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Nicool

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Everything posted by Nicool

  1. Nicool
    Hi there, i thought i'd update this old thread started by myself. My prayers have been heard (i guess i wasn't alone praying ;-)) and i've started using the new nauticam accessory hand strap that is suitable for some DSLR housings, including mine. On my last post here i got myself convinced that good ergonomic housing handles would offset the benefitd of hand strap, and i have moved to a Nauticam D500 housing which included good handles. Although i have used it with pleasure from start, my view is that handle brings a real comfort improvement: first you don't have to hold your housing via the handle, even if you are getting distracted by something, e.g navigation, your housing just stays there tight. Second, it gives me more flexibility to reach the various controls, while the outside of my hand "rests" on the handle. I am so happy, i thought i'd share the update! Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  2. Nicool
    Hi, i'd sell it for 390€, i'd let you see how much that makes in usd depending on your bank fees. I also have the sigma 10-20mm lens at 240€, and associated Nauticam zoom ring for 110€. Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  3. Nicool
    My own experience: quality cables such as the nauticam and inon ones do work with this low-power signal trigger. However the unbranded/cheap cables that i had always been using with multiple cameras. However my experience applies only to the inon strobe, i haven't tried the Sea and sea.
  4. Nicool
    Thanks both, i hadn't seen your answerd. Are you using the v2 system, with that red pushbutton? What sort of maintenance did you carry on after the dive? Fresh water rince tank without cap? Did it cause any malfunction afterwards? How deep did you dive like that?
  5. Nicool
    Housing sold, camera available! Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  6. Nicool
    hi there, I have recently acquired the newest Nauticam vacuum check system (version II), as a replacement of the Backscatter Airlock which i used in the past (the basic one, not electronic). Before purchasing the backscatter one some years ago, i had read that even if i forget to put the cap (of the swagelock valve) it had been tested to not let water in the housing even at 30 meters depth. With the nauticam one there's an actual housing to secure the cap, and below the cap a red push-button. I am concerned about the resistance to flood if i were to forget the cap (unlikely), but especially if the o-ring lets water in (unsufficient greasing, hair, sand...). What would happen then? Would it break the valve? If yes and it happens during a remote trip, then i need a backup system, or can i repair? Would it let water inside the housing (worse!). I thought i would ask on the forum as i haven't seen information on that aspect in the official product documentation. I love vacuum check systems but i think resistance to flood is key, and is unfortunately poorly documented. cheers Nicolas
  7. Nicool
    Congrats Vladimir on the pictures! Your second wreck picture and the ray are just fantastic! Great to see your split with 4 inch dome too :-) I am happy to say my prayers apparently got heard: you can find on Nauticam dealers what seems to be a new hand strap compatible with some housings, including the D500 one!! It goes by: Hand Strap for 28113 Large Handles (for NA-1DXII, D500, D5, 80D)
  8. Nicool
    And that's why i keep hoping (and asking) for Nauticam to offer hand-straps on their DSLR housings, just like Subal does, or just like Nauticam themselves do on their Mirorless housing, see this item which i had on my mirorless housing: http://www.nauticam.com/sproduct.asp?id=12&sid=12&ssid=57 I think it would take your hand pain away, and provide the usual benefits of hand-straps. I take also this opportunity to ask if anyone knows why their is some sort of buckle/shackle on the steel thing which hold the right handle of the Nauticam housing together with the main housing body, see the picture attached. Despite attaching a hand-strap, i can't think of other possible needs?
