canon newbie advice

hey

i had to sell my compact underwater camera in march in preperation for the purchase of my new SLR camera. Was looking at a 5d but if rumours are correct a replacement will be coming out soon.

I was also looking at an ikelite housing. But as i have not used a FF camera before, i had a few questions.

On a FF camera would a 17-40 lens be able to be used in the ikelite system, and will it be wide enough, or will a 15mm fisheye be better suited. Also would i need an 8" dome port if i was to choose the 17-40mm lens?

Also is it better to start out on macro or wide angle photography?

Any reccomendations for a macro lens, the tamron 90mm is a good lens but i have seen that it can extend a long way, or would a longer lens suit the ff power?

looking forward to your comments/ideas.

Thanks matt....

Hello Matt

Welcome to Wetpixel and the DSLR money pit.

I use a 17-40 with an Ikelite housing. While the 15mm FE seems to be a little sharper, I tend to use the 17-40 more often for the versatility. My recommendation would be to get the 8" port system with the correct extension. The 17-40 is plenty wide on the 5D. It is also better suited to land photography than the 15 FE. With the replacement camera coming soon the 5D prices have been dropping. If you wait for the replacement, it will be a while before the housings are available.

You will find that macro is considerably easier than wide angle. Properly lighting a wide angle shot underwater can be a challenge, especially FF wide angle. You didn't mention strobes in your inquiry. You are going to have better success with two if you don't already have them.

I haven't used the Tamron lens so can't comment on it. The Canon 100 macro is an excellent lens. Internal focusing so it doesn't extend and very sharp.

Hopefully some others here will offer their suggestions as well.

hi

thanks for your reply,

The only strobe i have is an epoque es 230 ds, but it looks like this will have to be sold as well, as i don't think that it will work with an SLR system.

So if you have any reccomendations for strobes, i was looking at the ikelite ds-125 or an inon strobe so any reccomendations or advice would be greatly appreiacted.

At the moment i only have the cash for a new 5d and some lenses, so new underwater kit will probably have to wait until next year. but ikelite are pretty quick with thier new models, so fingers crossed.

thanks matt....

Matt

The Ikelite strobes offer the benefit of TTL with the Ikelite housing. The DS125 is a fine strobe with a very fast recycle time. The new DS160 will be out soon so you might want to wait for it. Then again, there will probably be some used DS125's hit the market very soon at good prices. Check the classified adds here on Wetpixel.