alexiscoram

Hey guys...I just bought the D800 and the Ikelite housing...took the rig into my pool a couple of days ago with the Sigma 15mm and 8" dome which is attached to the housing with the #5510.11 port body. As you can see from the sample photo below, I can see what I think are the edges of the port body...anyone else experience this? Solution to fix?? I am headed to Raja Ampat in a couple of weeks, and really want to fix this problem...otherwise, I will be cropping a ton of photos...

Hey Scott - did you figure out how to kill the black corners without removing the shade? I just bought this set-up for my D700 and had black corners during my first quick test. I don't really want to remove the shade because it protects the dome.

Alexis

Hi Alexis,

 

To answer your questions about pools, your best bet would be to find a filthy rich friend with a clear pool that was heated year round, and since you're based in the midwest, indoors too! 

In all seriousness, ideally you have a private pool at someone's house that will let you get in and practice. There are so many variabilities in photography, even more so in underwater photography in a pool including time of day, angle of the sun, shade trees, trees dropping foliage, clarity of the water, etc. it would be nice to have access whenever you wanted.

Public pools are very tricky, especially when kids use them. Talk to the aquatics director and see if there are times you can use the pool. And no, they usually won't turn off a filtration system ; )

Do you have a dive shop in your area with a pool attached? That would be a great resource to try.

 

Abi

 

Thanks, Abi. That's what I thought. I don't know anyone with a pool right now, so was thinking of asking one of the hotels by me. I just updated my profile because I'm in Northern California now, no longer in the Midwest  

 

Alexis

Loved reading this post, although all the lighting technical jargon is a bit over my head. I just received my underwater set-up for my D700. Ikelite housing with two ds161 strobes. Hoping to find a pool to practice shooting with a friend this weekend as a test. I'll be using the strobes only for now and will have to figure out how to use topside lighting in addition to the ttl. I'm not quite sure I want any electrical lighting around the pool.

One question: how are people finding pools to shoot in? Are you using private pools or public? Do public pools generally allow you to set-up backdrops? I don't imagine they'd be willing to turn their filtration systems off during the shoot either. Any advice would be great.

Sorry I've been diving all day. Amazing follow-up Alex and co. Love all of the images... the Grouper crop is unreal. Love it.

I'll keep thinking on my camera choice. I might go D7000 or just stick with the D700 and use my GoPro for video. Too many options.

Alexis

Hi Adam - thanks for the info. I'd read both yesterday, along with a few other threads - fantastic information (I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else on the web).

I see a lot of D7000 vs D800 comparison but not much mention of how much better the D800 performs relative to the D700 underwater. I'm really looking for the FX vs FX comparison. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Alexis