NIKONOS V underwater analogue camera.

[m00dawg]

I don't use strobes with my Nikonos II and V cameras (yet). The cameras are used occasionally in shallow/clear water situations. I shot a few rolls of Velvia 100 during a trip to Guadalupe a couple of years ago. Velvia can be pushed at 200 and 400. I also experimented with a Silver Max B/W film in the Nikonos II during that trip.

Strobes are used with my housed Nikon N8008s.

My Nikonos cameras were serviced a while back by Southeast Nikonos in the Houston area.

-AZTinman

Ah how'd the Velvia come out? I shot some Provia recently but haven't seen the results yet (spending E-6 off to get developed takes forever). I can't seem to nail Velvia 50 (above water). I mostly shoot 50 in 4x5 large format and it's quite a challenge over a color negative for me. Provia I'm hoping is a bit more EZ-Mode. On that note, E100 is back (may even be coming out in sheets again yay!) so I've tested it also with the Provia to get an idea of tone. This was all in above water but E100 might be an interesting pick. It and Provia would be more neutral than Velvia from what I understand.

Curious though - why Velvia 100 over say Ektar? The latter one might be able to color correct (to some degree) better? I find it's more organic looking than Velvia 50, which looks more erm precise for lack of a better term. Hard to describe. Ektar is sharp too but I feel like Velvia has that edge. Color wise though I've had some surprising and amazing results from Ektar. Wish Kodak would offer it in 400 (or more specifically that there was a professional saturated film in the 400 speed range like Ektar) but it's pushable. Not as much as Portra I don't think but I've seen nice results with it pushed (I haven't pushed it myself).

Been talking to Bob (Southern / Southeast Nikonos) over e-mail. He's a quirky but very cool dude and VERY helpful. I plan on using him for yearly service, yep! I found a camera from Narcosis101 (the guy that runs the Nikonos only eBay store). I haven't purchased it just yet but decided to go ahead and pull the trigger. He too recommended Bob.

All that said though, can I ask where you got the housing for your N8008s? I have a few N80 bodies. They're cheap and use modern lenses from my Nikon DSLR but seems like every SLR style housing I see is WTF expensive (hence the Nikonos). Given I bought my N80's for $50 and $30 (best kept secret on a certain auction site, I guess until now ) spending a ton of money for a housing doesn't make sense for me. I don't dive often enough (unfortunately) to justify something 15x the price of the body

 

[AZTinman]

Based on the work I did with photographing wildlife during my employment with the National Park, Velvia 100 gave excellent results and I've just stuck with it. We did use Velvia 50 when it came out and liked it too. I use a lab in San Clemente, CA, for processing. Turn around time is about a week. I usually have them do a HR scan of my slides and send me a dvd.

I happened on the housing for the Nikon N8008s housing at a garage sale. It didn't cost me much and I wasn't sure it would keep my old 8008s dry. (It even came with a working N8008 camera body and dome port) Ikelite stopped servicing this particular housing years ago because they had no way to repair or replace any they inadvertently damaged during servicing. The o-ring for the backplate needed to be replaced and I had a tough time finding a replacement. Ikelite initially told me they had none. While searching for someone who had a replacement, I did find a reference for an Ikelite part number that was called an o-ring kit. I called Ikelite again and gave them the part number. They looked and found eight of these kits in their parts warehouse. I now have eight o-ring kits for the housing. When the housing stops working, I'll just use it as a display item.

The replacement o-ring issue is worth mentioning because it can be a problem with housing older cameras. I've run across old housings for Nikon F2 and F3 cameras, but I suspect getting replacement o-rings would be a problem.

Bob at Southern Nikonos has a huge amount of knowledge about Nikonos equipment. He once told me how many spare parts he has in his inventory and it was unbelievable. I sent him one of my Nikonos II bodies for servicing a while back and he had a record of servicing the camera for a previous owner in New Jersey years ago. He did a strobe sync conversion on that Nikonos II for me to make it work better when I get around to getting some strobes for it. I did quite a little correspondence with Bob when I was assembling a collection of serviceable Nikonos lenses. It's nice to have someone who's a knowledgable resource and willing to share what they know.

The following are white shark images done with Velvia 100 (pushed to 400) and a Nikonos II w. 28mm Nikonos lens. No strobes were used and the images are too blue. Image 1 does show the iris of the shark's eye (contrary to popular belief, white sharks have blue eyes). Strobe use would've given more accurate color rendition (the shark's back would be more gray; the belly would be white).

