WA or fisheye for S90 in Ikelite housing

[Lars_N]

As I am about to expand my “horizon” (I am going to buy a wide angle / fisheye) I was hoping that some of all you experienced photographers in here could guide me with regards to some basic issues.

1. What are the differences between a WA and a fisheye lens? Is it simply the angle they cover; is it the “dome” part on the fisheye, a combination or something completely different?
2. The main reason for the purchase is that I, in a few weeks time, will be diving where there is a chance of encountering big fish (whale shark and / or manta) and I would very much like to be prepared to get the complete fish in the picture without having to be miles away. The second issue is that I would like to be able to shoot macros with an in-depth focus. Having to use the lens for the two mentioned actions I have read that a fisheye is the right solution and having studied a large number of professional photos I can see that a very large part of them are shot with a fisheye lens. Can any of you confirm this?
3. I have followed some of the threads in here regarding the feasibility of using various WA’s / fisheyes on the Canon S90 / Ikelite combination. I really appreciate that some shops spend time comparing a number of different lenses; testing them in one go gives a very good basis for the comparison. The most suitable lenses based on what I have seen in here are the FIX UWL-04, the Zen 105 and the Dyron lenses WA15 and WA20. Are there anybody out having used them for a while that can give some more info on their experience? Or anybody having experience with other lenses like e.g. the 10bar WC-M67-F104 + P-M104x125FD or the Dyron DY.FIXUWL-12? Any suggestions to lens choice is appreciated.

 

[scottfiji]

hey Lars - great questions. I cover some of the differences here, with example photos.

At the same focal length, a fisheye lens will generally give a larger angle of view that a rectilinear wide-angle lens, and the image seen by the lens is mapped to the photograph differently.

For mantas and whale sharks, you want as wide of a lens as possible, assuming you will get close to them (e.g. - manta cleaning station). But it depends on the destination, in some places these animals dont' come that close -if something is far away the fisheye lens can make it look very far away

I'm sure others will chime in regarding #3

 

[Lars_N]

Based on Scott’s useful reply (thank you Scott!!) I have a few more questions.

In case you have the fisheye lens mounted and the manta is not approachable so it will look very small in the picture, would zooming then be an option or would that have a very negative effect on the picture quality? Would it be better to remove the fisheye?

Would a better alternative be to have a “normal” WA and a “dome” (e.g. Inon UWL 100-28AD + Dome Unit UWL100 ) and then remove the “dome” if the manta is too far away?

 

[Nemrod]

Based on Scott’s useful reply (thank you Scott!!) I have a few more questions.

In case you have the fisheye lens mounted and the manta is not approachable so it will look very small in the picture, would zooming then be an option or would that have a very negative effect on the picture quality? Would it be better to remove the fisheye?

Would a better alternative be to have a “normal” WA and a “dome” (e.g. Inon UWL 100-28AD + Dome Unit UWL100 ) and then remove the “dome” if the manta is too far away?

The Inon 100WAL and the 100-28AD when equipped with the dome are fisheye lenses. They have a FOV well over 130 degrees.

Zooming often does not work well, the corners become progressively distorted past about 50mm zoom.

Useful link:

Field of View - Rectilinear and Fisheye Lenses

Never having used a FIX lens, I suspect it performs similar to the Inon 165AD-FE but seems slightly larger and perhaps more suitable to cameras that are 28mm native. Will the FIX lens work with the Ikelite case, don't know, will the 165AD-FE work with the Ikelite case, we are told no and there is no adapter anyways. Will the Inon 100WAL with or without dome work, probably, will the FIX work, probably but don't know for sure.

The Dyron stuff is a mystery, it seems rare in the USA, know nothing about them or where to purchase them or even what they really are or do.

There are current threads in this sub forum by dhass and Jordy showing the S90/Ikelite and Ikelite WA-20 lens results. You decide.

N

 

[Choyster]

Nimrod: There's actually an adapter for the Ikelite case to accept Inon AD mounts. It looks like there's going to be some vignetting at the widest zoom but I haven't had a chance to get mine wet so not 100% sure how bad the problem is. I got mine from Jack at Ocean Optical (Adaptor Ring ADF M67 - Lens & Filter Adapters - Point & Shoot Lenses & Filters - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photo - 800-359-1295!).

Just to be clear, this adapter works for the "standard" Inon AD mount. I don't think it will work with the UWL 100-28AD lens.

 

[Choyster]

One other thing to think about is that unless you're freakishly good with metering (nod to Nemrod), you'll probably need to add a second strobe when you get past a FOV of 100 degrees or so.

 

[Nemrod]

Nimrod: There's actually an adapter for the Ikelite case to accept Inon AD mounts. It looks like there's going to be some vignetting at the widest zoom but I haven't had a chance to get mine wet so not 100% sure how bad the problem is. I got mine from Jack at Ocean Optical (Adaptor Ring ADF M67 - Lens & Filter Adapters - Point & Shoot Lenses & Filters - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photo - 800-359-1295!).

Just to be clear, this adapter works for the "standard" Inon AD mount. I don't think it will work with the UWL 100-28AD lens.

Nope, that Ikelite adapter for AD lenses is for the small port Ikelite housings that are about 54mm diameter, the Ikelite S90 housing is the 67mm diameter and that adapter will not work at all, sorry, if it were that simple I would have just done that on my Ike/570.

N

 

[Nemrod]

One other thing to think about is that unless you're freakishly good with metering (nod to Nemrod), you'll probably need to add a second strobe when you get past a FOV of 100 degrees or so.

?? I use a Sekonic Marine II meter. Had it since about 1984.

I keep being reminded that digi camies have a histogram but the problem I see with that is that it is after the fact and a meter tells me the "settings" before hand.

Once we learned a film, be it Kodachrome or Tri-X etc and then understood how your meter gauged the scene it was easy to set exposure (sorta). The meter works the same with digi cams. It seems that the three Canons I have at my disposal now pretty much see things the same way. Wonder upon wonders, their programing is similar and the design of their sensors is probably similar so it is pretty easy to quickly learn how they respond to the conditions indicated by the Sekonic.

Dhass has made such fun of my Sekonic that I have put it in the back of the sock drawer perhaps never to see the light of day again, I once lost an Aqua Master back there, hmmmmm. Guess I am going naked with the S90 :depressed:.

N

 

[dhaas]

Nemrod,

I never said Sekonic meters were worthless! I owned at least 4-6 of them.

They DO make great paper weights along with Nikonos cameras (any model) and anything else FILM related LOL.....

Seriously though......Take your fantastic Canon S90 OUTDOORS and set up the second tap of the display button to SHOW your histogram on the LCD. (This is in the MENU choices)

UW I tend to use CENTER WEIGHTED metering. You can experiment OUTSIDE with ground, middle stuff and a bit of sky. Tip the camera up and down and watch the histogram slide left and right a bit.

It is the best tool underwater to help understand your AVAILABLE LIGHT meter reading versus what your foreground flash will fill in.

For deeper blue backgrounds a bit of underexposure on the histogram is fine. Just don't peg it all the way to the left......

There are a ton of articles out there if you Google "Histograms".

But I think just playing bit on the surface will teach people more.

Good luck!

dhaas

P.S. - Without the Sekonic meter your Canon S90 rig is getting lighter and more compact by the minute

 

[Choyster]

Nemrod -- Trust me, it works. Here's a photo of my rig. Ikelite housing, adapter ring, Inon UWL 105AD. And my comment about you and the metering is that I seem to recall you've got some awesome wide angle cave photos you shot without strobes.