Help choosing a wide lens for beginner

[pisauron]

I recently bought an A6400 with Seafrogs housing from a friend.
The kit came without a lens.

I am interested in photographing wrecks and wide shots mostly. I am looking for a wide lens that can fit entire wreck shots (or the bow) and photos from inside the wreck.

I looked into the Sony 10-18, Sigma 10-18 & Sony 10-20.

And i can't decide which one will fit better? Or maybe i am missing some other lens?


Thank for your help

 

[Barmaglot]

Sony 10-20mm is newer and, as I understand it, better quality.

If you're okay with fisheye distortion, consider Tokina 10-17mm fisheye - it is considerably wider than rectilinear 10mm options, at the cost of barrel distortion, which is fine for reefscape shots, but might be distracting for wrecks.

 

[pisauron]

Sony 10-20mm is newer and, as I understand it, better quality.

If you're okay with fisheye distortion, consider Tokina 10-17mm fisheye - it is considerably wider than rectilinear 10mm options, at the cost of barrel distortion, which is fine for reefscape shots, but might be distracting for wrecks.

Thank you.

do you know if there is a big loss when using the 10-20 because it doesn't have OSS?

 

[Barmaglot]

To be honest I've never thought OSS to be necessary underwater - strobes do a good job of freezing motion, while a large camera rig in water is a fairly stable platform by itself. Most of my shooting has been with stabilized lenses (Sony 10-18mm, 16-50mm, 90mm), but when I used non-stabilized lenses (Canon 60mm macro, 7Artisans 7.5mm fisheye) I didn't feel any difference.

 

[CanadaDan]

I've been using the Sigma 16mm 1.4 DC DN with the Seafrog 6" glass dome with good results but would like wider at times without backing up too far and loosing strobe/light effectiveness. Looking at the new Sigma 10-18MM F2.8 DC DN | C, not sure if SF will make a gear or if I'll be able to adapt a current zoom gear. I'll find out when I see the lens in person this summer (June release). It's a small lens so the 6" dome should work.

SIGMA 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN | Contemporary

The smallest and lightest large-aperture ultra-wide-angle zoom lens for APS-C cameras. Create the perfect compact travel lens system when paired with the SIGMA 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN | Contemporary.

www.sigmaphoto.com

 

[Nemrod]

Sony does not have a good fisheye native lens available, not from Sony, not from anyone. It is one of the downsides to the Sony underwater. The Kraken wide angle wet lens used in conjunction with the Sony PZ kit lens will get you about 130 degrees which is similar to what I get with my NA6400 nauticame and Nauticam WWL-1. The NLA Sigma 16mm prime is also a good choice though with both the Kraken and the Nauticam lenses though both are zoom through.

The suggested Tokina fisheye zoom is going to need an adapter such as from Meta-bones as those are Canon mount lenses. The new Sigma 10-18mm with Sony E mount looks interesting for use behind a dome.I might need to save up for one.

To take a photo of an entire wreck, you will need to shoot in available light and you will need a fisheye (165-180 degrees FOV) or at minimum a wet lens semi-fisheye like the Kraken or Nauticam WWL-1 (130+/- degrees FOV).

The Sony 8mm prime lens with the Sony fisheye adapter gets the 180 degree FOV but due to excessive distortion in the corners must be used at a minimum of f11 to clean up to an acceptable amount. Here is a CFWA shot with the Sony 8mm prime and fisheye adapter behind a Nauticam dome port at f16, ISO at 400, max sync speed of 1/160:

 

[pisauron]

Sony does not have a good fisheye native lens available, not from Sony, not from anyone. It is one of the downsides to the Sony underwater. The Kraken wide angle wet lens used in conjunction with the Sony PZ kit lens will get you about 130 degrees which is similar to what I get with my NA6400 nauticame and Nauticam WWL-1. The NLA Sigma 16mm prime is also a good choice though with both the Kraken and the Nauticam lenses though both are zoom through.

The suggested Tokina fisheye zoom is going to need an adapter such as from Meta-bones as those are Canon mount lenses. The new Sigma 10-18mm with Sony E mount looks interesting for use behind a dome.I might need to save up for one.

To take a photo of an entire wreck, you will need to shoot in available light and you will need a fisheye (165-180 degrees FOV) or at minimum a wet lens semi-fisheye like the Kraken or Nauticam WWL-1 (130+/- degrees FOV).

The Sony 8mm prime lens with the Sony fisheye adapter gets the 180 degree FOV but due to excessive distortion in the corners must be used at a minimum of f11 to clean up to an acceptable amount. Here is a CFWA shot with the Sony 8mm prime and fisheye adapter behind a Nauticam dome port at f16, ISO at 400, max sync speed of 1/160:

Thanks,

I prefer to not use a fisheye and stay with rectilinear lenses in wreck wideshot. Maybe adding seafrogs dome port for a little bit of angle.

 

[tursiops]

Best Wide Angle Wet Lenses

Taking stunning wide angle photos and videos using your compact & mirrorless cameras requires a high quality wet wide angle lens. Our buyer's guide is here to help you choose the right lenses for you. Contact our sales team to discuss in detail, we are here to help!

www.bluewaterphotostore.com

 

[Nemrod]

Thanks,

I prefer to not use a fisheye and stay with rectilinear lenses in wreck wideshot. Maybe adding seafrogs dome port for a little bit of angle.

That is going to limit you to about an 80 to 100 degrees diagonal FOV even behind a dome. That will make wreck photos a challenge. Here I am shooting straight up into the sun using the Nauticam WWL-1, about 130 degrees diagonal FOV, semi-fisheye:

 

[Barmaglot]

Thanks,

I prefer to not use a fisheye and stay with rectilinear lenses in wreck wideshot. Maybe adding seafrogs dome port for a little bit of angle.

You absolutely need a dome port - shooting 10mm through flat glass will produce very significant pincushion distortion and loss of AoV. Here is a sample pool shot, 10-18mm@10mm through a flat port:

And the same shot through a SeaFrogs 6-inch dome:

FWIW, I have SeaFrogs Salted Line 6-inch and 8-inch domes that I no longer use since I upgraded from a6300 to a6700 (different port mount), located in Rehovot.