Wetpixel Forums

Komodo Trip July '09 with my New LX3.

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:35:21 -0700

Hi everyone,
It has been a while since my last posting, have been busy with moving and setting up the new shop. Anyway, just got back from my recent short trip to Komodo, on board the Blue Dragon (28th June - 1st July '09).
At the same time, testing out for the 1st time my New LX3 with 10Bar Housing. Here are some of the shots... Happy Viewing!

All constructive comments and advise are welcome!

Ed.

Little Cayman

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:37:02 -0700

Going to Little Cayman next week.

Have two questions.

First I'm wondering about the flight from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman. Specifically how much problem am I going to have getting my camera gear to Little Cayman? I figure I will have to pay but I'm wondering about my second bag getting to Little Cayman. Will it make the plane on the same flight as me? Also on the return trip. If my second bag doesn't make the plane how do I get it on Delta airlines?

Secondary question. What is the current water temperature in Little Cayman?

Thanks.

L&M Titan D200 strobe problems

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:15:01 -0700

Hi!

Just got a second hand L&M Titan D200 housing.
The housing have two separate sync cable bulkheads.
However, when any of my two strobes are connected to the left bulkhead connection,
the strobe output adjustment (using the L&M Roc system) is ignored and the strobe fires
at full power every time. Using the other (right) connection, the Roc strobe output adjustments
work just fine.

I have setup the Titan D200 with the correct strobe profiles on each side. Still the same problem.

Anyone with the same experience?

Thanks!

/P�l O.

CMAS Canary Islands Championship

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:07:01 -0700

Last week took place the CMAS Canary Islands Championship that serves to qualify for the National Championship. It took place in the small La Graciosa Island north of Lanzarote hosted by the new and only dive center in this marine reserve (really beautiful and wild dives): http://www.lineas-romero.com/eng/buceo/index.html
and we were lucky enough to win it!

The results were:

1� David Barrio / Luisa Quintanilla
2� Carlos Minguell / Yulimar Gonzalez
3� Arturo Telle / Tet� Rodriguez

Best model: Aida G�mez

Best macro set: David Barrio / Luisa Quintanilla
Best fish set: David Barrio / Luisa Quintanilla
Best WA set: David Barrio / Luisa Quintanilla

The six picture portfolio we entered were (entered straight from camera jpg�s, only downsize, unsharp mask and frame):

WA with diver:

Mandatory macro (shrimp):

Complete fish:

Not fish macro:

Part of fish:

WA without model:

Turtle and Trumpet Fish

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:20:36 -0700

I'm still trying. Feel free to chime in with any suggestions (in the water or in post production) on my latest attempts. I'm still working on every aspect of underwater photography (as you can tell)...

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12201

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12203

Problems with shutter speed and strobe. Help!

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:53:09 -0700

Hello All. I am a Novice underwater photographer and recently got a macro setup. I have a nikon d100, a nikon 60mm ikelite housing and ikleite ds150 substrobe. In my photos with shutter speeds upward from 250 or so I am getting black on the upper half of the image from where the shutter is starting to close. the bottom half will be a distinguishable image illuminated by the strobe. the faster shutter speed i use the larger the black area will obvioulsy be. In order to produce and acceptable image i have to use a very small aperture to compensate. This is not ideal. Its almost like my strobe is a fraction too slow, but it shows no signs of malfunctioning and fires seemingly normally when the shutter is released. The strobe connectors seem to be fine, and no corrosion etc. I have taken my system out with 2 separate d100 bodies. so it seems very unlikely that the problem lies there. Any suggestions?

cheers,

Kevin Stephens

Movement to shut down shark tours in Hawaii grows

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:34:29 -0700

Movement to shut down shark tours in Hawaii grows
Article: Movement to Shut Down Hawaii Shark Tours

Things like this get me really angry:

"Federal law � which governs waters between 3 miles to 200 miles from the coast � prohibits feeding sharks off Hawaii and Pacific island territories like American Samoa. Exceptions are made if fishermen are baiting sharks to harvest them or if the feeding is part of government-funded research."

-So you can bait sharks to kill them (harvest is such a gentle term) but not to appreciate them!

