D300 with Tokina 35 mm Macro

Here is a web gallery of my first shots UW with the D300. Also my first shots with the Tokina 35mm Macro lens. All shots with Ikelite's iTTL adaptor. Minimal cropping, levels, and sharpening.

Water conditions were okay but not great. I include some close macro and some wider shots. The Lingcod was about a foot and a half long and the sun star was larger than a basketball. You can see some softness in the sun star due to the water column. Clearly a wide angle lens would take that shot better.

The 35 mm lens seems quite sharp. I used a Subal 54 mm small dome port. You don't get the magnification of flat port, but maybe better color and sharpness.

The lens is not good for small skittish fish. You have to get too close to them. A very good lens for S. California waters though. You can get 1:1 magnification with this lens but you have to get very close.

http://gallery.mac.com/daveburroughs#10002...k&view=grid

Thanks for posting these. I've been sort of interested in this lense myself but there don't seem to be a lot of people using it so it's been difficult getting much feedback. It looks like you had to get really close. So much so that your strobes seem to be hitting behind the subjects on a few of them.

Nice work, Dave! Some look a little over exposed, but that might be my screen? What made you try this lens over a more traditional 60mm or even a mid-range zoom like a Sigma 17-70? I guess that is where some of the great pictures come from when trying something new and different!

Over exposed? Hmm, maybe it's a Mac vs PC thing. They look properly exposed to me. As noted lighting was somewhat of a problem for the macro shots. My 125's are a little large for such close focus.

I think for some the 35 mm lens might be better than a midrange zoom. Better macro and from what I can see sharper.

I like my 17-55, but it doesn't focus real close. Also it is not that wide. All these mid range zooms are a compromise. I think the 35 mm is less of a compromise. It is an excellent macro and close up lens.

We are testing the Tokina 35mm on a D2X in the photo course I am teaching this week in Key Largo. 35mm on a 1.5 crop restores the angle of view of the 60mm we used to have on film (or any full-frame), and is better for medium sized reef fish and schooling fish than the 60mm Micro-Nikkor.

Here it is with a small dome from 3 feet away:

Here it is with a flat port and a Seacam wet diopter. Special (short) flat port is used to place front lens glass close to the port glass when racked out one-to-one. Normal port (as you'd use for 60mm) will have too much air between front of lens and back of glass.

Seems to me a very powerful tool for a modest price for those who are shooting 1.5 crop cameras.

Thanks Stephen.

Reminded me part of the reason I tried this lens was to restore the 60 mm perspective I use to get when using that lens with a film camera.

How close is the front of the dome port to the subject when you're at 1:1? How much room is there to get the strobes in for lighting?

Thanks so much for posting this Dave - and also thanks for the input Stephen!

I was just wondering about this because recently I photoed two, rather large, common octopus mating and I used the 60mm but I felt there was some lens that would have been better for getting them both in the frame, good color, etc. - especially when I had to back up and the tide change made the water more murky.

This is indeed something to consider.

Thanks! WP has the best info and advice!

Carol

PS Dave, your pic looks correctly exposed on my Mac/Cinema Display

Very useful information, thanks. I think that the two biggest failings of DX vs FX for UW photography are high ISO noise (only relevant for some types of image) and a lack of macro optics wider than about 80-90mm equiv focal length on FX (50-60mm used on DX). This 35mm lens on DX is basically a 50mm FX equiv.

Many people don't see the need for wider macro lenses. Many thinking that wider is better. But I find them very useful:

These are painted froggies (not giant froggies) - so were only about 10-15cm long/

Alex

p.s. I won't list the failings of FX over DX to keep this discussion on topic

Scorpion Leaf fish with the 35 mm, Fiji. This image was cropped in half but otherwise untouched in PS

Dave,

Flat or dome port?

Subal DP54 dome port. It is a small dome that is actually smaller than my 60 mm FP. I bought one years ago and had hardly ever used it. I got the lens because I already had the port. Also to restore the 60 mm Macro perspective to DX photography.

Dave,

Ha! I'm in the same boat. When I bought my D70 rig in 2006, I got a dome port that would take a 20mm lens (which I didn't have but was thinking of buying). I never bought the 20mm lens, but the port would work for the Tokina 35mm. I also already have a +4 diopter lens in 52mm which would preserve the 1:1 capability.

I just have to justify spending $500 on the lens. :/