The Underwater Photography files-Gear Review - The Kraken KRL-09s
What is the Kraken KRL-09s
I finally got to do a write about about one of my favorite pieces of equipment for underwater photography. My first time using this lens was in Bonaire, but I ended up getting sick and not diving enough to be able to really put the KRL through its paces. Here's a more complete write up with my thoughts.
The KRL-09s by Kraken sports is a wet lens that converts your macro lens to a wide angle lens with a large field of view of about 154 degree view. For full frame cameras it's designed to give wide angle views on a 60mm macro lens. This is a tricky situation because now most camera makers don't have 60mm macro lenses for their full frame lineups. What I did was combine by super sharp sigma 50 mm macro lens with a Kenko 1.4x teleconverter which gives approximately a 70 mm field of view. This will cut down the 154 degree view but I find in the field it gives really pleasing results (see below). It's not cheap, listed price is $999 but it allows you to get both macro and wide angle on the same dive. My only complaint is that 70mm isn't an amazing macro focal length, but gets the job done unless you're doing really small stuff (you could carry a diopter with you if you wanted).
The biggest design use for this lens is close focus wide angle, and it does that very well. It's best used for medium sized subjects (maybe a baseball size and larger), however you can still get creative with smaller subjects.
Above: Here is a picture of the lens. It threads to a 67mm thread which fits most macro ports.
Above: an example of what it looks like on my underwater housing. It looks very big but underwater with the right floats, it's not as unwieldy as you'd think. It have it attached to the Saga flip adapter for easy use.
Above: I could've lit this better so don't judge the image too much, but this was a flamboyant cuttlefish hunting on a small patch of reef. Anilao, Philippines
Above: A giant frogfish swims between me and my dive buddy. Anilao, Philippines
Above: This moray eel was putting on a show for us. I like how I captured the reef scene with the silhouettes of triggerfish in the background. Anilao, Philippines
Above: A giant frogfish hiding in a sponge. Anilao, Philippines
Above: Another Giant frogfish on the reef. Anilao, Philippines
Above: don't be afraid to shoot portraits! Just remember to dial down your bottom strobe. I'm very happy with how this frogfish photo came out. It's a brilliant lens for CFWA.
Above: A yellow lipped sea krait cruises the reef in Anilao.
Above: Just before this I was photographing nudibranchs but was able to capture these moray eels sharing the same opening in the reef.
The skinny of it
Overall I love this wet lens. It's really great for what it was designed for. I want to experiment with using my 100 mm lens but have not had the chance. I won't lie to you I did not like the KRL at first, however I really didn't get to give it a true run of its abilities-I also was having issues because Canon doesn't have a good 60 mm full frame option. Now to be clear, this isn't a Nautical EMWL replacement or FCP replacement. It's in a category of its own really. As expected with these lenses you do have to stop it down a bit (I try not to shoot less than f/12-16 on this lens. Sometimes shooting too wide open leaves undesirable corner softness. Once you get used to how to shoot this lens though, it is a super cool piece of equipment. For reference the frog fish photos I shot in Anilao were at about 85 feet in depth. Slow shutter a little and increase your strobe power and you're all set.
What I really love is the versatility of this lens. You really can shoot both macro and wide angle and do it WELL. It's a rare thing to find. If you're concerned about 60 or 70mm not being enough, you can also carry a diopter in your BCD pocket or on your housing and add it to your port on the dive. Here's an example of a situation where I shot at 70 mm then switched to the KRL:
Above: shot at 70 mm this big belly sea horse has a nice portrait here.
Above: with a flip of my adapter and minor adjustments in lighting I can now take a habitat photo of this same subject but now there's a story telling element to it. I was maybe 8 inches away from the seahorse.
I recommend this kit for those interested as long as you know the limitations of the lens and why you're buying it. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment