Nikonos info needed

[Kirby-Morgan]

Hello there
This is my second post. The first is in the travel/Africa section today.

I'm employed in commercial diving but I'm about to rediscover scuba after a twenty-year break because my kids are keen to try it. We're going to Tofo, Mozambique next month and I want to take pictures.

Now I've been lurking on the board long enough to realise that the digital revolution is perhaps even more active in underwater photography than it is on the surface. However, left over from my former life I have a Nikonos 2 in perfect condition and right now I'm not ready to buy housings for my surface cameras if I can get by with the old Nik.

The trouble is I don't have a flashgun for it. I used to use (-Now then, no s******ing from you luminous green fins types-) a BULB flash! I'll have you know that it was actually considered very cool to be swimming around with a mesh bag full of chickens-egg bulbs floating from your wrist. And it worked well too. But the bulbs are obsolete and anyway I have a sneaky suspicion that it might not be quite so cool nowadays. Sooo, my questions are.

Is it worth my while to use the old Nik or are the advantages of digital so great that I would be dissatisfied with the results it produces?

If I go with the Nik what light/flashgun would suit it. I really don't want to buy new so what could I buy on the secondhand market that would be compatible, reliable and cheap? Also is there a sync cable suitable for the Nik 2?

My film of preference for prints used to be Fuji 100 but there must be a better one by now. Any suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom. I'm really looking forward to my comeback.

Colin

[Kirby-Morgan]

PS I can't believe this. The board is auto-politically correct!! For s******ing read laughing. I am too.

Colin (Siebe-Heinke twin hose)

[Mike Veitch]

Welcome to the board!

Anyhoo, as for your question. Personally if i were you i would go with a nice small point and shoot camera as opposed to the Nik2 (i own one myself...)

They are relatively cheap these days (a decent set up for $500 US is not out of the question without strobe of course) and you are going to get a much higher percentage of keepers. Also, if you are going to be diving with the kids i think you will have a lot of fun being able to show them the results instantaneously and let them play around with it as well.
You will be able to take a lot more photos on a trip, and therefore not have to open up the camera when 36 are finished. This is a big plus when taking photos of the family etc...
Also, you will have a nice zoom feature which isn't available on the Nik. And if you only have the 35mm lens for your Nik then 2/3's of your shots won't be in focus anyway! that lens sucks....

And of course you have a built in flash on the small cameras for small stuff good options for strobes these days too.

I would put the Nik to rest and go with a P&S.
Have a look at some of the older threads, you will find plenty of recommendatins for which one to get. Sony, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Canon...they all have good packages available

[Tom Winters]

I bought my first Nikonos back in 1969 and wound up with a bunch of Nikonos stuff over the years. It's all gone now. My above water cameras - Nikon, Rollei, Leica, all sit in storage boxes now. Everything is digital - the ONLY way to go, at least for me.

[HowardE]

I would also agree with Tom and Mike... Get a digital P&S it's oh SO MUCH EASIER, than a Nikonos.

I have also used both, and one point they didn't mention, is the obvious advantage of the view screen whereas the Nikonos has nothing, you barely even know if your shot is in focus, better yet in the frame.

When you shoot with a digital... You see the photo instantly... If it doesn't look good, take another one.

[louisianadiver]

I still use a Nik for wide angle, and I don't have any plans to change in the near future. However, your Nik II has the old 3 pin strobe connector and it won't work with any modern strobes that I know of. You can update the Nik II (Southern Nikonos in Houston did mine) to accept most strobes, but it'll cost you about $100. Plus, the Nik II doesn't have a tripod mount, which means that you'll have to use an old tray to hold the camera via the strobe connection--not very good. Lastly, the Nik II does not have uniform film advance, which means that the images on the film will probably not be evenly spaced. When the processor cuts the film by machine, some images will likely be cut in half. Needless to say, although I still use a Nikons/15mm setup, I don't use a NIk II. The NIk III was a tremendous improvement, but I don't see any reason for you to get one. I'd start over with a digital setup. -Clay

[Kirby-Morgan]

Gentlemen
Thank you for your very valuable advice. Your consensus is unavoidable and is precisely what I expected to hear. A great pity though, I was hoping to get a few more fathoms out of the Nik.

