Nikon D90 Underwater Shots?

[alcina]

I just wish these Canon/Nikon guys would keep us in mind when they upgrade so we dont need to shell out another $3K for a new housing every 2-3yrs.

Just as an aside, the new Canon 50D does in fact fit into the 40D housings as Canon kept the body virtually the same with button placement and identical in dimensions/shape. We <heart> Canon for this (even though I will not be buying a 50D it's nice to have the option).

Always keep in mind that the camera manufacturers don't spare a single brain cell of thought on underwater shooters

 

[Mariozi]

you bet ... though this is my first DSLR for UW and I have been using the piont and shoot type. I have been reading that a diopter is need with a dome port. My housing has the 6 incher. The D90 came with a 18-135 DX AF-s lens. I am going to purchase the nikkor 4t. I guess i want to ask others experience with the dome port and diopters.

If you are not sure what diopter you need, you should buy a kit (+1,+2,+4). I recommend the Tiffen kit, with a kit you can go from +1 to +7. Always use the smaller diopter that works for you. If you use a too powerful one you might loose the focus on "infinite" inside the dome. I have used diopters on the Nikkor 24-85/2.8-4, if I remember correctly it was a +2.

And yes, the old 18-35 was a good starter lens on the full-frame ones. Today on DX sensors Sigma 10-20, Tokina's fisheye zoom, or Nikkor 12-24 (not in any specific order) are better options as starters. Look at the 10.5mm thread, thats a good specific lens, and macro depending on what you want, as it was said, go 60 or 105, I think even the old ones (specially in the case of the 60) do a good job if you are on a budget.

 

[Mariozi]

Gotta got to Canon not for FX sensor but for VIDEO...

Wait a bit, until Feb I would say, but you might get a surprise early...

 

[jeremyl]

Yeay, but my guess is that will just be a D3X, not an upgrade to the D300 or D700. Just a guess I guess though. I went and played with D300 and D700 this weekend. Me likey. Both are nice, but I just really like that D700. Just dont like that the lens for UW now shift, and not a great choice for WA (16mm I guess, although it is spendier that the Tokina 10-17, which actually works for FX when you dont use 1/2 the range).

 

[sandman98007]

First pics with the D90

Finally got in the water ... vis only 10-20 feet here in the PNW ... and the D90 was an interesting experience. large and bulky on land ... almost neutral under the water... if i did not have the 2 ikelite strobes i do believe it would have been positive. you all were spot on about the 18-135 that came with the package ... cumbersome to use and poor macro ability. the dome was a blessing, though i think that the diopters may have made it difficult for the AF to work. here are a couple of pics with the 18-105.








decided to follow your advice and went and got the tamron 90 ... and boy what a difference. I found it difficult to get use to and a bit of practice will be needed, but i see great thing with this set up. here are a couple of shot with the tameron.







thank you all for the advice and I cannot wait to get back into the water.

 

[av8er23]

Sandman thanks for sharing. Keep them coming... maybe you can find some better diving conditions next time.

 

[dukenukem]

Thanks for sharing your pics! I've been looking at buying a D40, but now that they have the movie mode, I'm opting for the D90. Does anyone have any experience with the movie mode? I'm interested in seeing the useability.

 

[rjsimp]

You know.. Patima looks like it is supposed to be releasing a D90 housing. They are CNC aluminum and if it is anything like the price of their D80 housing, we're talking in the range of $1500 which is Ikelite pricing.

I would be looking pretty hard at Patima and watching what they come out with. The D80 housing is pretty nice so I am sure the D90 will be equal or better.

 

[sandman98007]

Finally starting to cool down here in the PNW... a good day of vis is about 30 feet. just the challenge of diving up here in the PNW. I did shoot a video with the D90 under water ... a little different, but the resolution was good and the low lighting was well compensated. Focus was another issue ... since it uses contrast to focus, it was slow to autofocus. And using the 90mm, well forget it ... I plan to manual focus this weekend and see if this will make things a little easier ... but all in all I am very glad I made the investment. These little thumbnails don&#8217;t compare to the RAW images. Cannot wait to get the blown up poster size and hang on the wall. If I get a good video this weekend I will try and post it, but they are large files. I think I will post it to my you tube account and post a link.

 

[alcina]

sandman -

1) get an aiming light like a Fix Light. Well worth the investment for low viz, low light, low contrast. Especially with a 90mm macro.

2) check out the sticky for how to put your images up here in a better size (follow the pink link in my sig). There really is no need to put monster files online to view ... files around the 100kb range might not be as good as the huge file on your computer, but I promise that they are perfectly fine for wowing people who are looking on a computer monitor

For this site, and many others, a maximum longest side length of 600-800px works very well. A whole lot of folks can view an image with those dimensions without having to scroll at all when they have a window open.