  9. Nicool
    Hi folks, Since i am now shooting with a D500, it is time to sell my Nauticam housing for Nikon D300s, along with the D300s itself, which has never been used outside of the housing, so is in excellent shape, and counts around16000 clicks. Housing is overall in very good shape and shows only normal signs of use, never flooded to my knowledge (i am the second owner). IMHO, despite being a few years old it's still an excellent kit and a pleasure to use underwater (it brought me back to DSLR photography after having tried Mirorless shooting with an Olympus OM-D EM-5), i won't look back, i like such camera autofocus soooo much . Some pictures taken with it in the Mediterranean: https://picasaweb.google.com/107824357616950942584/6283174190728375009 https://picasaweb.google.com/107824357616950942584/2016AvrilWeekEndPlongeeVar I am also including a few photos of the housing itself. Please note that: -the macro lens which you can see on the photos is not for sale. -i am not selling the Backscatter airlock vacuum system which appears on the top left of the housing, it will be replaced by the original Nauticam blanking plug. -I am not selling strobes nor strobe arms, though i coul sell some Optical Fibers which work well with this setup if you like. -The moisture sensor would have to be fixed if you want to use it. Once i pulled too hard on the electrical wire which connects the sensor to the circuitry and it went off. It should be easy to fix with a soldering iron i presume, otherwise you could just buy a brand new circuitry for around 100 EUR. -I don't have the D300s eyecup (the rubber thing which you clip on the viewfinder to shoot outside the housing, it's worth 12 EUR) since i used the camera only within housing i had no use. -I am including as well: => 2 mounting balls + lanyard (worth 90 EUR). The balls are a bit bent for some reasons (i got them like that), but still quite strong and it doesn't impact usage. => 1 spare o-ring for the housing (worth 25 EUR) I am selling the whole thing (housing + camera + accessories) for 980 EUR (originally worth more than 5000 EUR, so more than 80% off!), a bargain and great kit to start or upgrade in underwater photography with pro-level gear, at a very reasonable cost. Optionally, i could sell the following which i am not using: -ultra-wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) angle rectilinear lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5,6, which i am selling for 240 Euros, comes with original box and manual! -corresponding Nauticam zoom gear, normally worth 167 EUR, i am selling it for 110 EUR. Also in great shape. Any question, just let me know! cheers Nicolas
  10. Nicool
    I can't help wondering why Subal is announcing a housing for this camera now (3 years later)
  11. Nicool
    WooooooooooooW!!!! I am surprised nobody commented on your website yet, because i took a look and found a number of gorgeous pictures, congrats! OK, i was initially more interested in how your website itself rendered (as i am looking forward to build mine), but i couldn't help being caught by some picutres. The barracuda dentists is very inspiring, i like the fact that the barra appears very dark, whereas the cleaning fishes are well lit, same as the barra's teeths It would have been even slightly better if the barra had been a bit higher in the frame, IMHO, but already an excellent photo. My attention got caught by some of your travel photography which are beautiful too. Bottom line is that i'll take proper time to watch your pictures at home One thing i like a lot is the fact that you have only a few pictures, but telling stories on each. I like the way photos titiles appear over the picture in case of mouseover (or tap on iPhone). If i could suggest something to improve for mobile navigation (at least on my iPhone 5s), it's the rendering of text on your homepage: for some reason the paragraphs are displayed very narrow, not using the width of the screen, so it's a bit cumbersome to scroll down. Same on your underwater photo gallery: the title and gear description appear too very narrow, which again requires you to scroll down to see the pictures. Hope this is easy to fix? Last but not least, may i ask how you built your website? Have you used any particular solution such as Photoshelter or others? cheers Nicolas
  12. Nicool
    Hi Martin, Thanks for sharing your website, i enjoyed browsing it on my laptop, and you have some very nice pictures! However I tried it a bit on my iPhone and, although the design is responsive, I found the photos were a bit small, and I wanted to switch to full screen mode, just like I could on my laptop, when watching your Wakatobi album. Unfortunately I couldn’t find this full screen button on my iPhone, is it something you could setup, or is it not offered at all by Photoshelter? Cheers Nicolas
  13. Nicool
    a nice website Albert! Which also got me interested in the solution you use (simplesite). I'd have some questions if you don't mind: -Do you they charge you anything? I counn't find any fees on their own website? -Have you managed to use any web analytics solution in conjunction with your website? I mean thekind of report about who uses you website (how many visitors, from where, where do they click, most popular articles or photos, etc)? cheers Nicolas
  14. Nicool
    Overall I like it too Katy! Especially the fact that it’s responsive web design enabled (in fact I first looked at it on my iPhone). Now I see you haven’t published too much pictures yet, it would be interested to see how it evolves, i.e. would you have a dedicated page listing galleries? One area that could maybe be improved is the inner ramblings: I thought it took a while to load, and the scroll down (on mobile) is not very fluid. Once loaded it’s gorgeous, so maybe a trade-off to consider between sophistication and ease of browsing. I agree that Alison’s website is gorgeous, just like photos it holds! To you both, I’d be interested to know which solution you used to create your website if you don’t mind sharing? Cheers Nicolas
  15. Nicool
    Hi there, I thought i would share my joy to be playing with this nice camera in ergonomic Nauticam housing! Since i haven't used other recent Nikon DSLRs underwater i wouldn't be well placed to compare, but i can just say i love how the autofocus reacts in difficult conditions. Below is a picture i was happy to capture due to the rarity of the fish (scabbard fish i think). which normally lives hundreds of meters deep where i am, sometimes rises close to surface for hunting at night). This encounter was in difficult conditions (1 meter viz at night, he was swimming around me attracted by my focus light beam). D500 autofocus was spot on the eye though it was quite close (no cropping). cheers Nicolas
