D300 (Sea & Sea Housing) and Mantas... best lens choice?

Hi all,

It has been quite a while since my last post here. I have had little opportunity to shoot anything but macro in the last two years and will be going on a Maldives expedition in May. I have never encountered Mantas or Whalesharks before and desperately hope to see some there.

My question would be what is my best lens options for this to put behind my Optical dome port (slightly smaller than the larger Acrylic dome)? I have the Tokina 10-17. It's extremely wide and I have had some good shots with it. However, having never shot Mantas before, I am wondering how close I may be able to get to fill the frame? Would I be better of slapping a 1.4TC on it too? If I am not mistaken, I can do that and simply add the TC and use the SX extension ring (or is it the 40?) to compensate for the increased length. I will have to see if I can find a zoom ring quickly enough before the trip that can accomodate that setup...

Would somebody who has the same setup give this newbie a little advice shooting large creatures? I also have the Sigma 18-50 2.8 HSM Macro which I have used with some success underwater.

Regards,

KB

hey KB, Have fun on your maldives trip. I have your setup also.

With your optical dome port and tokina, use the SX extension ring. Use the 40mm ring if you add a 1.4x.

I personally prefer to use the 10-17mm without the teleconverter when looking for big animals. If you do get close enough, you'll want that opportunity to shoot at 10mm, imho.

good luck!

Scott

Manta ray, Bali, Tokina 10-17mm at 10mm, Nikon D300, Sea & Sea Housing

I like the 12-24. Leave it at the 12 end. The 10-17 is good, but not so much if a shark swims by.

The 10-17 is good, but not so much if a shark swims by.

I'm sorry Dave I don't understand what you mean. Can you please explain?

Steve

I have used 20mm on D300 and found it to be very good for fish portrait. My avatar was taken on this lens. I have recently started to use the 17-35mm and found it to be even more versatile.

I was in the Maldives last October.

The Mantas and and Whale Sharks were so close I needed nothing more than the 10-17 (no teleconverter). In fact I kept it at the 10mm end almost all the time. The krill-laden water the Manta's and Whale Sharks feed in is not exactly gin-clear. You'll need to be close to get shots that pop.

The downside of shooting Whale Sharks from the nose with an 10mm fisheye is that its tends to compress the animal's body. Image quality suffers if you switch to a switch to a narrower lens due the need to stay farther away from the shark. Tough situation.

Whale Shark at 10 mm (Tok 10-17FE)

I would agree; 10-17 & SX ring. They are fairly easy to get close to, or even will come over to you if you aren't chasing them.

But I also liked my Sigma 17-70 a lot. I shoot it with the SX + RDX (30) ring

May have to try the teleconverter out...

Jack

I prefer the 12-24 if you're not sure what your subject will be. It's wide enough for a manta and long enough for a hammerhead shark that won't come that close.

Optically I like the shot from the 12 mm better than the shot you get with the 10-17.

Doesn't mean I don't like the 10-17. I just prefer the 12-24 if I'm not sure what subject will show up. The subject has to be close or big for the 10-17.

I'd shoot a wreck with the 10-17. I used it a lot in Alaska.

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys I like my Tokina without a TC too.... was just worried I cound not get close enough or keep up with the whalesharks.... sounds like it should not be too much of a problem. If the water isn't clear, I'm not going to even try shooting from too far away... 100 poor shots break my heart... 5 good ones from decent opportunities are what makes my trip It certainly is really wide though... you really have to get up close.... this was a shot I took in Sipadan a couple of years back. The turtle had a shell that was at least 1.2m long and I was about 30cm away from it...

Nice turtle shot Kay Burn

10-17mm is fine: as wide as possible because if you need 20mm the image is going to have the "blahs", and strobes won't pick up the mantas at that distance (>4m). You can use the longer lens, but it's much harder to get attractive shots, and they have to use ambient light:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timsdiving/4542840319/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timsdiving/45...57623909675034/

Tim

Unless you don't fancy the barell distorton, there's no doubt you want the 10-17 on that trip. As you say there are normally lots of particles in the water, so you don't want to shoot from more than a metre or two – you will need all the FoV you can get. Mantas and whalesharks are often quite social. These where shot with a Nikon 10.5/2.8 Fisheye on a D200: