Using a Wide-Angle Conversion Lens
What is a Wide-Angle Conversion Lens?
A wide-angle conversion lens is a lens that you can attach to your housing to widen your camera's field of view, increasing the amount of the scene in front of you that you can capture in a single photo. A wide-angle conversion lens gives you a wider field of view than a digital camera's built-in wide-angle setting. |
Capture a Wider Area from the Same Distance
When you come across large subjects or expansive seascapes, you want to fit as much as possible of what you see into the frame of your picture. That's when a wide-angle lens comes into its own. Not only does it pack more subject matter into your frame, but its expanded depth of field captures every inch in razor-sharp focus for more impact in your photos. |
If you find yourself looking at a wide undersea panorama but you can't move backward to fit it all in your camera's frame, then it's time for a wide-angle conversion lens. Once you add it to your housing, you can fit much more of the scene into your picture even if you're forced to shoot from the same location. |
Get as Close as Possible to Shoot
To photograph a wide area, can't you just move back further from the scene to fit it all in? That works on land. As you get further away, your distance from the subject (called the working distance) increases, effectively shrinking the subject so that it fits into the angle of view of your lens. There's a problem, though, when you're shooting underwater: the further you are from your subject, the more water you're shooting through. More water absorbs light and makes your subject hazier with poor contrast that obscures color and details. In water with low visibility (stirred up sediment or lots of plankton), getting too far back from your subject completely obscures your subject. And if you're using a strobe and you move too far back from your subject, the light from the strobe won't reach the subject. |
Take Expansive, Dynamic Landscape Photos
One of a wide-angle conversion lens's best features is its ability to capture wide vistas in confined locations where moving back is not an option. If you carry a wide-angle conversion lens in your pocket, you can pop it on whenever you need it, which may be more often than you think. The wider the lens's field of view, the farther apart the lens makes near objects appear from distant objects. This adds a sense of heightened perspective. Knowing how and when to use a wide-angle conversion lens can add a sense of dynamic excitement to your photos. |
Aim Up
When you take photos on land, you don't normally aim your lens to close to the sun. It's okay, though, to try to include sunlight in your photos when you're underwater. Even though it can decrease exposure and make the subject a little dark, the image of the sun through blue water can be beautiful: a background of vivid blue shades graded from light to dark. |
Wide-angle photography is a wonderful opportunity to play with shades of light. Notice the gradations of blue in the water as you shoot, the dramatic presence of the sun above with shafts of light coming through the water. If you aim slightly upward, you can capture this beautiful lighting in your photos. Beginners typically shoot aiming down. Try to get into the habit of aiming up to get the light above. |
Always Check for Bubbles
If you mount the wide-angle conversion lens on your housing on land before you get in the water, there may be bubbles trapped behind it once you're in the water. Make sure all bubbles are out before shooting by loosening the lens or lightly shaking it once in the water. Look closely at the lens to see if there are any bubbles behind it before you shoot. |
