Help, I'm going mad!!

[chippy]

I've been thinking about moving on from the C5050 to a Nikon D100 in a Sea & Sea housing but I've been going barmy trying to select lenses, ports, gears, etc.

I'm looking at getting a decent macro lens and a wide angle, both preferably zoom lenses as the camera will need to double up as my topside camera too (selling my E20 kit to fund the DSLR)

Has anyone got any recommendations on lenses (i'm already half sold on the Nikkor 17-35mm F2.8 lens for WA. I'm not too fussed on sticking to purely Nikon lenses either.

Any help gratefully received!!

 

[Dee]

I can't help you at all other than to refer you over to Digital Diver. There are several folks there using that same rig who can help you with your decisions.

 

[chippy]

Thanks Dee, I take a peek.

Cheers

Paul

 

[onbelaydave]

Thats a BIGGG! jump if you don't already have the glass for the camera ! I shoot film in my housed Nikon N90s and my favorite lens underwater, hands down, is the 105 Macro. I've yet to find a sharper lens in all of Nikon's line. The 60 macro is also really good, but the 105 gives you a lot of extra room around shy critters. (Both will go down to 1:1 Macro). Your WA choices are going to be dictated more on which housing/dome you use. Ikelite (for example) has a hard time dealing w/ a 20mm and under. I've been perfectly content using my 24. Stay away from zooms. Too many extra gears,knobs,fiddling around and a prime will ALWAYS beat out a zoom, no matter how much you pay for it,for image quality.

 

[caymaniac]

As I recall, the problem with the D100 was the strobe situation. The D100 only would take Nikon strobes. If this is true then the S2 (Fuji) looks much more attractive since you can use other strobes. Have you looked at this aspect?

Dive safe,
Caymaniac

 

[chippy]

I had looked at the 105 micro Nikkor, but as you say it's a big jump without already owning the glassware, but i'd need the flexibility of zoom lenses as the camera would double up as my topside camera too. The budget will only stretch too 3 lenses max.

Strobes - Now that's one thing I admit that I hadn't considered to be honest. Obviosuly I won't want to get rid of my beloved DS125's!! - It Might have been a bit embarrassing (and expensive) if i'd already bought the D100 & housing!!

Looks like it's back to the drawing board!!

Thanks for all the advice

 

[howard4113]

I had looked at the 105 micro Nikkor, but as you say it's a big jump without already owning the glassware, but i'd need the flexibility of zoom lenses as the camera would double up as my topside camera too. The budget will only stretch too 3 lenses max.

Strobes - Now that's one thing I admit that I hadn't considered to be honest. Obviosuly I won't want to get rid of my beloved DS125's!! - It Might have been a bit embarrassing (and expensive) if i'd already bought the D100 & housing!!

Looks like it's back to the drawing board!!

Thanks for all the advice

I have a D100 and I'd like to chime in here if I might:

STROBES: The D100 will not fire strobes properly in TTL flash mode. It will fire any flash in manual mode via the hotshoe or slaves using the internal flash (pop-up internal flash not used in housing). Not such a bad thing as you have instant review. Once you get a good exposure at a fixed distance - it's just a matter of a small adjustment to flash output or f-stop. If you require TTL flash, you should consider another camera.

LENSES: Remember that the D100 sensor is smaller than a 35mm frame. The factor is 1.5. Thus your wide angle 24mm lens works like a 36mm normal lens on the D100 (24x1.5). The 105 is now a ~150mm lens. You have to use shorter lenses to achieve the same effects.

Mark

 

[chippy]

Is it possible to connect Ikelite stobes to a Fuji S2 Sea & Sea housing, or would I have to opt for an Ikelite housing? If only the Ikelite housing can be connected to my 125's then surely the Ikelite D100 housing would also be ok with the 125's, or am I missing something?

Maybe it would be worth me emailing Ike and finding out what housing choices I have whilst using the 125's?

