Add-on wideangle lenses are a big deal when taking pictures underwater. They enable you to get much closer to the subject. This results in much less water between you and your subject matter, resulting in sharper clearer pictures overall. For example, if you want to picture a large object, like say a wreck or colourful reef landscape, without an add-on lens, you will find yourself so far back to frame your shot, that even in the clearest of conditions, you could find the image you take is lacking in contrast and sharpness. All of the pictures on this page are examples of subjects that have benefited from the use of a wideangle lens. The picture directly to the right shows a Canon compact camera being used with an Inon fisheye lens attached. These lenses don't fit all cameras so if you are serious about your underwater photography its worth checking first to see if your camera housing can take one. They are usually attached with a small adapter which allows the lens to bayonet on and off the housing, my girlfriend is using a fisheye lens attached to a Canon Ixus in the top pic. Generally speaking, even with smaller subjects wideangle or the even wider fisheye lenses make a big impact on your shots. When you see the dramatic shots in your favourite dive-magazine, of turtles, sharks or circling schools of Snappers, the chances are very high that a wideangle lens of some description was used. For most people who take pictures underwater with a compact camera, a wide angle lens is going to be the best first accessory to purchase. Mixing a wide angle lens with manual white balance makes it very easy to capture your dive experience as it actually looks. Hints: It's very important when choosing your next compact for use underwater that it can accept an add-on wideangle lens. Many can't. Some cameras may already have a wider than normal lens built in. Unfortunately they are nowhere near wide angle enough, for underwater and for these attaching an add-on lens can become much more expensive.

with a wideangle without a wideangle