wide angle/dome or macro/closeup lens : which one do you use the most ?

[stargost]

I was wondering what uw photographers are mostly using : wide angle with dome or macro.

I have a P&S Panasonic Zs3, and was thinking about getting a wide angle dome (I have found a dedicated one for the housing – DYRON : Dyron)

But then, I had a closer look at what I’m shooting, and it’s mostly small critters, so I went back to consider a macro set-up instead, as there are 67mm adaptor rings and decent lens like the Inon:
INON Close-up Lens Line up


But then again, I ran into a tread/report (here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...eye-uwl04-macro-dyron-ucl67ii-inon-d2000.html )
With lots of outstanding pictures, and most of them shot with the dome/wide angle …

Solution is of course to get both, but I was still wondering what most of longer terms uw photographers were doing !

Thanks for the hints.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Wide angle-dome. FIX UWL-04, almost all the time. It;s paired up with S90/YS-01.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I have been selling my Oly 5050 underwater photography since '02 and I have never used a macro set up for any of that shooting. I also don't use or see that many domes; I think most P&S under water photographers are using the stock housing port &/or a wet WAL without dome.

When I did my Resort Photo Pro course in '01, taught by Michael Waters (then training director for Stephen Frink Photographic), I used my Nikonus V w/ macro kit for the required macro dive, but I came away from that experience with the opinion that macro does nothing for me unless I am going to publish a fish ID book.

Macro is the easiest style to get good results because most decent underwater camera/strobe systems can get a great image in auto/ttl. IMHO, if you want to be a photographic artist, WAL photography is where you can truly be artistic.

Now, I pretty much only sell picture disks of dives, to the divers on those dives. I have the dome for my WAL, but if divers are the largest animals I am shooting the dome is too wide. Conversely, I can take quick close ups with the WAL on and crop to get pretty good final images.

Below are three WAL examples of what I'm sayin'....

These boys gladly paid $60 for pics of this dive trip


significant crop for close up


I consider this fairly artistic​

 

[Allison Finch]

I use my macro most of the time. I just love the challenge of getting those tiny tinies. IF the reef had great color and relief, I will bring out my wide angle.

I just got back from a month in the Philippines. I was a bit disappointed in the quality and color on the reefs on Apo Reef. I only used my wide angle on one day of the trip.

Color, visibility and relief are a must to get some interesting shots, IMHO.

 

[Darnold9999]

Mostly macro 60mm - I also am into the really really tiny. If I know the site is a full on macro site and the vis is up to it I will take the 105.

I only use the wide angle if I know the vis OK and there are going to be things to shoot. Manta was my last wide ange dive. The vis was not good so most shots were not great. Only the ones where I could get within 3 or 4 feet of the animal are what I would consider good pictures. If a reef has lots of soft coral and colour or lots of schooling fish, or large animals then I will also take the WA. Don't do people, don't sell my photographs and really only take them for me so take all of this with a grain of salt.

Having said all of that I would say that at least half of the pictures that I have taken that I consider great were taken with the wide angle - even though the vast majority of the pictures I take are macro. It is hard to get artistry with either (and I don't profess to be an artist), but it is more often the wide angle shot that speaks to me in some way as I am going back over a dive or trip to get the "best of" or the one or two that I want to print. It is also more often that I can look at a reef/fish/animal and know what story or statement I want to have as a result using wide angle. With macro I have more difficulty composing to actually say something. Often it is just here is an interesting critter I have not seen before. Once in a while it becomes here is an interesting critter lit or presented in a way that stands out. Usually very colourful, or some repeating structure, or against a contrasting or interesting background or exhibiting some interesting behavour.

While wide ange shots that I find interesting will have some kind of statement to the viewer or tell a story within the frame of the picture. Harder to do that in a macro shot.

Hope that helps.

 

[bvanant]

Almost entirely macro but I do shoot some CFWA stuff with the Tokina 10-17 and some weird views with the insect eye lens.
Bill

 

[HerraduraDivers]

I use most my UWL-100 on my Patima G11 housing for WA and CFWA.
I start now to use the macro capabilities of the G11, but i am not very
satisfied probably as i am used to my Micro Nikkor 105mm on my D90.

Chris

 

[stargost]

Thanks. I like the idea of the artistic approach of the WA, and going after some cool CFWA pictures.
A little different and may require conditions i dont have often here, but indeed looks interesting to go after something different that getting a close shot critter for collecting pictures.
So, WA/dome it will be !

 

[Larry C]

When I was shooting P & S, I did a fairly even split of WA, fish portraits and tiny stuff depending on where I was. Mostly I shoot in low vis crap, so macro works great. When I travelled, I carried the WA lens or the macro and WA on a caddy for versatility. Like Halemano, I found that most of my shots were done with the standard port.
A lot of it depends on where you shoot, what your subjects are and what opportunities you have on your dive. Sometimes when diving with a larger group on a guided tour, you can't really spend a lot of time stopping for that perfect macro shot, so you concentrate on finding pretty seascapes and using the light. On those days, the WA is perfect. You can still do a WA macro or CFWA with a subject in the foreground and a strong background. If you're muck diving, the macro lens will let you get that really tiny stuff. To me, more important is having your camera presets ready so you can change quickly from one to the other. That's the beauty of the P & S.

 

[AndyT]

I mostly use a 50mm macro plus aeither a 1.4 or 2.0 teleconverter - you can never be too sur as to what conditions to expect around here, macro will always be an option. If I know that the viz will be better than 12m I may go for a WA setup.