Ikelite vs. the rest

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:25:26 -0700

I just got a 5D mkII and am looking for a housing for it. I have used Ikelite in the past primarily due to budget and lack of knowledge/newbie status. I did have a flood wit hthis housing, but I am quite sure that it was user error (changing from macro to wide angle port). Basically the housing was sent to me and I had to figure it out on my own. Mistakes can be costly.
So now I have a new camera and more knowledge. I would like a "better" housing, but am again limited by budget, but I would like to know what makes the higher end brands like subal worth the thousands of extra dollars. I mean, I've been pleased with the performance of the Ikelite housing, but are they that much more likely to have a flood? Personally, if they are more likely to flood, then obviously that's a problem, but otherwise I don't see the difference?
I can say that I am tired of people giving me looks on a dive boat that seem to say "amateur", then later look at these people's shots and they aren't that great.
Am I missing something? Is ignorance bliss? No intended offense to those who use brands other than Ikelite, but for those of us who do (and maybe limited by budget) what are we missing?

Problems Blufin with Fathom for Xr520

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:18:30 -0700

Hi togheter,

I just come back from a Galapagos Trip and realizing that a lot of my Footage has following Problems.

1. Very often Black Corners on the Edge

2. Very often light reflection on right or left corner.

I was using a Blufin Housing Pro for the Xr520 togheter with Fathom Optics.

I heard that the active Steadyshot is the Reason for the black Corners when using a Wide Angel, but is there somebody who use same Equipment and has tested already?

Thanks for any comment

Michael

My "view new posts" isn't working

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:03:30 -0700

For the last couple of days, threads with new posts that were posted a couple of days ago are coming up as new. This never happened before. I checked my settings but couldn't find anything to fix.

A coupla pics from Cayman

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:28:28 -0700

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12196

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12197

Ikelite DS-125, spare batt., smart charger, arm set, TTL cord

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:33:50 -0700

Ikelite DS-125 TTL substrobe (MOD-NC sticker) with NiMH battery - $550
(comes with diffuser, o-rings, spare modeling light bulb, ball mount attached)

Ikelite SA-100 Deluxe 1" Diameter Ball Socket Arm System with 6" Double Ball Section for DS51 and DS125 Strobes (4086.61) - $100

Replacement NiMH battery pack (4066.5) - $100

Ikelite smart charger with four AC adapters (4066.1) - $65

Ikelite single TTL cord (4103.51) � $65

ULCS AD-SSL 3" adapter for Sea & Sea Strobes - $15
ULCS AC-TCS triple clamp - $25
Fantasea Nano Focus Light, High Intensity Ultra Compact LED Light - $30
(With these two ULCS parts, you can attach the nano focus light to the Ikelite arm set and position the focus light wherever you want it, such as over the housing. See here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielandrewclem/3689497063/)

$900 takes the whole lot. Everything is very lightly used. The batteries were made before Ikelite started making packs with weak toggle parts, so they shouldn't be a problem.

PM me or email me at [wetpixel ID] at yahoo

RED, now you see it, now you don't

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:11:28 -0700

I calibrated my monitor for the first time yesterday using Spyder 2express and I also downloaded Lightroom 2.3 a few days ago but had not downloaded any files from the new version until now. In Lightroom, I see no big differences from before/after the calibration. I am using the RAW image in Lightroom, export a jpg for sharing and future prints and placing a smaller file of that jpeg in Flickr.

When I looked at the file in the windows file manager, it had no red or orange color.
I opened the saved jpg in photoshop elements 3, it had no red or orange color either. I adjusted photoshop 3 to using adobe RGB color and that did not help. Downloading it to flickr (from the lightroom jpg) and still no red or orange colors.

I made a copy of the RAW file, opened it in Lightroom, saved the jpg again and this time in file mgr and Elements, it looks right.
I deleted the flickr pic, downloaded the new lightroom jpg into Flickr. BUT, it still has the red/orange missing in Flickr, at least at on my monitor.

How does it look at your end?

At my end, there is no red or orange in Flickr but lots of it in Lightroom.
In lightroom, I am using 16 bit ProRGB color space and have been for quite some time.

This is a Bearded Fireworm (Hermodice carunculata) and there is plenty of red on it.

So I tried another image. Similar results. All now looks fine until I send to FLICKR. There is a lot of orange behind the blenny, quite a bit of red around his pupil everywhere but on FLICKR.

I tried a third image for red testing. They guy is all bright red with spots everywhere but in FLICKR I see not red.

I use a G9 and shot RAW + JPG.

Any suggestions or thoughts?

Never had trouble using FLICKR before. All former images look fine.
I have been making no corrections for colors in any of the images. Only cropping, spot removing, adjusting exposure, adjusting blacks and highlights.

Best Dive operations for underwater photographers in South Africa

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:33:59 -0700

Hi everyone
This coming October I will be going to South Africa for couple of weeks. I'm planing to do some diving around Protea Banks, Aliwal Shoal and Cape Town for the Great Whites.
Does any one know any good dive operations for photographers around these areas?
Thanks
David

Shooting pics with a modeling light.

