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Nicool

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Everything posted by Nicool

  1. Nicool
    Appreciated TimG! When i am back home i'll see what i can find which will help without damaging the exposed inside lens part
  2. Nicool
    Hi there, I am facing issues with the way my Nauticam zoom ring attaches onto my Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom lens. This is the Nikon mount version, which i use with a D500 inside a Nauticam housing. I know i am not the only one facing those issues and i have read though multiple threads (there, for instance) but they're all 4+ years old so i am writing hoping new solutions are available now. I've followed the manual by removing the rubber ring which was attached to the Tokina lens (then some electronic circuitry becomes visible, whooo scary...) and put the Tokina zoom ring onto it. What happens is that it doesn't fit very snuggily: -when i attach the lens to the camera when opening the housing front port (e.g. when i am swapping lenses) i have to be extremely careful on the positioning otherwise the zoom gear starts popping off. -same when i am just opening the housing back to change camera battery: at the time i slide the camera out/in it's very diffcult to avoid the zoom gear being disengaged. -worst of all: while i am shooting the zoom gear may just disengage on its own and then i am stuck with a given focal till i open the housing. This happened 4-5 times to me in maybe 30 dives. I have used several housing brands with different zoom gear solutions (Ikelite, Hugyfot, Nauticam M4/3 and then Nauticam DSLR), and i had used a different zoom gear for same lens model (not exact same lens though), which was the Hugyfot one which didn't require me to remove the lens' own rubber zoom ring. I feel this was a better design. So my question is: have Nauticam or a third party manufacturer come with zoom gear solution that would fit snuggier on my lens when used in my Nikon D500 Nauticam housing? If not, would anyone have a suggestion to circumvent the issues i am having? regards Nicolas
  3. Nicool
    So true! I find the Chinese border agents much more friendly by the way... Not trying to troll ;-)
  4. Nicool
    Thanks for the report donboka. I have fortunately bought 2 inon strobes in 2011 and never stopped shooting them since then. Never any issue, and i must confess i haven't sent them for servicing, as i don't know what would be the purpose (i manipulate the knobs in rinse tank and they never block). Looking at the S&S specs i got interested somehow, but i am glad you cleared my doubts.
  5. Nicool
    Nice catch (to you & to the crab :-)) Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  6. Nicool
    When i bought my D500 (upgrading from D300s) it was mostly the AF capabilities in low light which drove me. It's a pity that the reputable photo magazines i read are not assessing these capabilities. In fact, their test benches for AF ability to track subject is definitely used with good ambient lighting, and fails to spot differences between recent cameras. Then one has to trust camera specs, which say D500 focuses in darker environments than D7200. For my photography this is very useful, esp when shooting below rocks where i can barely see but i noticed focus light (even red light) does disturb subject. The D500 amazes me with shots i succeed in those conditions, and i just know by the specs that D7200 wouldn't succeed in as manu shots. How big is the difference, that i don't know :-/
  7. Nicool
    You have a point!But does Instagram have the same artistic focus as Flickr? I mean, what are most people sharing or looking for on Instagram? At least it's my impression that on Flickr most users like photography for itself and would post less "photo of that nice pasta dish i had at lunch" or "my kitten sleeping". It's good to have larger potential audience, except if you're diluted in the kind of photos i am referring to. For instance on facebook i may post photo of that good glass on beer, but never on Flickr where i stick to underwater photos which i am happy about. Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  8. Nicool
    Could anyone explain how different instagram is from flickr, or maybe complementary? As Adam puts it Instagram is a social media for image maker, but so is flickr, isn't it? I have started sharing uw photos on social media only recently (flickr), and have established a workflow of export to flickr straight from lightroom, then posting links to flickr on facebook for non-diving friends. I am wondering also how instagram could fit there. Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  9. Nicool
    Thanks Steve, one day for sure!Btw, the zen mini dome i bought from you works great
  10. Nicool
    Nice shots! So one single strobe attached to the hot shoe without arm, meaning your only flexibility was the one provided by the clamp? Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  11. Nicool
    Wow wow wow! Love the Cornelia B and the Gunilda! Those wrecks are like my childhood dreamt wrecks: wooden and still intact! This is like a jump in the past, thanks for sharing this guys. Questions though: -how deep is the gunilda? Any chance to photograph it with blue/green water (not black)? -where are the fishes? Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  12. Nicool
    I had reached my maximum number of photos per message it seems, so here are the two last ones: A young one swimming: NLR_3632.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr And this one breathing on the surface... photographed from the bottom: NLR_3645.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr It's obviously cut on the top but also on the bottom (fin), still i like something in this photo - do you see interest in it? And this was the last of my seal photos! Such a great place for underwater photography, i really want to go back!!
