Tokina 10-16 or 11-16 2.8?

[cboater]

I hope to migrate to DSLR (housing my D80) from my Canon G9 UW outfit. I tend to take fish portraits, rather than macro.

I've read a lot about the Tokina 10-16, including that it is not a good topside lense, all things considered. How about the Tokina 11-16 2.8? Would this be a better lens for UW?

I don't own any lens. So, if I do get a housing for my D80, I will need to purchase a lens before buying the port system.

Thanks,

Laura

 

[AussieByron]

Hi Laura.

From my personal experience with just the Tokina 10-17mm, I never take it off 10mm. But I am mainly shooting large subjects like Sharks and Manta's really close and I need the 10mm to fit the whole subject into the frame.

If your shooting smaller fish portraits you might find the Tokina 10-17 and the Tokina 11-16 a bit too wide. The Sigma 17-70 has a great focal range and is a great general purpose lens and came be picked up at a good price. Maybe that might suit you better.

Regards Mark

 

[scottfiji]

I don't thing either of those lenses are good for fish portraits, they are both too wide. I'd use a 17-70mm for larger fish, and a 105mm for fast, small fish.

 

[Viz'art]

I second the Sigma 17-70mm for fish portrait it a pretty usefull lens also for close uo (+/- 1:2), but honestly do the major part of my photography with the Tokina 10-17mm

 

[slowhands]

I hope to migrate to DSLR (housing my D80) from my Canon G9 UW outfit. I tend to take fish portraits, rather than macro.

I've read a lot about the Tokina 10-16, including that it is not a good topside lense, all things considered. How about the Tokina 11-16 2.8? Would this be a better lens for UW?..

I think you meant the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens. It is not a rectilinear lens, like the 11-16mm, which would probably be a better topside lens for buildings etc. It's a whole different type of lens, a fisheye. Topside, these are mainly used by skateboarders; underwater, they are the lens of choice for close focus wide angle shooting. The fisheye distortion is not usually apparent underwater because there are few straight lines to compare.

Because it is a fisheye, it has a much wider angle of view than a rectilinear lens of similar focal length. That's highly desirable underwater, since it lets you get very close to your subject and yet include the surroundings. Getting close is the key to good pics underwater. It also focuses very close, to 6 inches, marvelous! Sometimes it's too wide for fish portraits, so people put a Kenko 1.4x or 1.5x teleconverter on it with excellent results.

In conclusion, with the Tokina 10-17mm you trade the benefits of wide field of view and close focusing for the slight issue of extreme distortion -- gladly. This lens is preferred by a great many Canon and Nikon shooters underwater.