(Close-Up) Macro 67mm Wet Lenses

We have two strengths of Wet Lenses available: +10 and +20.... and the question we most often get asked is " Which lens best suits my camera". Well there isn't an easy answer. The reason we produce two lenses is because one lens does not cover the entire spectrum of macro underwater photography. Following are the differences:
Reef Images Wet Lens 67mm
+10 Strength (Left) and +20 Strength (Right)
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  • The +10 Wet lens is the easiest to use, it has a greater flexibility in the distance you can be away from your photo subject and still achieve focus. When fitted to many of the current range of compact camera's (like the Canon G12/G15 or S100/S101) it will be useable at almost the full range of the camera's zoom without cropping the corners of your photos. The greatest magnification will be achieved with the camera's zoom set to the longest focal length (fully zoomed-in showing the narrowest field of view). Typically the focus distance (from the lens to the subject) should be between 15cms - 30cms, but this varies with the amount of zoom and the camera model (It is best to test your own camera/housing combinations to find the optimium distance/s for your set-up). It also works very well fitted to the front of a dSLR housing fitted with a macro lens on the camera (best used with 80-100mm prime lenses for the greatest benefit).
  • The +20 Wet lens is a little harder to use, as it has a narrower field of view, greater magnification and less flexibility in the distance you need to be from your photo subject to achieve focus. However due to its greater magnification, you can take photos of much smaller subjects and fill the frame of the photo with them. It does have less depth of field (the amount of the photo in focus), but this is a consequence of greater magnification. When fitted to many of the current range of compact camera's (like the Canon G12/G15 or S100/S101) it will only be useable from approximately half way through the zoom range of your camera without cropping the corners of your photos at the wider lens zoom settings. However, when the camera's zoom is set to the longest focal length (fully zoomed-in showing the narrowest field of view). You will achieve strong magnification and tiny subjects will fill your frame. Typically the focus distance (from the lens to the subject) should be between 5cms - 15cms, but this varies with the amount of zoom and the camera model (It is best to test your own camera/housing combinations to find the optimium distance/s for your set-up). It also works very well fitted to the front of a dSLR housing fitted with a macro lens on the camera (best used with 60-100mm prime lenses for the greatest benefit).
  • You can double stack these lenses - ie. screw one lens to the camera housing and then screw another wet lens on the front. You can double stack two +10 lenses to achieve a similar magnification as a +20 lens, or stack two +20 lenses to achieve a magnification of close too +40. This combination may be too much for some camera's, but with many dSLR and Mirrorless compacts (Micro Four Thirds) it can give extreme magnification (one double stacked sample photo below).
Below are a few images taken using the +10 and +20 Macro Wet Lenses. These aren't particularly exotic photos, but they are here to show you the magnification results you can expect in the real world of u/w photography, rather than photos of rulers in swimming pools or bathtubs!.  If you have any questions about your particular camera/housing and the results you can expect, then please Contact Us for more information.
You can also go to our 67mm Wet Lens Comparison page, where we compare our lenses to widely available brands of 67mm lens.





Photo's 1A, 1B, 1C show a blue ascidian with:
  • A) no wet lens
  • B) +10 wet lens
  • C) +20 wet lens
67mm Wet Lens Camparison
Photo 1A: With No Wet lens fitted, photo taken as close as the camera lens would focus - using an Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens on an Olympus EPL-2 camera (approximately 10cms from the Blue Ascidian)
Underwater Wet Lens test
Photo 1B: With +10 Wet lens fitted at approximately 10cms from the same Blue Ascidian as Photo 1A. Same camera/prime lens as Photo 1A
67mm wet lens comparison
Photo 1C: With +20 Wet lens fitted at approximately 7 cms from the same Blue Ascidian as Photo's 1A & !B Same camera/prime lens as Photo's 1A & 1B.




Photo's 2A, 2B, 2C show a nudibranch with:
  • A) no wet lens
  • B) +10 wet lens
  • C) +20 wet lens
Wet Lens Comparison
2A) With No Wet lens fitted, photo taken as close as the camera lens would focus - using an Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens on an Olympus EPL-2 camera (approximately 10cms from the nudibranch).
67mm Wet Lens Underwater
2B) With +10 Wet lens fitted - using the same camera and prime lens as Photo 2A (approximately 10cms from the same nudibranch).
Wet Diopter Underwater Camera
2C) With +20 Wet lens fitted - using the same camera and prime lens as Photo 2A & 2B (approximately 7cms from the same nudibranch).



Photo's 3A, 3B, 3C show a nudibranch 'face' with:
  • A) +10 wet lens
  • B) +20 wet lens
  • C) +20 wet lens double stacked (Two +20 wet lenses)
Using Wet Lens Underwater
Photo 3A: With Reef Images +10 Wet Lens fitted. Taken using an Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens on an Olympus EPL-2 camera with twin Inon Strobes (approximately 10cms from the Nudibranch)
Nudibranch Photography
Photo 3B: With Reef Images +20 Wet Lens fitted. Taken with the same camera set-up as Photo 3A (approximately 7cms from the Nudibranch)
Wet Lens Underwater Photography
Photo 3C: With two (2) +20 lenses double stacked eg. The rear of one close-up lens is screwed into the front of the other. Effectively doubling the magnification. Taken with the same camera set-up as Photo 3A & 3B. (approximately 3cms from the Nudibranch)