Canon DSLR / ike housing lens questions

Hi - have finally taken the plunge and made my first move away from 35mm to digital with the purchase of a used ikelite housing for an eos10d.

Although I used to shoot on a nikon f90 underwater, I do have some old canon glass however I tried them out on a friends eos350d and I get the dreaded "err99" - so presumably they will be incompatible with my new eos10d too.

so looking for some lens advice.

For CFWA I'm pretty much decided on what to get (sigma 15mm FE), but agonising slightly over macro and general portraiture - especially as ports (don't really want to be carrying 3 or 4 ports on every dive trip) and price are an issue (I'm a student).

For macro I'd love a 105mm, but they are pricey and I'd need to buy a new port too - so instead I was very interested in the canon 50mm macro - you can pick them up off ebay for not much more that £100 and apparently I can use it with a 5503.50 dome port - which I already have.

can anyone give me an opinion on the lens itself?

What's it like behind a dome port? acceptible? too much pincushioning?

I'd also like zoom for general portraiture - on the f90 i'd use a 28-80mm - what would its equivalent be on a canon dslr (still not 100% au fait with cropping factors)? any recommendations for something like this that'll fit behind a 5503 or 5503.50?

thanks in advance

Just remember that the sigma 15mm will not give you 180 degrees on the cropsensor 10d camera.

The Canon 10-22 will infact be wider than the sigma on your camera, but Im not sure if this lens will fit on a 10d...

Another interesting alternative is The Tokina 10-17mm fisheyezoom

I guess the 50mm macro is an cheap alternative, but remember that this lens will not let you closer than 1:2...

So if you are interested in small things such as nudies and stuff, I would not recommend this lens...

The Efs- 60mm macro is a very competent lens, but again I do not think that ef-s lenses will fit on your camera.

This leaves the canon 100mm macro, wich is a superb lens, but perhaps not as suitable in bad visibility as a shorter lens... you also do not have the flexibility of a 50-60mm lens...

I would strongly recommend you to buy a flatport for you macro lens (wich ever one you end up with)... In theory I guess you could use a dome with longer lenses but it is very unpractical and you risk scratching the dome everytime you try to get in close for those macro shots...

The Flat ports for Ikelite housings are not that expensive... http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/2port_canon.html

Thanks Vannar - I appreciate that the sigma 15mm will not be full 180 on the 10d - it'll still be darned wide though - perhaps not quite as wide as the tokina, but I tend to have a bias towards prime lenses as they are often sharper - saying that, I havent made up my mind for sure yet and the tokina is definitely a contender.

I hear what you are saying about longer macro lenses and flat ports - and I'm agreed - in the longer term I will invest in a 100 or 105 and the appropriate flat port - but for now funds just aren't quite there so I'm looking to make a few compromises.

ps - I hear that if you are brave enough, you can modify EF-S lenses to fit other canon DSLRs that have the same sized sensor (like the 10d)

Patel,

Saw your posts in the strobe section, too......

As far as a macro lens and considering the Canon 10D sensor crop, I'd get a low cost but sharp Sigma 50mm macro. It will do 1:1, can be used on full frame bodies if you ever migrate to one and will work seamlessly on your Canon 10D unlike EF-S lenses....

The 100mm is simply too long for most people to master, and as many have stated you will be increasing your physical distance making it not very usable in low visibility conditions.

For wide angle because a Sigma 15mm Fisheye "sees" 180 degrees, unlike a wide rectilinear lens it will almost be as wide as the Canon 10-22mm. It doens't follow 15mm X 1.6X formula exactly as a recilinear lens does. Plus it will be sharper in the corners due, once again, to being a Fisheye lens. On a cropped sensor body the Sigma or Canon 15mm Fisheye exhibits very moderate curvature underwater. Plus they focus to 6 inches (Sigma 15mm) and 10 inches (Canon 15mm) respectively.

The new Tokina 10-17mm is the other one I would recommend. As it zooms I've been told by friends trying it out it becomes less "Fisheye". But still sharp......

The Sigma or Canon 15mm Fisheye and Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye can be used in the shortest Ikelite #5503 dome port.

Hope this helps!

dhaas