5DII housing- which lens and ports?

Leaning towards the Aquatica, but not decided yet.

Here are the lens that I have:

Canon 100macro, 24-105, 17-40, 15FE

Sigma 12-24, 24-60

I plan to do macro & WA, so which WA lens would produce the best results? The Sigma 12-24 is not nearly as sharp as the 17-40. Any other lens to consider buying? 20mm? 16-35? 14mm (I wish)?

Also which ports, and extensions if needed, would give me the best performance?

Do any of these lens need diopters?

I'm trying to put together as compact a system as possible for traveling, isn't everybody?

Thanks

I have that combo and use the 100macro, 17/40 zoom, Sigma 150macro - occasionally the Sigma 50macro. Aquatica web site is the best bet for port/extensions advice.

The 100macro is excellent in either its current IS form or the non-IS. No supplementary dioptre needed.

I find the 17/40 excellent also - very,very sharp, close-focussing, great contrast - I use it behind the 8" dome with a +2 although I find this is only really beneficial when there is some element of the photo pretty close to the lens. You cannot really predict what you are going to find on most dives so I use it all the time. I never use this lens below f8 as wider apertures have more corner distortion at the wider focal lengths. Better to bump up the ISO ( few penalties on this camera) than widen the aperture IMHO. There has been a lot of debate about whether the 16/35 is better. I think the consensus probably is very marginally so. In my view not worth selling what you have and trading up. Both lenses suffer from corner softness to some degree but it rarely seriously bothers me. With all the MP on this camera, you can "shoot to crop" and get rid of troublesome corners later and still end up with a super, big file.

The Sigma 150 is brilliantly sharp and definitely recommended. No dioptre and I use it behind a standard port and the same extension as the 100macro.

The one thing I miss is a mid-range "hunting" type lens - ie something to use when you don't know what you are likely to come across. Your 24/105 would do the job and Aquatica make the bits for it but I have held off as there is virtually no feed back on its underwater performance. So I suggest you get the bits for it and then you can let me know!!!

I have no exdperience of ultra-wides. Hope this helps

Thanks Jim, another question I've been pondering: Is the liveview really helpful underwater? I'm thinking mostly for wide angle?

The 24-105 is my go-to lens and pretty much lives on the camera. But I'd probably want something wider underwater, so the 17-40 should do, with the 15FE for kicks.

I used the 16-35 and 15FE on the 5dmk2. Ultimately, I preferred the 15mm. For Macro, I had the 100 USM and a 1.4 with an external diopter for added magnification. Live view and it's slow AF is not really worth using UW. You'll just end up frustrated and swearing at it.

I have posted some of my shots with the 5dmk2 with the 16-35 and 15 fish with the 8" Aquatica Acrylic dome on my site. http://www.stewartsy.com/stewartsy.com/aquaticagallery.htm

S.

As I posted in a previous thread earlier this year, the 5D2 housings review has a few pics shot with the 24-105L with the 5D2, along with dome and extension info:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/canon-5d-ma...using-shootout/

I personally liked the 12-24 with the 1.3 crop but with FF, it's just too wide for even a 9" dome and vignettes badly @12mm anyhow, plus the 21mp outresolves the lens.

The 16-35 II is better than the I and a real step up from the 17-40 in corner performance and vignetting. However, since most regular people shoot WA at narrow fstops, the differences are diminished. However the 16-35 II focuses just that bit faster with the f2.8 activating the cross type sensors. Plus that 1mm does make a difference once you start using diopters. In the review, I did not use a diopter but also avoided anything less than f8.

I forgot to add that I use of a diopter when using the 24-105 behind a 8-9" dome. That narrows the FOV @24mm to about 27mm, depending on the strength of the diopter. I use a +2 or +3 depending on what I expect to shoot. Just remember that going to 105 behind a dome, you have to make sure you get a 58-60mm extension behind the 8"+ dome.

On the long end, the 105 with +3 still doesn't get you close to 1:1 but it does make for a nice fish portrait lens. As an alternative, if you forget the 100mm macro, the 24-105 can be used with a 12mm extension tube and diopter in a crunch, although the extension rings needed will be pretty long. On the Aquatica, I used 2x28mm plus macro port to test it.

If the 24-105 didn't have IS for stills, I'd probably recommend the 24-70 as a dual purpose lens. The mfd is 38cm and I find it slightly less distorted than the 24-105 on the wide end. But as a travel lens, the 24-105 can't be beat for weight/performance ratio.

Never tried Liveview and won't now be tempted after Stewart's comments. One thing I have always found frustrating with the Aquatica 5D2 - it may be the same with all makes of housing but I have never tried anything else - is the restricted view through the viewfinder. I was forever getting stuff too small in the frame, out of optimal position or chopping off important bits. This lead me to get an Inon 45 degree viewfinder. I chose this as opposed to a straight viewfinder as I do a lot of macro. It has made a colossal difference and although I never expected it, I also find it hugely beneficial with wide angle too. I now only remove it for travelling. Highly recommended. (Note however the Inon doesn't fit Aquatica and you need to buy from some place like Backscatter who make their own adapter.)

Liveview is useful in certain circumstances, such as when the subject is in a position where u can't get ur head to look thru the viewfinder. I also find it to be useful when shooting wide angle action where u can prefocus the SWA lens so u can watch for the subjects approaching in and out of frame (eg. Baitballs, whales etc). Sucks battery quickly but I appreciated it when surrounded by dozens of big sharks feeding.