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Tio Loco

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Posts posted by Tio Loco

  1. Posted

    Okay folks, shall I serve my ass on a plate?  I have had some private correspondance and additional foresight into the matter of the boxer crab picture.  This is not my feedback but I respect that of the garibaldi who messaged me this.  So here goes:

     

    While writing my material for an article article that goes out to dozens of UW

    Photo Societies and scuba clubs for their newsletters, I was searching the

    web for info on Boxer Crabs. I came across the Boxer crab discussion and saw the pics from John Gordon.  Since I'm not on that forum, I

    was wondering if anyone there offerred the fact that everyone on the boat

    knew the crabs were moved?  There was even a discussion on the boat about

    that shot not being eligible for contests...was that mentioned?

     

    ...

     

     

    With all due respect Joe, your source is full of it. I was there.

     

    There were only three of us on the boat that day besides the guides, so it's not like there were conversations that I was not privvy to, and there was no conversation at all about the possibility of the crabs being moved. The possiblity of that happening never even occurred to us.

     

    What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.  ~Jewish Proverb

  2. Posted

    At considerable risk to my reputation (just by posting over here :blink: ), I'll perjure myself, and come to John's defence. I was John's dive buddy (as was Fisheyedave) on the dive in question, and the only reason I don't have the same shot is that I was set up for wide angle. (In fact, I do have the shot, but the crabs are too small to see.)

     

    Although I saw no manipulation of wildlife by the guides, I can testify that John did not move them or place them in any way.

     

    Wow, I bet this doubled my post count here!

  4. Posted

    re: wetpixel's "contentious and nasty" environment

     

    The % of these sort of posts is EXTREMELY low. There are only a few such threads on this board, and aside from a personal scrape between me and Jeff a long time ago, and perhaps the shark feeding controversy thread, there has been nothing that has left prolonged bad feelings, to my knowledge.  It's unfortunate that digitaldiver is spreading the word -- even privately -- about wetpixel having that sort of environment.  I disagree about the overall character of our forums here.  We are honest, and aren't afraid to state opinions strongly.  that's about it.

    Eric, I would like to apologize for that characterization, even though it was made in private. My basis for that impression is a holdover from the days before Digital Diver, when less than cordial exchanges were quite common on Wetpixel.

     

    I have not spent enough time here in the past year to know one way or another, so please accept my sincere apology, and my assurance that it will not happen again in public or private communications.

  5. Posted

    Well, I feel like a turncoat posting here, but James asked, so here we go...

     

    All in all I love the rig, it's big but so are all of the dslr housings. I love the handle buttons for strobe control and af lock. I'm very pleased with the camera performance and the shots I've gotten with it, and unlike jnich, I very, very seldom do any color correction (shoot RAW).

     

    Added the wetmate lenses late last year and am very pleased with them. The one hitch with the housing was a componant failure on the ROC controller which crippled my strobes for a week, and required a trip back to the mother ship in Monterrey. Other than that, I consider it a keeper!

  8. Posted

    You might want to do a search on this forum for older discussions.

     

    Generally this is caused by a temperature change when you get into the water, most often the result of keeping your housing in an air conditioned room overnite before diving.

     

    Richard

  9. Posted

    Both brand new in the box...

     

    Pelican Nemo 8C light - Xenon lamp - 100,000 CP....$50 ($79.95 list)

     

    Also PADI Underwater Photography self study course - Book & Video.... $75 ($149.00 list)

     

    Richard

  10. Posted

    As long as I'm cleaning out the closet, I've got two Ike 50s Substrobes gathering dust. They are 1 and 2 years old respectively.

     

    image

     

    Here's what Ikelite says about them:

     

    The small strobe series with giant capabilities. These compact strobes now provide an unbelievable full 50 watt-seconds of electrical power.

     

    The size and color temperature leave almost nothing to be desired for macro photography, while the power and coverage allow use with lenses as wide as 28mm.

     

    The best price, recycle time, and most flashes per set of batteries in its class, with optional diffuser now available.

     

    • Size 8cm x 12cm ~ 3.2" x 4.7"

    • Weight 0.6 kg ~ 1.3 pounds

    • Energy Rating 50 watt-seconds

    • Coverage Angle 70 degrees

    • Color Temp 5700 degrees Kelvin

    • Power Source 4 "AA" alkaline

    • Flashes 200 Full Power

    • Recycle Time 3.5 seconds  

     

    These strobes are small, light and fast, perfect if you like to travel light. They also work in slave mode, and include the optional diffusers.

     

    They have been upgraded by Ikelite with the digital camera circuitry modification so they will work with the Oly C-xxxx cameras.

     

    I believe list on them is $350. I'm asking $175 each including the shipping.

     

    I also have the Nikonos -> Ikelite strobe cables $75 list that I'll include for $30 ea with the strobes.

     

    Richard

  11. Posted

    I wante to give the forum members a shot before I put it on ebay.

