Wide angle lens for Nikon D7000

Hi,

I'm considering buying my first wide angle lens for use with my Nikon D7000 in a Hugyfot housing. Which wide angle lens would you recommend, considering I dive mainly in our dark and low visibility waters here in Belgium and the Netherlands, with an occasional holiday to more tropical destinations. I read here on wetpixel that many people recommend/use either the Tokina 10-17 or the Nikon 10.5, but I wonder which one would be more suitable for our local conditions? The Tokina may be more versatile because it's a zoom lens, but then the Nikon is more light sensitive (F2.8 vs F3.5-4.5) which may be more beneficial in low-light conditions. Or should I look for another lens?

My main interest is macro photography (hence my Nikon 60mm), but I also would like to try/learn wide angle photography. Especially CFWA would be of interest for me I think. Currently I use the Nikon 18-105mm kitlens in a flatport for occasional photos in the pool (e.g. shots of divers during training sessions), but it's not exactly suited for real use (the 0.45m minimum focus distance makes it pretty useless) :-)

Jef

Easy choice. 10-17mm. Alex

If you watch the video of my talk from DEMA - you can see a range of photos taken with the D7000 + 10-17mm and mini-dome:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/domes-without-the-drone/

You can see a lot in just a minute, starting at 06:15 until 07:25. There are many more through the talk, but this is a densely packed section!

Alex

If you have 40 minutes, watch the video on the homepage "Domes without the Drone" by Alex Mustard.

I just got the 10-17 and minidome but have not been able to test as I cant dive on doctors orders

Hi,

I recently got the 10.5 fisheye to use on my quite dated D70.

The colors and sharpness of this lens is truly amazing, to me it feels like it doubled the capabilities of my rig.

I've never used the Tokina 10-17 though, so if more experienced people says it's a clear winner I'm not arguing against

My mental model is that a zoom lens for the same price as a prime looses -some- quality in favor of flexibility.

I love my 10-17 with my 4" mini dome or my 8" dome on my D7000 and Aquatica housing. Just fantastic. The zoom feature is very advantageous. I have used my 8" dome with ambient light down to 30 meters @ 1600 or 3200 ISO with amazing results. I use Alex's green water filters for my ambient light shots which does rob you of some light. I have not had any trouble with focus in the dark waters of the Great Lakes here in Michigan.

While on vacation to Fiji last month I took the 4" mini dome and most shots were in the F/8 to F/11 and 1/125 @ ISO 200. Just love this combination.

I have been shooting with both the Nikkor 10.5mm Fe and the Tokina 10-17mm on my Aquatica AD7000 with both 8 inch and 100mm mini dome. As others stated the Tokina would be the better choice in wide angle lenses as it is simply more versatile with its zoom feature. Adding a 1.4x Teleconverter to the Tokina 10-17mm/mini dome combination gives you even more versatility especially shooting in you home environment with CFWA subjects.

At the wide end of the scale shooting large animals which I do often I prefer the Tokina 10-17mm @ 10mm as i find the Nikkor 10.5mm field of view slightly larger and i have to get a little closer to the subject for the shot which often makes the subject uncomfortable and move off and reduce the number of shots. I also find the Tokina focuses a fraction quicker than the Nikon 10.5mm (most of my shots are around the f8-f11 range) which is benefital when you shooting large subjects on the move.

Regards Mark

Here are some recent unedited examples of both the Nikkon 10.5mm Fe and the Tokina 10-17mm @ 10mm with the Nikon D7000

GNS taken with the Nikkor 10.5 f9, 1/125th, ISO100 with Dual Ikelite DS161 strobes

GNS Taken with Nikkor 10.5mm f8, 1/160th, ISO100 with dual ikelite ds161

GNS taken with Tokina 10-17mm @ 10mm, f9, 1/200th, ISO100 with Dual Ikelite DS161

GNS taken with Tokina 10-17mm @ 10mm, f9, 1/200th, ISO100 with Dual Ikelite DS161 strobes

Regards Mark

G'day Jef.

I use the D7000 in a Hugy and I add my vote to the tok 10-17. It's just a very versatile lens underwater; almost as if Tokina designed it with u/w photogs in mind. I love it. I only wish I had more opportunity to use it at my local dive sites (it's been a real macro year). Also, I got the kenko 1.4 tc for CFWA. FYI the hugy zoomgear that works with that combo is the one for the Canon 10-22mm (6.442 + 6.445).

Cheers,

Dave.

I've got a D7000 in a Nauticam housing and shoot the majority of time with my Tokina 10-17mm. 17mm is great for people shots and 10mm great for CFWA. I love that you can focus right on the dome, which shows how close you can get to your subject.

A couple of people have mentioned the Kenko 1.4 TeleConvertor. What kind of shots can you get with a TC given you can focus right on the dome with the 10-17? Does anyone have any sample shots using the TC with the 10-17?

If you watch the video of my talk from DEMA - you can see a range of photos taken with the D7000 + 10-17mm and mini-dome:

 

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/domes-without-the-drone/

 

You can see a lot in just a minute, starting at 06:15 until 07:25. There are many more through the talk, but this is a densely packed section!

I watched your talk with great interest. It's always nice to see very experienced people sharing their knowledge. Highly appreciated!

Anyway, I already decided to go for the Tokina, but now I wonder which type of dome port I should buy: a mini or a large dome? I don't have any experience with wide angle yet, but my feeling tells me CFWA is probably most appealing to me (considering I'm a macro lover, diving mainly in low visibility waters).

However the only mini dome I could find is the Zen DP-100, but contrary to Alex talks, it's a lot more expensive than the regular Hugyfot fisheye port ($900 vs €500). Probably because the Hugyfot is acrylic, while the Zen is glass. I couldn't find a local (or even European) shop yet, so that would mean additional shipping costs and taxes to take into account. Does anyone know a local dealer, or even alternative mini domes for Hugyfot?

Would it be possible to shoot wide angle with just one strobe (Sea & Sea YS-110)? I would like to buy a second one in the future, but at the moment my budget is a limited :-(

the only mini dome I could find is the Zen DP-100, but contrary to Alex talks, it's a lot more expensive than the regular Hugyfot fisheye port ($900 vs €500). Probably because the Hugyfot is acrylic, while the Zen is glass. I couldn't find a local (or even European) shop yet, so that would mean additional shipping costs and taxes to take into account. Does anyone know a local dealer, or even alternative mini domes for Hugyfot?

Could you use this http://uwcamerastuff.com/modular_5_dome.htm ? Does Hugyfot make an adapter for Ikelite ports? I expect Bill Libecap knows the answer.