Nikon Lenses

[diverdoug1]

AussieByron
Had the Tokina 10-17, sold it on E-bay for reasons already mentioned

DS200 has cycle time of less than 1 second

Although I use Subal and Ikelite housings, my buddy uses the Nauticam (not NAUDICAM) and he has found the optical performance is lacking with the smaller dome ports.

Looking at your flicker photos (which have very good composition, you have a natural eye) many of your subjects are poorly exposed. Have you considered more powerful strobes? Your Raggies look great, but lots have a hot spot in the center with dim/green exposure surrounding. How are you usualy positioning your strobes? When shooting sharks, I usualy position my strobes high at 1 and 11 o'clock. This minmizes the reflective underbelly of pelagics, and gets a more pleasing exposure to the rest of the subject. I really like the way you make an effort to shoot up into the sharks. Many photogs frequently neglect that dramatic angle.

Thanks for the questions

 

[AussieByron]

diverdoug,

Thank you for your comments. Do you have a link to your images so I can see your work in action?

Regards Mark

 

[John Gulliver]

I don't have the Tokina 10-17 but no less an expert than Alex Mustard stated in his review that he could see very little diference, if any, between his images taken with that lens compared to those taken with his Nikkor 10.5 and that every underwater photographer should have the Tokina 10-17. I think most uw photographers would say that if it's good enough for Alex, it's good enough for me.

 

[diverdoug1]

Mr. Mustard does great work, and I would bow to his expertice regarding lenses. In my humble hands, the focus of the Tokina 10-17 is soft in the edges. An example of this is the shot of the pair of French angels on my Scubaboard photos. This was shot with the 10-17 @ 10mm. As you can see, the central focus is sharp, but drasticaly falls of near the edges.

 

[AussieByron]

Diverdoug,

I believe that the recycle time on the Ikelite DS200 is 1.6sec on full dump and honestly a pair of them are an overkill on macro photography. The issue with having a faster lens like the f2.8 Nikkor 10.5mm vs the f3.5-4.5 Tokina 10-17mm isnt important when shooting with dual high powered strobes. It might be an issue if your shooting in low natural light......

I am yet to use a 100mm glass dome with my 10-17mm but I have a buddy that likes her mini domes and alot of companies are now adding them to there product range. Been a few reviews stating that these mini glass domes are well suited to fisheye lenses like the 10.5mm and 10-17mm over the Acrylic larger domes like the Ikelite 8 inch. Would be good to see a direct comparison with say a 10.5mm with a collection of different domes like a 100mm Glass, 8 inch acrylic and maybe something like a larger 9.25inch glass dome????? It would be an interesting review if it hasnt already been done.

I position my strobes (DS125's) at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock at the end of 2x 8inch ULCS bouyancy arms. I find this position works well for most of wide angle work on large animals up close. Sometimes I move the strobes in closer to the housing as I sometimes get within a few inches of them. I cant see how positioning my strobes at 1 o'clock and 11 o'clock improve on shooting sharks up close and I would see more of a hot spot in the middle of the frame and have less of an even spread along the animals body. I dont have much of an issue with reflective underbellies on the sharks I shoot as they are mostly an off white and absorb the light. Shoot reflective fish like Jewfish on the other hand can be difficult with any strobe position but I find out wide and slightly outward with a diffuser for a softer wider coverage.

I would like to get more powerful strobes like the DS160/161movie as I really love my wide angle work. I do have alot of under exposed flank shots of Grey Nurse Sharks on my flickr. These shots are solely for the purpose of ID data gathering for research. I help out when I can with sending ID shots for a research organisation at Macquarie University called spot a shark (Spot A Shark | Home) and they need flank shots for ID rather than correctly exposed or artistic shots.

I would like to see you examples of wide angle shark shots with your 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock strobe position. Then again the DS200 has a broader spread with more power than my DS125's so your strobe postion may work for you but not for my DS125's.

Getting back to the orginal posting topic;

I recommend a ultra wide/fisheye like the 10-17mm as it is very versatile and has performed well. There are other lenses out now which are on the end of the ultra wide angle like the Nikkor 10-24, Sigma 10-22. I think the 12-24 isnt wide enough for my style of shooting.

