The angle of coverage is clear - thanks. I think this is a good example of a discussion which benefits from photographic examples of what a lens can do - that was the subject of a thread a few weeks back if I remember correctly.
I took down my 10.5 FE for the first time last week and have simply beenlearning what it can do, what is captures well and what it doesn't. Wide angle vs distorted views is the one area I need to understand/visualise. Why do people love 10-17 more than 11-16 ?
First of all, I don't think that many have used the 11-16 uw. It's supposted to be a very good land lens though.
Some reasons for why people love the 10-17 is that:
* it's the only fisheye zoom lens. no need to be restricted to 10.5mm FE.
* it can focus inside the DOME! meaning you can even place stuff on the DOME (jellyfish, starfish etc) and still get it perfectly sharp. So, in theory, you get NO water between the lens and object.
* at 10mm it's very wide. You can get very close (minimize water in between) to very large things and still have them inside the frame.
the worse conditions (bad viz etc) you dive in, the more important FE and close focus gets.
* it's supported by most uw-housings and works for many camera models and brands.
* it's not pricey.
* it's sharp and focus good and fast (even though it has no focus engine). Most WA focus fast though.
* as with most FE, even your corners are sharp even at large f stops. Few non FE gets sharp corners behind a DOME. And most who do requires the use of small f-stops.
if your subject is in open water, then that seldom matters, but if you shoot a reef than not getting sharp corners is very annoying.
/Peter
