Wide angle with the Sony A7R III

Simon J Pierce · Issue 142, Jan/Feb 2025 · pp. 50–54

Products mentioned: Sony A7R III, Nauticam NA-A7RIII housing, Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens, Metabones V adapter, Nauticam N120 140mm optical glass fisheye dome port, ProGrade 256GB SD card, Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobes, Sea & Sea YS-D2J strobes, Eneloop Pro batteries, Sony flash trigger, Nauticam optical sync cables, Glow Dive diffusers, DxO Pure Raw 2, Lightroom

While this article focuses specifically on how I use my Sony A7R III camera for underwater wide- angle photography, cameras are cameras. Many concepts here should be relevant to using any given system underwater. Firstly I love Nauticam underwater housings, and use a Nauticam NA-A7RIII housing with the A7R III and I’m a big fan of ultrawide fisheye lenses, as I spend a lot of time with large animals (particularly whale sharks, as I’m a whale shark researcher). Sony still doesn’t have a ‘native’ fisheye lens at this stage, so I use a Canon 8-15 mm fisheye lens (using a Metabones V adapter) with a Nauticam N120 140 mm optical glass fisheye dome port and 30 mm extension ring. As an FYI, I always use the LCD screen to compose my shots. Nothing against viewfinders – I’m just used to it. I started my underwater photography with small cameras that only had a rear screen. I also shoot one-handed…