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Why Wide Angle Lenses Are Extensively Used in UW Photography

Why Wide Angle Lenses Are Extensively Used in UW Photography

Written by Nevin
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Published on June 27, 2010

If you are new to underwater photography, at some point or the other you must have had someone come up to you and suggest switching to a wide angle lens or to use a wide angle conversion lens on your camera. Also If you’ve ever browsed through any online underwater camera kit, one of the most common accessories will be a strobe or wide angle conversion lens. So why exactly do you need a Wide Angle Lens when taking pictures underwater?

As most of you know, the primary obstacle faced by underwater photographers is the loss of color and contrast when at any significant depth. The reds and orange spectrum of sunlight is absorbed quickly by the surrounding water, making everything appear in a blue-green color.

The only way to get a good picture underwater is to get as close as you can to your subject and use a macro lens to capture your shot. However a macro lens doesn’t allow you to capture the subject’s surroundings or get a good vistas or landscape shots.

To photograph a wider area while on land, one can simply move back further away from the subject effectively shrinking the subject and getting more of the surroundings through the lens of your camera. However when taking pictures underwater, the further you are from your subject  the more water you have to shoot through between your subject and the camera, making pictures blue and obscure.  Using a strobe at a distance underwater is greatly ineffective as the distance from the subject increases. The solution? Use a wide angle lens or a wide angle conversion lens.

A wide angle lens gives the photographer a broader field of view without the diver having to increase the distance from the subject. This decreases the water column between the lens and the subject, as well as increases the effectiveness of the strobe to illuminate the subject correctly.

When we refer to a wide-angle “conversion lens” it is essentially an attachment to your existing camera’s lens that sits on-top of your cameras lens, increases the field of view. These attachments can be purchased separately for your camera and are usually sold as accessories. If you’re using a DSLR, then there is no need to purchase a conversion lens, but rather buy a separate wide-angle lens itself.

Typically, wide-angle lenses used underwater have an angle of view between 60 to 90 degrees. There are some wide-angle conversion lenses that have extreme angle of views upto 180 degrees known as Fish-eye lenses which are not always recommended for underwater photography. Your typical wide-angle lens used for most magazine UW photography is a 15-20mm lens. This allows you to get up close to your subject and get tack sharp photographs.