Aquatech underwater housing with Canon 11-24mm or 16-35mm?

Hi there,

I am planning on buying the Aquatech Delphin 1D underwater housing for my Canon 1DX II. The main purpose will be to record some travel video’s and pictures. I am not planning on scuba diving with it, but to take split shots, surf shots and some underwater shots. I am completely new to underwater photography, but did quite a bit of research and I think that the Aquatech housing will be the best for me. Currently I have the Canon 11-24 F4 and the Canon 24-70mm F2.8 II lenses. From my understanding is that the 24-70 is not ideal to take split shots as you want a wide angle/fisheye lens to take underwater/split pictures. Currently Aquatech doesn’t have a dome which supports the 11-24 lens, but they informed me that they will release a dome in the “next few months” for the 11-24 lens.

My question is, would you recommend waiting for the dome which supports the 11-24mm lens or would you suggest me to buy the Canon 16-35mm f4 lens and use their available dome? The reason for the 16-35mm lens is that it’s a wide angle lens and got the IS built into it which is ideal for recording video’s. What are your suggestions?

Thanks!

Daniil

Hi Daniil,

If your focus is on taking a lot of split shots then i think you should consider getting a fish eye and combining it with a large dome port (8.5inch or above). The wider the angle of view the better in this instance. The Tokina 10-17mm is a great lens, it is designed for crop sensor but i use it on my 5D and keep it between 15-17mm (you can shave the shade off for an extra 1mm). Otherwise the sigma 15mm, canon 15mm and canon L 8-15mm are all popular fish eye lenses.

I use the 16-35mm mkii for underwater and landscapes and it's an amazing lens but not as good as the Tokina for splits. Also the 11-24mm canon lens is quite heavy so maybe something to consider if you are needing manoeuvrability and you cannot mount filters on it.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the reply Grant! Really useful.

To be honest I would rather not buy an extra lens, especially such a specific lenses as the Tokina 10-17mm or the Canon 8-15mm as I already got the 11-24 and the 24-70 ranges covered with both lenses. However, if I would have yo buy the Canon 16-35 then I would still be able to use it on my camera to take videos/pictures and wouldn't really use the fisheye lenses you suggested anywhere else apart from in the water.

I assume that the shot gets magnified when using it underwater, or am I wrong?

Even though the focal length's of the fisheye will be covered by that of the 11-24mm. The angle of view is far greater on the fish eye lens as it produces a 180 degree angle of view compared to the 120 (roughly) degree angle of view of the 11-24mm.This means when shooting split shots for example you will see more above and below the water line. Also the wide angle of view of the fish eye allows you to get very close and in underwater photography this is extremely important to minimise particles and water between lens and subject therefore maximising detail, clarity and colour.

Yes water does have a magnification effect but there is far more complex physics occurring, particularly when using a dome port. Just google 'underwater dome port optics' and you can spend all day reading.

Hi Daniil,

do you want to make underwater or in the water photography?

Do you have what housing?

Regards,

Rui