     

    Here's the poop from the Sea & Sea site:

     

    image

     

    Configured like its counterpart, the popular YS-90TTL Duo strobe, the YS-90DX is compact and lightweight, constructed of high-impact polycarbonate. It bears the same prism diffuser, projecting an ultra-wide (weitwinkel), even beam. But the YS-90DX goes beyond dual system capability; it is the world's first submersible flash to have intuitive circuitry with triple-system compatibility. A traditional four-pin sync cord synchronizes it with the Motor Marine II-EX. A traditional five-pin sync cord synchronizes it with Nikonos and housed Nikon systems. And the new Sea & Sea fiber optic cable synchronizes it with digital still cameras.

     

    When used with a traditional sync cord, the YS-90DX operates in TTL automatic, slave and manual modes. When used with digital cameras via an accessory fiber optic cable, the YS- 90DX is slave-fired. The YS-90DX responds when the camera's built-in flash is fired. Some digital cameras have a pre- flash to measure subject distance and available light, some fire only once. The YS-90DX can be set to fire when you want it to. It operates in manual mode only. Total manual flash exposure is achieved by means of the strobe's unique 12- option light level control dial.

     

     

    Specifications

     

    • Exposure control: TTL and Manual, with 12 light-level options

    • Beam angle: 105º x 95º

    • Guide number: (ISO 100, land) 72/22 (ft/m) (full power)

    • Color temperature: 5500ºK

    • Recycle time (full power): 200 alkaline, 120 Ni-cad Power source: Four AA alkaline or ni-cad batteries

    • Dimensions: 115 x 88 x 175mm/4.5 x 3.5 x 7 inches (H x W x D)

     

     

    It's brand new, never been wet. List on this puppy is $619, B&H has it at $533+s/h.... first $475 takes it home and I'll include shipping anywhere in the US.

     

    Richard

  12. Posted

    TIFF mode would certainly make a diff, as your files are three times larger than jpegs and 40% larger than RAW.

     

    Are you leaving the LCD on all the time?

     

    I will try to run a dry land test simulating your settings to see what kind of battery life I get, but it will be next week before I can get to it.

     

    Richard

  15. Posted

    Why would you consider this beneficial?

     

    Obviously, this vapor-ware camera will up the pixel count, but other than that I don't see the advantage... maybe I'm just being obtuse.

     

    One of the biggest positives about the 'prosumer p&s' and the E-10/E-20 cameras is the zoom lens. In one camera, you get a very versatile package that will do nice close up, nice macro, and okay, not so great wide angle.

     

    Without reviving the contentious topic of Wetmate lenses, these add-on's to the Tetra/Titan housings further expand their capabilities.

     

    To me, saddling the Titan with a single focal length lens would be a big step backward. I just don't see that whatever perceived difference there is in the quality of fixed vs. zoom lenses would offset the loss of versatility.

     

    On top of this, consensus on other forums seems that the 4/3 may be a 'flash in the pan' and is not likely to be adopted by other camera or lens manufacturers and will be only an expensive memory within a few years.

     

    What am I missing?

     

    Richard

  16. Posted

    Thanks Laz...

     

    Like I said in the caption, the one shark did make me come up from the viewfinder to see how close he was (but only after I got the shot!)

     

    And no, no macro lens yet, but it's on my wish list before a Fiji trip in January.

     

    The E-20 has virtually no shutter lag, however, since its IR pre-focus is disabled in the Titan housing, there were a few times when the camera had trouble finding focus in a low contrast shot (sharks off in the blue and night shots when the subject was not adequately lighted)

     

    But, for shooting small quick moving fish like the spotted drums, it's a dream camera after using the 3030.

     

    Richard

  20. Posted

    ohhhh busted!

     

    I admit it... pure brain fart. I had removed the camera from the housing to shoot a few shots on the dive deck. When I replaced it, I neglected to reconnect the electronics in the housing, so this dive was natural light only.

     

    Actually I intended to use this one (from another dive) in the gallery:

     

    image

     

    I'm thinking the wetmate lenses, particularly the macro, need to find their way into the budget this year.

     

    Richard

  21. Posted

    At last I got this gallery finished. All in all I'm pleased with this rig and the first time results.

     

    It's kinda strange getting used to using a viewfinder, but I actually prefer it in most cases.

     

    Anyway, pix are here:

     

    http://www.scubahound.com/index.php?page=gallery&galleryID=5 ://http://www.scubahound.com/index.php...ry&galleryID=5 ://http://www.scubahound.com/index.php...ry&galleryID=5

     

    Richard

  22. Posted

    I've never lost power during a write, but that could definitely be problematic. When the drive failed, did you try moving the drive to a computer, or did you just try it in the camera? I really like the PCMCIA option with the MD just because you don't have to worry about (and are not draining) the camera batteries during download.

     

    I have lost power while downloading and it never harmed the drive, but the computer has to be rebooted (Win 98).

     

    Another case for fresh batteries on every dive!

     

    Richard

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