At a last moment decision I am joining friends in Tonga on early Sept. Any recommendation for photography of whales (a first for me)? what type of lens and setup? Any technique tips?

I have an Olympus/OM setup, with either 8mm fisheye or 7-14 pro + 180mm dome, or 12-50 kit + WWL1

Thanks!

The WWL is probably not an ideal choice as you will be snorkeling a lot. Since you don't dive deep it can be a problem with bubbles between the port glass. They clear out if you dive past 3-4 meters but you will splash and shoot on the surface quite often.

A fisheye with zoom ability is ideal in my opinion. I did very well with my 15mm fisheye in MagBay with humpbacks, but would have been nice to have more reach. If i get another chance i would add a 1.4tc to get more reach for when subjects are a bit further than point blank.

I didn't have my big rig when I did the snorkle tour in Tonga, so no first hand recommendations. But, you'll be swimming flat out just to keep up with the whales. Be careful bringing too much additional drag with you, as it'll end up slowing you down and make you miss a bunch of photos.

Like @Dave_Hicks suggested something with a zoom where you can easily adjust to the rapidly changing distances/angles will be super helpful.

Finally, the whales are there to eat, and there's a ton of plankton in the water. Be prepared for logs of cloudy water.

I've not dived in Tonga but have dived a couple of times with whale sharks. As @akarnani wisely points out, you are going to be either swimming flat out or hovering close to where they might stop to feed. In either case, keep the gear as minimal as possible. I'd suggest not taking strobes. If it's a flat out fast swim, they are a nuisance and a drag; if the whales are feeding that implies very turbid water, and the backscatter from strobes would spoil the image.

As @Dave_Hicks suggests, I too would go with an FE. FE zoom if doable. Definitely a small dome. Whales are big (!) and if you do get the chance to get reasonably close, possible when feeding, you definitely want the FE. Even if you can't get close, being able to get a diver in the image as well as the whale gives a sense of scale.

Just keep it simple. I get rid of the strobes but maybe keep a Stix-loaded arm or two for reasonably neutral buoyancy. I usually set up for Manual exposure, 400 ISO, reasonable depth of field, as fast a shutter as I can get away with, then take a few test shots once in the water to tweak the settings. Maybe use burst mode - say 3-5 shots a second; then get ready to swim like you're being chased by a great white...... Great fun. And exhausting. Enjoy!!!!

For snorkeling without strobes I run auto ISO and try for 1/125 with F8 at a minimum.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I guess I will go with the 8mm fisheye with 100mm zen dome. Taking the 7-14 zoom lens would mean schleping a big heavy dome.

In any event I will go with a stripped down housing (no arms or strobes). I am used to shooting with 45deg view finder, my worry it might be a bit heavy, but easier than composing on back LCD in a sunny environment.

14 minutes ago, Nir Friedman said:

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I guess I will go with the 8mm fisheye with 100mm zen dome. Taking the 7-14 zoom lens would mean schleping a big heavy dome.

In any event I will go with a stripped down housing (no arms or strobes). I am used to shooting with 45deg view finder, my worry it might be a bit heavy, but easier than composing on back LCD in a sunny environment.

I removed my strobes and arms but kept a single arm with stix floats configured as a cross-bar on top of the housing anchored at each side. Do a few buoyancy checks in a sink, pool, etc. Be sure to have a good lanyard and some place to attach it.

I've been to Tonga to photograph humpbacks many times and have extensive experience with humpbacks and other whale species all over the world. My most used combinations in Tonga are 16-35mm on full frame, and fisheye on full frame, and tokina 10-17 on crop frame. Depending on your luck, the comfort level of the individual whales, your guide, your group size, the weather, visibility, etc... there are situations were one combo is "more ideal" than the other. You never quite know. So it's really difficult to narrow things down to just one lens. But if I had to, for Tonga, I would choose either 16-35 on FF, 15mm fisheye WITH 1.4TC on full frame, or Tokina 10-17 on crop... NOT a straight/fixed 15mm on full frame.

With modern mirrorless and water contact lenses, I'd also suggest considering combos which give you ~130 degrees and a zoom range to narrower, provided they are "dry options", meaning the water contact optics such as Nauticam WACP, , or new Marelux equiv, etc., BUT NOT the "wet options" (such as WWLC, WWL1, etc.) which, as Dave Hicks pointed out, might end up with bubbles inside when you least want them... (But other than for the chance of bubbles, WWL-C and WWL-1 with a zoom lens behind are excellent for this kind of shooting...)

Most of my best pictures from Tonga are actually with the 16-35. Yes, you do need a big dome for best optical performance. But when properly configured, the range is nice and quality good- Just try to shoot at f8 and smaller. Swimming like hell after whales (and having to deal with the drag of a big rig) is usually not the way the best pictures of humpbacks (and other whales) are made. Those (best pictures) are usually created with tolerant animals, and careful, quiet, calm approaches by the humans. Because of this, I think the large dome port needed for quality 16-35 work on FF is an acceptable, manageable configuration. That said, For folks who are very small and/or not very comfortable in the water and/or weak swimmers, probably best not to make things more challenging with a 16-35/200 or 230mm dome/long extension rig.

Finally, the humpbacks are not in Tonga to feed. They are there to relax, mate, and most importantly give birth to babies. Feeding with this species occurs in cooler, more productive waters to the south (Antarctica, etc.). Water visibility in Tonga varies between milky and excellent depending on wind, location, temperature, current, depth, bottom substrate, etc.. But these waters are not full of the food (krill and other crustaceans, etc.) these humpbacks primarily eat elsewhere.

Have a great time with the beautiful whales of Tonga!

Edited August 7Aug 7 by Brandon Cole
just adding another sentence

4 hours ago, Nir Friedman said:

In any event I will go with a stripped down housing (no arms or strobes). I am used to shooting with 45deg view finder, my worry it might be a bit heavy, but easier than composing on back LCD in a sunny environment.

Shooting around or up towards the surface with a 45-degree finder can be a little tricky (it's what I had on my system) as aiming at the right place is a little deceiving. But, like many things, it's just practice.

Thanks again for all the advice. While we are on the subject, since I will be on a friend's sail boat and have also time in the water beyond the whale tours, do you have recommendations for reef-snorkling and/or diving in Tonga?

Thanks!

Nir