Best & Worst Lenses For Sony Underwater Shooters - 2026 Edition

Underwater photography enthusiasts, welcome back to another article from The Underwater Photography Show! It has been two years since our last breakdown of the most useful lenses for Sony mirrorless cameras, and it was time for an update. Today, Matthew Sullivan and I (Alex Mustard) are revisiting this topic with a revamped list, grading each option from widest to narrowest to help you choose the best glass for your underwater system.

Wide-Angle Options

The Fisheye Classics: Canon & Nikon 8-15mm These remain the most popular, high quality fisheyes available for Sony shooters, despite needing adapters. If you are starting from scratch, we recommend the Canon version because its adapters provide more reliable autofocus. These are essential for split levels and offer a full 180-degree coverage, which is noticeable when shooting large subjects like shipwrecks. They are also excellent value on the secondhand market.

The Optical Pinnacle: Nikonos 13mm Converted to a native Sony mount by Isaac Szabo, this lens is arguably the peak of Sony wide-angle performance. Because it is fully underwater corrected, it offers fantastic corner sharpness even at wide apertures. Its small footprint makes it perfect for chasing big animals in open water where minimizing drag is key. You can’t really do splits with this lens.

The Versatile Choice: Nauticam FCP (with Sony 28-60mm) The Fisheye Conversion Port (FCP) transforms the 28-60mm lens into a fisheye zoom. While the image quality is slightly lower, its flexibility is unmatched. It is incredibly valuable when you don't know what you’ll encounter—you can shoot small subjects and full scenery on the same dive. It has become one of our most-used lenses for big animal and cold-water photography.

The Rectilinear Dilemma: Sony 14mm GM, 16-35mm, and Tamron 17-28mm Ultra-wide rectilinear lenses like the 14mm GM are great for land but often struggle with corner sharpness underwater, and require the largest dome ports. For the focal range of 16-35mm, we generally suggest the WACP or WWL route instead, as they offer better image quality and are both wider and tighter in view, so more versatile. If you must have a rectilinear wide-angle, the Tamron 17-28mm is a more cost-effective choice than the expensive Sony GM versions. But many go down this route because they already own the lens.

The Workhorses: Sony 28-60mm with WACP or WWL Pairing the 28-60mm with the Nauticam WACP (Wide Angle Conversion Port) or WWL (Wet Wide Lens) is a "go-to" setup for class wide angle and big animal trips, to places like the Galapagos or Maldives. The WACP offers slightly superior image quality, but the WWL is a fantastic, more compact, and affordable alternative for travelers. Both excel at shooting schools of fish and large animals.

The Specialist: Nikonos 15mm (Adapted) For those who enjoy a more disciplined, manual approach, adapting the old Nikonos 15mm is a fun option. It yields unique, high-quality images that are very popular with publishers, though it is certainly not a mainstream choice.

Macro Options

The Gold Standard: Sony 100mm GM If budget is no object, the Sony 100mm GM is the best macro lens you can buy for any system. It is optically superb, takes teleconverters, and natively focuses beyond 1:1. Pair it with a Nauticam MFO3 to turn it into a 60mm equivalent, and you have a nearly perfect macro setup.

The Strong Alternatives: Sigma 105mm and Tamron 90mm While the Sony 90mm is clearly outgunned by the 100mm GM, the Sigma 105mm and Tamron 90mm are excellent, more affordable alternatives to the GM lens. They offer performance that gets close to the 100mm GM for a fraction of the cost.

The Slow But Steady: Sony 50mm Macro The Sony 50mm is sharp, light and cheap, making it a great option for wider macro shooting. The focus is slow at changing distance, but accurate and you adapt to shooting this lens. It works well for larger macro subjects and for blackwater.

Sony full-frame shooters are currently spoiled for choice. Whether you prioritize absolute image quality or versatile zooms, there is a high-performance option available for every underwater scenario.

To see the full episode, check out the video below.