eskasi

So, I decided to go nuts... I will be leaving for the Maldives on the Ocean Geographic expedition next week but already I am booking another trip for July Thanks to everyone who gave me advice for the Maldives trip! I am now planning to do the Sardine Run and a few cage dives for great whites including a breaching trip to see them blast out of the water at False bay I have a few questions about lens choice though....

For the Sardine Run, I assume the right lens for my D300 would be the Tokina 10-17? However, my only other (non-macro) lens I have is the Sigma 18-50mm HSM macro for which I have a zoom gear also. Should I consider using this lens during the sardine run as well? am I wrong in thinking that the Tokina is the right lens? I want to be able to take it all in but I wonder how close I will actually get to the action ... would be nice to get closer shots of predators in action. Would be great to hear from those with experience.

The same question for the Cage diving experience... I think the 18-50 is probably the best bet? Should I even consider the Tokina at all or will the shark end up looking far too tiny? If both are suitable, I was thinking of perhaps going in with the Sigma first then swapping out to the Tokina during a rotation if the sharks are coming real close.... or would I be wasting my time?

Perhaps its a silly question but I have not done any WA work in almost a year.... I'd rather not waste a dive with the wrong lens! I guess Maldives next week would be a good refresher for me but I feel safer to ask the pros here too!

Thanks to all who can provide some insight and some advice too! I love this forum.

Cheers!

Hi all,

It has been quite a while since my last post here. I have had little opportunity to shoot anything but macro in the last two years and will be going on a Maldives expedition in May. I have never encountered Mantas or Whalesharks before and desperately hope to see some there.

My question would be what is my best lens options for this to put behind my Optical dome port (slightly smaller than the larger Acrylic dome)? I have the Tokina 10-17. It's extremely wide and I have had some good shots with it. However, having never shot Mantas before, I am wondering how close I may be able to get to fill the frame? Would I be better of slapping a 1.4TC on it too? If I am not mistaken, I can do that and simply add the TC and use the SX extension ring (or is it the 40?) to compensate for the increased length. I will have to see if I can find a zoom ring quickly enough before the trip that can accomodate that setup...

Would somebody who has the same setup give this newbie a little advice shooting large creatures? I also have the Sigma 18-50 2.8 HSM Macro which I have used with some success underwater.

Regards,
KB