Canon 15mm F2.8 Fisheye and Underwater Whales

I apologize in advance for what’s probably going to be a series of the dumbest questions you’ve had in a long time.

I’m in the planning phase of a vacation that I’ll be taking in early 2014. The vacation will be going to the Dominican Republic (Silver Bank to be exact) to snorkel with Humpback Whales on their breeding grounds. My current camera is an Xti which I know is already ancient in the camera world. Provided this camera is still working come time for my vaca that’ll be coming with me. For lenses I really only have the kit lens, the 55-250mm IS, and a 75-300mm – all of the Canon make.

With that said, I’ve been trying to figure out my best options for an underwater camera set up without having to shell out thousands of dollars. The trip alone Is already in the $4,000+ range, My options are to buy a decent underwater camera or buy a wider ranged lens, possibly a fisheye. I’ve seen some amazing photos of these whales as they approach the swimmers so I definitely want a wide enough range to be able to catch most if not all of the whale’s body underwater.

The more I think about it the more I’m leaning towards buying a new lens. I like the idea of having an underwater camera, but I don’t really see myself using unless I go on this trip again in the future. If I were to buy a wide angle or fisheye lens I could still use it whenever I wanted.

The 15mm F2.8 fisheye lens is the one that I’m really looking at right now. I’ve been seeing it recommended to try to get within the 10-22 range when photographing whales underwater so this 15mm lens would fit that criteria and my price range. Now for the really dumb question… how does a fisheye lens work? Is it like a function that you can turn on and off or is that how the lens is all the time. I’m just curious because I’d like to find out if you guys who already own this lens think it would be an ok lens for this purpose. Would all the shots have that “distorted” fisheye look? I think it could have some really cool effects, but I don’t want all of the shots to come out looking funny if that makes sense. Do any of you have any sample shots of underwater wildlife using this lens?

If you don’t think this lens would work, I’m open to suggestions on alternative lenses, but I’m trying to stay in the $500-$600 range at the most. Any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!! J

If you are going to go for an additional lens for your existing camera, you will need to invest in an underwater housing as well. As a housing for a DSLR can be extremely expensive, it might actually be cheaper to buy a small compact underwater camera. As you will be snorkelling, a camera that is good to 10m depth should be sufficient.

I would go with buying the new lens and renting an underwater housing for your trip.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

Saint728 wrote in post #14079620
I would go with buying the new lens and renting an underwater housing for your trip.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

I agree.

I hadn't really thought much about getting the "real" underwater camera housing. When I first saw them online I knew they'd be WELL out of my budget. I'm looking into alternatives like this one... http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1331689​308&sr=8-4 ... I know these aren't the ideal choice and could be risky, but for the six days I'll be using it, I may just take my chances and go with something like this. Have any of you tried anything like this?

I've tried finding a place to rent an actual underwater housing, but my camera's an Xti which is "old" so I'm not even finding the housing to be available anywhere.

As for the lens choices... I'm going to start looking at the Sigmas too since there seem to be some decent ranges in my budget.

In a perfect world... I'd win the lottery tonight and I'd be able to get all top of the line stuff, but I don't see that happening!

I don't think I would trust a plastic bag with my camera underwater. Maybe you should just rent an underwater camera instead? www.borrowlenses.com/p​roduct/underwater/Cano​n_d10 Its kind of early planing what to use when your trip is almost 2 years away. You might not even have that camera anymore.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

For a crop camera have a look at the tokina 10-17 fisheye or the rokinon 8mm. there was a thread hererecently

If you do end up with a housing, the tokina will be spot on.

a bit more info here

As for the lens choices... I'm going to start looking at the Sigmas too since there seem to be some decent ranges in my budget.


woulden't it be a b*tch if you went through all that expense and hassle and you were face to face with a whale and the sigma backfocussed ?

ed rader

Renting a underwater housing is a good idea but I'm not sure how many rental houses let you bring rented gera out of the country. I would look into buying a housing, especially if your into waterlife, and a housing for a rebel shouldn't be that much.

tylerpaulphoto wrote in post #14082963
Renting a underwater housing is a good idea but I'm not sure how many rental houses let you bring rented gera out of the country. I would look into buying a housing, especially if your into waterlife, and a housing for a rebel shouldn't be that much.

The cheapest I've found has been around the $1,500 mark. To me, that's a lot. Especially considering this will probably be the only time I'll be using it. I don't dive or snorkel on a regular basis, but I have an addiction to Humpback Whales so I'm making this trip to see them on their breeding grounds. The trip itself is very expensive so I'm trying to get my best options in line to get some decent pics to come home with.

ed rader wrote in post #14082906
As for the lens choices... I'm going to start looking at the Sigmas too since there seem to be some decent ranges in my budget.

woulden't it be a b*tch if you went through all that expense and hassle and you were face to face with a whale and the sigma backfocussed ?

ed rader

Not sure what you're saying here. Are Sigmas known for having focusing issues? I haven't really started researching them so this is basically my start off point.

Saint728 wrote in post #14082657
I don't think I would trust a plastic bag with my camera underwater. Maybe you should just rent an underwater camera instead? www.borrowlenses.com/p​roduct/underwater/Cano​n_d10 Its kind of early planing what to use when your trip is almost 2 years away. You might not even have that camera anymore.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

As long as this camera is still working, it's the one I'll be bringing with me. Even if it does die I'd be upgrading to another Canon anyway so whichever lens I get should still be compatible.

As for renting a housing, I can't even find a place to rent one from online. All of the websites say it's a discontinued model (which I kind of expected).

Sorry for the multiple replies here. I'm sneaking on while I'm at work so I have to take short cuts to post my messages.

Another option I was considering was the Sealife DC1400 camera which goes for $500 including the underwater housing. The sample pics and videos posted online look pretty amazing, but it concerns me that the short range is already at 26mm. If the whales get to close it won't do me much good unless I want EXTREME close up shots.

Oy... my head it starting to spin trying to figure all of this out...

Funny how fast things can change! This week I made an impulse buy out of the blue and got a new Canon T3i. I just got it a couple of days ago and haven't had much time to play with it yet, but so far I'm very impressed. So now... this will be the camera I take on the trip. Although, I'll probably bring both just in case.

I've pretty much decided on which way I'm going to go now after seeing some photos taken on these trips. I think that a fisheye lens is the way to go. I'm planning a trip out to California to touch the Grey Whales to so having a fisheye lens would come in handy in that situation as well.

Zipline wrote in post #14079528
My options are to buy a decent underwater camera or buy a wider ranged lens, possibly a fisheye....[/FONT][FON​T=Century Gothic]The 15mm F2.8 fisheye lens is the one that I’m really looking at right now. I’ve been seeing it recommended to try to get within the 10-22 range when photographing whales underwater so this 15mm lens would fit that criteria and my price range. Now for the really dumb question… how does a fisheye lens work? Is it like a function that you can turn on and off or is that how the lens is all the time.

A fisheye is a very wide angle lens which does no correction of curvature of lines. Lines which are, in fact, straight, but which do not pass precisely thru the CENTER of the image circle will appear as curves! One cannot turn on/off this characteristic. So fisheye lenses are very specialized, and often using it all the time become cliché in appearance. It can heighten the effect in some cases, but it can easily be overused.