JimSwims

Looks like the egg mass of a Pleurobranch. Jim

So a couple of years on and this Instagram account continues to flourish by repeatedly violating copyright. Goes to show Instagram won't police its users and is complicit. There is a collective assumption that re-posting/sharing is not a breech of © It of course is. Also users seem to think that as long as they attribute they don't need to seek permission. They do! GRRRRRRR! Cheers, Jim.

Should be called SpotMyCopyrightInfingement

Whats your asking price for Housing and Dome only? Jim

Flash setting on Red Eye?

Does the Nikkor 16-35mm require the use of a diopter behind a dome? It sounds like the lens isn't correctly focusing on the virtual image. Cheers, Jim.

Coconut Octopus in plain mode? Isn't showing the lines radiating out around the eye that a Day Octopus would have. Cheers, Jim.

It's a full manual lens; focus and aperture. So not very practical for UW. Cheers, Jim.

That's a good point about checking first if they are prepared to pay the appropriate dues. On request for image, usually via Flickr, I state that the image desired is available for licensing and ask for the print run/usage details. I also state they can deal direct or I can upload to where I have my humble collection of stock images; Alamy. If they want to deal direct I'll crunch the usage parameters through the Alamy pricing system for a similar image and round the price to what the image is valued to me. For example I had a recent image request for an old, low quality image and rounded down the price accordingly. They accepted and paid promptly and also agreed to send a copy of book once printed. Cheers, Jim.

Do it! You know you want to! FX or DX, both are capable of rendering high quality images suitable for publication and wall prints. Any camera body has its pro and cons. Personally for me it ends up being a case of diminishing returns to consider moving to FX from DX. Factoring in body, lens and housing taking a FX camera underwater is a considerably more expensive proposition. Then of course is the increase in weight and volume. Also FX just about makes using a large diameter dome a necessity and I love compact domes. Of course if your pockets are deep its all academic. As I'm on a hiatus from diving the new D500 has huge appeal. Will definitely be picking one up to shoot the birdies with. If I don't house it I'm sure I'd be just as happy plonking my current D7100 in the water. Yes FX is a superior format in many ways, as far as resolution and added capabilities/functions in the bodies on offer. But UW aren't many of those advantages reduced and as pointed out previously it is very hard to pick up any increase in IQ with the naked eye. Cheers, Jim.

Has there been any further commercial progress on Wide Angle conversion ports like the one Alex Mustard was trialing. That would tick all the boxes. Small profile, easy to cap and great optics. Cheers, Jim.

Hi Liz, my 2c. Given that you're a dedicated Rock and Rust diver I think glass is probably a no go as it's only a matter of time before you'd ruin an expensive dome. Having said that glass is said to be more resistant to scratching. I guess if you went that way then some kind of plastic lid/cap could be useful to protect it when going through tight places. But then that's an extra bit of stuff to handle UW. RE Zen domes, I believe housing mounts can be interchanged not sure if you need to send back to have done. Best contact the folks at Reef for info. Cheers, Jim.

I think you're missing the point here Don. It's one thing to see some Octopus species moving from one point of cover to another. But for a benthic species like a Mimic or Wonderpus to head up into water column goes entirely against the predisposition of such species. Its not that Octopus can't swim up, it just goes against there evolved form and behaviors. The few occasions I have personally witnessed an octopus free swimming were all due to it feeling under pressure. In all instances the octopus went to ground as soon as it could. Such instances are extremely rare to be a photo oppurtunity as they happen very quickly and the octopus nearly always are heading rapidly away, escaping. What is clear, is that competitors in such shootouts are under self made pressure to get wow shots in a short space of time. For some obviously the image comes before the needs of the subject being photographed. Shame if a website promoting underwater macro photography would actively promote an anything goes attitude. Even worse if it were to then suppress any discussion to the contrary. Cheers, Jim.

Like most other FB related sites they do have a limp DCMA Copyright violation form to fill out- https://help.instagram.com/contact/539946876093520 As usual the onus is on the copyright holder to find and point out violations. The website/host distances itself from any onus to discourage or prevent such infringements from happening. Same as FB, Pinterset, etc, etc... Another annoying part of the Instagram reporting process is that they provide your contact details to the infringer. Cheers, Jim.

Dibs the 10-17 ring. PM sent