Wide Angle/Wet Lens Help

[MH96]

Hello everybody.

I currently shoot with an Olympus TG5, with TG5 housing and single Sea & Sea YS03 strobe (all mounted on to the included Sea & Sea tray/arm system that came with my strobe)

I recently have been thinking about adding a wide angle wet lens to my set up allowing me to fit more in a single frame.

With that being said, I love the versatility of the TG5 and being able to switch between Macro and Wide Angle modes during my dives. Especially since shooting in macro is my favorite because I love nudibranchs.

If I were to purchase a wide angle wet dome, such as the Backscatter M52 - would this limit my macro abilities on my dive? Would I still be able to shoot in macro/microscope mode with the dome still attached to my housing? Or would I need to remove the dome completely to shoot macro?

I read that wet lenses can removed and replaced underwater (because the water between the housing and lens is crucial for the lens to work).

If I had to remove the lens to shoot macro on a dive, I wouldn’t know what to do with it, since my tray is too small for a lens mount.

Any advice would help, because I would love to add this to my set up will keeping the Olympus TG5 versatility.

Thanks!

 

[RVBldr]

Yep, swap lens underwater. The best solution might be to just find a place to put a lens holder on the tray, or get a bigger tray. With an RX-100 and Ike housing, I tend to swap frequently in warm water and sometimes just hold the w.a. lens. Not sure what your port size is, but I have an adapter on my Kraken w.a. so I need to be carful not to crank it down too much on the housing or the adaptor tends to get stuck in the port.

 

[Sushi Boy]

The Backscatter M52 wide angle air lens lets you shoot macro through the lens:

BACKSCATTER M52 WIDE ANGLE AIR LENS REVIEW

Like you mentioned, here's the rub though, you have to "burp" the lens when you get it underwater to get rid of the air between the housing and the lens. You can tether it to your camera, but the tether Backscatter included with mine isn't quite long enough for me to remove the lens without unclipping the tether, as well. I can probably hack a fix for that myself by putting a longer line on that tether, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[MH96]

Yep, swap lens underwater. The best solution might be to just find a place to put a lens holder on the tray, or get a bigger tray. With an RX-100 and Ike housing, I tend to swap frequently in warm water and sometimes just hold the w.a. lens. Not sure what your port size is, but I have an adapter on my Kraken w.a. so I need to be carful not to crank it down too much on the housing or the adaptor tends to get stuck in the port.

Great, thank you for this help. Until I can afford a new tray and arm setup (I eventually want to upgrade & be able to add a second strobe), I’m thinking for now to just slip my lens into a small soft bad and hook it to a Dring on my BC, but I don’t know if that would work.

 

[tursiops]

I recently have been thinking about adding a wide angle wet lens to my set up to make my images more sharp, and allowing me to fit more in a single frame.

A wide-angle lens won't make the pictures sharper although it will allow you to get closer and still get the subject into the frame....which might reduce some losses due to murky water between you and the subject. So it isn't actually the lens making things sharper, it is getting closer than makes things sharper. is that what you meant?

 

[MH96]

A wide-angle lens won't make the pictures sharper although it will allow you to get closer and still get the subject into the frame....which might reduce some losses due to murky water between you and the subject. So it isn't actually the lens making things sharper, it is getting closer than makes things sharper. is that what you meant?

Yes sorry! This is what I meant. I know it requires getting close to the subject! I just didn’t know if the lens in general would affect Macro

 

[tursiops]

Yes sorry! This is what I meant. I know it requires getting close to the subject! I just didn’t know if the lens in general would affect Macro

With a TG-5, you don't really want an accessory lens between you and the camera. the camera is just fine "naked." Using it will reduce magnification, add edge blurriness, and maybe reduce overall sharpness. If you are adding a dome, same thing applies....but maybe less so.

 

[tursiops]

I think you might find a discussion of this on WetPixel.

 

[HKGuns]

As stated above, sharpness isn't related to whether it is a wide angle or not. In fact, wide angle lenses are prone to distortion on the edges, which will actually decrease sharpness. This distortion lessens as you pay more for the lens and can be corrected in post processing if you have the right software.

As far as macro capability, you need to look at the minimum focal distance for the specific lens you are considering.

 

[ronscuba]

In my opinion, 2 strobes are needed if you are going to shoot wide angle, especially with a wide angle lens.

If you are limited in funds, if anything, I would buy a second strobe before buying a wide angle lens. The 2nd strobe will help with medium angle shots.