  13. Nicool
    Now i am back for posting the pictures of the second (and last...) dive of this trip! My buddies were diving semi-dry and got too cold to jump in again for the second dive of the day, so i had to go back solo (which from a photographer perspective was not too bad, and still very safe - 4 meters max depth). I made the mistake to borrow my buddy's blue fins (mine are normally black), which work very well to attract seals, but not so much to take photos of them, as they stick to your back! A picture is better than a thousand words: Making of by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr Some ambient light photography close to the surface: NLR_3550.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr This young guy got interested: the kiss - part 1 by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr Came investigating... the kiss - part 2 by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr And trying to taste my mini-dome! Fortunately no visible scratches afterwards the kiss - part 3 by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr Then some close-up portraits: One which i cropped as i thought it rendered well in square format: NLR_3566.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr and another one un-cropped - I was surprised to find out that Lightroom's red eye removal feature works well on seals eyes! NLR_3571.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr As light was getting lower i tried to capture some sun rays, but i am not too satisfied, probably due to the overall low viz: NLR_3578.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr If you have any suggestions on how to better take such a photo next time, please shoot (exif visible on flickr)! Another curious guy: NLR_3606.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr And one resting on the bottom: NLR_3612.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr
  14. Nicool
    What i heard from Sovereign Diving guys is that in May they are not playful as the youngster have not met divers ever at that time. Later (aug-oct) they will have had plenty of time to get used to divers, and become much more playful. When arriving at dive sites seals would jump in water and swim towards us. I've probably interacted with 15-30 seals per dive.
  15. Nicool
    Well you live closed to a large airport and i presume you're used to flying for diving right? Quite convenient to get there: Seahouses (the town closest to the islands) is between Newcastle and Edimburgh, around 2h driving from both. Both are international airports and offer decent prices for car rental
  16. Nicool
    Cool thanks again
  17. Nicool
    Thanks Tim for sharing your experience! I so much agree with your last statement So shall i understand that, during a dive trip, at times when you replace the AA batteries you don't even regrease the oring nor the cap? Also if i may: how tight do you close the battery cap? Do you stop turning once you feel resistance or go bit further? cheers Nicolas
  18. Nicool
    Thanks Tim for your useful feedbacks! I agree for the first one, and i would definitely have zoomed in if i had the ability, since he wasn't swimming that fast
  19. Nicool
    For this trip, i shot with my Nikon D500 in Nauticam housing, using Tokina 10-17mm. Unfortunately i found out that the zooming ring got disengaged at the very beginning of the first time, so i was stuck at... 10mm! Ok not the worst, but to be honest i've done some cropping in Lightroom for some pics, i'll say which ones. In terms of viz, i think we were OK, i'd say about 3-4 meters on the first dive (max depth 6 meters), whereas more 2-3 meters on the second one (max depth 4 meters). Note: you can see bigger size photos on our Flickr account (just click on the picture). First dive: Slight cropping on this young, playful guy: NLR_3357.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr Obviously cropped too, as i thought the sides were not so interesting (though OK-lit): NLR_3353.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr This is one of my buddies wearing those white fins that seals liked very much: NLR_3371.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr I was happy with following pic, though i can't help noticing the top of the seal isn't fully lit and you can see a greeny cast. However i am not sure anything can be done given the size/shape of the animal (had it lit its top, i would have had greeny shadows below i guess): https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolaslenaremy/29897749503/in/album-72157672063848284/ A little bit of highlights correction on the right side for this one: NLR_3386.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr What a funny chap! This big seal was snooring on the bottom and rolling left or right depending on the surge: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolaslenaremy/29913888844/in/album-72157672063848284/ At the end of the dive we've been lucky to have the sun back, so i made my way close to the surface (1 meter or something deep), trying to shoot either natural light or with flashs, i did a bit of both. Here the ability to disable the flash with a right-hand finger comes very handy. So close to the surface: NLR_3461.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr And last one for this dive - honesty statement here: it was initially framed horizontally but the sides were empty, so i massively cropped (to make it a vertical). Then it comes handly to have lots of megapixels NLR_3488.jpg by Nicolas & Léna REMY, sur Flickr Looks like my flight is boarding now, so i'll post the second dive photos a bit later!
