43 replies to this topic

[shchae]

Hi,
I am posting first d700 pictures as promised. Picture just resized & is jpeg.

Sam

Considering water was not clear, I was very happy with picture I got.

D700 in my Nexus D200 using 16mm. More pictures to be followed later today.
Anilao, Philippine.

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Edited by shchae, 01 August 2008 - 02:46 PM.

[BottomTime]

Hi Sam,

Just curious what lens you were using and what F-stop? What port?

Cheers,

Mike

[Drew]

Twin rocks? Could you show some 100% crops of the corners? I think the denizens want to know how sharp the corners are on the nexus.

[shchae]

I tried to post the corner shots but, it is already over 800K size. I will do it when I return from diving.
I am using 16mm with my old 170mm dome port from film days and yes, it is twin rock !!

Sam

Hi Sam,

Just curious what lens you were using and what F-stop? What port?

Cheers,

Mike

Hi,
For testing purpose, I left everything as NORMAL or AUTO. Top picture was taken
ISO200, 1/100 sec, 8 fstop. I was using old 16mm lens + FP170 ? old Nexus dome port
I use since film days. More info should be on exif file.

Sam

[The Octopus]

the D700 looks great for wide angle, the 14-24 should yield some great rectilinear shots.
thanks for posting your images look pretty sharp when I blow them up on my monitor.

[loftus]

Thanks Sam,
Or maybe I should not be thanking you now that you've got me thinking of housing my D700.
At least at this magnification and looking at the last shot, edges look pretty good.
I'm thinking 16mm and 17-35 are going to be the go to lenses, and what a relief, I have both of these. Now if Tokina would just come out with a 15-25 Fisheye................

[Lionfish43]

I'm thinking the 16mm will have a resurgence in popularity. I never had soft corners when I shot it with a film SLR behind an Aquatica 8" dome.

[WoodyNexus]

Hi Sam, does the popup flash of the D700 come up high enough to fire when in the D300 housing. That will enable TTL exposure for strobes with optical connections. I just got my D700 and it does fit in the D300 housing but needs a little tweaking to work well. I think we met on a surface interval at Anilao about a year and a half ago.

[shchae]

Hi Sam, does the popup flash of the D700 come up high enough to fire when in the D300 housing. That will enable TTL exposure for strobes with optical connections. I just got my D700 and it does fit in the D300 housing but needs a little tweaking to work well. I think we met on a surface interval at Anilao about a year and a half ago.

Hi, Woody,

Yes, We met in Anilao & it was my pleasure meeting you and your group. It is good to know that d700 works in d300 housing. I was guessing that it might work & good to know. I am using early model d200 nexus housing & it does not have enough room to open popup flash. I am using housed sb-800 for my macro shots & TTL works fine. I tested SB-900 on shore but, it was too big/long for my strobe housing.

Best, Sam

[WoodyNexus]

Hi Sam, I hope the diving is good for you there now. I expect to try and visit near year end. I have decided I will probably take the D700 diving instead of the D3 which I shoot topside for wildlife and general shooting. I will keep on slogging with the old technology D2x for underwater for now until I get my Nexus D700 housing in hand. I suffer for my art, don't ya know. Some advantages I see of the D700 are full frame sensor, less expensive, smaller, somewhat lighter than D3, and the added option of optical triggered TTL exposure if I decide to upgrade my Inon Z-220s strobes. Plus housing will be smaller and lighter as well. Sounds like a good choice for UW.
We will have to try and coordinate a trip there and meet up again. I hope to see you again soon.

[shchae]

Hi,
Here is more pictures. Weather in Anilao was bad with rain,big wave & strong current.

Sam

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[shchae]

Hi Sam, I hope the diving is good for you there now. I expect to try and visit near year end. I have decided I will probably take the D700 diving instead of the D3 which I shoot topside for wildlife and general shooting. I will keep on slogging with the old technology D2x for underwater for now until I get my Nexus D700 housing in hand. I suffer for my art, don't ya know. Some advantages I see of the D700 are full frame sensor, less expensive, smaller, somewhat lighter than D3, and the added option of optical triggered TTL exposure if I decide to upgrade my Inon Z-220s strobes. Plus housing will be smaller and lighter as well. Sounds like a good choice for UW.
We will have to try and coordinate a trip there and meet up again. I hope to see you again soon.

Woodi,
Sure. Let us get together in Anilao & just let me know when so that I can join your diving.
Best, Sam

[echeng]

Hey, Sam -- can you post some 100% crops? I think those would be interesting.

Doh. Someone already asked for them.

[Alex_Mustard]

Great stuff Sam, thanks for sharing.