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:56:04 -0700

My backup camera is the Olympus SP-350 which is nice for many things but not really close/small macro. (Oddly you can get closer to a small subject, and fill the screen better, with full zoom rather than w/a, but e'en so I'm usually about 5" away from the subject.) It has a super macro setting which lets me get the proximity to the subject I want, but it disables the interior flash which I use to trigger my slave(s) via fiber optic cable.
So I thought I'd try using super macro with a modeling light mounted on the housing's cold shoe and see what I get. Has anybody tried this, and if so, how'd it work? What kind of modeling light did you use? I'm looking for one that's small (read cheap) with even light distribution to avoid hot and cold spots.

D300 housing options?

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:52:32 -0700

My guess is that there is an existing thread I can be pointed to.

I use an Ikelite housing now, but am planning to move up to a Nikon D300. When I make the move I was planning to stick with Ikelite, but figure I should do due diligence and evaluate the opposition. I know a few different folks make housings/UW flash setups. Has there been a discussion of the pros and cons of the various choices?

Nikon D80 & Aquatica & Ikelite strobe - full kit

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:50:48 -0700

I am selling my underwater camera gear, which is a Nikon D80 with Aquatica housing set.

Reason for sale is that I bought the whole lot in preparation for a planned trip to Bikini Atoll, which was sadly cancelled due to the island closing down . As a result, the whole thing is really rather wasted on me and has been sat in my spare room since August of last year.

The underwater stuff is all about 18 months old and has only been used for two brief trips to Egypt, so is in perfect and pretty much as-new condition. The camera is a couple of years old but is also in perfect condition.

The cost to buy this stuff new today would be just over �5,000; I'm looking for and open to reasonable offers as it's just sat here gathering dust.

I'm in the UK (Yorkshire) and will be happy to arrange delivery / collection to suit a buyer

Includes the following:

Nikon D80 Body

Nikon 18 � 135mm kit lens

Sigma 10mm � 20mm lens

Sigma 17 - 70 HSM Macro lens

Aquatica D80 housing - rated to 90m with 5 pin TTL wiring

Aquatica 8" Dome Port w/ neoprene cover

Aquatica Extension Ring

Aquatica Dome Shade

Aquatica Zoom Gear

Ikelite DS125 Strobe w/ ball arm

Ikelite smart charger

Ikelite iTTL adapter

Peli Case 1610

Also thrown in, a camera rucksack, most of the original packaging, 3 x SD memory cards and a couple of filters and bits and pieces.

Please PM me for further information, questions etc

Thanks

Lee

Uk Diving Photos

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:44:00 -0700

I managed to get into the water for the first time in ages yesterday and had the chance to test out my 110 Alphas. I was using a 5D in aquatica housing with 100mm macro lens. The viz was about 3 meters and the temperature a balmy 18-20 degrees so off with the drysuit and on with the 5mm

I would appreciate any comments that you have both positive and negative, (I have thick skin), as I haven't been in the water with a camera on a proper "camera dive" since January.
It was also the first dive in the UK in summer time so I was really pleased with the number of fish. I had not seen any of the below species before so was like a kid in a candy shop

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12191
Tompot Blenny

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12194
Long Spined Scorpion Fish

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12190
Black Faced Blenny

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12193
Candy Stripe Flat Worm

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12192
Candy Stripe Flat Worm

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=12195
Sea lice? Not really for criticism but I thought it was interesting , sadly the fish was in a hurry so only got the one frame

Any way your comments would be appreciated and if any of you fancy a paddle in Swanage area, please let me know

Tristan
PS no idea on linking to images so sadly you have to click the links..... i gave up in the end and attached the images...

Why the hang up when I leave?

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:43:19 -0700

Over the last few months my computer seems to hang up when I redirect it from Wetpixel. No other site will hang up my browser. When I finally get tired of waiting for it to leave, I shut it down and get the message "window is busy do you really want to shut it down". It also hangs up on occasion coming into the site and I restart a new window and it will get right in. Any thoughts. My browser is the latest IE explorer with XP operating system?

For Sale: Sea & Sea Zoom Gears

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:08:33 -0700

I have three Sea & Sea zoom gears for sale. Each is $100 This is a great price.

1) Tokina 10-17 ( This also fits Canon EF 16-35)
2) Nikon 17-55 ( also fits 17-35 )
3) Nikon 28-80 ( also fits 35-80 )

Price is $100 plus $10 Fed Ex ground anywhere in the US. I don't ship outside the US.

Contact:

Rod Klein
rhkdiver@ca.rr.com

PS...these are all in great shape. Not much can happen to a zoom gear. No major scratches or imperfections. If you really want a photo I will oblige.