Fiji fun Times with SP-350

[Pinay_Diver]

Those are awesome photos, Rockyheap! Glad to know you enjoyed your Fiji trip. We have the same set-up, Oly SP350 with Ikelite housing. Question, how were you able to attach the wide angle lens to the lens port of the housing. DId you need a separate lens mount or something? Im thinking of getting a wide lens soon. =)

 

[RockyHeap]

Thanks for the compliments guys, photography work underwater with swift currents or hanging upside down under a ledge at 85' deep is a alot more work than some people give you credit for...........so hard to get scale and perspective of critters too.

I shot almost 100% with the wide angle lens during Fiji, I mean, you have a huge coral wall in front of you so capture it right?

the WAL is a bayonent mount, I wouldn't EVER want to be fumbling with a threaded lens underwater. You can also get a dummy camera mount that gets put on your strobe arm, so if you want to take off the WAL underwater, you can click it right on to the strobe arm, and I love my tray and dual grip arms for the ikelite rig.

http://www.reefphoto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=4&products_id=541

Note, I also carry with me as a back-up my PT-030 housing, and that has the INON mount on that too so I can swap the WAL over to that if I want.

I also put a orange cotton string lanyard cord between the wide angle lens and the strobe arm, so I wouldn't drop the lens while swapping the lens on/off underwater.

I'll try and grab a shot of my camera rig and post it.

 

[DesertEagle]

Threaded lenses can be a pain. On my PT-030 I used a Sea & Sea 16mm lens originally designed for the Nikonos. It was much cheaper (about $100 on eBay) and worked with a 46-58mm step up ring. The Sea & Sea lens needs water to focus, so it has to be attached at the beginning of every dive. Ugh!

I am surprised that the Inon does vignette so much. It looks like my Sea & Sea. I wonder if you would have as much vingetting on the Oly housing.

 

[gert7to3]

I get slightly less vignetting with my 20mm
W/A lens. So I think the greater vignetting is due to the 16mm lens.

You might want to look up the term "lens caddy" for handy storage of your lens underwater. These are just molded plastic bayonet mounts which can be attached to strobe arms or strobe light bodies. If your W/A lens would fit a Motor Marine II camera then Sea & Sea has this item.

The bottom picture in this set of my Sony P-10 arm shows a lens caddy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63634000@N00/

 

[Shasta_man]

I'm thinking Indonesia and Palau need to get put on that list next, Rocky.

I'd be interested in any dive guide/people shots you might have topside. I've been to Taveuni as well.

 

[Pinay_Diver]

the WAL is a bayonent mount, I wouldn't EVER want to be fumbling with a threaded lens underwater. You can also get a dummy camera mount that gets put on your strobe arm, so if you want to take off the WAL underwater, you can click it right on to the strobe arm, and I love my tray and dual grip arms for the ikelite rig.



I'll try and grab a shot of my camera rig and post it.

Thanks RockyHeap! I'm looking forward to see a photo of your rig

For the meantime, I want to show you my set-up.. first photo is without a diffuser and the second is with a disffuser attached. Do you think the bayonet mount will fit th ehousing's lens port?





Many thanks!

 

[liberato]

RockyHeap, we must live parallel lives! I also just recently came back from Fiji and have almost the exact same setup down to the same WA wet lens (a requirement in my opinion) and UCLS arms with Ikelite DS-125 strobe. I agree it is a great, great setup.

I did not like the left handed single tray that is the default with the Ikelite case, though, so I made my own right handed one since they permanently mount their handles these days and the tray can't simply be reversed. With the handle now close enough to the shutter to allow one hand use I can get into tight spots.

It took me quite a while to get a feel for exposure because it turns out the TTL functionality of the Ikelite case interface wasn't working correctly so I was forced to learn the camera with manual strobe. That was probably a good thing learning-wise but at the cost of lots of ruined shots.

Additionally, RAW mode, which I thought was a valuable spec when I decided on the camera is for most practical purposes not very useable for animate objects due to the slow RAW processing of the SP-350. I eventually turned it off since it made more sense to to get 3-4 JPEGs in the time to get one RAW. When my skill as a photographer improves beyond the 10-20% keeper level I may revisit it in the future. I also can't can't say enough good things about the DS-125 strobe.

 

[RockyHeap]

So you're my twin brother that was stolen at birth? Finally I found you! <grins>

I run a Ikelite dual handle tray for your very reasons. I like cradling the camera rig on the shutter control side and the right hand grip, plus the right hand grip is a great addition for when you're handing up the rig to the boat. In another post, someone mentioned a good tip of putting red tape on the spare handle, so the boat crew know where to grab and lift..........I cringe when they grab my whole rig by the strobe arm.

Start a thread and post some pics Liberato. Yup, I like my rig and it makes photos so much better and easier too.

Yeah it's a $2000 rig, total housing/camera/arms/strobe, but thats about what good DSLRs housings alone start at!!! I'm not quite ready to take a $5K rig underwater yet! But I do like my rig 4x better than my $500 set-ups.!!!

Here's a couple more of Fiji, and me in front of my reef tank at home, 135 gallon, 6 foot long, 2' high. Full of aquacultured corals that I frag and make cuttings of to trade with fellow local seattle reefers. Propogate and sustain the coral reefs of the world!

 

[Jcsgt]

Beautiful, Rocky!

Question: How do the currents off Fiji compare to those off of Cozumel?