Photographer's mask?

I've been using the same mask since 2009 when I got back into scuba.   It's the only mask I've ever owned with prescription lenses.  Actually just a selection of different diopters you plug into the mask frame, but they've worked very well my entire diving career.

A bit long explanation, but I suspect I'm not alone in finally realizing this.

But I had a revelation on my last trip when I started shooting video.   It was that my mask limits my viewing angle so much that I completely don't have a feel for the seascapes I've been diving in.

I've shot two lenses with my underwater DSLR rig since 2015.   A 105mm macro, or a 16-35 wide angle behind a 230mm dome.

So here's the thing.  I'm looking through a flat port which magnifies things 20% over reality, with a very limited field of view.  I'm guess the equivalent of a 60mm lens above water, but also cropped.

At the same time I'm shooting 16 behind a big dome port that gives no magnification.

The first thing that struck me over the years of using it was this dichotomy between what I see and what the camera sees.   I look at something and it is big.  I look at it through the viewfinder and it is small - takes a while to get the brain to look through the flat-port mask and visualize what it will look like with the dome port.

But this last trip I started shooting video, and unlike stills, I can't get enough width.   Shooting stills I was sort of trying to shoot what I saw with wide angle.   That often meant trying to get closer and zooming in as far as I could to isolate the subject more.

Which I think is an outcome of looking through my (flat-port) mask and seeing the surroundings that way, and trying to image it.

My revelation came when looking at this 16mm videos and realizing I've not been seeing the shape of the seascape at all, because my mask viewpoint was so restrictive.  I've got the idea now to start diving and constantly scan around to try to build up a wide angle image in my mind.   But I'm wondering if I can't get a lot farther down that path with a different mask.

So - what masks are best for photographers trying to get as wide a field of view as possible?  Doesn't have to be in focus.

And it seems we no longer get masks with replaceable diopter glass, but instead get some sort of prescription lens glued onto the mask.   I'd like any recommendations or voices of experience here.   My eyes haven't changed my since 2009, but those diopters only came in 1/2 diopter increments, and one of my eyes needed a 1/4 diopter prescription, so I've always been close, but not perfect focus.

Hi Craig,

First, the human eye does not have different angles of view, but only a single type of facial field exist, perceived similar to standard focal length on a camera. Therefore it is just natural that the perspective of a telelens or of a WA lens is different from yours, there is no zoom or interchangeable lens in the human eye...

The same issue exists on the surface, you need to perceive your motif via the viewfinder, then everything is natural and o.k. ...

(Divers often use transparent silicone masks to (seemingly and subjectively) increase the restricted angle of view, but I personally prefer black silicone, that makes looking through the 45° viewfinder easier)

Regarding the optical mask, I would go only for the good but expensive glue-in lenses, when I needed correction of astigmatism or multifocal (I need both, since I am old, hence I have glue in lenses - expensive but perfect solution). 1/4 of a dioptrie is not enough to justify this expensive solution. 1/2 increments are more than enough, in case you just need this type of correction...

Wolfgang

kelpdiver wrote:

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Craig, you might consider instead attaching a 5" monitor via HDMI to the top of the rig. It is yet more bulk, but it would be useful both for seeing the camera perspective and also for macro focusing. It's for the latter that I'm considering it.

I didn't really think about this seriously - partly because I think it's mostly useful for video, and I'm not that into video - but I may have the opportunity to try it and see.  I'm going to the Digital Shootout, and it does look like there are vendors that provide demo equipment.

For a mask, I don't want less magnification, just a wider view on the sides.  Doesn't even have to be in focus.  I'll still get a better impression for the surroundings than I do now.;

I have until June to deal with this.  Need to get moving!

kelpdiver wrote:

Craig, you might consider instead attaching a 5" monitor via HDMI to the top of the rig. It is yet more bulk, but it would be useful both for seeing the camera perspective and also for macro focusing. It's for the latter that I'm considering it.

It'd work for video, yes, but wouldn't that significantly degrade focusing performance in stills mode? Craig is shooting a DSLR, and using a monitor is functionally equivalent to live view, which takes the dedicated AF array out of optical path.

Well, I'd probably only mount it when doing video and wide angle.

My last dive was the only time I've ever actually tried doing video on my DSLR seriously.   Before I did a short clip or two just to try it out.   Last time I worked at it until I got ... the best I could, I guess.

I found something interesting, and that was that I preferred to shoot video when using wide angle.  Maybe that is because it was new, maybe because I don't really know how to shoot wide stills effectively.   So it would not be a big deal to me to only mount a monitor also with the big dome port and so on.   I'm not sure how much it would actually help though.  Maybe I'll get the chance to try one at the Digital Shootout in June.

I've been unable to effectively do macro video.   For that I think I need to stabilize the camera better on some form of tripod.   So I'll likely continue shooting macro with my eye pressed up to my 180 degree viewfinder.

Working with prescriptiondivemasks.com now, and they've sent me several masks to try out.   I'm going to go with the XS Scuba Fusion, which is a mask with 'side windows'.   Definitely wider field of view than my old mask.

I had my eyes checked last week and was surprised to find that my eyes had improved a full diopter.  (-6.5 to -5.5).   Maybe now I'll be able to see those wire shrimp!

I've been using my old mask exclusively since 2006.  I think I got my money's worth on that one.

Now I have to decide where the bifocal part positions, etc.