which lens for sony nex 5n for sharks?

Hello,

I've got the following equipment:

Sony Nex 5N

Nauticam housing with 4.33 dome port

Sony 16mm pancake + fisheye adapter

Sigma 19mm

Sony 35mm

I would love to dive with sharks (tiger, hammerhead and carribean) in the bahamas

Which lens would you use? Wide as possible?

Do you think that buying a samyang/rokinon 8mm 2.8 is a good idea? If so, the idea is to set the aperture manually to f8 et the focus to infinity.

Thank you for your help

I wouldn't buy the rokinon 8mm. Not sure with the 5n, but with my nex 7 it has purple fringing. you also lose aperture and focus control.

I would say your 16mm with fisheye would be fine. Most shark photos tend to be shot with the 10-17 tokina fisheye. (16+FE = 10mm FE). switching to a sigma 19mm, which is rectilinear would significantly decrease your field of view vs the fe. I wouldn't bother.

if you don't mind spending the money, you could go the 10-18 route but stick to the 10-14mm end of the spectum. Don't have the math but fov for 18mm fe vs 10mm rectilinear that is what you will want to consider.

Thank you jmaurico.

I thought about the sony 10-18 but the problem is that I would have to buy a 7" Dome port and the zoom gear...

So the total price is too expensive...

I forgot to mention that i also have the zeiss 16-70. Does it work at 16mm withe the 4.33 dome port? Is it a good alternative?

Edit: It doesn't fit the 4.33 Dome port...

Thank you

I would suggest you run with the 16+fe adapter. You will be fine. just will have to get close!

Another option is to buy the wide angle adapter to the 16mm. this gives you 12mm (i think) rectilinear. it works with the 4.33 dome.

Then you have a choice before you go in the water 10mm FE or 12mm rectilinear.

Use 16mm alone in dome unless you can get close then go for the WA adapter very cheap. I also relaly like my Zeiss 24mm lens under the dome

Thank you for your answers.

I think that 24mm would be too long for sharks photography.

Concerning the lighting, would you go with 2 strobes? For the moment i ve got only one sea&sea ys-110a

Yes, i would go with two strobes. you will need two for wide angle coverage and if you are not able to get very close to the sharks you will need the power. its really important to be close. as is the golden rule with UW photography

16mm for sure, and an adapter for UW at 11mm is a welcome addition.

There is this super wide angle adapter for 16mm, much like the fisheye one. Make sure it works. If you want versatitliy, make sure 16-70 can be placeble. I would think of a dedicated port from Nauticam with zoom gear will fit it.

Which lens would you use? Wide as possible?

Do you think that buying a samyang/rokinon 8mm 2.8 is a good idea? If so, the idea is to set the aperture manually to f8 et the focus to infinity.

 

Thank you for your help

I bought the samyang 8mm lens for my nex5n and Nauticam NA-NEX5n housing .... but what dome port anyone can recommend for this lens?

What focal distance I should setup on the lens: infinity or some special distance which depends on dome port size??

the same dome as the 16mm + fe adapter works fine. its almost the same barrel length

I had a play around in the past and found f8 or f11 and set it to the minimum focus distance (remember with a dome port you are focussing on a virtual image).

biggest issue with the nex 7 is the purple fringe. I think its not as much an issue with the 5n but its worth checking before you take underwater.

I did some tests with it against the 16+ FE here.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48094&p=318537

Do You have any pictures taken underwater ??

I have 3,5 inch dome instead of 4,33 so I am not sure where is the virtual image with this small port ??

pictures underwater? there is a smugmug link in the post I sent you. with underwater examples.

I did not take it into the ocean as I was not interested in using the lens long term.

http://jmauricio.smugmug.com/Other/WA-Lens-Test/25974677_P8w2bZ#!i=2155109507&k=9qpQf9V

jmauricio

Thank Yuo for sharing with this link. It looks that lens setup for the infinity also can give some reasonable results.