9 replies to this topic

[f1nutter]

Hi Guys,

I am sorry for this type of post, but I seem to have lost my marbles

I am interested in having a play with some underwater housings before I blow £5000 on a set-up (like you would). I seem to remember a few months ago I found a webstore with a link to a proper store. The store is/was based in London, under a bridge, near the river, with the tube station above.

I can't for the life of me remember the store name and neglected to bookmark the website. Could someone please help?

Thanks,
Phil.

[Stitchercaroline]

It is Ocean Leisure Cameras and within the store Ocean Leisure. It is on The Embankment, the tube is Embankment tube, also near Charing Cross Train station (hence the bridge, going over the river).

Good store and I have bought stuff from there before.

Marbles now found?

Caroline

[adamhanlon]

Hi Phil,

The shop you refer to was Cameras Underwater. They have now closed, but much of the same team work at the same venue for Ocean Leisure Cameras.

Both have active websites. I'm on my phone right now but once I am near a computer, I will post them.

Hope that helps.

Adam

[MikeVeitch]

this one is not exactly London but its close....
oceanoptics.co.uk

[f1nutter]

I knew you guys would come through! The website has now been bookmarked and the bank manager has been warned.

Thanks.

[Stoo]

I knew you guys would come through! The website has now been bookmarked and the bank manager has been warned.

In my experience, it's the Missus you need to worry about. There are few, if any, rational explanations for the amount of money it's possible to spend on this stuff. Last year, I bought the "ulitmate" system.

Then I added a second strobe.
And another less-macroey, macro lens.
And a wider, wide angle lens.

So then I REALLY had the ultimate system.

But then I added another body, in case something happened to the first once, rendering the housing a paper-weight.

So that was it. The perfect system.

I have now sold much of it to a nice member here, and am just waiting for the new housing to arrive, to hold the new camera.

Then I will truly have the ultimate system.

Although, the bigger dome is going to be nice.

And have you seen that Sola Photo 800 focus light? Pretty sweet.

And then there's the same good argument in favour of a spare body...

Thank God airlines have carry-on weight restrictions. I currently only exceed it by 120%, but I am an expert at making a 46# Pelican case look like it weighs 20#.

I am considering getting my local dive shop to pump Helium into the case before I fly anywhere. That will make it lighter, right?

Edited by Stoo, 16 February 2012 - 06:56 PM.

[pointy]

In my experience, it's the Missus you need to worry about. There are few, if any, rational explanations for the amount of money it's possible to spend on this stuff. Last year, I bought the "ulitmate" system.

Then I added a second strobe.
And another less-macroey, macro lens.
And a wider, wide angle lens.

So then I REALLY had the ultimate system.

But then I added another body, in case something happened to the first once, rendering the housing a paper-weight.

So that was it. The perfect system.

I have now sold much of it to a nice member here, and am just waiting for the new housing to arrive, to hold the new camera.

Then I will truly have the ultimate system.

Although, the bigger dome is going to be nice.

And have you seen that Sola Photo 800 focus light? Pretty sweet.

And then there's the same good argument in favour of a spare body...

Thank God airlines have carry-on weight restrictions. I currently only exceed it by 120%, but I am an expert at making a 46# Pelican case look like it weighs 20#.

I am considering getting my local dive shop to pump Helium into the case before I fly anywhere. That will make it lighter, right?

Hello Stoo,

I know what you mean. My Mrs Pointy has allowed me to greedily indulge my obsession, still I feel the pressure to rein myself in. I was lusting after that fancy Sola light too, but in an effort to economize, I put together a poor man's Sola 600 for less than $50.00. I love it just as much as I would a shiny new thing.
You might like to check it out on this Flickr set "Poor man's focus light".

http://www.flickr.co...57629378484893/

John McCracken

[f1nutter]

There is no Mrs Nutter to justify my passions to, which is good, because I have many hobbies, all seem expensive!

I never got to Ocean Leisure Cameras before an Aquatica D700 housing and Megadome were listed on eBay. The temptation was too great and I went for it . I still need an extension ring but the bulk of my purchase has been done (or so I think, which is probably wrong). The housing feels good in my hands, if somewhat heavy. I haven't had the chance to get it wet yet and fully expect it to be, maybe, two years before I have the diving skills to start using it properly. I intend to take it on my next diving holiday, but only use it while snorkelling to get a true feeling.

Better book something before I forget what the mouth-piece thingy is called!

[Mooseman1007]

Im liking the look of the poor mans sola.....Just bought the missus one and im left with a little fantasea nano, so could definately do with a red filter. One thing that does concern me is red plastic doesnt necessarily mean a red filter so the critters may still be spooked by the "poor mans" version, though for lights which dont have a dedicated filter like my nano (or the target light on my YS-01) there has to be some work around.....any suggestions of what proper filter (Rosco,Lee etc) would mimic the red leds on the SOLA ?

[pointy]

Im liking the look of the poor mans sola.....Just bought the missus one and im left with a little fantasea nano, so could definately do with a red filter. One thing that does concern me is red plastic doesnt necessarily mean a red filter so the critters may still be spooked by the "poor mans" version, though for lights which dont have a dedicated filter like my nano (or the target light on my YS-01) there has to be some work around.....any suggestions of what proper filter (Rosco,Lee etc) would mimic the red leds on the SOLA ?

Hello Mooseman,

I don't know how colours appear to Fish, so you might be right that Sola's red LEDs emit the best wavelength of light to soothe Fish's nerves, and that you would need a high quality pure red filter to mimic this experience for Fish. However, there might be another, simpler, reason why Fish tolerates red light better than white. Red light is not as likely to assault Fish's eye's with a blinding glare compared to white simply because the process of generating red light produces dimmer light. If you check out this link for the Sola, you will see that it has three power settings for both red and white light, and that for each of those power settings the light produced is about 4 times brighter when set on white versus red. Full power on the white setting produces 800 lumens of light, while low power red gives 57 lumens: http://www.uwimaging.com/sola800p.html

Passing light through a red transparent disk also removes a lot of light. I think plastic driveway reflectors would spare the subjects eyes even more effectively than the best camera store filters because the reflector's faceted surface diffuses light. If you sand the reflector's flat side, then the light passing through becomes even more diffuse. Placing a red diffuser over your dive light might be the next best thing to giving your subjects sunglasses.

I think a good focus light should have the following qualities:
1) be bright enough for you to see the subject but dim enough to keep the subject comfortable;
2) generate enough infrared light to allow the lens to autofocus efficiently;
3) have a wide beam so you don't have to fiddle too much with aim.

The home-made red diffuser over a bright dive light does all of that. However, it is easier to see subjects in white light, and I'm not so sure now that the colour red is what keeps the fish calm. Maybe an amended clear driveway reflector would diffuse light well enough to avoid stressing the fish. In order to check that out, I have developed the "Poormans MARK II". This version has two diffusers, 1 red and 1 white, linked together with s hooks. When you place the white diffuser over the light, the red diffuser slides off to the side. You can switch from red to white and white to red very quickly. In early June, my son and I will be on "Don Questo" in Sudan, where I can play with this thing.

Of course, everything I've said here is debatable. Is there good reason to think that red light is invisible to fish, no matter how strong it is? I'll ask the people on the "Critter Identification" Forum. It's not their usual kind of subject but they seem to know a lot about critters in general.


John McCracken