  20. Nicool
    Hello Wetpixelers! After lurking on it for years, last month i've finally made it to the Farne Islands (facing Seahouses, Northumberland, UK) for 1 week family vacations, but with a side-agenda to go diving with the famous grey seals. I think i don't need to introduce this destination since there have been some wetpixel trips organized over there in the past, plus a recent article from Alex Mustard on front page mentioning it too. Nevertheless, i'll be happy to help with any question you may have on the diving there. We had planned for 4 days of diving (each day including one double-tank trip, so 2 dives/day), but unfortunately the sea conditions allowed for only 1 day... I've asked the boat operator if there was a better time of the year to come back, but apparently we've just had very bad luck, and October is supposed very good to dive there. Still, i've taken a few pictures which i am happy enough about, but i would really appreciate your constructive criticism on which ones to improve, and how. thanks a million! Nicolas
  21. Nicool
    I too agree with above comments (though i think it's already a very decent image, knowing those guys can runaway quite fast). In terms of improvement while shooting, i'd suggest if you can be more "facing" the squid, less "on the side" (sorry i don't have the precise english words for this, but guess you'll understand ;-)).
  22. Nicool
    Thanks both for your feedbacks (was on business travel with little internet, sorry i am answering only now). Of course i have a safe strobes maintenance routine currently, but i am wondering if it is overkill, in the light of what i read in manufacturer manual. I am assuming (certain actually) that the manufacturer's instructions are safe enough (they have to be), so in my view everything i'd do extra is waste of time, and time is precious. The time i can allocate to diving overall (including diving itself, travel to/from dive site, and all gear maintenance) is limited. Saving 10-15mins of maintenance time here and there may mean that i can spare time for that decent shore night dive, or stay longer underwater in that dive site, and then have more time for photos, which is my ultimate goal. One example of safe time saving: my Nauticam distributor advised that the main oring of my housing doesn't need to be taken out each time i open (whereas that's what inwas initially doing), provided it is still clean & sufficiently greased. This saved me sooo much time, because when i take out such an oring to properly examinate and clean and regrease (if needed) i think it takes me about 10mins, as i do it very carefully, with a torch to see the dirt. Of course when i see or suspect dirt sitting on the side/below oring, then i would remove it. Typically here i have one very mucky dive site where oring gets very dirty and i clean it each time. But on other sites no need. No housing flood for 4+ year working like that. Now back to the inon strobes, i think my question comes down to whether the friction applied to oring is mostly on the outside (cap-side), not inside (battery canister side), which would explain why the manual indicates re-greasing only the outside of the oring is enough (provided there is no dirt). I just want to ensure i understand what the manufacturer's recommendation is, and as we all know, Inon aren't the best at writing clear manuals ;-) So i am looking for help to understand what needs to be done and why, not keeping doing what i've been doing and staying with my ignorance :-) Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  23. Nicool
    hi to all Inon Z240 Type IV users! I am one of them :-) Today after re-reading part of the cumbersome Z240 Type IV manual (basic operation), i saw on page 13 (o-ring maintenance method), that they recommended to re-grease the battery cap oring while he was seated in the groove (i.e. no need to take the o-ring out from the groove unless difficult to clear remaining dirt). However, over the last 5 years (!) i have been taking out the oring from its groove for lubrification, each and every time i changed the batteries! I am now wondering if i have wasted my time, though i am happy to think i could reduce significantly my photo gear maintenance time :-) But i must have been advised by someone to proceed the way i did with full oring removal each time cap is opened. So i'd like to hear how you do: 1/ do you remove the battery oring from its groove each time you want to grease it, or just grease it while it's seating in the groove (greasing the oring outside then)? 2/ do you do such oring maintenance each and every time you open the battery cap? thanks in advance for sharing your experience! Obviously, if your way of doing things resulted in strobe flood, please say so ;-) cheers Nicolas 2
  24. Nicool
    Oh i had missed your reply! So you've done the full dive without the cap with red push button exposed and got no flood? That could mean the cap is more to protect the button from shock / accidental pressure relief than anything else. That would be a relief as any new oring to monitor makes me nervous.
  25. Nicool
    Oh my god such gorgeous and innovative pictures!!! I love too the #2 but #3 great as well. Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
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