Starter lenses for Canon APS-C

I am getting a Canon T3i and topside I know what to buy. However beneath the waves I am lost. I will be shooting on reefs in Maui primarily, though I am planning a trip to the GBR (year or more away sadly).

I am thinking the following:

Canon 17-40mm rectilinear

Canon 60mm macro

Any suggestions? Anything else I should be looking at?

I hear that fisheyes are better, but there is distortion on either type. I am worried about any problems the dome port though.

Thanks for your responses.

Hi partner,

Which port do you have or plan to get? The lens a bunch of folks love for wide angle is the Tokina 10-17mm on cropped frame cameras. If you do a search here you will see a bunch of examples and relevant threads. The 17-40L is a great lens for shooting on the boat or land in general but suffers from some corner blurring underwater unless you are very careful with the aperture. f/11 to f/13 is the sweet spot with my dome.

I like your choice of the 60mm macro, it's a great fish lens and can produce some impressive macro results. Good choice as a first macro lens.

Good luck,

Steve

If you don't want the fisheye because of distortion, Tokina's 11-16 f/2.8 or Canon's 10-22 might be better for you. The 17-40 just isn't wide enough on an APS-C body.

I agree on the 17-40 comment above. I have a Tamron 17-50 f2.8, which I bought for uw use, but in the end found that it just doesn't really work well. It is neither wide enough on the 17mm end, nor "macro" enough on the 50mm end.

The Canon 60mm macro is a great lens and the one I use most on my 40D. Besides that one, I also use the Tokina 12-24 as (rectilinear) wide-angle and the Tokina 10-17 Fisheye. The distortions of the fisheye is not that bad uw. I have tried it on an oil rig, which is all straight lines and the effect was actually quite nice. On a reef it is mostly unnoticeable as there are no straight lines.

I would definately vote for the 10-17 as well, but having said that i wouldnt write off the 17-40 or something in that range. I have used the kit lens Canon 18-55 loads and it works well. I dont have a 60mm so this becomes my larger fish lens. i.e a Giant Frogfish or Sweetlips portraits etc.

For these the 10-17 is just too wide and u end up with a tiny fish in the middle of the shot, and the 100mm that i have i would have to back up way too far. I added a Anthis Wet 'woody' macro lens and you can get good macro results if something turns up on the dive.

What kit lens is coming with the T3? most people choose the 18-135 or what ever but dont rule out the 18-55 option if the shop offers it.

Olly