Underwater
Photography
by J. Ramón Palacios
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|
THE
LENSES
Three major kind
of subjects come up underwater: wide angle, mid range and close-ups.
Forget about long range.
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With
Nikonos V and Nikkor 80mm f/4 at Punta Nizuc, Cancun
. |
Probably
the most useful is the UW-Nikkor 15mm f/2.8 ultra-wideangle
lens. This is the only one I did not purchase, simply because
it was out of stock at the moment, which is very unfortunate:
this is a lens one should not be without. Ideal to capture large
scenes, with a picture view of 94 degrees has been repeatedly
reported as quite sharp all the way from f/4 to f/22, stunning
in fact. Close focuses down to 1 foot. There is an optional viewfinder
for it, the DF-11. Above, three views from the same lens.
| The
Nikonos V with the 15mm f/2.8 and its special finder DF-11 |
 |
.
The
next lens in the lineup is the UW-Nikkor 20mm f/2.8. In
my experience, great for up close shooting, so it is really my
favorite. Very sharp from f/4 through f/11. The picture angle
is 78 degrees and the optional viewfinder DF-12 is available for
parallax compensation. I do not own the Nikonos close-up lens
to tell you my own experience but it is supposed to be just great.
But
somehow quite frequently I end up mounting the UW-Nikkor 28mm
f/3.5 on the body, maybe it is always so early in the morning
...., so it has become my standard wide-angle lens although its
angle of view is 59 degrees. Also very sharp from f/4 through
f/11. It also works very well with the DF-12 viewfinder
mounted on the shoe of the Nikonos V. |
