Need lens recommendation for Palancar Reef Cozumel

Hi everyone,

I am headed to Cozumel (Palancar Reef) for the first time at the end of this month. I will be shooting with a Nikon D70s in an Ikelite housing & DS-125 strobe. I have a choice of shooting with the Nikon 60mm, 18-70mm or 12-24mm. For those of you who have been there... which lens would you recommend for this area? Are there more macro opportunities or wide angle?

Thanks in advance.

-Chris

Hi Chris,

Too bad you're not going to be there in Feb. I'll be doing a UW photo workshop there at Scuba Club Cozumel. You'll find when you get there that you'll be diving all the reefs there. Palancar is just one of them with many sections. Palancar and Colombia Bricks are some of my favorite wide angle dives.

You really should bring both wide and macro lenses if you can swing it. Most dive ops do 2 tanks in the morning and the first is usually the wall. This is where you'll really like having the wide angle. The second dive is typically done on the shallower reefs where you may find more macro opportunities. Night dives in Cozumel will blow you away and a 60 macro is a good lens for that too.

It also depends on who you're diving with and whether or not the other divers are shooting. Its really easy to get separated because of the currents, so most the dive operators will insist you stay with your group. They always drift too fast for the photogs. This makes shooting macro much more challenging. If you're diving with a bigger operator like Scuba Club or Aqua Safari you can ask to be put on a boat with other photogs. Let them know you want to go SLOW. If they can accommodate you, they will. You can also ask your DM to go very slowly.

No matter which lens you leave behind, that will be the one you wish you had with you once you get there.

You can take a peek at some of my shots from the three trips I did there last year. This might help you to decide what you would like to come home with.

Have a great trip!

Bonnie

Under,

Very nice. Even more so when you know that the current can really rip in Cozumel. I simply had to pass up many opportunities for macro because if I anchored long enough to get the shot, my party would have been out of sight. We did dressel divers out of the Iberostar and it was pretty much a cattle car operation. I would have loved to go there and do an underwater workshop. Do you have any future ones planned?

Do you have any future ones planned?

Yes, I've got one coming up in February at Scuba Club Cozumel and another one there in August (exact dates TBD). These are both free for guests of the resort. If you like live-aboards, I've got a workshop scheduled aboard the Peter Hughes Wind Dancer in Grenada for June 16-23 and the Peter Hughes Sky Dancer in Galapagos for Nov 29 - Dec 9. I'm also planning one in May of 2008 aboard the Truk Odyssey. Marty Snyderman and I sometimes do workshops together on the Solmar V too. We attempt to keep a list of upcoming workshops at www.TheUnderwaterPhotographer.com.

By the way, I did end up getting an Oly SP-350 and housing to use for teaching. Thanks for helping me with my research on that.

I'd love to have you join a workshop. They are a lot of fun and you'll learn a lot!

Bonnie

My wife and I had a great time in Cozumel a few years back. While we were there, we met Holly from island photo. She's pretty much the local "photo pro". I'd send her an e-mail and get her recommendations on what lenses for which dive sites. I had used a Nikonos V with a 15mm lens the whole week that we were there. Here's an interesting reference for Diving Cozumel http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/cozumel.html

Best wishes and happy diving,

-Jim

Bonnie,

I would love to take your workshop sometime. Very nice photos on your website!

Everyone,

Thanks for all the tips & advice. I think I will bring setups for WA and macro so I am prepared for anything.

-Chris