This lens has amazing potential for the price and the correction feature in the software is very easy to use. It is almost disappointing how simple it is to correct the curvature of the lens!

Upon closer inspection, I found the edges to be a little soft and stretched after the correction, but it remains to be seen how critical this will be in open water with no straight lines to account for. I honestly believe that this combination of the 10.5mm fisheye lens, a Nikon digital body and Capture 4 will be an asset to any shipwreck photographer or wide angle buff.

The following split shot was shot at a low aperture of f5.6, demonstrating that splits with the fisheye are also quite promising. All of these photos where taken at the pool Aquatica uses as a testing facility, and all were taken with a 10.5mm Nikon Fisheye, Nikon D100, and Aquatica D100 Housing with an 8 inche dome port (no extension ring needed) and twin Nikonos SB-105 Strobes.

Split, with 10.5mm fisheye lens, Nikon D100, and Aquatica D100 Housing with 8" dome

This close-up shot of the diver was taken at a depth of 45 feet. You can see the lines in the tiles all the way to the surface, which make for a good visual reference for distortion.

10.5mm fisheye lens, Nikon D100, and Aquatica D100 Housing with 8" dome, uncorrected

10.5mm fisheye lens, Nikon D100, and Aquatica D100 Housing with 8" dome, corrected

The next shot of the tiled wall with a diver in the middle is another good example of the unbending power of this combination. Be wary of putting things or peoples on the edges if you want to correct the fisheye effect, because corrected photos tend to stretch out those areas in an unacceptable matter. But again, fisheye lenses where never known to be portrait lenses.

10.5mm fisheye lens, Nikon D100, and Aquatica D100 Housing with 8" dome, uncorrected

10.5mm fisheye lens, Nikon D100, and Aquatica D100 Housing with 8" dome, corrected

My lasting impression is that the corrected version of the photos are quite similar to my 35mm Aquatica A90 housing with a 14mm and 8 inche dome, albeit not of the same edge-to-edge quality. I have taken photos with the 12-24mm (at 12mm), the 14mm, and the 10.5mm with and without fisheye correction. As far as coverage is concerned, the 10.5mm fisheye, corrected or not, beat's all of them flat out; it's a no contest affair. My only grudge (if I may say) is that only files originating from a Nikon digital camera body can be treated in the Nikon Capture 4 software; Fuji S2pro and S1pro owner's will be able to use the fisheye lens but will have to look to other software tools to correct for the distortion.

Jean Bruneau
Aquatica

*UPDATE* - March 15, 2004 - Photos from under the ice, by Jean Bruneau: