8 replies to this topic

[Taxgeek]

Just interested in the WA lense and port combos you're using with the 5d and Ike housing which produce acceptable corner sharpness for you.

Nobody apparently uses the 17-40. I know Ike has sold lots of 5d housings, and not everybody is shooting only macro, so .... share what works?

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeze? (insert bambi eyes here)

(As before, I'm more interested in your personal experience than references to the Ike website.)

Thanks so much!!
Susan

[herbko]

I don't have an Ike housing. I use a Sigma 15mm FE and a Sigma 24mm. I have a 17-40L, but I like the Sigma 24mm much better.

I posted recent shot with the 24mm here:

http://wetpixel.com/...showtopic=19405

and the WA shots posted here

http://wetpixel.com/...showtopic=19404

were taken with the Sigma 15mm FE.

[bacripe]

I also don't have an Ike - I've owned an aquatica and now a Sea & Sea. I use primarily the sigma 15mm, sometimes with a 1.4 teleconverter (the sigma works with the white tamron, and the canon 15mm works with the black tamron). I have shot the 17-40, but it's too soft in the corners for close focus wide angle work. Same goes for the 16-35 (I haven't shot the new one, but it sounds like it's got the same problem). It might be possible to mount a Tokina 10-17 on a teleconvertor - I'll have to look into it.

I've shot with the Canon and Sigma 20mm lenses - I didn't like either one very much (I'm fond of the fisheye effect). The 24mm is ok, but it's not that wide.

If you're going to buy one lens for the 5D, I'd make it a fisheye.

[acroporas]

I use the Sigma 15mm fisheye.

[Walt Stearns]

I have shot a lot of images with the 17-40 on both the 1dmkII and the 5D and found it to tough customer in producing decent corner sharpness in anything wider than 28mm with the 5D and 24mm with the 1DmkII. 1DmkII in a Seacam housing with their 9-inch superdome and 5D in a Subal housing with the FE2 (7.5 inch) domeport.

Shooting big animals in open water the lens works great. Shooting wide-angle scenics on reefs and wrecks, corners really start going south below f8.

I am not saying the lens is not good. It’s a terrific set of optics, it just has a hard time lending itself underwater behind a dome as it does above water.

For this kind of work, I personally favor a full frame fisheye with a 1.4x teleconverter, and in some cases, the same lens by itself.

If you are still planning on going through it, with Ikelite, I suggest using their new 8-inch dome port (See link: http://www.ikelite.c...abigadoma.html) with either the #5510.24 or #5510.25 port extension rings.

Ikelite’s chart for Canon (http://www.ikelite.c...port_canon.html) says to use the #5510.24. I would also try the #5510.25. You will need to do a little pool testing to see which combination dials in best for you.

As for going with Canon’s new 16-35L II, the diameter (82mm) of that lens makes it nearly impossible to use with some housings – Ikelite for one, Subal and Nexus quite possibly a no go.

[dhaas]

Susan,

From someone who has actually SHOT the Canon 5D in an Ikelite housing with 8" dome port, get either the Canon or Sigma 15mm Fisheye. Fisheye lenses being inherently sharper in the corners compared to ANY rectilinear (square) lens behind a dome port should give you nice results.

As Walt states many people have tried the 1.4X tele-convertor to tighten up the framing of the Fisheye view, and still deliver sharp photos. Personally, I'd just buy Canon's 24mm f2.8 which is a bit of a "sleeper" lens being "almost" as sharp as "L" glass for a lot lower price. As far as the f2.8 maximum aperture of the Canon 24mm f2.8 lens compared to the pricey 1.4L? Fugetta' 'bout it!

You could likely shoot BOTH the Canon / Sigma 15mm Fisheye and 24mm f2.8 behind the shortest Ikelite 8" extension #5510.10 meaning not having to change that once installed. No diopter screwing around either......

But hey, what do I know? I just put various cameras in housings and go try and make pictures

dhaas

Attached Images

• 

[Taxgeek]

Thanks dhaas!

So you've had good luck with either of those two fisheyes with a 1.4x and the 8" dome. That's good. And I take it one buys a stem of some sort for the dome, to place it the right distance out from the camera, right?

The 24 would probably be fine - have you used it with the 8" dome? I like the idea of the lower price, as I only get a chance to shoot WA once a year, and the dome is expensive too.

Walt, I hear what you're saying about the 17-40. The "tough customer" that it is must be because it is so long (or so short) in physical dimension - the physics of the lense and the dome just don't line up well. I don't understand those complicated calculations that some people on this forum use, but get the idea that a certain point inside the lense needs to line up with a certain point relative with the housing - and with this lense, it just doesn't. You're right that it's a sharp lense above water - it's just hard to avoid distortion underwater.

Thanks all.

Anybody else out there use this 5d/Ike setup?

[acroporas]

I've used the following WA lens x 8" dome combinations on my 5D.

Sigma 15mm FE with 8" dome with 5510.10 stalk.
Canon 24mm F/2.8 with 8" dome with 5510.10 stalk.

Sigma 15mm FE + Kenko pro 1.4x with 8" dome with 5510.16 stalk.
Canon 35mm F/1.4 with 8" dome with 5510.16 stalk.

And their performance underwater:

The Sigma 15mm FE is very sharp except in the very extreme corners where it is quite soft. The corners this far out are so distorted (and out of focus 99.9% of the time) that you don't notice the softness.

The Sigma 15mm FE with 1.4x is even better than without the TC. It is perfectly sharp corner-to-corner.

The Canon 24/2.8 and 35/1.4 Without a diopter, both are unacceptably soft outside of the middle. Corners on both are improved drastically with a diopter though. Both lenses focus close enough that a diopter may not be "required" but in practice they do need it. With a diopter they are both acceptable, but not at all in the same class as the FE/TC combo. As such when ever I want something less wide than the FE(underwater) I would allways choose the FE+TC (which has nearly an identical FOV as the 24). I expect the performance of these primes underwater is simlar to what you would see with a good zoom.


If you are going to just do one WA lens, I recomend the 15mm FE.

If you want to add a second WA lens, the 24/2.8 is acceptable and works behind the same dome extension so you can quickly swap between lenses. Though a TC and a second dome extension only costs ~$50 more than the 24/2.8 and is MUCH better. (Plus you can use the teleconverter on your macro lens....)

The wide angle photos in my Bonaire Gallery are all shot with the Sigma 15mm FE (some with some without a TC) behind the 8" dome on my 5D.

[Taxgeek]

Thanks, Acroporas! That helps alot, esp combined with dhaas's info. I'll get the 15, 8" dome and the stock that you use. Already have the same 1.4x.

Woo hoo, problem solved!! Now to get the funds allocated . . .

Thanks everybody.