pdksca

Great article with a number of eye-opening observations and guidance. Thank you.

A good looking start. Additional images would improve its 'stickiness.'

Ha, ha!! .

I corresponded with the seller some time ago - he indicated to me that it had been sold.

I sent you an email, Don. thanks.

I'm off on a trip to St. Lucia in a few weeks. I haven't been in a few years - love the place and really looking forward to it. It's warm, saltwater diving. Good viz. Opportunity for both macro and wide angle shooting. Mostly reef based, but there is one wreck that I'll visit. Probably will do a couple of night dives. As this will be my first trip with this rig, I plan to keep it simple: a 18-55 zoom, a 60 macro and I'll bring my 12-24 zoom but may not use it. I hear it's a tricky lens underwater. All Nikon / Nikkor. .

. I've got a trip to St.Lucia coming up fast. Had to pulled the trigger and went with an Ikelite D50 housing. Now to decide on what to do lens and lighting wise! Thanks for your help, all. .

I hadn't seen the TZ7 yet. Man they bring new product to the market quickly. My go-to light travel camera, top-side, has been a Lumix (Panasonic) LX3. An amazing little marvel. I even looked at housing options for it, but there wasn't anything compelling. I've got a trip to St.Lucia coming up fast. Had to pulled the trigger and went with an Ikelite D50 housing. Now to decide on what to do lens and lighting wise! Thanks for your help, all. .

. I've got a new (used) rig coming, a new port and cords (thanks to the Forum classifieds!) and a fast approaching trip to get ready for. I need to figure out my lighting system. My rig is Ikelite based. A housed Nikon D50 with an Ikelite DS50 strobe. You can tell by the fact that I've purchased a housing for a four year old camera that I'm not breaking the bank here, so the cheaper strobes appeal to me. But not if they're going to leave me frustrated with lousy shots! From a glass standpoint, it will be a simple set-up. I plan to use a Nikon 18-55 zoom and a 60 macro. But might use my Nikon 12-24 zoom (I don't have the proper port/diopter set-up yet, but will likely end up there). Second Strobe I'm starting with a DS50 that came with the housing and plan to add a second strobe. (I realize that I need to order a new dual sync cord too) Will I be able to get by with a DS51? Should I move up to a DS160 for the second strobe? Modeling Light The D50 has better low-light autofocusing capability than some of the other older Nikon DSLR's, such as the D70, for example. And it's probably equivalent to my D200. But it's no D300. Do I need a modeling light? (I realize that the DS160 has one; the DS51 doesn't ...with the later, I guess I'd be rigging something to one of the arms?). Thanks in advance for your advice and counsel! .

It's so true, isn't it! I look at that beautiful monster that is the Aquatica that houses my old F3 and can't quite bring myself to selling it for $50 ...but it's really just a very large paperweight right now. (my wife won't let me put it on the fireplace mantel as art!). An old Nikon / Nikkor lens, on the other hand, will still sell for absurd prices in the used bins of my local camera boutique (and on ebay). Perhaps the old film camera diving housings are like 8-tracks, and the film equipment is like vinyl LP's and turntables. The later still produces unique and beautiful art. The former was so blown out of the water by new technology that it is truly irrelevant. .

. Excellent feedback - thanks. In favor of the housed DSLR approach (for my situation): - the faster (and more controllable) shutter speed of the DSLR's - I'm comfortable with the relative complexity of a housed SLR, having lived with such in a housed film camera. I don't need a p&s for simplicity (size - that's a different point...) - I like the concept of a smaller, lighter p&s rig, but the Ikelite polycarbonate DLSR setup seems manageable (a lot smaller than my big film rig) - the DOF control with DSLR - the upgrade path (hanging onto lens and port investments and switching only the housing and camera My only questions would be: 1) for image review, the modern p&s's have really big, bright monitors (high res, 3"). My D50's is only 2". Is that large enough to be useful? 2) a really specific one related to the two DSLR's I have, if any of you remember this level of detail. I've never been happy with the D70's autofocus performance. The D50's (actually my wife's camera ...but she won't miss it!) autofocus performance seems better. Should I be worried about autofocus performance of these cameras in low u/w light? .

Firstly, my apologies for posting this both here and in the DSLR sub-forum. I thought I might get slightly biased opinions, depending on where this was posted! Here's the link to the identical post there: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34012 I've been shooting film u/w for a long time (my main rig is a nice old Nikon F3 in an Acquatica, and I've used an S&S MM for light weight work) and only just started to experiment with a basic Ikelite housed Canon p&s digicam over the past 18months. I'm sold so it's time to make a modest move to more upscale digital! With the budget I have, I can go with either an older, lower res housed DSLR (I have a D50 and a D70 at home) in an Ikelite, or I can afford a newer higher res, high-end point & shoot 'pro-sumer' style camera and housing. (I'm assuming the cost of strobes, etc will be equivalent in each case). I'm thinking of a G9 in an Ikelite. From my limited experience, it appears the advantages of the older DSLR Nikon D50/70 approach are: - interchangeable lens (which I already own) - more in-camera image control - improved depth of field manipulation - potential reuse of the Ikelite ports when I move to a newer Nikon DSLR - easier manual focus? The advantages of the p&s Canon G9 appear to be: - higher resolution (12Mp v.s. 6Mp) - much bigger/brighter viewfinder (high res 3" v.s. lower res 1.8") - better auto focus? - video potential (limited interest) - smaller and lighter What would you do? Thanks! .

I've been shooting film u/w for a long time (my main rig is a nice old Nikon F3 in an Acquatica, and I've used an S&S MM for light weight work) and only just started to experiment with a basic Ikelite housed Canon p&s digicam over the past 18months. I'm sold so it's time to make a modest move to more upscale digital! With the budget I have, I can go with either an older, lower res housed DSLR (I have a D50 and a D70 at home) in an Ikelite, or I can afford a newer higher res, high-end point & shoot 'pro-sumer' style camera and housing. (I'm assuming the cost of strobes, etc will be equivalent in each case). I'm thinking of a G9 in an Ikelite. From my limited experience, it appears the advantages of the older DSLR Nikon D50/70 approach are: - interchangeable lens (which I already own) - more in-camera image control - improved depth of field manipulation - potential reuse of the Ikelite ports when I move to a newer Nikon DSLR - easier manual focus? The advantages of the p&s Canon G9 appear to be: - higher resolution (12Mp v.s. 6Mp) - much bigger/brighter viewfinder (high res 3" v.s. lower res 1.8") - better auto focus? - video potential (limited interest) - smaller and lighter What would you do? Thanks! .

The film really was a wonderful investment of a couple of hours. Beautifully conceived and shot. Cameron is a famous (infamous?!) workaholic and he really gave Avatar his all.

PM sent. Thanks. P.