Second Strobe or Fish-eye lens??

[Velour]

Following some great advice on this site I decided on an Ikelite housing, 8"dome and Sigma 17-70 lens for my D80. To stay w/in my budget I am looking at 1 DS-160 strobe and the tokina 10-17 fisheye or 2 DS-160 strobes. This will be my first time with big DSLR u/w. Is it worth getting the WA if only have the 1 strobe or should I stick with one lens/2 strobes first time out with this set-up? If you had to choose, which way would you lean and why?

Thanks!
Monika

 

[AussieByron]

Hi Monika.

Have you bought the Sigma 17-70 macro lens and the 8 inch dome yet????

If you havn't I would lean towards Ikelite housing, Nikkor 60mm Macro, Ikelite macro port, cheap little fantasea LED modeling light and two DS160's.

I know this is a little different to what you posted but it will be a complete macro setup which you can use all the time and you would even have a little money left over for the next lens purchase.

I then would be saving for the Tokina 10-17mm and 8 inch Dome at a later date.

As for the 17-70mm Sigma I would leave it till last. Maybe even look at getting the 105mm Macro before the 17-70mm Sigma.

I went this way with my D80 setup and was very happy with the results.

Regards Mark

 

[mjh]

Agree with AB the Tokina 10-17mm is under utilized with just one strobe it really needs two. I have the Sigma 17-70mm and it is a decent "don't know what I will find" lens but does not do Macro or WA great. The real questions is what interests you more WA or Macro??? My eye goes to WA so thats where I started. Macro is a little easier to get good results with early on and one strobe is fine. So you sort of have to pick what you lean to.

 

[Mariozi]

Based on your setup, I would suggest this road:

IMHO:
Now: 1st strobe
Next: 60mm + Port
Then: 2nd strobe
Then: FishEye lens (either Tokina 10-17 or Nikkor 10.5)

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

AB hit it right on the mark. The macro system is also the easiest to learn your DSLR system with. And the Tokina 10-17 is not only your best bet for a wide angle lens, it will be best suited to shoot that with dual strobes.

 

[fisheyeview]

What they said.

 

[bronk]

I would change it a bit
Use the 12-24 instead if you have not already bought hte lens. You can get decent coverage with the DS125 / DS160 and a diffuser.
This is my favorite lens so far. I also have an 18-70 and have used a friends 60mm macro (next on the shopping list however).
The drawbacks to the single flash are:
blue shadows when balancing flash and available light
harsher shadows than with 2 flashes
need to use another primary dive light at night. The diffused ds125 or Ds160 is no longer bright enough as a primary light. This will push you to a second flash to avoid the diffuser or a canister style light (so you can hold camera and light at the same time).
This is what I use with my D200 and Ikelite housing