 

[clive francis]

The D-TTL and E-TTL flash protocols:
Nikon D100. D1, D1X, D1H, Canon D30, D60, 10D, and future models no doubt:
Camera manufacturers want people to buy their camera-dedicated flash units. They also want people to buy new flash units when they buy new cameras, but are mindful of possible consumer resistance. They do not want people to buy flash units from independent manufacturers, and consequently they do not issue technical details of their proprietory flash interfaces. In the dim and distant past, since the signals passing between the camera and flash unit were usually very simple, it did not normally take the independents very long to catch up. The arms-race intensified in the 1990s however, when obscure data began to cross the interface, and equipment developed the habit of refusing to work unless these 'handshake' signals were of the correct type.

The problem for underwater photographers is that most camera manufacturers do not produce flash units designed for underwater use; and putting normal flash units into housings does not solve this problem completely because such units lack the output and coverage required for good wide-angle results. Consequently, the cameras favoured by the underwater industry became those for which the TTL interface protocols were known. One of the reasons why Nikon remained at the forefront for many years was that it did manufacture underwater strobes, and so had good reason to leave the interface alone. Canon also had an interface with optional connections, specifically to allow additional functionality without affecting the 'essential' signals. Now however, with the advent of the Digital SLR, it seems that both Nikon and Canon have decided that it is time for a change, and with the hot shoe connection now carrying very complicated information, it becomes a huge problem for the independents to find out what is going on.

The latest Nikon digital SLRs have D-TTL. This feature enables the camera to perform balanced fill-in flash using a multi-zone TTL sensor and distance information from the lens (depending on the lens). The camera can also be switched to "normal TTL", which sounds like the ideal system compatibility option for the underwater photographer, except that there's a catch. This "normal" TTL only works with D-TTL (DX) dedicated strobes, so it is not quite as "normal" as it could be.

Canon DSLR cameras (or the D30 at least) do not use a separate TTL sensor, and so the pre-flash method of exposure evaluation is mandatory. Canon E-TTL compares pre-flash information with ambient metering data to calculate fill-flash exposure. E-TTL cameras are designed to work with newer EX-series speedlights, and do not work with older EZ-series speedlights, i.e., there is a new hot-shoe protocol.

The upshot, in any case, is that if you try to connect a Nikonos compatible flash to the hot shoe, or to use one of the original Canon to Nikon conversion circuits, the camera and flash will behave bizarrely and will not be usable. The solution for macro photography may be to put a camera-dedicated flash into a housing; but for a general solution, underwater photographers are currently forced to revert to manual flash with the new Nikon and Canon DSLRs (thankfully, at least the X contact remains unchanged for compatibility with studio flash equipment). Use of manual flash is not difficult with digital cameras however, because the LCD viewer, and particularly the histogram display (if available), allow the user to evaluate the lighting and make adjustments as necessary, but the 'must-have' accessory in this case is a manual guide-number controller (EV-controller). More information on hot-shoe compatibility issues is given on the Ikelite sync.cables page.

camerasunderwater see here for more!!

 

[chippy]

Thanks for the reply Clive

I've opted for a Fuji S2, Ike housing with a double sync cord - one bulkhead to 2 x DS125 fittings. I can plug the cord from the one housing bulkhead into my two ev controllers, so problem solved!!

Lenses - we'll it's been a tough one but these look like they'll cover both my topside and UW ranges:-

Nikkor 12-24mm F4D
60mm Micro Nikkor (looked at the 105mm but in UK waters the less water coloumn between the subject and lens the better!!)
80-400mm was an option for later on, but the 17-55 F2.8 would be more use straight away.

Have seen the UW camera site before - BUT with the £ / $ rates as they are at the mo (UK prices have always been extortionate!), buying from the Good 'ol U.S. is MUCH cheaper. (i also have the benefit of not paying any VAT or import tax, as I live in Jersey)

With the E20 kit that I've sold (E20 + the whole range of lenses plus flash gun), I only have to fork out another £500 or so to get the DSLR, housing, ports and lenses (providing I go down the import route) - bargain!