I am off for the Sardine Run in a few days, and am suffering complete paralysis-of-analysis re what lens to use: Fisheye or rectilinear WA.

My options are:

• Olympus 8mm FE in Nauticam system

• Tokina 10-17FE in a Marelux system

• Panasonic 7-14mm in Nauticam

At present, I am leaning towards the Tokina because of the flexibility it will provide - but the Marelux setup is significantly heavier and harder to swim with if chasing action on the surface. So my preference would be to take the Nauticam MFT system bc of how much smaller and lighter it is - in which case i need to decide between the 8mm or the 7-14.

For those of you who have shot the Sardine Run - what’s focal length/FOV gets used the most often? I realize there is an element of luck involved but how likely are you to be close enough to the bait ball to need a fisheye? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

ChatGPT says that generally people dont miss fisheyes and a rectilinear WA will be sufficient for most shooting scenarios.

Edited yesterday at 09:05 AM1 day by vkalia

Hi,

hard to say. Always a lucky punch.

I shoot FF and mostly Nikkor 16-35 and Nikkor 08-15 with Kenko1.4 in these situations, like baits or big group of fish. I balanced my my rig positive on Sardine run in Mexico last year. Worked fine for me. I think it is not a big difference handling a slightly bigger rig in this situations. (I am 64 years old and not Arnie Schwarzenegger). But this is my point ot view. Different minds different thoughts.

Br Markus

Thanks, Markus. I am told that for the South African sardine run, there is a good amount of snorkelling on the surface with the bait balls. There, a smaller setup would likely make it easier to swim after the bait ball.

In the end, I have decided to take the Canon/Tokina 10-17 system after all. The faster AF and more modern sensor swing the deal for me.

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by vkalia

3 hours ago, vkalia said:

Thanks, Markus. I am told that for the South African sardine run, there is a good amount of snorkelling on the surface with the bait balls. There, a smaller setup would likely make it easier to swim after the bait ball.

In the end, I have decided to take the Canon/Tokina 10-17 system after all. The faster AF and more modern sensor swing the deal for me.

Hi @vkalia - Sounds like a fun trip. Curious, which Canon body?

3 hours ago, vkalia said:

Thanks, Markus. I am told that for the South African sardine run, there is a good amount of snorkelling on the surface with the bait balls. There, a smaller setup would likely make it easier to swim after the bait ball.

In the end, I have decided to take the Canon/Tokina 10-17 system after all. The faster AF and more modern sensor swing the deal for me.

Hi,

Toki 10-17mm is a good choice. I used it for many years with my Nikon D300 but sold it when I changed to FF.

I know SA Sardine run and Mexico Sardine run are different. But also last year in Mexico we did all trips snorkeling. Once the hunt starts most of the time the Bait moves often very fast. So go jump in the water, go back into the boat....... many times per day. So no good idea to gear up diving equipment.

To swim after the bait...... good luck😜. May be if you are lucky and find static baits. From my experience most of the time where there is action there is fast movement. Here two examle photos. First action bait, second with static bait (no hunters). First shot is about 17 years ago with the Nikon D300. Not a good shot. Water was boiling/murky and really hard to get some halfway sharp shots. Anyway just to give you an idea what could happen. Have fun in SA (if you have time do some diving at Protea). Great shark diving over there.

Br Markus