Yesterday I alluded to trying a new camera setup to create some variety in my images from Bunaken, and today I did just that.

 

For underwater macro, I use the Canon 100mm F2.8L macro lens on my 5D Mark 3. I also have a +10 diopter for the small stuff (I skip the really small stuff since that can’t be shot on full frame without significant cropping). It turns out that if I take the extension ring off my Aquatica macro port for the 100mm, it becomes a perfect fit for the Canon 17-40mm lens (which is normally used in an 8″ dome or 9.25″ Aquatica Megadome). As a rectilinear wide-angle lens (frequently used for landscapes, indoors and video), it has a very close focusing distance – perfect for underwater use. When fixed to 40mm, this lens provides a great mid-range shooting option, which normally sits as redundancy to my macro and fisheye lenses on a trip. Today it served as a means to try and capture some unique images of common subjects.

 

Adjusting to the new focal range is a breeze if you pick the right subjects and use the same lighting principals you would on a smaller macro or larger wide-angle scene. Go figure, I left the lens at 24mm for the first dive, which is too wide for decent results, so these shots came from our second dive over near Manado.

 

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 False Clown Anemonefish shot 40mm on Full Frame through macro port.