Fantasea BigEye Lens G Series (For Canon G7, G9, G10, G11, S90) Review

BigEye Lens G Series Wide Angle Wet Lens

The BigEye Lens G Series gives Canon G Series and Canon S90 series users the ability to take relatively wide angle shots without the need to upgrade to a more expensive case.

The first thing to understand when looking at the BigEye Lens is to understand what it does. If you go into it expecting to be able to take truly wide angle shots on par with some of the other wide angle wet lenses out there (such as Sea & Sea, Dyron, or Inon), you will be sorely disappointed. This product will only take the G9 down to about a 25 mm equivalent, the G10 and G11 down to about a 20mm equivalent. It’s right around what is generally the considered top end of the wide angle spectrum.

What this product does, more than anything else is recuperate the loss in wide angle caused by refractive magnification of the water. One of the first things you learn in scuba diving theory classes is that, due to the refractive qualities of water things always seem larger and closer.

BigEye Lens G Series Wide Angle Wet Lens

The water acts as a natural lens which converts a 35mm equivalent flat port lens to approximately 47 mm, and a 28 mm lens to approximately 37 mm. The rounded dome port on the BigEye lens counteracts that and subtracts a little on the bottom end to decrease the native focal length by a factor of 0.7x. As far as I know, this is the only wide angle wet lens solution available for stock G series and S90 Canon underwater housings. If you want something with more coverage and a wider angle, you’ll have to look at another housing. I would recommend starting with an Ikelite, and pairing it up with another after market wide angle lens such as the Inon UFL-165AD Fisheye Lens. I have read that there are individuals who have experimented with other popular lenses on the listed Canon housings with poor results, and I have not yet found another viable wide angle solution on the market.

EyeDaptor G9-G10

It works with several Canon G-series Housings as well as the Canon S90 Housing (Canon G7, G9, G11, G10, and S90 housings; WP-DC34, WP-DC28, WP-DC35, WP-DC21 and WP-DC11). The G7, G9, and S90 housings require an additional adapter in order to work with their respective housings; Eyedapter G7/G9 version S90 version.

The BigEye Lense mounts via a pressure fit/bungee cord system. Two hooks on bungee cords hold the lens to the Canon casing. It is a relatively simple system that works effectively, however it can slip off with quick movements underwater. Fortunately the flat glass in the back is made of very strong scratch-resistant material so this won’t likely cause any damage to the glass if it should occur. The front glass, however, is a different story.  It is fragile as heck. If you purchase one of these, you’ll have to be VERY careful with it as it will scratch or chip very easily.

BigEye Lens G Series With Home Made Cover

I ruined my first one within two weeks (I was getting into the water and dropped my camera on the way in, which chipped the glass), but I learned my very expensive lesson. I recommend keeping the dome glass covered whenever not in use. The Fantasea version comes with a neoprene cover, the Japanese version (branded as FIX rather than Fantasea) does not. For my second one I fashioned a simple cover out of an old neoprene glove and an elastic band. It’s not as pretty as the commercial cover, but it protects the lens effectively. Light scratches can be buffed out, but chips and deep scratches can ruin the dome lens, depending on where they are. For light scratches, there are commercially available kits you can find online. When mine got chipped, the primary problem was that the auto-focus seemed to want to find the chip 60% of the time, which just made shooting with it more frustrating than anything.

Lens Flare Is Not A Huge Problem

The lens is made of optical glass, which is generally considered better than acrylic. Optical glass is less prone to lens flare and ring reflections than acrylic. You will have issues with lens flare with a dome lens, but you can generally keep these under control if you are not shooting directly into the light. You can also rotate the included petal lens hood in order to help with flare in certain situations.

A few other things to note about the BigEye Lens:

1. This lens needs to be used in macro mode  the time.

2. I’ve read about some people having severe issues with fogging with this product. Evidently this was an early production issue that has since been taken care of, and I have had no issues with fogging. If you do start to have issues, try keeping the BigEye immersed in cool water for 10 minutes before your dive.

3. This product does absolutely nothing on dry land. It is specifically designed to work underwater and works in conjunction with the refractive properties of the water.

4. It blocks the internal flash. You will either need to use ambient light or use an external strobe with this product.

5. Fantasea sells a product to attach the BigEye to certain strobe and flex arms. You can find it here.

6. At times the unit has problems with bubbles getting trapped between the unit glass and the camera body. This can be annoying, but with practice, you can get rid of the air pockets quickly.

I've taken some of my favorite shots with the BigEye

All in all, this is a pretty affordable and pretty solid product. It’s not the widest angle lens out there, but it’s simple, not terribly over expensive, and it works. I’ve used it quite a bit, and I’ve done some of my best work with it. You can do a lot with this product with just ambient light, and the ability to switch it out with macro lenses or just going straight flat port in the middle of a dive gives you enormous flexibility in the field. Between the BigEye and a set of Inon macro lenses, you can get an unparalleled range of focal lengths and photo composition options that a DSLR rig just can’t match.

The lens flare issue isn’t horrible, even though it is there, and the quality is there, with minimal distortion at the edges. I have noticed a problem with sharpness in some shots, but I am not 100% sure that is not just motion blur in those cases. All in all, this is a great way to reduce the amount of water between you and your subject, which is critical in underwater photography. I recommend it for Canon G series and S90 users as long as they understand what they are getting before they buy.

Product Specifications:

• Depth rated to 60m/200 feet
• Field of view recovery (magnification): 105% (X0.7)
• Angle of coverage: 80 degrees
• Lens material: Optical glass, hard coated plastic and anodized aluminum
• Weight: 498g
• Dimensions: 157x77mm
• Box includes: Neoprene lens cover (only in American Version), secure line, warranty and instruction manual

I have included several sample shots below to show off how the BigEye Lens G Series works:

[Show as slideshow]