New Nikon D80 and UW housing

[bluefrogfish]

Nope. We are talking about balancing ambient light and strobe light: I agree the ambient light in the background will be the same, but shooting at ISO 100 the strobes loose onw f stop.
So the D70 set up still gets a better lit photo in some situationss


This is simply untrue. For a given aperture, 1/250 @ ISO 100 (d2xs, d200, d80) yields the same ambient exposure as does 1/500 @ ISO 200 (d70, d70s).[/QUOTE]

 

[bluefrogfish]

Nikon is taking some hits for the slow sync speed, I wonder if somehting like this can be addressed with a ROM update or if it's more part of the hardware. I think probably the later...

Jack

It is a hardware issue. Nikon is using different kinds of shutters in the D70 and D50 that allow 1/500 sync speed so handy for UW photography.
I don´t have many hopes we will see again this kind of fast-sync-shutters in the near future, as they are not being used even in the D2Xs.
So, again, in bright ambient light, with a "cheap" D70 we have an advantage against the $4700, which only syncs at 1/250.
With the D70 we gain one fstop of strobe power because we can open one fstop the aperture and still be able to balance the ambient background light.
A practical example:
Subject in the foreground at 4 feet, ambient light f8 - 1/250, my strobes give proper exposure at 3 feet at f8: In this situation with a D2Xs, D200, D80 the foreground subject will be underexposed and will lack color.
With a D70, you can open the apperture to f5, balance the light using 1/500 and get a rich color lit subject in the foreground.
So with a fast shutter speed you can use a smaller less powerful strobe to balance background light.

 

[DesertEagle]

I remember when the N90 came out, with certain strobes you could take a flash photo up to 1/4000 or so. The flash would actually light up two or three times during the exposure. Does the D80 do any of this?

 

[dbh]

seems to me that I read / heard somewhere that the fact that the D70 will only go down to ISO 200 (D2X, D200 go down to ISO 100) equals out the 1/250 vs 1/500 difference.

Did I dream this???

Dave

 

[bluefrogfish]

Hi Dave,
yes and no. It is not like one thing equals out the other exactly. With a minimum ISO 200 (D70), 1/500 sync speed is very handy because in bright ambient light and medium to wide appertures it is the only way to balance strobe and ambient light. Of course, with the new models being able to use ISO100, chances of having to use 1/500 sync speed are smaller. BUT let's not forget that by using ISO 100 your strobes are one f-stop less effective.

When the D70 came out, I was a bit reluctant about minimum ISO being 200, when I had always used 100 or 50 in film. Reality was that the "grain" of D70 photos is less visible than my ISO 100 scanned slides, AND I gained one very valuable f-stop with my underwater strobes. So the small Ikelite 50s at ISO 200 behave almost like Ikelite 125s at ISO 100. This is a great advantage of shooting at ISO 200, because you can travel and dive with much less weight, modey and bulk in strobes.
If D70 users "upgrade" to newer models and start using ISO 100 they will have to adjust their strobe to subject distance to "one f-stop" (no really a distance unit) closer or open one f-stop the aperture, or buy a stronger strobe.
I do not want to look like if the D70 is the only good camera for UW use, I just want to explain the importance of fast sync speed to balance ambient and strobe light.
I have to recognize I feel tempted to buy D80 bodies myself, but I hope I can keep myself away from temptation and keep traveling with small, inexpensive strobes.

 

[bwerb]

FWIW, Costco has the D80 kits now - the two-lens kit. $1299, and Costco's "return it at any time" guarantee (AKA Upgrade policy)

I'm in Canada but will be in the US in a couple weeks...which lenses are included with the Costco kit? I checked on-line but they must be selling it in-store only.

 

[Mike Veitch]

ahhh bluefrog... good points...

BUT... if the D80 can handle the cyan cast around the sun better than the D70 i am sold on it...

the 5D and the D200 handle the sun light years better than the D70, so i assume the D80 follows suit

 

[pakman]

Mike I think a little cheap canon point n shoot can handle the cyan cast on a sun burst better than a D70... :joke:

 

[RonFrank]

I'm in Canada but will be in the US in a couple weeks...which lenses are included with the Costco kit? I checked on-line but they must be selling it in-store only.

Where will you be? IMO, if you are going for UW photography skip the kit lenses. You want a macro (pick one) and likely the 12-24mm. Kit lenses tend to be the bottom of the very bottom end of the line-up, and to be honest, you'd be just as well off with a bottom line Sigma, Tamron or Tokina for less money as the build quality is as good or better, and they cost a LOT less.

Heck, the ONLY lens I own for my Nikon that is NOT made in Japan is the 18-200mm VR. Build quality seems good, but nothing like my 80-200mm f2.8, or basically any other constant aperture glass I own.

 

[bwerb]

I have been looking at the Nikon 18-200mm just didn't think it would be included in the Costco set and wanted to check...I'll be in Maui