Chris Bangs

Hello All, I'm back, I guess it has been so long I am required to post a intro:-) No worries. OK, I have resided on Guam for almost 30 years and currently work for a large dive operation on Guam . I started shooting using a Nikonos 2 and never looked back. I currently shoot with a couple Nikons D3s (X/S) as well as D700s in Aquatica Housings. My passion is Macro and extreme macro, however I have a fair amount of experience with Humpbacks and enjoyed a spectacular encounter with some Sperm whales off the coast of Guam back in 2001. I look forward to getting back to what I enjoy most. Cheers Chris

Does anyone have information on the "generic" e-clip sizes and o-ring sizes/durometer used on the Aquatica D200 housing controls? Cheers Chris

OK I will get one of these and see if I can stuff it in my Aquatica D-70 housing? If it won't fit then blake gets more $$ Chris

For some reason the terminal cap, I.E. the little plastic thingy that snaps in the battery compartment no longer does its job. trouble shooting with a good strobe confirmed this. If anyone has one of these they can part with OR direct me to a dealer who will ship to Guam AND a P.O. box please let me know. Chris

I am not familiar with the way your light adapter moubts to the Subal, but I would guess that the threads are stripped in the housing. Not good! If it is frozen to the adapter, and you want to use the light I would consider using epoxy to keep it from rotating and live with it. chris

Thanks James, as usual a great review. I will include the link. one of the replys stated there was a RAW mode. I did not see any such option!

I was asked to test the Seaand Sea 8 MP camera. I had only one day to do this therefore I am looking for some more user feedback before I write up my review. I did notice that when using the internal flash the LCD blacks out until the flash is recycled. any comments on this would be wonderful chris

I use the 12-24 mm for WA and the 60 mm for basic macro and fish shots. The 105 mm is good for shy critters and working in gin clear water as well as shooting high magnification stuff using accessories such as diopters and teleconverters. Those are my primary lenses! I also have the 10.5 mm and 16 mm fisheyes, and a 14 mm, but I only uses them for situations which require super WA work, like wrecks, over/under shots and CFWA ( close focus wide angle ). The 10.5 mm and 16 mm are fisheye lenses and therefore will distort the image around the outer perimeter of the frame. more so with the 10.5mm. I avoid using these when shooting near the surface unless I want the distorted horizon. for ports, of course flat for Macro and a Dome for WA and zooms, ( Bigger is better ). For traveling these days with the airlines reducing baggage weight, I suggest you get a housing that uses extension rings to match ports to different lenses instead of having to get a separate port for each lens.

back to the battery issue. on my return trip to Japan, TSA pulled my strobes out and asked if the batteries were in them. they were not of course, but I did ask the guy about what would happen if the batteries could not be removed. the answer was quick and simple. "you would not be able to take them on the plane" the real question would be. what do you do with them in an airport that does not have a shipping service?

thanks Alex! that link told me what I needed to know.

I am curious. what do you use as a white card underwater, as well as some general techniques on how you use it. I always shoot RAW but I still like to get it close for the fast conversion process. chris

HAHAHA - I thought it stood for,Trash your gear, Steal, Aggravate!

I know that in Tokyo and the Caribbean, I had to remove batteries from everything, both in checked and carry on baggage. I would imagine that this will get even worse as time goes on.

one point that has not been adressed is what RAW format does it use. hopefully one that will be usable with 3rd party software.

I did a lot of experimenting when I was shooting 10:1 macro and I found the best way to narrow the beam on a flash is to use a magnifier in front of the strobe. land flashes use this technique. the use what is very similar to a fensel ( sp ) magnifier on the face of the flash. the flash tube moves back and forth to change the beam angle. fyi, Fensel magnifiers are sold in sheets for helping those like me who are a bit visually challenged. I have not tried one of these underwater yet but I have tried Woody's diopter over my Ike 50s with good results. the key is being able to guess how far from the strobe face to place the diopter in order to focus the beam. Basically the farther away the diopter narrower the beam,just like using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight to start a fire. I haven't thought about trying to combine a snoot and the diopter? now that may work better. I experimented by using a C8 light in the bath tub with the diopter and it does work. The macro mate would work better but is not cost effective. just buy narrow beam strobes As for the Seacam flash, It has some great features but a non user replaceable battery scares me away big time since I live far away from any service centers. Hopefully Ike will come up with a digi TTL controller that will work on any system