Philippines with two new lenses for Canon

I recently returned from a couple of weeks diving in Phili and tried out these two lenses on both my full frame ( 5D2 ) and creopped sensor ( 50D ) Canons in Subal housings. I was very pleased with both.

Quite a lot has been said here about the 8-15mm so I will just concur that it is quite stellar on both formats and certainly worth the extra $ in my opinion. Some technical notes:

1.Dont forget to set the limit switch when you are using it on a cropped sensor camera! .

2. I had to remove the dome shade when using my DP-FE2 with the 5D2. Its OK to leave it on for cropped sensor

3. If you have a Canon 17-40mm zoom ring, it will work fine for this lens in a Subal housing.

4. I used a 18mm extension ring which worked fine. It seems the corners were sharper with this setup than with any other Canon wideangle combinations I have tried. ( just my impression - not formally tested )

The new Sigma lens is incredibly sharp and has less CA than any other macro lens I have used underwater. The autofocus is quite decent - seems at least as good as the Canon 100mm if not a bit better but not as good as the 60mm EFS on cropped sensor. Downsides are the weight - its a brick! My buoyancy collar was a blessing.

Galleries here: http://andresmith.speedalbum.com/Philippin...ovember%202011/ and here: http://andresmith.speedalbum.com/Atlantis%...ovember%202011/

Sigma 150mm OS:

Another 8-15mm on 50D

Another 8-15mm on 50D

Thanks for sharing Andre. Some cracking shots. Just bought one of these lens and I am looking forward to testing it on my 7D.

Mark

Andre,

I have been shooting with my Canon S95 in a Recsea housing but have not been able to quite get the detail that you have in you beautiful images.

I have a 5D MII but reluctant to house it put it into the water. Can you give more feedback on the subal housing, what lighting you were using with it, how much in the way of flotation you had to add to it with the various ports and finally how you traveled to the Phillipines on board an airline that has very limited weight restrictions (security must have been a big issue). Did you use any snoots on your flash setup?

I know it might be a lot to ask but could you put the settings and light setup that you used for your photos in the galleries? I would really like to know how you obtained the beautiful pics. I have been having a really hard time with some of my photography. The one of the clownfish (7600) has got to be one of the first times that I have seen its lips in focus with the rest of the fish. Their lips are so translucent and it is very hard to capture the tack sharp images like that.

Sincerely,

The Meltdownman

how you traveled to the Phillipines on board an airline that has very limited weight restrictions (security must have been a big issue). Did you use any snoots on your flash setup?

@Meltdownman:

The Philippines isn't hard to get to from North America, from the West Coast, Philippine Airlines is by far the easiest and fastest as there are direct flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco or Vancouver. While PAL isn't the cheapest, you do gain a lot in convenience and they have their own terminal in Manila, you won't be liked a packed sardine sharing with the other international carriers. PAL also has the Sportsplus Internationl Package, that for $120 you get an extra 50lb bag for anywhere PAL flies for 1 year. Security isn't any better or worse than other airports. I've had more issues at SFO than at MNL.

@Andre:

Great shots of my home reefs! I can't wait to get back there in June!

cheers

Stu

Thaks for answering that Stu

Meltdownman, to answer some of your questions: The Subal housing for the 5D mark II is great and I do love their products. There are however many other options and doing a search here on the forums will get you lots of information. For buoyancy control for your rig there are likewise many solutions including 4th Generation Designs ( http://stores.4gdphoto.com/-strse-Underwat.../Categories.bok ) . I used Sea and Sea YS 250 strobes and no snoot. Getting good focus on small critters is always a challenge and there are several techniques. Personally I use autofocus untill I am in the range and then lock focus and move the camera until I have precise focus through the viewfinder.

Good luck with your setup and pictures!