Good Macro like 60mm or 105mm or both. You really have to look at your own personal shooting to see what you need to suit you. Often people recommend what they use based on what and how they shoot. I prefer the 60mm as it suits me and my style of shooting and subject but on the other hand the 105mm is also an excellent lens which might suit you better.

At the end of the day you need to buy a lens which suits you , where your shooting, and what your shooting.

Regards Mark

 

[diverdoug1]

Mark, could not agree more that different lenses suit different shooting styles. If there was only one best choice, we would all be using the same thing. Having said this, there a number of photogs. who feel they get better results with the prime fisheyes. With respect to the DS200 strobes, the cycle time for wide angle is usually less than 1 second (less than 1/2 second most of the time) because I don't usually use full power. With respect to super-macro, the twin DS200's are usually up to the job, but deff. not overkill (especially when I am using a 1.7 tele-extender, and a 5T closeup lens with minimal focal distance). The very tiny subject need LOTS of flash! When I get home today, I will post on this thread some shark pics, I took with the 10.5 and the strobes in the high position. I think it keeps the belly from overexposing while getting a nicer exposure on their back. Maybe the Reef sharks I shoot have brighter white undersides, than your Sand Tigers (I have never had the opportunity to dive with one).

 

[AussieByron]

You use TTL or manual with the DS200 for your wide and macro work?

Regards Mark

 

[diverdoug1]

I rarely use TTL with my wide angle, I frequently use it for my macro work. With my super-macro stuff I see the longer strobe cycle times, because I am requiring a more intense flash. With my wide angle I meter for a pleasing background, shoot in manual, then use manual flash adjustment on the back of my housing (if I am using the Ikelite) or directly on the strobes (when using the Subal). I don't use my Subal for much macro, because I don't have a TTL unit in it. Also, I like the Ikelite for macro because of the modular flat port. I don't have to take a bag full of ports for my different macro setups.

 

[wizard1325]

Hey you guys dont fight in my thread please this is a place of learning =0) im the student lol
but this is good. like i said before if i saw a thread or poll on which lense to get i wouldnt most likely go with the most popular vote since im new to this and its a expensive investment..
so dont wanna go with the wrong lense

and you guys are talking in Pro level I am just an Rescue Diver=0( buying his first DSLR. and housing,and wires, and arms, and len's....

So cut me a break lol haha j/k

I am currently in Balad Iraq so while defending the base on my off time I go to this MWR and use the computer
to research len's

I bought a wonderful delightfull book call "Under Water photography" by Martin ummmm forget his last name
he Shoot 60mm macro all the time and loves it...but then he talks about 105 being awesome too..
so that kinda throws me off... but in his book he states that the 105mm is better if you cant get super duper close to your subjects if they get timid and run away. so im pretty sure i will suck for the first few dives learning how to hold the camera underwater and such

this is my setup i got as of right now

D300S
Nauticam D300s Housing
Pair of INON 240 Type 4 strobes
Wide angle lens 12mm-24mm nikkor
Macro 105mm nikkor
the ports for both len's

now that i am missing and have to start my research on is

Fisheye lens
Those wires that connect to my strobes (im lost there)
Strobe arms..(they come in pieace have no clue how to build or purchase the right kind)

Now for my Post production this is what i got =0)

17" MACPRO LAPTOP
I7 Processor 640gig
8gig memory
anti glare screen

also to include

27" Mac work horse station
I7 Processor
500 gig


Software

Light Room 3
Photoshop CS5 Extended


in the markey as well to get my first time computer
i was thinking MARES or GALILEO... I like the style and black and white of the G better then the M
TFT give me this bad feeling those batterys just die quickly


ok your guys turn to talk

8GIG ram

 

[diverdoug1]

You have great post-production software.
As far as a dive computer, I really like my Gallileo Sol when not using trimix. It's huge disply is good for my old eyes.
Mark, I have attached some shots of Reef sharks I took a few months ago with the 10.5mm 2.8 with the strobes in a high position. Any constructive hints would be more than welcome.