Tokina 11-16mm in the water

Hola guys & gals,

got my tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 in the water this weekend and was quite pleased with the results.

D200, aquatica housing, 9.25" megadome, 29mm extension ring (a touch longer may be better), zoom gear for nik 12-24mm & a canon 500D diopter. The thick diopter caused some vignetting at 11mm, but i went with it and will now file down those corners of the diopter's frame.

just basic levels adjusted, no sharpening and no cropping on the full pics

11mm f/5

about a 50% crop lower left corner

100% center crop

11mm f/8 - corners much better by f/8

50% lower right corner

100% center

can't compare directly with the 12-24mm as i only tried it a couple times with my 8" dome and quickly gave it up for the sigma 15mm FE - but i do like the tokina in my new 9.25" megadome. This lens will now replace my 12-24mm purely on my topside needs for an f/2.8 lens with pro level optics.

a couple more:

11mm, slightly cropped

11mm

and one at 16mm, slightly cropped for composition - even at 10-15ft away the cuda was very sharp, i'm sure the 100ft+ vis had nothing to do with it...

Cheers,

Chris

Chris, thanks for posting this! How did the corners look at 16mm vs 11 for the wider apertures? I wonder if it would accurate to say that unsharp corners will happen at 11mm and wide apertures, but EITHER moving to 16mm or f8 and beyond sharpens them up. I think a good bit of the corner artifacts comes from the lens, not the dome or diopter, but I just started dinking with mine. What do you think?

Chris, thanks for posting this! How did the corners look at 16mm vs 11 for the wider apertures? I wonder if it would accurate to say that unsharp corners will happen at 11mm and wide apertures, but EITHER moving to 16mm or f8 and beyond sharpens them up. I think a good bit of the corner artifacts comes from the lens, not the dome or diopter, but I just started dinking with mine. What do you think?

I only shot a couple pics of the cuda at 16mm and f/5.6 and the corners looked just fine - i think all the issues will arise at 11mm. I'm also pretty sure the corners will be better with a larger 9.25" dome than a standard 8" but by how much i don't know. Some of the more experienced photogs on here can comment better on that. Cheers,

Chris

How do you find it compared to the 10-17 fisheye? I am getting this lens for topside use anyway though....topside reviews seem extremely good (when compared to Nikkor 12-24)

How do you find it compared to the 10-17 fisheye? I am getting this lens for topside use anyway though....topside reviews seem extremely good (when compared to Nikkor 12-24)

I haven't shot with the 10-17mm FE, but the 11-16mm is more of a compliment to the 10-17mm than a substitute. The fisheye is far wider (180-100 degrees vs 104-82 degrees for the 11-16mm) and focuses much closer (1:2.5 vs 1:11.6) and will have sharper corners.

I guess the biggest benefit to this lens is ridding yourself of the fisheye barrel distortion, reducing the tadpole effect and working with a lens not so insanely wide. This lens will slot into my UW wide arsenal of the 10.5mm FE, sigma 15mm FE & 17-55mm, though I fear I may still grab the 15mm FE (same AOV as 11mm rectilinear) most often for its macro focusing ability. The 11-16mm may be best for shooting wrecks to avoid distortion. I'm also obsessed with f/2.8 lenses for better focusing and cause i often shoot in low light topside. Cheers,

Chris

Thanks for the explanation Undertow! Much appreciated!