Canon G7X Wet Lens Tests

June 18th, 2015

Canon G7X Wet Wide Angle Lens Tests

For full information on the camera, read our full Canon G7x review.

The Canon G7X is an incredible compact camera. Finally responding to Sony's success with the large 1" sensor of the RX100 series, Canon released the G7X that matches the 1" sensor size and offers all the other great features of other Canon compacts, such as the built in macro focus and easy to accomplish custom white balance.

However, with a 24-70mm equivalent lens, this camera runs into a few problems when trying to use a wet wide angle lens. Most of these lenses are designed around a 28mm lens, and when used with a wider camera vignetting can occur. We took to the pool to find out which lenses offer the best overall image quality when paired with the G7X and different housing options. Read on to see the results!

Fantasea Results | Nauticam Results | Recsea Results

For these wet wide angle tests we stood on the same line in a shallow pool and centered the 3ft tile in each picture to maintain a good reference for the angle of view for easy comparison in each shot.

Overall Recommendation:

Best Results:

Most Flexibility:

Nauticam Housing + Nauticam WWL-1 Lens (Standard Port)

Best Value:

Recsea CW Housing + Dyron Super Wide or Fantasea + BigEye Lens

Our tests determined that if you are looking for the ultimate wide angle option with the Canon G7X we recommend the Nauticam G7X Housing paired with the N50 Short Port and Dyron Super Wide Angle Lens. This set up with give you the widest field of view and best image quality. If your goal is a flexible camera system allowing you to use both wide and macro on the same dive we recommend either the Recsea or Nauticam housings (using the standard port with the Nauticam). The Fantasa housing is also a good option, though the Bigeye dome does not provide as wide a field of view as you can get with the Recsea or Nauticam. If you are on a budget though, the Fantasea housing and Bigeye dome combination is very good.

Fantasea Housing:

The best option for the Fantasea G7X underwater housing is the Fantasea Bigeye Lens. While this lens doesn't actually provide a wider field of view, what it does do is reverses the magnifying effects of refraction underwater. You'll get the "in air field of view" with the BigEye lens attached, which is about 25% wider than without it, offering a nice increase in field of view. Other lenses vignette too much with the G7X to be of value with this housing due to having to use an adapter on the port.

Fantasea G7X with no lens.

Fantasea G7X with Bigeye Lens

(ignore the lines in the photo, we accidentally left the protective film on!)

Bluewater WA110 lens - zoomed out (Too much vignetting!)

WA-110 Lens zoomed to remove vignetting - FOV is less than with no lens attached.

Inon UWL-H100 Type II - Zoomed Out (too much vignetting!)

Inon UWL-H100 Type II Lens - zoomed to remove vignetting. This result is barely wider than without a lens attached, not worth it.

Dyron Super Wide Angle Lens - zoomed out (too much vignetting!)

Dyron Super Wide Angle Lens - zoomed to remove vignetting. This option is effectively the same as the Bigeye lens. However the quality of the image near the edges is much better with the Bigeye Lens.

100% Crop of left pole, Bigeye is left, Dyron SWAL is right. Bigeye Lens is much Sharper.

Return to Top

Nauticam Housing:

The Nauticam housing is unique in that it features a removeable front port. We ran these tests with the standard port to find out what results would look like for those who did not want to purchase two port options, or for those looking for the most flexibility in their G7X system. With the standard port you maintain the ability to zoom all the way in and out which makes it useful for being able to switch between macro and wide angle lenses on the same dive. Unfortunately though your wide angle quality will suffer. All available lenses will offer vignetting, though you can zoom through on both the Inon and the Dyron Super Wide Angle Lenses and still have a nice wider field of view. For the widest results we recommend the Dyron Super Wide Angle Lens.

For the BEST wide angle you can get you'll want to purchase the Nauticam N50 Short Port. This does not allow for any zoom so you will need to lock down the zoom lever on the camera to avoid accidental zooming. Paired with the Dyron Super Wide Angle lens you'll get a crisp and extremely wide image for excellent reef scenes, wrecks, big animals etc!

Here are the results of our tests with the Standard Port:

Canon G7x in Nauticam Housing - No accessory lens

Bluewater WA110 lens - zoomed out (Too much vignetting!)

Bluewater WA110 lens - zoomed in, view is definitely wider, but edges are very soft

Inon UWL-H100 II - Zoomed Out, minimal vignetting (using the N50 Short Port would result in no vignetting)

Inon UWL-H100 II Lens - Zoomed In, angle of view is ok, edges of photo show major chromatic abberation (color fringing on the poles in the pool)

Dyron Super Wide Angle Lens - Zoomed out offers minimal vignetting. Using the N50 Short port should result in no vignetting for widest option avaialble.

Dyron Super Wide Angle - Zoomed In, this lens offers the best angle of view on the short port after zooming to remove vignetting. There is still a little bit of chromatic aberration on the poles in the pool, like all other wet lens options, but that can easily be corrected in Lightroom during editing, and the angle of view just cannot be beat!

Dyron Super Wide Angle with Nauticam N50 Short Port - best overall angle of view and clarity!

Nauticam WWL-1 Wet Wide Angle with N50 Short Port, this is also a great option for the G7X however you do need to crop in post to remove a very small amount of vignetting. (Remember you cannot zoom in when using the Short Port). You could also use the standard port but would need to zoom in more. With the WWL-1, this should not be a problem.

Return to Top

Recsea Housings

Recsea now offers two versions of housings, the original, high quality, aluminum housing which features full camera controls and a deeper depth rating and a new option for those on a budget, the "CW" polycarbonate housing. This option does not offer a rear control wheel but does have a clear back panel so you can easily check o-ring seal. Both of these housings also offers built in 67mm threads, a new feature for Recsea. This does mean that there will not be support for the popular quick release kits, but the threaded lenses are much more secure. Results were found to be the same between both housing options and very similar to the Nauticam with vignetting across the board and the Dyron Super Wide coming in as the winner. Here are the photos:

Recsea Housing with no wet lens.

Bluewater 110 Wide Angle Lens - Zoomed all the way out, WAY too much vignetting!

Bluewater 110 Wide Angle Lens - Zoomed in to remove vignetting is less wide than is possible with no lens attached, not a good choice.

Inon UWL-H100 II Lens - Zoomed Out to show vignetting.

Inon UWL-H100 II Lens - zoomed in to remove vignetting offers a wider field of view than without a lens. Chromatic abberation is present but can be removed in post with Lightroom easily.

Dyron Super Wide Angle Lens - zoomed out, similar to the Inon there is a lot of vignetting present.

Dyron Super Wide Angle Lens - zoomed in minimally to remove most vignetting. The dark corners on the left of the image can easily be removed in post for the widest possible field of view. Zoom in one more click to remove all vignetting and still have a wide image as seen below.

Dyron Super Wide Lens - zoomed in to remove all vignetting. This has to be done very carefully or the camera will not be able to focus. The Dyron is not designed to be zoomed during use.