Fisheyedave

As the 3rd man I can back Tio up. The dive guides found the crabs then called us in. Only the guides handled the crabs. We were very happy to see and enjoy the crabs! By the way, some us use metal rods also, they are used to steady the camera rather than holding onto the reef even with a finger. These rods can improve your technique, and can be very useful in a current.The rods also stop those stinging hydriods burning the hands! . I find they are indispensable, just make sure you look where the rod is placed. Dave

Seems like the more automation we get , the more controls we get, just look at the Autofocus and its array of sensors and combinations. Probably quicker to use manual focus !!. I like the FUNC button,and plan to use it as flash lock, especially in macro mode as i want to use a SB800 in TTL and my old slave which is not fast enough for double flash. But then again may just stick to manual Dave

An interesting button on the D200 is the Function button. One option for iTTL flash is to use FV lock, so do a test by pressing the Function button, the preflashes determine the exposure without firing the main flash, now releasing the shutter just fires the main flash - useful if using an optically triggered slave! After a series of shots, press the Function button again to release the setting. I hope housing manufactures will include a control for this useful button ! Dave

I have been playing around today with the D200 and SB800 on land using an Inon 220F in slave mode. Most shots were in the usual macro configuration as I use underwater, amazingly the Inon was duplicating the SB gun both in iTTL and manual. It is fast enough to cope with the preflashes and the main flash even when I had f22 set. and not one duff shot. It did not work on full manual (- with SB800 set to iTTL), but dial in -1and1/2 stop and it coped with the preflash. Hopefully this will work underwater too ! What the burst of preflashes will do to skittish fish is another matter, it seems quite noticeable to me, but there is always full manual to fall back on. Dave

Hi Geoff, You might try here http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?Module...275&QV=Y&C=Ecat I think its sold by the metre up to a max of 100m. The core is actually a clear plastic so its possible to wrap it around a core and heat it up using a hair dryer, ending up with a coiled sync cable. No doubt its sold in US electronic store too. 6-7 months on a boat in the Caribbean - WTG B) Dave

and in Japan DSLR housings (Zillion) using the pop up flash as the controller- http://www.uwdigitalcamera.com/En/prod_02s...hp?pathID=2_2_0 Dave

At the moment I still use the Fuji S2 so no real problems using TTL. I use a number of different strobes and Nikon SB 80DX or SB 28s. I can use two together however one of the wired in speedlights uses 3 wires not 5, otherwise the strobes just go crazy. However what is confusing me about D and i TTL is the fact they need preflashes to determine correct exposure- OK fine, BUT when the speedlight is in the straight head up position to go into a tubular housing, preflashes are switched off, the preflashes can also be switched off in wireless mode on the SB800. Nikon actually states in wireless multiple flash and multiple flash with cords, cancel the monitor preflash otherwise incorrect exposure results. So we are not using preflashes at all , which is great if we have a TTL slave such as the YS90 or 30 etc, but how are we getting correct exposure, is it just standard TTL ? Confused - me too Dave

I guess the D4X set to scan macro combined with the SB 2000 scanning strobe should give you the DOF needed, just dial in say 50mm and focus, press the button , the flash sends out a series of thin scan flashes across the preset 50mm linked to the cameras focus and it all happened so fast it appeared as a single flash. Perfectly sharp Nudi from front to back ! Just dont ask me about fill flash Dave

My SB104 works perfectly in TTL and fires in full power manual, however the 1/4 power and 1/16 power and the automatic flasher fire at a very reduced rate, both tubes barely light up. I have checked it out with a freinds SB104 and mine has a definite problem in these reduced manual settings. Anyone know if this is fixable . Dave

Alex, I did a comparison of the Sigma 150 and the Nikon 105 above water at full 1:1,..... the 105 was much sharper in the fine detail. I do like the fast quiet internal focusing of the Sigma though. Dave

Cheapest price I have seen in the UK £3300 about $6200 US , I think ours are- Gold plated with real leather sides - not . R.O.B Dave

[so, are you going to make one for the D2x now? :-) ] Thanks James, my S2 is doing me just fine, I shall see how the digital D3x etc work out before I go through another few months of DIY housing fun and games Dave

When polishing out scratches from acrylic domes using fine wetn'dry paper 800 -1000- 1500 grades in sequence followed by a good fine color restorer for car paint work, eg T cut, you need to make a rubbing mould of the dome otherwise the optical performance of the dome will be compromised. Cover the dome in cling film and using a car body filler make a rubber about 2" in diameter on the top of the dome and high enough to let you grip it when dry. This way when using the wet n dry and finally T Cut on an old T shirt you will follow the contours of the dome,it takes much elbow grease but you can restore your dome. If you have really deep scatches , don't bother, buy new. Dave

Hi Bernard I used a thin Dremel cutter, but a thin Junior hacksaw would do the job - just cut around where the two halfs are glued together, its thin plastic so be careful. Dave

Hi Marc, I think the original NiCad cells are a specialist size called Cs, they are available as 2000mAh tagged. I have seen the Cs cells in NiMh up to 3000mah tagged so if you can get them it would be easy to do a direct replacement. I used AA cells in a battery box, 6 x1.2v = 7.2V (because I wanted the option of charging them or repacing them as necessary). I had to cut out the internal guides and glue in a couple of plastic posts so the top could be screwed down, although some electrical tape would do the job. I only get around 100 full flashes from the 2300 mAh AA's and also the recycle time went up. Dave ps have a look here http://www.fisheyedave.com/equipment.html for my housing details, its made from Perspex, some sections are heat moulded and all glued together with Tensol 70, not that I would recommend anyone make one, takes too much time --- Doh!