Canon T2i Lens questions

[ZiggyS]

Hi All,

I'm feeling a bit guilty for starting yet another "what lenses/kit should I have?" thread as I know there have been quite a few. However, one thing I've learned from reading all (well...a lot of) the posts is that things vary from person to person and depend on specific circumstances...so here are mine and apologies if this is repetition.

I'm moving on to a DSLR from my PAS Canon so I've got myself a T2i. I'm planning on getting the Aquatica (or possibly Nauticam) housing for the camera and, currently, I have the Sigma 17-70mm lens that I use as my everyday lens.

Questions:

1) I plan on getting a wide angle lens for those (rare) occasions when I'm diving with large but slow creatures (Whale Sharks) or when taking pictures of wrecks or wide reef shots. From everything that I've read here the Tokina 10-17mm seems to be the one to get. Is that still correct?

2) Most of my photography is of fish that have a nasty habit of not posing for me or, in the case of the hammerheads I like so much, not letting me get that close. With that in mind, I was thinking of sticking with my 17-70mm lens so that I have the zoom option available. Is that sensible or is there an argument to get a fixed lens? If so, which one and why?

3) Any other things you guys think I should be considering when building up my DSLR equipment?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Canon T2i mated up with a Tokina 10-17 is a great combo ! The Tokina is the only lens I take below and shoot with, as I don't shoot macro. I shoot mostly wrecks, big life (sharks), walls, coral heads, "sea-scapes", etc. In other words, lots of CFWA. The Tokina is great for this. It's a fun, fun lens above water, too

 

[PatW]

I have the Tokina 10-17 fisheye which I use with a Nikon DSLR. The Tokina is very well suited for underwater photography. It has a very close focus, so you can feature a very small subject in the foreground with the reef in the background. It is a great lens for diver shots. For fish, you have to get really close even at the 17 end. Most fish can not be approached that close. It is really nice because it requires only a 4" dome which makes for a far more compact and wieldly package. On the last dive of my latest trip, I happened to take photos on the boat with my 10-17. It worked great. With the fisheye and wide angle, I could be really close to my subjects (it is hard to back off to get room on a diving boat). Since most people are feeling a bit silly after a dive and are not wearing flattering clothing, the bent lines sort of added the right "air" to the shots. Now some people do not like the bent lines of the fisheye, underwater it does not bother me and not so much above either. I have an 8" dome for my 17-70 sigma macro (semi macro really). The big dome is a bit unwieldy. However, the 17-70 is a pretty versatile package. If you are looking for a true wide angle lens, this is the one to get with your camera. It does not really work with full frame cameras. As for fixed focal length lenses, I think the 10-17 will do fine as long as you do not shoot it wide open. I have not looked really carefully at the reviews or done my own tests to confirm this.

 

[ZiggyS]

Thank you both for the replies. Looks like I'll be concentrating on the Tokina and keeping my Sigma 17-70 as my 'other' lens.

 

[LowVizWiz]

I'm building my rig based on a T4i and after researching housings, lenses, etc. I've settled on the Sigma 17-70. I like the versatility of the Sigma. It's a fairly fast lens 2.8 @ 17mm. Yes there are better WA lenses, but I'm also not trying to break the bank. It also gives me the ability to do macro when I need to. It focuses as close to ~8-9" away from the subject and it's a great lens above water too all in a fairly inexpensive package.

If money wasn't an issue I guess having a prime fisheye lens and a 85 or 100 mm macro lens with their respective ports, etc would be best. But I really like the all in one package flexibility of the Sigma 17-70. It's also made specifically for cropped sensor DSLR cameras like the Rebel.

 

[Shark_feeder]

HI, Sorry for the late reply.

I have the Aquatica T2i housing and love it, recently upgraded it from the Aquatica Rebel (300d).

I mainly did this to keep the port I had for it. Once I upgraded I added the Tokina 10-17mm and the 4" dome port. (used on here) great lens for wide angle stuff. You will need clear water and lots of strobe power/available light with the lens dual stobes work the best. I use 2 SB105 nikonos ones.

Great having the 4" port very compact, traveled well to Indonesia and Australia in December.

I also have the 100mm macro, I love that for night macro shots, I added the 60mm prior to the December trip, and that worked out to be the best lens for Indonesia, the water had a lot of (snot) in it, so the wide angle shots also had it.

I said what the heck and got the Aquatica close-up lens kit, with the 10x and 5x lenses, that added with the 60mm or 100, worked great as long as you could get close 1-2" with 10x.

I also use the 18-55mm stock lens with the flat macro port, works good, for unknown dive sites. You can also use the close-up kit with the 18-55 only at the 55 size, much under that and you get some vignetting, which can make for an interesting effect.

I guess you could sum it up and say, any lens will work, all depends on where your shooting and what the water conditions are, and of couse you will never have the right lens when you need it underwater.

Don't count on the video to be of any quality on the T2i at least I haven't been able to make it work. It will not auto focus while shooting, works better if you are shooting in open water large items, for close work didn't work for me with 1300 lumen light.

60mm with 10x, 60mm with 10x and 60mm