Camera Situation Help

[rockcityphoto]

I'm looking to get a new camera, but I'm stuck in sort of a puzzling situation and I'm not sure how I want to proceed, so I was looking for some help.

Currently I have an old Nikonos setup with quite a number of accessories that I inherited from my dad. It worked great while it was functional, but the unit flooded and I can't get the shutter working right anymore. I could get it serviced and fixed, but personally, I'd really like to go digital anyway, so I'm using this as an excuse to make the jump. I'd love to get a DSLR, but that's just not in the cards financially right now. I'll get there someday, but not today.

Here is what I currently have that is in working order. Nikonos 15mm, 28mm and 35mm lenses and two almost brand new SB-105 strobes and the various brackets for them. I'm thinking of selling all or most of that and putting it toward a new setup. If I keep the strobes, I could potentially re-use them with a camera that I can slave them to that has no pre-flash. The camera would need to have some sort of manual setting though so the flashes don't blow out the images. The other option would be to sell those too and look for a complete kit and not worry about slaving. I'm really not sure what all that is worth though. The lenses are all in pretty good shape for their age and don't have any major blemishes and the strobes have only been on two dives.

The other thing that really intrigues me is a GoPro setup. Ideally it's not what I'd want for stills, but I love the video I've seen come from them and I could see using that for more than just diving. It's something I may end up getting regardless because I think it would be a lot of fun, but I don't think I'd be happy with it for still photography.

At this point I'm really not sure which direction to go as underwater photography is pretty new to me. I've been doing photography on land for about a decade now so it's not a new field to me, but underwater gear is and I'm not sure what I want to look for. Realistically, what might I be able to get for those lenses and/or strobes and what should I look into getting. I'm fine throwing in a little more money, but I really have no idea what they're worth to gauge as a starting point, does anyone have any idea? I'd probably be looking to buy a used setup, potentially on here to replace what I have now.

I'm really open to suggestions on this as I don't have much to gauge it on. Thanks for any help.

 

[Larry C]

How about this?
Underwater Camera Articles: Nikonos lenses on a digital camera?
Nauticam makes an adapter to use Nikonos lenses with the Sony Nex-5.
You'd have to use your SB-105s on manual settings, slaved, but it should be a nice set-up.

 

[rockcityphoto]

That's pretty cool, but it would be way more money than I'm looking to spend right now. If I was going to spend that kind of money, I'd just buy a housing for my 40D. I like that it would let me use my lenses, but it looks like I'd be looking at well over $1000 to get the camera and housing and I wouldn't be selling any of my current gear to make some of that back. I'd probably rather just sell the lenses and buy a housing for my 40D, but that's still probably more than I want to invest right now, though I still have no idea what those lenses are worth. I know they were worth quite a bit back in their time, but that's certainly not the case now.

 

[Larry C]

The 15mm might take you well on your way to a housing. Check recent e-bay results. Current prices are running $400-1700. The 28's and 35's are much more common and not especially valuable. You can get an Ikelite housing for $1500 + ports. You'll need Ikelite to Nikonos sync cords for your SB105s and they'll need to be set manually, because Ikelite doesn't do ttl with non Ikelite strobes.

 

[rockcityphoto]

That's good, I didn't know that they made cables to go to the Nikonos stobes. I'm fine not using TTL, I don't use it at all with my DSLR with my normal flash as is anyway. If I could get a reasonable amount for the 15mm I'd certainly consider jumping to a housing for my 40D. Do the other Ikelite housings work like that with strobes too? Let's say I went with a cheaper option like an S95 or something like that. Right now I think I'd like to keep my budget on the lower side and use this as a learning experience so I can hone my see what type of photos I really end up liking so I buy the appropriate equipment when I do want to spend the real money.