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Koh Tao underwater photography equipment advice needed

Started by LeeCat ·

  • 5Posts
  • 5Replies

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Koh Tao underwater photography equipment advice needed

5 posts
  1. I'm planning a holiday at Koh Tao in December and would like to get advice regarding underwater photography equipment for the trip.
    Does it have sense to have a full set of lenses in this location? The "full set" means

    • macro (105mm) + wet super-macro lenses
    • rectilinear wide angle (16-35mm) + 10" dome
    • fish eye (15mm) + 4" dome

    I went through many diving reports, but can't get to any conclusion in this regard.
    Any reasonable help will be much appreciated.

    Edited by LeeCat
  2. Most sites at Koh Tao are wide-angle. You can find some macro subjects here and there if you get lucky (I've seen persian carpet flatworms in the Twins/Japanese Gardens area several times, for example), but unless you count christmas tree worms and the occasional wart slug/oreo nudibranch, it's all wide-angle. One exception to this is Tao Tong area, where you will find pretty decent muck diving - not to the standard of Anilao or Lembeh, but still pretty nice, with a variety of nudibranches (including the tiny tiny tiny Shaun the Sheep ones, so you'll want to have your diopters handy), shrimp, crabs, etc, but the only operator on the island which goes there that I know of is Master Divers.

    Note that in December, there's the question of visibility. I haven't been there in December, but I spent January, February and a bit of March there last year, and most days, water was pretty green and murky, making wide-angle shooting a significant challenge - most of my dives were macro at Tao Tong. I think it should be better in December, but not sure by how much.

  3. @BarmaglotThanks a lot for your answer - it's exactly what I'm looking for :dance:.

    If you don't mind few more questions:

    • When you are talking about "wide angle" do you have in mind rectilinear lenses or fish-eye?
    • What are the options for CFWA? I hope, CFWA will be more suitable in low visibility conditions. 
  4. My primary wide-angle option is a Sony 10-18mm on APS-C, In an 8-inch dome, it doesn't really do CFWA. Can't comment on fisheye.

    The reefs around Koh Tao are mostly hard coral, so they're not too colorful, aside from tons of christmas tree worms which are everywhere.

    CINYBko.jpeg

    (this was taken on a rare blue-water day)

    You get the usual assortment of reef fish, the occasional turtle, some giant groupers and barracudas, etc. If you go out to further away sites, like Chumphon Pinnacle or Southwest Pinnacle, you might run into some fish schools.

    vGA513w.jpeg

    If you're very very lucky, you may run into a whale shark - I've never seen them on Koh Tao myself, but I know some people who encountered one on their open water course.

    On poor vis days, it's much better to do macro though.

    j8XhOwj.jpeg

    8Rgyejz.png

    3m3stVb.jpeg

    Hsv7woL.jpeg

     

  5. @Barmaglot - Thanks a lot

Keldan

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