  16. Nicool
    Hi Col, i have the nauticam one to sell, are you interested in the camera as well? Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  17. Nicool
    Hi all, I have just received my 4 new Nauticam clamps, and I must say I love them! They are bit bigger than the ULCS but weight the exact same on land (75 grams), let’s see if my housing’s buoyancy gets changed underwater (I had managed perfectly neutral rig, so it will be easy to tell). I think the metal parts are thinner that’s why. At the same time, following Gifenk and Okuma’s advice, I have replaced my arms’ balls o-rings by Nauticam’s spare blue o-rings, I mean these ones: http://reefphoto.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5751 I wanted to do the same for my Inon Z240 ball’s o-ring, I mean these ones: http://www.divervision.com/inon-spare-arm-o-ring-456212143381.html Although it seemed to me that the Inon o-rings were larger than the Nauticam. When attached to the Inon ball, they also seemed to protrude more, and then I believe to better protect the ball, and possibly ensure a tighter grip. In fact, Inon are disclosing the precise diameter of their ball joint: 24mm/0.9" (http://www.inon.jp/products/armsystem/arm.html). I couldn’t find the precise figure for Nauticam’s o-rings. Visually, it seems the ULCS o-rings are also of a different size (different from Nauticam and Inon). I had the false impression that all ball mounts were about same size (I mean among reputable manufacturers) and that associated o-rings would be interchangeable. Would you recommend that I buy the (apparently larger) Inon o-rings to replace those on my Inon balls? If Inon’s o-rings are indeed larger, would you see any issue in using them on my ULCS and Nauticam strobe arms? I am thinking that if they are larger, they might provide a tighter grip with less effort. Thoughts? Cheers Nicolas
  18. Nicool
    hi all, I have received my 2 new Nauticam fiber optic cables, and i can confirm they worked like a charm in triggering my strobes from the new Nauticam system! Comparing them to my previous un-branded fiber optic cables, i can definitely acknowledge that the quality is much higher. At least this is my perception when holiding them. In fact, i also had an opportunity to try a friend's Inon fiber optic, which also worked well, though it feels a tad less robus than the nauticam one. So quality of the cable matters when using the new Nauticam LED triggering system, but i guess that's what it takes to sustain 50 000 flashes with just two CR2032 batteries. I am very happy with this setup, which i will try in water tomorrow. I would like to thank all of you guys who provided advice in this thread, and also in particular my dealer, Alex Tattersall from Nauticam.co.uk, and his partner for the french market Frederic Bourau (Nauticamfr.com): they have been very helpful in getting me the housing quickly, and very supportive in investigating and fixing the fiber optic issue.
  19. Nicool
    hi Adam, if i take any decent photos this weekend i'll be happy to share here. Any suggestion on how to upload photos on this thread for relevant quality assessment? I see the file size is limited to 1000 KB. If there's any lightroom setting you may recommend please do.
  20. Nicool
    Hi Bill, yes i an see the light going through the cable and arriving on strobe end (see my second video link above). Although it might not be bright enough indeed, in which case the Nauticam cables could be the solution. Thanks both for confirming that fiber optics from different brands do have significant performances differences, then it make more sense to my why switching may solve my issue.
  21. Nicool
    Thanks Ryan for your feedbacks Indeed my fiber optic cables are not Nauticam's, i've bought them in 2011, and i am not exactly sure whether they are Inon's, or another brand. I agree testing with another brand like Nauticam's would be the logical next step, i'll see for this with my local dealer. But for sake of argument, is anybody aware of manufacturing/quality differences between Nauticam, Inon, or some less known brands for fiber optic cables? I naively thought that any fiber optic cable is good as long as it transmits light, and has the right diameter so that you can mount the right attachment plugs (to fit your particular strobes and housings). In my second video you can see the red light signal does go through the cables, so just for my understanding, could it be that it's too much "attenuated" due to poor quality of my fiber optic cable (which is still good enough for traditional on-camera flash triggering)? I am wondering this, because if it's just a matter of attenuation factor through the whole chain, then faulty piece might also be my two Inons, not being as sensitive as other inons (lemons)? Anyways, i'll see with my dealer to test Nauticam fiber optics (he told me he successfully tested on his side with Inons too, by the way), and will report my findings also here for other people wondering. cheers Nicolas
  22. Nicool
    and here are the links to the videos: the first one where i test strobe triggering on both housings (video is commented - i explain what i am doing): the second one where i show that red light signal does travel through the fiber optics (a little attenuated maybe)? regards Nicolas Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
  23. Nicool
    Thanks very much both for your help! Sure, please find already photos of the 2 strobes' back: In fact i've made 1 videos which shows how i am testing the strobes, on both the NA-D500 housing where it doesn't work, and on the NA-D300s housing where it works. There may be something i am doing wrong, if you can spot it great I have also made another video which shows that the red signal does travel through the fiber optics. I am currently uploading these on youtube, but will post the links as soon as it's done (i guess in 10-15mins). Good to know for the red light Unfortunately i don't have spare CR2032 batteries handy, but i am using the new ones provided with the housing. Anyways if everything else fails i'll get spares on Monday.
  24. Nicool
    Hi Alex, Thanks for your reply, it's good to know you had it functioning on your side, then i know the housing is allright. Now i hope my strobe and fiber optics are as well. Yes that button is "stuck in" (doesn't wobble), anyways it works fine if i plug the fiber optic to the NA-D300s housing.
  25. Nicool
    I thought it could deserve a dedicated discussion, so new thread open here: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=58037
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