I'm going to do some open water expeditions to swim with humpbacks in Mo'orea and also the Marlin run in Baja later this year. I'm curious what are folks using as a setup since there's a lot of jumping on and off boats and surface swimming/freediving. Are folks using rectilinear lenses with large domes? Fisheye lenses? Thanks...
Pelagic expedition setup
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For free diving during my film shooting days I would use either a Nikonos body with a UW Nikkor 15mm lens or a housed Nikon SLR with 15mm, 18mm, and 20mm lenses. All rectilinear.
You had to be cautious when entering the water from any great hight while using the Nikonos as it was easy to dislodge the lens if you gave it much of an impact, thus flooding the system.
With my current rig, Nikon D800E’s in Nauticam housings, I’ve used the same lenses as I did with the SLRs, and have taken quite a liking to the Nikon 16-35mm f/4 zoom lens and it is by far the main workhorse amongst my stable of wide angle rectilinear lenses. I simply do not care as much for the images that I’ve made while swimming with whales, dolphins, crocodiles and the other large animals using fisheye lenses.
My metal housings have all been much more robust than the Nikonos cameras, and have proven to be secure enough to make entries under more adverse conditions without fear of flooding. That said, I still prefer to get the camera immersed as gently as conditions allow.
You had to be cautious when entering the water from any great hight while using the Nikonos as it was easy to dislodge the lens if you gave it much of an impact, thus flooding the system.
With my current rig, Nikon D800E’s in Nauticam housings, I’ve used the same lenses as I did with the SLRs, and have taken quite a liking to the Nikon 16-35mm f/4 zoom lens and it is by far the main workhorse amongst my stable of wide angle rectilinear lenses. I simply do not care as much for the images that I’ve made while swimming with whales, dolphins, crocodiles and the other large animals using fisheye lenses.
My metal housings have all been much more robust than the Nikonos cameras, and have proven to be secure enough to make entries under more adverse conditions without fear of flooding. That said, I still prefer to get the camera immersed as gently as conditions allow.
David Haas
Contributor
Search under my name for Moorea' whale posts.
I used a compact Sony RX100 VII in a Fantasea housing with a borrowed Inon UWL-H100 wide angle lens. Not super wide but I was happy with my pictures.
The lens had 67mm threads so secure on entry from our large RIB boat. I was a bit nervous "burping" the lens (unthreading and threading back on to eliminate air bubbles) while swimming over to where the whale(s) were it was 800' deep.
If you go with a compact camera and wide angle wet lens one of the Quick Release set ups like Fantasea's QRS system might be advisable.
If you use a housed SLR or mirrorless interchangeable lens any lens rectilinear or fisheye will both work.
Rectilinear might have a small advantage as no corner sharpness to worry about in blue open water and sometimes the whales aren't super close.
Good luck!
David Haas
I used a compact Sony RX100 VII in a Fantasea housing with a borrowed Inon UWL-H100 wide angle lens. Not super wide but I was happy with my pictures.
The lens had 67mm threads so secure on entry from our large RIB boat. I was a bit nervous "burping" the lens (unthreading and threading back on to eliminate air bubbles) while swimming over to where the whale(s) were it was 800' deep.
If you go with a compact camera and wide angle wet lens one of the Quick Release set ups like Fantasea's QRS system might be advisable.
If you use a housed SLR or mirrorless interchangeable lens any lens rectilinear or fisheye will both work.
Rectilinear might have a small advantage as no corner sharpness to worry about in blue open water and sometimes the whales aren't super close.
Good luck!
David Haas
btscott
Contributor
I was in Rurutu last year with the humpbacks. Used my Canon 80D with Ikelite house, 8" dome and Kenko 1.4 with Tokina 10-17.
Jump in, have someone hand you the camera. Head down, camera in front of you and swim fast as you can. Swim where they are going, not where they are. There is a little strategy to it
You were wetpixel asking same thing I think?
Jump in, have someone hand you the camera. Head down, camera in front of you and swim fast as you can. Swim where they are going, not where they are. There is a little strategy to it
You were wetpixel asking same thing I think?
btscott
Contributor
All good, I've done the same thing. I didn't realize until after I posted and edited the bit at the end in. Apologies for my redundancy. Enjoy your trip. Swimming with the humpbacks is an amazing experience. If you go with someone else, suggest having them use a Gopro. Attaching it to your housing is a lot of drag for all the swimming you do. But, my wife used the Gopro while I shot stills. It was nice to have both.
I use the tokina 10-17 with my cropped sensor Nikon D500. I can use the mini dome with this lens so it makes it so much easier to swim through the water. It is small enough so I can also get in easily with it when there is no one to pass it to you. Oh and Long fins!
bluedogs
Registered
btscott
Contributor
We stayed at Le Manotel. Can't recommend them. Met other people staying at Vaitumu Village and they seemed much happier.
Much fewer people in Rurutu. We often had whales to ourselves with a boat of 6-8 people. There sometimes was another boat with 4 people. Never saw more than the two boats out looking for whales.
You're there for the whales, not a whole lot else to do on the island. One day we got electric bikes and rode around the entire island.
Much fewer people in Rurutu. We often had whales to ourselves with a boat of 6-8 people. There sometimes was another boat with 4 people. Never saw more than the two boats out looking for whales.
You're there for the whales, not a whole lot else to do on the island. One day we got electric bikes and rode around the entire island.
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