Underwater Photography with a Fisheye Lens

Why a fisheye lens should be a part of every big animal photographer’s tool kit.

One of the golden rules in underwater photography is to get as close as possible to your subject. The idea behind this is to minimise the amount of water between your lens and your subject to enhance variables such as light, colour and detail. In the world of big animal photography, there is no lens better equipped to follow this rule than the fisheye.

Fisheye lenses are a specialised type of lens and are characterised by their extremely wide field of view and of course the fisheye distortion that gives them their name. If you have never used a fisheye lens before, you may be hesitant to make the jump, but rest assured, this is one piece of equipment that you absolutely need to have in your kit when it comes to photographing the wide-angle subjects, we all love so much!

WIDE FIELD OF VIEW

One of the main benefits to shooting a fisheye lens is the wide field of view often extending up to 180 degrees. This offers a huge advantage underwater, particularly when it comes to working with large animals. Not only will you never find yourself struggling to fit a particular subject comfortably within the frame, but you can also get much closer subsequently enhancing all the details and textures that make wildlife imagery so captivating.

An enormous fever of mobula rays; only a fisheye lens offers a field of view wider enough to capture such a scene in its entirety!

CLOSE FOCUS ABILITY

Another favourable characteristic of a fisheye lens is their ability to achieve tack sharp focus while being very close to a given subject. Popular fisheye options like the Nikon or Canon 8-15mm (for full frame cameras) or the Tokina 10-17mm (for cropped sensor cameras) are capable of focusing on subjects just 16cm/6 inches away which when behind a dome port, is basically right on the glass or acrylic. It’s the combination of the close focusing capabilities with the wide field of view that makes fisheye lenses so well adapted to big animal photography.

Fisheye lenses are renowned for their ability to focus extremely closely! This allows you to get nice and close to your subject and thereby enhancing details and overall image quality.

IMPROVED OPTICS

Fisheye lenses are also known for possessing the best optics behind a dome port resulting in excellent image quality and centre sharpness while also maintaining impressive corner sharpness. Many rectilinear lenses on the other hand, are known for having limitations particularly with regards to corner sharpness when used behind a dome port.

STROBE LIGHTING

If you are considering adding a set of strobes to your kit, a quality fisheye lens becomes even more important. The fact is even the most powerful strobes on the market struggle to produce a quality flash of light capable of travelling more than a couple of metres underwater. When using strobes, it’s more important than ever to ensure you are getting nice and close to your subjects to minimise unwanted variables like backscatter. Keep in mind that if you are looking to use external lighting with a fisheye lens, it’s recommended to use 2 strobes for sufficient coverage of light across the entire field of view.

Don’t fear the fisheye distortion; embrace it instead! Working with a fisheye lens can help to produce a 3D effect that many find very appealing.

THE DISTORTION

The characteristic barrel distortion seen in fisheye lenses is the main reason why some photographers may be reluctant to commit. The fact is the underwater world is made up primarily of curves and has very few straight lines meaning that not only will the fisheye effect not appear out of place but can often enhance compositions. If working with a fisheye zoom like the 8-15mm or 10-17mm, you will find that when zoomed all the way in, the barrel distortion is almost undetectable and only becomes more pronounced towards the wider end of the focal range.

RECOMMENDATIONS

If you are looking to invest in a quality fisheye lens that will serve you for years to come, I recommend either the Nikon or Canon 8-15mm for full frame cameras or the Tokina 10-17mm for cropped sensor cameras. If these options are not compatible with your camera, the main thing to consider when choosing an appropriate fisheye lens is its close focusing ability. Ideally, you want a lens that is capable of focusing within 16cm/6 inches.