11 replies to this topic

[tkr]

This year I really want to have a go at some split level shots. I have a 10.5 lens and a Sea & Sea compact dome.

My attemps so far have only proved just how hard these shots can be.

How much easier would I find it by using the larger fisheye dome?

Should I also consider a Sea & Sea/Athena glass dome if water droplets are apparently repelled more easily?

Any advice appreciated.

[kriptap]

A larger dome would be better, I use an 8 inch dome and find it quite easy really, your biggest problem is trying to expose under water to equal above water, that's where is gets tricky. The 10.5 is a great lens for it so give it a try, oh and by the way it really does not have to be totally flat to do it, but flat is good. As far as keeping drops off, I simply keep the dome underwater and then raise and shoot the second I think I have it, 30 shots later I might have a keeper.

[UWPhotoTech]

Check this out!!! I think it will steer you in the right direction!

http://www.jonathanb.../photo_tip2.htm

A large dome will definately work better for you!

Hope this helps!

Lee

[tkr]

Thanks for the information.

I wonder how many people are using dioptres and cut in half ND filters though, especially as the 10.5 lens is a popular choice

I had not appreciated that it is easier to focus both in air and water together with a larger dome because the virtual image might be further away.

[frogfish]

Thanks for the information.

I wonder how many people are using dioptres and cut in half ND filters though, especially as the 10.5 lens is a popular choice

I had not appreciated that it is easier to focus both in air and water together with a larger dome because the virtual image might be further away.

The 10.5 has enough depth of field to handle over-unders at almost any aperture setting. You might need to selectively lighten the underwater part of the image, but it's easy to get the above and under both in focus.

That doesn't work with the 16 mm FE. I used to use a split diopter with 12-24 zoom lens. This worked, but can be hard to line up the diopter line perfectly with the water surface, and you're stuck with 1/2 - 1/2 straight line water surface shots. Personally, I find the 10.5 produces more interesting over-under shots.

[philmayer]

I used to use a split diopter with 12-24 zoom lens. This worked, but can be hard to line up the diopter line perfectly with the water surface, and you're stuck with 1/2 - 1/2 straight line water surface shots. Personally, I find the 10.5 produces more interesting over-under shots.

Has anyone tried shooting over/unders with the Nikon 12-24 in an 8" dome without a diopter?

[Rocha]

Has anyone tried shooting over/unders with the Nikon 12-24 in an 8" dome without a diopter?

The underwater portion will be out of focus... The only way to shoot over/under with lenses that need diopters is to use a flat port, but no flat port will accommodate 12mm lenses (at least none that I know of).

[AUTiger]

With my Tokina 12-24 and a +2 diopter, the camera would not focus out of the water (as in on land). This led me to believe that the out of water part of a split image could never be focused. It seems that I will have to take off the +2 diopter (not required by the Tokina in an 8" Ike dome) in order to get the out of water part focused. Corner sharpness underwater shouldn't be an issue since split images don't seem to usually have the underwater corner detail that would require a diopter. I might miss the diopter on the rest of the dive, though.

Any thoughts from those of you with more experience?

David

The underwater portion will be out of focus... The only way to shoot over/under with lenses that need diopters is to use a flat port, but no flat port will accommodate 12mm lenses (at least none that I know of).

[james]

Anyone know where to get a split diopter/ND hard grad these days? I was inches from getting 3 of them here in the classifieds but another user beat me to them.

Cheers
James

[philmayer]

The underwater portion will be out of focus... The only way to shoot over/under with lenses that need diopters is to use a flat port, but no flat port will accommodate 12mm lenses (at least none that I know of).

Ikelite says that a diopter isn't needed except for corner sharpness, that the lens will work fine in either a 6" or 8" dome port.

I know I won't be able to focus above water with a diopter, hence my question.

[Viz'art]

I think it important to remember that we need very small aperture (read lot of depth of field) for these shots, avoid having the sun in the shot, and if having both close and far subject sharp is impossible, go for the foreground and/or main subject, over exposing a digital frame is deadly for the shot so choose your exposure with care. I attached one of my illustration from my photo course for helping out newcomer. remember also that having a shallow bottom will bounce light and add texture to the composition so you might want to warm up with theses kind of over / under first, not to mention that being shallow often will allow you to rest your feet on the bottom, (make's for less task overload ) make shure your fin don't show up in the shot !

[Viz'art]

And here is a good exemple of a out of focus background shot that works, it was an overcast day so stopping down to f:16 or f:22 was out of the question, selecting to have the front subject in focus was crucial, also the format is vertical, which is a tad harder to handle but gives more up and down margin of error, in the end that shot was the opening shot for an article on tropical dry suits, the out of focus background was perfect for the tittle and teaser blah, blah, blah.

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