharp then...

It would be helpful to present an "unsharp" image from your camera, so that we know what you are talking about...

Wolfgang