With quite large expenses coming up for holiday, training and kit I won't be buying a new camera setup immediately, but I have a Canon IXUS 1 (the original, also called Powershot 1 on the US market ) which I'd reluctantly be prepared to put in a housing - if one exists. Canon don't advertise one for the IXUS 1 though they do for the IXUS 2 which, in pictures appears identical. Can anyone tell me if it's compatible or if there is another suitable housing?

Thank you again
Colin

[PapaBob]

Colin:

I guess the silver lining to the digital revolution is that you can get great deals on used film equipment on ebay. Flash bulbs? I used to call myself the Nikonos Neanderthal but you have me beat by a mile! <lol>

---Bob

[Damselfish]

Can anyone tell me if it's compatible or if there is another suitable housing?
http://www.digideep.com is a good place to find a list of compatible housings

[Tom Winters]

If the IXUS 1 corresponds to the S100 US version, then Amazon has a case for it - one left in stock. The camera is only 2 megapixel though, so I'm not sure that I would invest anything more in low-rez digital camera.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004YKDU/102-9477259-2152109?v=glance&n=172282

[discrepancy]

Kirby-Morgan,

Mike's made some good points here...


...Personally if i were you i would go with a nice small point and shoot camera...and you are going to get a much higher percentage of keepers. Also, if you are going to be diving with the kids i think you will have a lot of fun being able to show them the results instantaneously.
Like you, many of us here have expensive film photography equipment sitting unused and unloved in boxes in the basement. And sometimes we feel guilty about that.

The question is how to justify writing off that stuff in favour of the new digital equipment.

Can I suggest a cute little P&S number will help you win you the hearts and minds battle. This is a good thing because you can email Auntie Doris and everyone else your colourful fish pics within hours of surfacing. Hey guys, get a load of this!!...

Then, once the family's hooked, you can work on more expensive digital gear.

Cynical?? Not me. Just a realist.

[PapaBob]

Hmmm. I have a hi res film scanner that is dusty along with my occasionally used Nikonos gear. Scanning film is as much fun as a root canal. Discrepancy has a good point.

---Bob

[gert7to3]

I saw your post kind of late, but here's a link to a used camera company which has a lot of old Nikonos flash equipment. You might even be able to find the three pin strobes.

http://keh.com/search_new/form.cfm?crid=12694496#anchor

I personally think you can save a lot of money, not have to learn computer skills, buy computer programs and discover that your present computer isn't very good at processing digital images.

Another suggestion, use color print film. Its wider eposure latitude will help alot underwater. You can also have the film scanned to photo CD's, providing you with best of both worlds.

Here's a link to a company in Florida which processes color print film, can make 35mm slide copies, digital scans to CD and regular prints.

http://www.dalelabs.com/


I have no financial benefit from the two companies mentioned here. I have used them both only as a customer.

[Scubatooth]

Hmmm. I have a hi res film scanner that is dusty along with my occasionally used Nikonos gear. Scanning film is as much fun as a root canal. Discrepancy has a good point.

---Bob

oh bob come on its really not that bad. I have a nikon 9000 and its easy for me because it only takes me a couple of minutes to get a neg prepped and previewed to get ready for a scan. then once its scanning i can work on something else.

i guess it comes down to a matter of preference as i use both film(35mm,120/220 or LF) and digital. all it comes down to is whats best for the job im shooting. To me there nothing like looking at the end product(a optical or digitally printed image) and going WOW


oh BTW count for the year so far and im not done is that i have shot 52GB of digital images and 400+ rolls of film and about 100 LF sheets.

FWIW

Tooth

[Allison Finch]

You will need to upgrade your strobe connector. I still have two Nik I's and have made that upgrade on one of them. If you do decide to do it, I have an almost new 105 strobe that I will sell you VERY reasonably. I also have a couple of trays that will work, one that has an arm for the strobe. Let me know. While I use digital most of the time now, I still think the image quality is better with film.
OK, start the flame now....