What lens for FP Fakarava

HI All

Planning a trip to Fakarava in French Polynesia.

I am not completely decided on what lens to take. I don't really want to buy another lens and weight is a major consideration. The max carry on weight is 5KG and my checked will be loaded with dive gear and camera stuff.

Using a FF body, the suitable lens I have are

Canon 8-15 F4 fish eye: This one is a certain

Canon 24mm F1.4 II: Not sure if this will have enough reach for sharks

Canon 35mm F1.4 : Not sure if this will be too tight

I would like to come away from the trip with a very nice shark portrait and a few shots of the wall of sharks.

I would use the fisheye for under/over and some UWA.

The 24 would be good for shots under their jetty

The 35 would be good for sharks that won't come too close

I would love to take them all but weight is a major concern.

I would also like to take a few top side shots, mainly beaches and a few of my wife.

What would you do in my scenario

Your problem seems to be that your primes are of the fastest variety and therefore quite large. I would buy slower primes that are light enough to carry both. Buy them used, then sell them afterwards. If you get lucky you might not even pay a single cent.

the classic recommendation I have seen on various posts is for a 16-35mm lens - the f4 version is fine - no advantage going to the f2.8 but needs a big dome at 16mm end, though a S&S correction lens will help with corners - or if it's sharks in the blue, corners don't matter so much.

I've used my 12-40 (24-80 equiv) for grey nurse sharks and it does a fine job - not often I get close enough to wish for wider. What dome do you have?

I Have a 9inch dome and the sea & sea correction lens.

The 24mm May be the best option as I can always crop a little vs being too tight with the 35.

I have had some luck with my 8-15 fish eye with some GNS in the past. The conditions were tough with lots of particles in the water and it was my first ever dive using WA with a DSLR. I Hid in the kelp and shot them as they passed over. I think the 24mm would of been a better choice for the GNS. I had to wait until they were less than a metre away with the fisheye.

I'd agree with Chris Ross on 16-35 being ideal. Good enough if they get close but also pretty good if they won't come near. But, yeah, often tricky to house on FF - although folks are sure saying good things about that Sea & Sea correction lens.

This isn't terribly helpful with the lenses you have (sorry!). I don't think the 8-15 will work unless they come REALLY close and that's not my experience in French Polynesia.

If you have to go with one lens, I'd suggest the 24mm.

The 16-35 would seem to be ideal apart from the fact you don't have it. Maybe look around on Ebay to see if anything is going at a tempting price Looks like the 16-35 f4 sells for $700- $900 range on Ebay in Australia. you might also research other models like the 20-35 or 24-70?. I'm sure the 24mm would be quite capable, but not sure I'd want to be so restricted.