Hi everyone,

I am looking to buy a new lens for my D70 and i cannot decide which WA lens to get.

I was looking at the 12-24 Nikkor WA zoom - does the sigma work in an aquatica dome? it is quite a bit cheaper.
Nikons new 10.5mm FE lens, or 15mm WA lens which i am not sure!!

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Alastair

If you are on a budget, I'd get the Sigma 15 FE. If not, I'd get the 12-24 and then the 10.5mm

Karl

See the following page for typical pictures from different lenses.

http://www.splashdowndivers.com/photo_gall...ple_gallery.htm

As for recommendations, I agree with Karl that the Sigma 15mm lens is a great "if I only had one lens" lens. I have used mine for months at a time. In addition to being able to take a wide range of pictures it is a much easier lens to use than a zoom lens because you have one less variable to deal with.

And lastly, I assume you will be using strobes and shooting RAW. If not, you should be.

http://www.splashdowndivers.com/photo_gall...cessing_raw.htm

Odds are that you will be happiest with Nikon's 12-24mm. It is flexible and is nice to have when you aren't sure what you will be photographing underwater. Use a +2 diopter if you are shooting CFWA. Images tend to come out sharper. For distant shots, I don't think it helps much.

Joe

All,

thanks for the advice i think that i will go with the sigma 15mm and the 10.5mm FE and if funds allow the 12-24mm at a later date. Also the 15mm and 10.5mm should fit in my existing dome for my Aquatica housing. Although i will need to get the fisheye shade.......does having a shade make that much difference?

Alastair.

There is not a lot of difference between the 15 and the 10.5. My favorite right now is the 10.5 but I shoot for months at a time before changing from using one or the other.

"Not a lot of difference between the 15 and the 10.5"?

Is this true?

The 10.5 has a field of view of 180 degrees, and it's really easy to shoot your own fins/strobe arms/strobe etc by accident: I think that the 15 (I'm a fisheye fan, and use the 10.5) would be just that bit easier to use.

I wouldn't think about buying a 12-24mm later, it's a lot of money for a little extra flexibility, and it needs a big dome: with a 170mm dome I have still found +2D necessary, and +3D better if working within a couple of feet of the dome. There's been a lot of discussion about the 12-24mm Nikkor and dioptres (such as Herb Seegar's web pages), but the basic need is for a BIG dome, which is awkward to handle.

I have been casting about for a small lens, to use in a small dome to complement the 10.5mm for shooting fish/faces. I haven't found the answer yet, though the discontinued Tokina 17mm aspherical prime lens seems to produce a nice image with rectilinear properties using +2D in the 170mm dome. I haven't found a lens to share Nexus' wonderful glass 160 dome for the 10.5mm, whose diameter seems to be about 10cm (so I have no idea where "160" comes from...).

Tim

Oh, and a dome shade is absolutely necessary to help with flare, but mostly to stop crashing the dome into scratchy things, which damage even glass, and hate acrylic.

Tim, again.

Well worth looking into is the new Sigma 10-20mm, it uses the same zoom gear as the Sigma 17-35mm and the extension ring for the 105mm macro so far is doing a good job for me, its a good combination top side u/w lens and the split shots I have done looks good (no diopter required in an 8" dome) I also have the 10.5mm fisheye and really love it, its just that having 104 degree of non distorted info to work with, well its really nice.

Cheers

Re "Is this true?" Well, from the standpoint that what I can shoot, and the resulting pictures I get, I consider the10.5 and the 15 to be interchangeable.

Samples here.

http://www.splashdowndivers.com/photo_gall...ry_l/index.html

http://www.splashdowndivers.com/photo_gall...ry_q/index.html

I hadn't even considered the 10-20mm Sigma.........

I will have to make a decision soon as i am off to the phillipines at the end of the month.....

but i think i have narrowed it down to three with everyones advice, 10.5, 15 and i will try the 10-20mm as soon as i get back to civilization...the joy of buying new toys!!

cheers,

Alastair