Review on 📷 Tokina AT-X 107 DX Fish Eye Canon Lens (AF 10-17mm F/3.5-4.5) by Brett Tierney

I bought this lens solely for underwater photography. Many UW photo sites and UW photographers recommend it as a must-have lens for wide-angle photography. Although I also own a Canon 10-22mm lens, I decided to give it a try to see what got everyone so excited. Well, they weren't kidding. This is a phenomenal tool for UW photography. I shot this on a Canon 7D through an 8" Ikelite dome. The sharpness was very good, even in the corners. You can get very close to the subject and minimize the water column (and particles) more than even the Canon 10-22mm. The distortion you see above water with this lens doesn't show up underwater. I've always been a little nervous about using a fisheye lens because of the curvature they give. I was pleasantly surprised at how much less of a problem it is underwater. The depth of field is fantastic, allowing you to capture wide-angle shots of a small subject in the foreground with a huge scene behind. Photographing the wrecks in rather muddy water conditions was also excellent. I had a lot of fun learning new tricks with this lens, such as B. Wide-angle, close-up shots at small apertures and slow shutter speeds to get a visible or blue water background. The 10 to 17mm zoom makes it very flexible to change subjects. The only downside I've found is the tendency towards magenta fringing. It's not obvious unless you're looking at pixels, and it doesn't seem to have any practical impact on image quality, but it's evident when you zoom in on some images. With a lens that wide, you really have to keep an eye on the position of the flash. Move them too far forward and turn them on full blast, you risk hot spots running across the photo. As you might expect, this is especially true when the water is heavily loaded with solids. With a little care and practice, this problem is easily avoided. This lens also seems like a good choice for capturing UW videos. This lens's high depth of field eliminates focus problems found on cameras like the 7D. In most cases, the first thing to do is concentrate and forget. All in all, this was a great purchase. Every serious UW photographer should have one of these, especially considering the low price.