Nikon D90 + Ikelite : Would this set up work?

[swisstrav]

to start with i admire you for your location. from europe to yap for me it is mainly the 105. however i have to admit the further east i go the chances for wide angele are getting better.

but i am curious about shooting 1:1 macro in autofocus. just tell me how you do this. and i mean not just about. smack on to the shortest possible distance. i.e. on nikor lenses 1:1.

 

[John Gulliver]

from europe to yap for me it is mainly the 105. however i have to admit the further east i go the chances for wide angele are getting better.

I agree that u/w photography is mainly about macro for most of us in northern Europe but you don't have to go further than the Red Sea, just 5 hours south by air, to get excellent wide angle opportunities.

 

[HerraduraDivers]

I shoot also 75% WA or CFWA simply because the diving conditions in Costa Rica make it often difficoult to shoot in macro. Now here in Sardinia it would be better so i can and will use my 105mm macro more tha the wide angle.
As less water between object and lens is better, a lower focal lenght is theoretical better but shy creatures are difficoult to photograph and a higher focal lenght will help greatly. The 105mm is a great lens for calm waters but can be tricky to handle in current or surge.
I shoot only in autofocus (as i have no manual focus port) and it works fine. Manual focus will give you better control over focus point but this will be almost impossible while diving in currents/surge. Using a good focus light will help the autofocus to lock and spot autofocus metering to lock where you point to. Some people experience problems or disconfort using the Nikon105mm VR lens, as she is doing very rapid movements and hunts too fast for the focus point while the old 105mm is quite slow focusing, but mostly find the target on the first try. Also a lot of users say/complain that the the VR on this lens is on macro quite useless and will not help to reduce motion blur.

Chris

P.S. I don't think that Ikelite housings flood more than a aluminium housing and if the leak comes from a hair/lint/grain you will mostly notice it before too much damage occurs as the housing is transparent. As already said; most full floodings happen in the rinse tank because people leave them inside where they bang together and so the may crack or the port comes off.
In this case a aluminium housing may be sturdier, but that's no arguemta because it is a very bad habit to leave cameras in the rinse tank and the best way to scratch your lenses or flood the whole rig.

 

[AussieByron]

to start with i admire you for your location. from europe to yap for me it is mainly the 105. however i have to admit the further east i go the chances for wide angele are getting better.

but i am curious about shooting 1:1 macro in autofocus. just tell me how you do this. and i mean not just about. smack on to the shortest possible distance. i.e. on nikor lenses 1:1.

Hi Swisstav,

Shooting 1:1 macro with AF one really needs the assistance of a good focusing light. I am currently using the Fantasea nano which is a small LED light which also has a sensor which turns off the device when the strobes fire. I am looking at investing in two of these small lights as they are compact and use 4xAAA batteries (i am using enloop rechargables)

On dedicated 1:1 or supermacro I also sometimes add a +2 dioptre or even a +4.

I have been also playing with the Kenko 2x TC on the 60mm which turns the 60mm basically into a 120mm but with 2:1 image size. This setup fits into the 105mm port which I have. Dont use this setup in surge as you will get motion seasick very easy.

But with most of my current diving all wide angle (shooting at 10mm) I havnt played much with creative macro work in over 12 months.

Regards Mark

 

[swisstrav]

@aussiebayron

i guess i need to plan on an other dive trip. where have you shot these shark pics? is there a place called bayron in nsw?

you guys don't get the point. if you want to have your max. scale i.e. 1:1 it is almost inpossible to have to camera in the right distance to the object. if you are to far you are not 1:1 (system will focus) if you are to close autofocus will not work (system will not focus)

so when your autofucus goes wild it might not be not enough light, the chances are great you are just to close to the object.

the only solution is to switch to manual and set fucus to shortest distance. then you move your camera back and for until it shows focused in the few finder or the sharpest possible impression?
(not sure if impression is the right worth)

out of my mind (1:1) with an f-stop between 5.6 and 8 you maybe have around 4 to less than 10mm depth of field. anything above f8/11 does not make your picture sharper.

i use a 105 nikor and do not have great probs with autofocus. i also believe vr is no help underwater

just start saving money for a dive trip to aussie land :blinking:

 

[AussieByron]

Hi Swisstrav,

I think your more concerned if the shot is techinically 1:1 than getting the shot.
Techinically to have a 1:1 shot you must measure the size of the subject to the size of the sensor/film. I dont think anyone measures the size of the sensor compared to the size of the subject, even in competitions.

So here is a Pygmy Seahorse shot with a Nikkor 105mm on AF with a Nikon D80. The frame hasnt been cropped either. Everyone knows that these Seahorses are really small.

Is it 1:1? Honestly I dont know and I am not going to go out and measure it.

Regards Mark