Fisheyes For FX: Replacing the 10-17mm

Alex Mustard & Jeff Hartog · Issue 49, Jul/Aug 2009 · pp. 47–50

Products mentioned: Nikon 16mm fisheye, Sigma 15mm fisheye, Tokina 10-17mm, Nikon 10.5mm, Kenko 1.4x teleconverter, Kenko 1.5x teleconverter, Nikon D700, Canon 5D Mk2, Subal housing, Inon Z240 strobes

Fisheye lenses are considered special effect optics on land. Used occasionally to create fresh perspectives with their ultra wide coverage and barrel distortion. Underwater the situation couldn’t be more different. Fisheyes are the mainstay of wide angle photography and there are many underwater photographers who shoot little else. They are popular because of the power they bring to underwater images, opening up space and cutting through the murk of the underwater world, as well as working easily behind dome ports. Beneath the waves, their inherent characteristic, that they forego a rectilinear image to achieve their ultra wide coverage with characteristic barrel distortion, is not so problematic. We rarely have to deal with a horizon or straight lines in natural subjects, and experienced users become so used to composing fisheye images that it is hard to spot any barrel distortion in th…