-AZTinman

 

[m00dawg]

WOW those are awesome! I bet through a loupe they look stunning!! I'm excited to try my hand at the Nikonos for sure. I tend to like a lot of the small fish up close with the colorful reef which I suspect may be somewhat challenging with the zone focus but we'll see. For the next trip I figured I would keep it simple and just take BW. I wanna see how I like it and then I think I'll invest in strobes and brave color. I ran into this a few days ago:

Feature: Diving with Ilford HP5 and a Nikonos 5 at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

Diver that works in the NASA neutral buoyancy lab rocked a Nikonos V and some HP5 and, through the water in the NBL is *VERY* clear, those results are stunning! Yours and these make me SUPER excited to get to shoot with it!

If I can bug ya a bit more, curious, what do you do post dive with your camera? Bob recommends keeping it in wet (in salt or fresh water) until you can give it a proper freshwater bath. This is to keep salts from building up as the camera dries out which can impact the o-rings and metals. Problem is I tend to travel to blue water on cruise ships - not always but enough to where this could be a problem for me since the travel to/from the dive boat and the cruise ship is long enough to where I'd worry about this and also can't just bring a tub full of water with me around. I was thinking about maybe putting the camera in a plastic bag with some water in it and maybe putting that in an outer bag or some such. Maybe I'm over-thinking it but Bob went to length to explain it (Nikonos-V Chapter 3).

 

[AZTinman]

Keep in mind, I used a Nikonos II with a 28mm Nikonos lens. I used a Sekonic AUTO-LUMI meter to calculate exposure.

If you're looking at purchasing a Nikonos V, be careful with tightening the battery compartment cap. Twist too hard and you can break the compartment.

It's important with any underwater (Nikonos or housed camera) camera rig to keep it from drying in the sun when you're out of the water. I've used the 'community' camera bucket on dive boats. It hasn't been a problem for my Nikonos cameras. Unfortunately, it has been a problem with my housed D7200; a big dome port was damaged during a La Paz trip a few years ago. Usually, I place the housed camera w. strobes in a soft cooler bag and put a wet towel over it during surface intervals. In La Paz, one of the crew members put my rig in the community bucket and dropped a smaller housed camera on it before I could exit the water and retrieve it from the bucket. The repair to the dome port was expensive.

I soak my cameras in a freshwater bath for several hours after returning to my hotel room. The cooler bag works well if my room has no bath tub. I just fill it with water in the shower. I transport my cameras to and from the boat in the cooler bag.

I enjoy playing with the film cameras when I'm shooting at locations where packing more equipment isn't too much of a hassle and provide enough time to experiment. When I lived in Colorado, I tried learning how to use my Nikonos cameras, but couldn't dive enough to get everything dialed-in. Mostly, I use my housed D7200. Digital allows immediate feedback to make adjustments while capturing images.

Bob knows Nikonos cameras. He really likes the Nikonos II. Nikon really didn't provide a solid system to mount strobes on the camera, but Bob came up with a solution.

-AZTinman

 

[m00dawg]

Thanks AZ! Really good info! I hadn't thought about soft cooler bag, that's a fantastic idea!! I don't have the V in hand yet but I'll experiment around with that, I think that could work very well. Really sucks your dome port got busted - that's the exact thing I was worried about. Loosing my GoPro would suck but I could buy another, but looking a higher end camera or, in the case of the Nikonons, one no longer made would be a huge bummer. Fortunately at least one of the upcoming dive days will likely be on a small boat with few people (I use Diving With Alison when I travel to Cozumel by way of a cruise ship).

Yeah I love film! I don't shoot it, at least in 35mm, with expectations it will be sharper or as detailed as digital
and is certainly a lot more work to capture. But in color I find the color palettes a get with, say, Ektar, more pleasing generally; and BW just has a look I find hard to replicate digitally - doubly so if I make darkroom prints. It's just a very fun and very hands on journey that doesn't need a computer (my day job is as a data engineer so I'm using a computer all the damn time - nice to have a hobby that doesn't require one). I'm also just wildly sloppy with digital and it's a very hard habit to break. Connects me to the photos a lot more too.

 

[AZTinman]

The soft cooler bag I use has room for my housed camera with the strobe arms and strobes folded. The bag gives some padded protection for the camera rig as well. I just hand the rig up to the crew after I finish a dive and they just set it on top of the bag. Depending on how long I'll be out of the water, I'll either put the rig inside the bag or simply cover it with a damp towel. The cooler bag can be readily compressed, rolled-up and placed in a suitcase for travel.