The corner sharpness looks good, but then with a fisheye we'd expect it to be. Fisheyes have always been fine on the Canon FF too. I don't need to see a 100% crop to be convinced of that. I have seen plenty from the Canons.

Underwater photography with dome ports has bigger corner problems with wide rectilinear lenses, rather than fisheyes, because the rectilinear lenses are less capable of dealing with the curved focal plane created by a dome port when immersed in water. Land lenses are designed to produce flat images of a flat subject. The problem with the curved focal plane compared with a flat focal plane is that the corners (of the virtual image) are much closer to the camera than the centre. We have to rely on depth of field to keep them sharp - and because the virtual image is so close to the camera this is tough, particularly for rectilinear wide angles.

To get back on topic, this problem is accentuated by FF because of the narrow depth of field for a given angle of coverage of the lens. And is acentuated further in close focus wide angle - a lens dome setup might work well for longer camera to subject distances (say pelagics, which also have less sensitive corners) than for reef close ups. anyway reef CFWA, with a rectilinear wide angle are the 100% crops worth seeing for me.

This is particularly true for Nikons excellent 14-24mm, which I have always feared will not work well underwater because it cannot take a dioptre. For other lenses, a dioptre not only helps the camera focus on the virtual image (infinity is at 3r (r=dome radius) for any dome underwater) but fortuitously a dioptre introduces a bit of field curvature, which helps offset some of the curved focal created by the dome.

Anyway, my request is for a reef CFWA 100% corner crop with the 14-24mm, please. Theoretical musings, like mine above, are only worth so much. What is acceptable in a photo of the real world is something else.

Alex

[shchae]

Hey, Sam -- can you post some 100% crops? I think those would be interesting.

Doh. Someone already asked for them.

Hi,
Let me try this.
Sam

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[shchae]

Great stuff Sam, thanks for sharing.

The corner sharpness looks good, but then with a fisheye we'd expect it to be. Fisheyes have always been fine on the Canon FF too. I don't need to see a 100% crop to be convinced of that. I have seen plenty from the Canons.

Underwater photography with dome ports has bigger corner problems with wide rectilinear lenses, rather than fisheyes, because the rectilinear lenses are less capable of dealing with the curved focal plane created by a dome port when immersed in water. Land lenses are designed to produce flat images of a flat subject. The problem with the curved focal plane compared with a flat focal plane is that the corners (of the virtual image) are much closer to the camera than the centre. We have to rely on depth of field to keep them sharp - and because the virtual image is so close to the camera this is tough, particularly for rectilinear wide angles.

To get back on topic, this problem is accentuated by FF because of the narrow depth of field for a given angle of coverage of the lens. And is acentuated further in close focus wide angle - a lens dome setup might work well for longer camera to subject distances (say pelagics, which also have less sensitive corners) than for reef close ups. anyway reef CFWA, with a rectilinear wide angle are the 100% crops worth seeing for me.

This is particularly true for Nikons excellent 14-24mm, which I have always feared will not work well underwater because it cannot take a dioptre. For other lenses, a dioptre not only helps the camera focus on the virtual image (infinity is at 3r (r=dome radius) for any dome underwater) but fortuitously a dioptre introduces a bit of field curvature, which helps offset some of the curved focal created by the dome.

Anyway, my request is for a reef CFWA 100% corner crop with the 14-24mm, please. Theoretical musings, like mine above, are only worth so much. What is acceptable in a photo of the real world is something else.

Alex

Hi,
I do not have 14-24mm with me but, tried few CFWA pics with 16mm & posted one;
Sam

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[echeng]

Great stuff Sam, thanks for sharing.

The corner sharpness looks good, but then with a fisheye we'd expect it to be. Fisheyes have always been fine on the Canon FF too. I don't need to see a 100% crop to be convinced of that. I have seen plenty from the Canons.

Anyway, my request is for a reef CFWA 100% corner crop with the 14-24mm, please. Theoretical musings, like mine above, are only worth so much. What is acceptable in a photo of the real world is something else.

Alex

Yeah, I failed to note that it was a 16mm fisheye, and not a 16mm prime. That's why I asked for crops.

As for the 14-24mm, I hope Berkley White write something up on that lens at some point (on a D3). He had a hard time getting corner sharpness without stopping down a lot during tests in Bonaire in June.

[segal3]

Why is that girl breathing off the diver's octo?

[PRC]

Crikey Matt - we were all looking at the darn corners....



Paul C

[Drew]

Matt, Twin Rock is shallow enough for snorkelers so I'm sure the girl just freedived down and took a puff to stay down for fun. I'm sure most people know about the lack of studies on nitrogen loading on developing bodies of children.
You're so MOM today.