Aquatica and Canon EF 8-15

I'm so excited about this lens, I really hope it lives up to expectations and I'm loving the short focus and the price is lower than I expected (although of course lower would be even better).

So any Aquatica users seen it or touched it...any idea's which zoom ring or extension (5DII in my case)?

I'm hearing July for production units, delayed due to Tsunami affected supply chain, anyone know more on availability?

Cheers,

Aengus

correct ... still none to be had, not even a sample down here.

Hi Aengus, I did have the lens on hand if only for the briefest of moment at the DEMA show last year, Chuck, the technical rep, from Canon, who also is an Aquatica 5D Mk II shooter , brought the lens over to our booth, and we set it up in a 5D Mk II housing, so I know it fits, I know we will support it (duh! Like this needed to be confirmed ), what I don’t have right now are the spec’s for the zoom gear and the optical center position so we can dial in the closest extension, for this I will need a physical lens in the shop (Canon and Nikon are very hush, hush about specifications other than the overall external dimension). Rest assured, this lens is on the priority list as it will become a serious asset to anyone shooting full framed Canon camera underwater.

.....as it will become a serious asset to anyone shooting full framed Canon camera underwater.

and cropped sensor shooters too right?

while it will end up giving a narrower angle of view, it will still offer the advantages of a fisheye behind the dome on the 1.3x and 1.6x Canons.

Looks like the 8-15 is finally starting to ship all be it limited stock :-)

Hopefully Canon will let me have one in Sept for a review. I think this lens is more for the crop sensors because @ 10mm, the 1.6x crop isn't really 180° diagonal. So this is Canon's answer to the 10-17. With the focus @ 0.16m vs the 10-17's 0.14m, I'm wondering if it'll work with the mini-domes.

Darren, the 1.3x crop will finally have a 180° fisheye look vs the old cropped look. This'll make the 1D4 a very viable underwater camera. With the Sigma 12-24 (equivalent to 16-30), 8-15, the WA is taken care of. So imagine 10fps @ 16mp. Although I only know of 2 strobes which can keep up with that with decent power.

As for full framers, those with non-removable dome shades will have to get rid of the shades to use anything below 12mm. But at least now FF users can capture the full Snell's window look.

Hopefully Canon will let me have one in Sept for a review.

Good luck getting one! I have been champing at the bit for one since the announcement last year, pre-ordered one at one dealer and got on a waiting list at another. I was able to find one by googling first!

So have begun my testing during actual shoots since the salmon spawning season is well underway. I have actually missed using this lens on two early (stronger sun) runs already. The days are already noticeably shorter, winter is coming.

First question and therefore "test" is what port extension to use. I want to be able to use a superdome, have gotten great shots with the Nikon 10.5mm with one.

One wants to minimize port shading so I tried a 25mm port extension on a Mk1 (stubby metal shade version) Seacam superdome Friday. No vignetting but the corners are not as good as I would want. One provides some scale (me). I was testing to make sure the rig would fire. I used a single Inon Z . Was hoping for strong ambient light. This is a "treehenge" site. I hoped the sun would shine but clouds came by at the wrong time so had to settle for cloudy lighting (second shot).

Day 2, I tried a 30mm port extension, which is what Harold is recommending for the FE port. The corners are better but there is noticeable vignetting. Shot at 15mm and f/8 as were the previous days shots.

Day 2 continued. I heard some serious splashing downstream, where it is quite shallow. Though really too shallow for a superdome I relocated there anyway. This is a cropped image, a semi-finished keeper (for now) product. Taken shortly before midnight last night. The strobe, one Inon Z, was running out of juice so I decided to hang it up for the day. As well, given that there were at least 6 males and 2 females competing for this spot, a spawning seemed unlikely in the immediate future. Also f/8. The little fish are coastal cutthroat trout. Salmon species is pink salmon, a.k.a. humpback salmon, a.k.a. humpy.

Thanks for those Tom.

Have you used a zoom ring and if so which one?

Cheers,

Aengus

Is it likely that this lens will be useable with a 100mm mini-dome (with an extension ring of course)? Or is there something about the optics that makes that a bad idea? I realize that using a big dome should result in better quality images; just wondering if the small dome might work, e.g., for CFWA.

Aengus,

I have a ring on order. FYI, the front element moves in and out on zooming, the lens is longest at the focal length extremes.

Bruce,

The minimum working distance is about 1 inch so it should be able to focus on a very close virtual image.

Lens shades have been one of the major issues impeding using mini-domes with certain fisheye lenses. This will not be a problem since the shade comes off.

According to the lens manual the image becomes smaller as one focuses closer, which is the case when used under water in a housing with a dome port and very much so with a mini-dome. I am not sure what this will mean for us. Vignetting may be more critical.

... FYI, the front element moves in and out on zooming, the lens is longest at the focal length extremes.

That would suggest that with a mini-dome, you'd almost need to choose a focal length for the dive, and "set it and forget it". Which, considering the lack of zoom gear availablility at this point, is what we'd need to do anyway...for the time being.

Aengus,

I have a ring on order. FYI, the front element moves in and out on zooming, the lens is longest at the focal length extremes.

 

Bruce,

The minimum working distance is about 1 inch so it should be able to focus on a very close virtual image.

Lens shades have been one of the major issues impeding using mini-domes with certain fisheye lenses. This will not be a problem since the shade comes off.

 

According to the lens manual the image becomes smaller as one focuses closer, which is the case when used under water in a housing with a dome port and very much so with a mini-dome. I am not sure what this will mean for us. Vignetting may be more critical.

The MWD is 1" but the MFD is 16cm. The 10-17, which most of those little domes were designed for has a mfd of 0.14. The other issue is when using FF, does the dome have to use a shadeless dome, at less than 14mm?

What advantages are there of this lens over the 10-17? Particularly at almost 3x the price.

Jeff, for Canon with the 1.6x crop, the 10-17 isn't really 180°. The 8-15 is a tad wider.

For the FF crowd, the 8-15 gives the circular FE look. That plus the supposed L glass quality improvement.

OK; just wish SOMEONE would make a FF 10-17 equivalent already, can't say I'd have much use for circular fisheye on my FF.

Interestingly in Isla Mujeres I tried the Sigma 15mm and 1.4TC as well as my 16-35, and found that the 16-35 seemed a tad wider which was not expected.

If anyone is continental US my local camera store in Ohio (EST) got one in yesterday.......Super nice build and focus.

Contact Eric Fisher at Campus Camera & Imaging. No sales tax for out of state sales.

330-678-1297

coachfish99@hotmail.com

www.campuscamera.net

Shot on cropped sensor Canon 60D at 8mm, 12mm and 15mm

OK; just wish SOMEONE would make a FF 10-17 equivalent already, can't say I'd have much use for circular fisheye on my FF.

Interestingly in Isla Mujeres I tried the Sigma 15mm and 1.4TC as well as my 16-35, and found that the 16-35 seemed a tad wider which was not expected.

Try the 12-24 Sigma II... it's an awesome lens. Struggles underwater though with the corners because of the dome issues. but blue water looks great blur or in focus!

Here is a shot with the Mk2 (plastic shade) Seacam superdome and 30mm port extension. No vignetting