I'll be in Cozumel for a couple of weeks in late December-early January. I dive with Tres Pelicanos. Steve, the owner, is usually in town and dives with me. Cozumel is a great place to dive. Bob (Southern Nikonos) used to set-up on site and repair Nikonos equipment during Cozumel 'Nikonos Shootouts' back in the day. Fun stuff!

-AZTinman

 

[m00dawg]

Ah I'll be in Coz then too actually! Though by cruise ship again. Oh man I bet Nikonos Shootouts were amazing! I just received the camera today. Gorgeous, albeit heavier than I thought. It's irrespective of the hopeful images but I like the sound of the shutter too.

Been trying to figure out what film to try first, between HP5, T-Max 400 (TMY) and T-Max P3200 (TMZ). I normally shoot HP5 but am leaning towards TMY since I think it may help tame grain when there is a lot of ocean in the background (much like a sky, I'm assuming that'll be where the grain is prominent) and also sharp with poppy contrast. I just worry it's not quite as fast and loose as HP5 is. I've pushed HP5 to 1600 in 35mm with great results scanned (but probably harder to darkroom print) and though I'm told TMY is pushable as well not sure what to think there.

My goal is to have some negatives suitable for darkroom printing, although I expect it will probably require some foo (split grade printing and such) - certainly until I get used to how the camera meters, especially underwater.

Hoping for a sunny day so I can shoot at box speed but otherwise might lean on pushing to 800 or 1600 so I can use small apertures.

 

[AZTinman]

Congrats on the camera!

I've played with ADOX Silvermax 100 on one of my Guadalupe trips. I pushed the film to 400 and got some very usable negatives, but never bothered to print any. The film is interesting because it has a higher silver base than any of the films on your list. At the time, I was a member of a photography gallery that had several darkrooms available for members. Unfortunately, my work schedule at the time prevented me from doing much with B&W film.

Back when I used to teach basic photography classes, my students used a Fuji Neopan film that had a wide range of ASA/ISO film speeds. Of course, we bought the film in bulk rolls and loaded film cartridges for students.

Recently, I picked-up a couple of new Nikon SB 105 strobes. The old Nikonos tray/arm system for mounting strobes doesn't really allow one to configure strobes for wide-angle. I'll probably get an I-Das tray with double handles and modify it to fit my Nikonos V. Lighting makes a huge difference in underwater photography.

-AZTinman

 

[m00dawg]

Ah I hadn't thought about Silvermax!

It's a film I want to try - I've recently been using ADOX's reintroduced CHS ii 100 (available currently only in sheets) and it's quite lovely! Couple of interviews from the main guy from the photography expo last week. Really neat company. Of note they're wanting to introduce a 400 speed film but not quite ready to announce anything yet while they ramp up their new factory and converting more things over to their in-house solutions.

Fuji Neopan, alas, is discontinued (so is Acros) save for their 400CN (C-41 BW). Seeing Acros discontinued stung - beautiful black and white film! Fuji is refocusing their efforts on cosmetics it would seem. Fortunately they still produce color slide film. I suspect landscape photographers would storm their Japan headquarters if they stopped producing that.

Even though Fuji seems to be making a slow exit, Kodak's been ramping back up having learned how to produce at smaller scales, and there's ADOX, Ferrania, Rollei, Silberra, Bergger etc. on the black and white side of the fence so Fuji's exit sucks but still plenty of options there. Just not sure which among them to try underwater But Silvermax is a good thing to think about, thanks!

I really enjoy black and white in general - that's what I shoot the most. I know it's going to be weird going to a place like Cozumel with its explosion of colors to shoot black and white But it's so I can hopefully make some darkroom prints, but also because I don't have strobes (yet). Soon as I get some you can bet I'm going to be rocking color. I have to imagine Ektar would be awesome underwater with strobes.

You mentioned the Nikonos tray doesn't work with wide angle - how wide typically? I have a 28mm lens, although after reading the book I haven't figured out how the finder may work with it (since the base finder is for the 35mm lens?). Under the water it seems it's not that wide but not sure. I think I'd prefer wider but 28mm seems good and at a price point to get me started with the Nikonos system (or so is my thought, we'll see how well I do with it in a few weeks heh)

 

[Navymarkv]

Hello,I am new to scuba diving, but not to photography.

I have purchased a Nikonos v. I am trying to learn as much as possible about this camera.

As far as I know I need to replace the o-rings as it has not been used for years and I am the second owner.(Currently waiting for them in the post)

If you have any tips or tricks about this camera I am all ears. Every person I have spoken to, including dive technitions in my uni have no clue about it.

Thank you.