which lens

[ken swanson]

I have a canon sl1 100d camera in a ikelite housing.I have been using a canon 10/18 mm f4.5/5.6 lens, my question is the tokina 10/17mm f3.5/4.5 lens worth buying? It does have a wider f stop,will I notice a differance

 

[tridacna]

Does it come with a flying broom?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[rob1967]

As I mentioned in another post or two, I own both and have used both underwater and I much prefer the Canon 10-18 over the Tokina 10-17. The Tokina is a fish-eye lens, therefore it has a lot of barrel distortion, so straight lines will appear curved. It is also significantly wider than the Canon, and I actually found it too wide for most things. I don't think I could get close enough to something big enough underwater to fully utilize the wideness of the Tokina (on a per mm basis, fisheye will be wider than a rectilinear lens).

The Canon 10-18 lens is rectilinear, so the barrel distortion is minimal compared to a fish-eye lens. Also, it is much more affordable. In my opinion, a fast lens is not necessary underwater; personally I rarely open up wider than f8 underwater.

The Tokina does focus very close, but the Canon also has a short enough minimum focus distance, which of me, makes it the best choice for wide-angle for crop sensor Canon SLR.

 

[PatW]

I really like the Tokina. It focuses to something like 3". So you can take near macro shots and have objects in the background that are sort of in focus. I find the barrel distortion to not be much of an issue. But that is a matter of the look you are going for. It is a great lens to use after the dive on the boat. Having everything in focus and wacky curved lines gets people into mugging for the camera. For some reason even ladies who are camera shy like the look that the lens gives and will pose for the camera. It was not something I expected. It also takes great bar shots at the end of the dive. You put food or a glass or a bottle in the foreground and people behind it for a funky photo. It is a wacky little lens that used right can produce some really nice effects.

 

[Hoag]

I used to shoot a Canon DSLR underwater. (I still do above water, but I have a more compact Mirrorless system for underwater now.) When I was shooting my DSLR, I loved the Tokina 10-17 Fisheye! There are no straight lines in nature, and underwater you get some great images without noticing the distortion that a fisheye lens gives. Here are a couple shots that I took with my Tokina lens:

A Typical "Coral Head" shot:


A "Shark shot":



A close up "Macro shot":



All of these pics were taken using the Tokina 10-17mm lens. If I were using a DSLR underwater today, this would likely be my "go to" lens.