D2x/Seacam - Which Nikon Fisheye to choose?

Hi there,

a friend of mine, who shoots with a Nikon D2x in a Seacam housing, is considering to buy a Fisheye - but we are struggling in choosing the right one. What would you prefer - Nikon 10.5 or 16, or even the Tokina 10-17? The lens shall be used behind the Seacam Superdome.

Thanks for your recommendations.

If you want the widest possible angle of view covering the DX format you will need to use the 10.5 or the zoom at the wide setting. There was Wetpixel discussion on the Tokina a while back that you may want to check out.

I used the 10.5 with a D2X and SD on my Seacam housing to take this shot of migrating salmon. It is a quite good combination for limited visibility such as this example.

I use the 10.5mm and shot these whale sharks with it using a D200

http://www.andydavies.info/pages/whaleshark1.htm

I'm now looking for a second-hand 16mm as I think this will have its uses as well.

Andy Davies

I use the 10.5mm and shot these whale sharks with it using a D200

Andy, graet shots! What was the distance to the whale shark then? Do you think a 16mm would not work for objects like this?

Kind regards,

Mathias

... There was Wetpixel discussion on the Tokina a while back that you may want to check out.

Hi Tom, thanks for replying and your great example of the usage of the 10.5.

We did check out the recent discussions on the Tokina-Zoomlens, but unfortunatly there was no real comparison to the fixed Nikons, hence we raised this question here. My friend just wants to accomplish his set of lenses with just ONE fisheye-lens and wants to figure out which one would fit best...

Kind regards,

Ghostpipe

PS: I'm glad that this question is not applicable to me, since the Tokina would not fit to my fullframe EOS 5D...

Actually there is a very explained comparison of the 10.5 versus the 10-17

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19621&hl=

For the DX sensor I'd go with the 10.5mm FE. The 16mm FE probably isn't going to give you a wide enough view as you would like on the DX sensor. I actually have both the 10.5mm and 16mm FE lenses as I also have a full frame D3 with the FX sensor, and the 16mm on the FX sensor is about the same angle as the 10.5mm on the DX sensor.

Actually there is a very explained comparison of the 10.5 versus the 10-17 ...

Thanks for that link, we must have missed this one. Seems that the 16 Nikon just fall from the list and the Tokina is worthwile to think of... The question is do we really want to file the corners of the dome sunshade...?

... and the 16mm on the FX sensor is about the same angle as the 10.5mm on the DX sensor.

Hi Warren, thanks for your input, which is really helpful! Now we dropped the 16mm from the list. The final question is now 10.5 vs Tokina...

Just about everyone I know with a Tokina 10-17mm has stopped using their 10.5mm all together.

Alex

I agree with Alex. I am one of those people. Both Julie and I have 10.5 lenses, but they now have a thick layer of dust, as both of us have never picked it up anymore once we started using the Tokina 10-17.

Cor

I have both and use the Tokina. Not sure it is better optically than the Nikon but the zoom range makes it much more versatile.

Just about everyone I know with a Tokina 10-17mm has stopped using their 10.5mm all together...

Hi Alex, thanks for your reply. That sounds very convincing indeed.

... Both Julie and I have 10.5 lenses, but they now have a thick layer of dust, as both of us have never picked it up anymore once we started using the Tokina 10-17...Cor

Hi Cor, thanks for this. I think with all that input he will now surely opt for the Tokia (although the Nikons seem to be avaliable quite cheep on the hand market second hand...but you have to clean them from dust....)

Has anyone tried the Tok on FF? The lens shade on the 10.5 can be cut off to increase coverage (some examples are on the net) - was wondering the same of the Tok - may work unless there are internal baffles.

Tom, yes there are some crazy fools. It works, but is very compromised. I think if anyone is so desperate to use the Tokina 10-17mm then they should buy a cropped sensor camera to use it on - not try it on a FF chip!

Alex

I use the 10.5mm and shot these whale sharks with it using a D200

 

Andy, graet shots! What was the distance to the whale shark then? Do you think a 16mm would not work for objects like this?

 

Kind regards,

Mathias

Even when you get the whale shark in full-frame you are still quite close, maybe 3-4 metres. A 16mm would allow you to get mouth open shots etc.

Tom, yes there are some crazy fools. It works, but is very compromised. I think if anyone is so desperate to use the Tokina 10-17mm then they should buy a cropped sensor camera to use it on - not try it on a FF chip!

Alex

Thanks! The 10.5 CAN be used on FF with interesting results once the shade is cut off so it looks more versatile if one is thinking of eventually sunsetting their DX gear. However, it may not work UW do to port shading/vignetting.

Yeah, but you still have to crop the image a bit - which kind of defeats the object of FX!

Alex

Yeah, but you still have to crop the image a bit - which kind of defeats the object of FX!

Alex

Alex and Tom,

I did remember this review by Eric - but then realized he had Don Kehoe use the Tokina 10-17 on the 1.3X crop newer Canon 1D (I don't know much about Canon so those number models confuse me...) Anyway in case anyone missed it the Tokina vignetted even on that setup but only at 10mm-12mm and possibly just because of the 7.3" S & S dome.

Again, forgive me if I'm in error. I originally thought I remembered they were testing the Tokina out on the FF Canon 1Ds, but it was the 1.3X crop one instead and they still got some vignetting - I have no idea what would happen with the FF and I don't think Eric attached the Tokina to it as all I saw him use was the 20mm non-FE on the 1Ds FF - here is the link to that page of the review (and fun manatees..... :-)......)....

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/sea-sea-mdx...sing-review/P3/

C

Ghostpipe,

Also - I know you have eliminated the Nikon 16mm from your list but I used that lens on hundreds of manatee shots and it is a great, great lens - not quite wide enough on my 1.5x for all the manatee photographs I wanted to get but still wide enough to accommodate most shots of those large creatures.

I now use the Tokina 10-17 almost exclusively on the manatee and I never get any vignetting on the Subal 8" dome, even at 10mm. It is fantastic to have the versatility to zoom but I do miss the Nikon 16mm as it was clearly a better lens and I do have a little more trouble with the Tokina 10-17 in the low light areas of the springs. I use a Nikon d200, 1.5x.

I've never used the 10.5 as I didn't want to get locked into that wide with the manatee (which is 85% of my WA stuff).

Just my experience, Carol