What lens should I take.

[backscatter_rob]

I fully agree with everyone here. The lenses you have listed are not the most suitable for underwater use even if the housing manufactures are supporting them. The Tokina 10-17mm fisheye for almost all wide angle, and either or both the Nikon 60mm macro and 105MM VR macro lenses will work for macro. Sometimes if you are just getting into it, the 60mm lens is a good choice for macro because it is a lot more forgiving than the 105 VR. If you are wanting a rectilinear (non fisheye) wide angle lens, the Nikon 12-24 is hard to beat but requires a bigger dome port than a fisheye. The 10-17 as mentioned above can be shot behind a small 100mm dome port with great results. The statement about getting close, then closer, and yet even closer is the absolute key to successful underwater photography. This is why the Tokina fisheye lens is the best choice. You can literally touch the dome to a subject and a fisheye lens will capture focus, fisheye lenses will be the only lens that will do this.

 

[Cali_diver]

What are you interested in shooting? I shoot with a D7100 and D7200. My main lenses are 60mm (perfect for night dives) and 105mm (great for small stuff and fish) for macro subjects. Tokina 10-17 for large (close) pelagics (whalesharks and mantas) and Close Focus Wide Angle. I use a 10-24 for sharks.

 

[PatW]

The tokina 10-17 is a great wide angle lens. The sigma 17-70 macro is a nice mid range zoom. It is not a true macro, but it does work for close ups. It also works well on large fish, turtles and divers, you can zoom in or out to compose the shot.

For close ups, the Nikon 60 macro is a very handy lens. You have to get really close for true macro and it is not really functional for that. It was always my go to lens on night dives. You can get a wet lens that will increase your close up potential. It is made by sub sea. The lens has a holder and flips up out of the way.

For true macro, the Nikon 105 macro is a great lens. It has a narrow depth of field so it is tricky. But if you get it dialed in, it takes great shots.

For starters, I would suggest 2 lenses: the 60 mm macro and either the tokina wide angle or the sigma mid range zoom. If you lean to really wide angle go with the tokina. If you like more flexibility, go with the sigma.

It kind of depends on the kind of photographer you are. If you have no interest in close ups get the first two lenses. If you are oriented to close ups : shots of gobies, blennies, sea horses, shrimp nudibranchs and other small stuff, get the 6o.

Optically speaking, the two macro lenses are the best quality. But the tokina and sigma are fine lenses too.

 

[BluewaterPhoto]

I think everyone covered the answer to your question pretty well, with some very good recommendations - so I won't beat a dead horse.

As you can see, the same lenses are recommended over and over (e.g. Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, and the Nikon 60mm macro).

Really, any wide-angle or macro lens will get you started. I'd stick between 50mm and 85mm for your first macro lens, and most wide angle lenses that start between 10mm and 12mm will probably do the job.

Good luck! Let us know what lens you end up getting.

Scott

 

[Aquaterra Adventures llc]

Of the lenses listed, I'd take the 18-55. As previously stated none of them are ideal but I have gotten some really good shots with my 18-55.

 

[AZTinman]

For what it's worth, I shoot a Nikon D7100 and here's what I use.

I've got a Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye, but I don't particularly care for the fisheye curvature. It's useful for large subjects like manta rays where the curvature doesn't matter.

My 60mm Nikkor Micro travels with me. The lens performs very well, but it doesn't see a lot of use. I prefer shooting larger subjects and use it when I get stuck on dive sites where the visibility is so bad that macro is my only option.

I've liked the results I get with my Nikkor 10-24mm. The white shark photo posted here was done with the lens set at 20mm. I use the lens with a mini-dome.

Recently, I've added a Nikkor 16-85mm. The idea is to give me more reach for larger critters in blue water conditions where I really don't need to use strobes. I recently tested it in less than optimum conditions on a sea lion shoot in the Sea of Cortez. The sea lion photograph was done with the lens at 16mm and strobes. It'll be interesting to test it in blue water conditions where the visibility is good. I'm not overly excited about how long the port extension must be to accommodate the lens and the 4x close-up filter that's required.

-AzTinman

 

[Mellisa]

Of the lenses listed, I'd take the 18-55. As previously stated none of them are ideal but I have gotten some really good shots with my 18-55.

A good choice, I used this lens for a long time

 

[Christian]

And for ports, flat for macro and a dome for wide angle. As big as possible if you plan on using a rectilinear lens. Fish eye is more forgiving and you get away with a compact. One of the difficult things with rectilinear lenses is overall sharpness (corners tend to be fussy). The antidote is a large dome and a lens with a short focus distance. Personally I have had better results with the Sigma 10-20 than the Nikon 12-24 behind a dome (hygyfot). But it might be different with another housing/dome brand as the physical aspects do vary a little. Remember that you shoot a whole system camera-lens-housing-port and then strobes too. You can be cutting edge and experiment with set ups no one has tried, perhaps discover something really cool — or spend lots of money on something that doesn’t really work. Safest way is to see what has worked for others and invest in that.
From what I have seen and heard, FF and crazy high resolution of the latest models tends to complicate the issues as a lot of the popular lenses for UW have a hard time holding up and many new lenses that are wonderful topside hasn’t been ”figured out” for UW use.
Of the lenses you have, the 18-55 behind a dome could be okeyish for fish/small sharks. But not a real choice. UW photography means odd ball glass - super wide or macro. In between is mostly not very usable.
I shoot a 10.5 FE and a 10-20 zoom split 80/20 of my time UW.
Good luck!