Oceanshutter

Excellent work. Congratulations.   The lighting created a nice mood and you had the camera fixed on a tripod for stable shots.  I do think you will need to get a focus gear for your 100mm. I appreciate you tried to get the rack focus look with the ghost pipefish but you could've done it better with a real rack focus.  It would've worked with a few other shots as well in your clip.

 

You may also want to consider rearranging the sequences to tell more of a story.  Right now, it's just a collection of cool clips.  Having a storyline gives a clip more life as it were.

 

Showing my ignorance.....What is Rack focus?  And will it work for Ikelite, 5d mark ii with a manual focus port from Ike?  I am interested in hearing more about this.

 

Thanks for the comments Drew.  I appreciate it.

 

Dustin

I too am struggling with this. I don't like the idea of monthly payments...I okay with them when it comes to house, car, utilities....but am not okay with it when it comes to luxury items like this...I am not a professional, so justifying this cost every month doesn't work for me. If I have the money....I buy it. If not, then I hold off. I am software sales,an that has to justify the cloud and monthly payments everyday. But the situation is drastically different with adobe.

Personally I think the piracy issue isn't going to stop. The hackers will always find a way. Heck, the program is still loaded on the machine...you just have to check in to verify the license....hackers will figure that out, guaranteed!

If any of us that don't do this professionally, were to get laid off from our jobs and had to cut back expenses....there goes photoshop. As this isnt a necessity. It is a expendable expense, that if things get tight, you cut.. You can no longer use it. That just isn't acceptable. I hope adobe feels it, because of this decision. I personally will continue to use cs6 until it doesn't work for me anymore, and then change to other software packages. For video, there are arguably better editing software than premiere...need to figure out what to replace photoshop with, and Lightroom. Adobe has seen the last of my money.

Dustin

Hey Ed,
 
Thanks for the post.  I've been trying to hunt down some info and came across your post.  I'm in the market for a housing for my 5D III.  I've been leaning towards the Ikelite housing and I was wondering if you would have the time to answer a few questions I had.
 
1.  How do you like the housing?  People have been trying to steer me towards the Nauticam for double the price but I'm not sure if it is worth it.  Is the Ikelite that clunky to work underwater?
 
2.  What strobe setup do you use?  I was considering getting the Ikelite DS 161s but some say that the video lights are not worth their while.  Any thoughts about this?
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated.  This is quite a tough topic to find information on.  By the way, I haven't shot with it underwater but the I found the 17-40mm to have slightly soft corners and suffer from chromatic aberration.  If that doesn't bother you then you should be fine.  Do you have any photos from the trip to post?  thanks again!

I have the ikelite mark ii housing, and here are my considerations....I only do 2-3 dive trips a year and it was hard for me to justify a aluminum housing for that little of diving. The Ike is definitely the cheapest. Their support is great, but I live in USA, so not sure what your experience will be. Also, I have had 3 Ike housings, and all of them have had stuck button issues. I sent it in, and ikelite drilled the button holes a little wider and put in a stiffer spring. Haven't had an issue since, but they don't do this normally. Plus pictures are just as good out of the ikelite as any other housing. Having said all of that, on my next one, I will be going with the nauticam. They are just designed better, and are stronger. The Ike could crack easily, and I just dont want to worry anymore. Ike is good to get into underwater photography but you eventually will want the aluminum housing.

As for the ikelitem161's. They are not worth it. A good an powerful focus light would be better. I was in backscatter last week and sea and sea has a new strobe out, and they say that is all they sell now. The Ike's are heavier, and have the big battery, which you want spares of...the sea and sea is 4 aa's...and cheaper... No question in my mind, I would go with the sea and sea, or Inon's for that matter. The Ike's are too big and heavy...again, work great but....

Hope that helps
Dustin

Ed,

I too am contemplating the same thing. We will be down there the first week of August on the aggressor. We basically have the same setup except with the mark ii. My wife shoots the photos and me video, we each have our own mark ii. I am considering renting a 17-40mm as I think we may both want to use it at the same time. So I need another one. It is a hard decision, as I am not that pleased with the soft edges it has. Do you have a diopter on it? I have heard it makes the edges better....I need to do more research.

I don't think the 16-35 v1 is the answer. I have heard that lens is not very good, but don't have personal experience with it. Even the new version isn't much better than the 17-40..certainly it worth the extra money.

The thiNG I worry about with the fisheye, is getting people in the shots.. It is hard to avoid.

Dustin

All that in 3 minutes, really well done.  No matter how great a film is, 3 years down the road you will see things that you will want to change but, by then, the time to move on has come.  Very nice music and, you're right, it does set the ambience.  Agree with all of Nick's suggestions.  Never the less, loved it and it is rare that I like music videos.

Steve

 

Thanks Steve.  I appreciate your feedback.  I am glad you enjoyed it.

 

Dustin