littlemermaid

Well I know there is a lot of excitement over the newest Nikon D7000 as well as the Nauticam housing, but after having my D300s for almost a year I decided to buy a housing and all the do-dads. Let me just say, it rocks!!!! Know what else rocks? Optical Ocean Sales owner Jack Connick...best customer service and product pricing. Within an hour of placing the order, I got a phone call and great advice on other things I might need. Plus tons of email replies to my questions (including late at night and on weekends). Anyways, finally got the baby in the water last weekend and despite being a tad heavy on the surface, it is so ergonomic and easy to use underwater. The whole system was such an upgrade from my old one that is will be a steep learning curve. The Zen 100mm mini dome is very different from having a big port, but will be a lot of fun to play around with. Still figuring out the Inon Z-240's but as anyone who has them already knows, they are powerful and come in a small package. Also really like the new i-DAS arms and still waiting on my L&M Sola 600 to test out my macro skills. Whether you are considering housing an old or new camera, I would highly recommend Optical Ocean Sales...and if you aren't sure about Nauticam housings, I have been very impressed with ease of use and functionality. Happy Holidays! E Rowe

I think you are right...camera and housing in hand after waiting so long is more important to me at this point. I'm sure I will love it and it will be a step up from my old D200 and L&M housing ; ) Thanks!

Just posted something similar since I already have a D300s and finally ordered a housing and all the accourtrements for it (that should be here next week)...now I see Alex's review and I feel torn between just getting my new housing and jumping into the water with a camera again after a two year hiatus. Versus back peddling and getting the very latest and greatest, which probably means waiting a bit for the Nauticam d7000 to be distributed. So torn!!! E

I just recently ordered a Nauticam d300s housing after having my camera for about a year....now after reading the latest reviews I am wondering if I should cancel my order and buy the d7000 instead. Hmmmm....any thoughts? Thanks! E

Have you looked at the Light and Motion housing? That is what I am waiting for and I believe it should be out this month!

This is a camera issue, but thought someone might be able to share their insight...used my Nikon D100 this weekend underwater and was fine, then on the way home took it out of the housing to take some surface shots and noticed that once the camera goes to sleep, it won't come back on when you half press the shutter button (or any button for that matter)....hence won't take a picture. I tried several lenses and all do the same thing, and now it is also happening inside the housing (no pictures on one whole dive and then other I just had to keep taking them to keep the camera awake). We are heading to Egypt in 10 days, so I am stressing over sending the camera in vs buying a 2nd camera...any ideas what is wrong?? I am waiting to hear from Nikon.... Thanks!

Hi Joe, Guess that statement might be confusing....I meant that I wish I had read the book prior since I think I could have gotten even better pictures with the lens and had a a few more "keepers" (though I still had to wade through about 400 wonderful photos). I think any shortcomings were my own and not the lens. I am finding it a bit tricky to master the VR feature (which adds a hefty amount to the price tag) and take full advantage of it. But quite honestly I think the 80-400 is still more lens than I am photographer... sort of like the small print that should be at the bottom of the page for someone like myself who posts "example" photographs to demonstrate lens performance. Hope that makes sense...it has been a long week at work

I also have the Nikon 80-400 VR and LOVED it during a recent trip to Kruger National Park in South Africa. Of course I read a wonderful little wildlife photography book on the plane home....and wish I had done so before. Here is a link to some pictures: http://homepage.mac.com/echorowe/Topside/P...otoAlbum45.html I also swear by the straight shooting reviews at www.kenrockwell.com. Good luck picking a lens!

Anyone looking to get rid of their Nikon D100? I can't believe they are still trying to charge $500 more for it over the ever so popular D70....so I am looking to get a 2nd camera, 2nd-hand. Thanks! E

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Just wondering what ISO other people tend to use for their underwater photos....I hadn't thought much about this and believe mine is always set at ISO 200, but have no idea why or what it should be! Thanks and as always Happy Diving! E _______________________________________________________ Nikon D100, L&M Titan Housing, 16mm, 12-24mm, 60mm, 105mm

Maybe this is going to be one of those mysteries.... Just tried everything on the surface (with 16mm) and works great (though provides some interesting photos of my kitty). Looked over the housing and everything seems to be in place per usual except the selector on the front of the housing that corresponds to M-S-C on the front part of the camera. So maybe that got bumped between dives and then the camera wouldn't autofocus (even though on the camera itself it was still on S I think). Hmmmm, a possibility.... Well I guess I have to stop whining about losing a bunch of cool pictures ; ) Enjoy your diving! E

Thanks for the comments. When I had the problem with the 12-24 it definitely was that the camera wasn't trying to focus at all (wasn't doing the wiggle dance to focus) and when I took the camera out of the housing (still on the tray) same problem. I think I had to turn off the camera, take it off the tray, and take off the lens and put it back on. At that time I just figured it was some user error. Yesterday with the 16mm lens, everything was working fine on the first dive and seemed fine on the 2nd dive...I hadn't changed or done anything in between. Afterwards I took the camera out and switched to a different lens for a few surface shots, and since I didn't realize the problem underwater never tested it on the surface. Definitely wasn't an issue of where the focus brackets were or half pressing....I really think that sometimes the camera doesn't "communicate" with the lens to autofocus. Not sure if this is a firmware problem or just my camera. Worst is that with the fisheye it is near impossible to notice until you download the pics....I am super bummed because I don't want to lose a whole dives worth of pictures like yesterday! I am going to read over my D100 byThom stuff and see if I can find anything there. And when I get home from work will take another look at the camera and settings. Appreciate the input! E

Has anyone had a problem with their camera/lens just not focusing. Twice I have had this happen with my D100/L&M Titan...once with the 12-24mm and yesterday again with the 16mm. Yesterday was especially weird since it was fine the first dive (nothing changed) and then 2nd dive seemed fine until I got home and actually saw the big pictures and they were all just slightly out of focus (couldn't tell on the LCD). The previous time I had noticed on the surface and was able to take the camera out of the housing and had to actually turn everything off, remove from tray, and then got it to work again. I really don't know if it is a lens/camera problem or something with the hotshoe cable or what....but seriously bumming since the 2nd dive yesterday was awesome and all my great pics are ruined Thanks for any help! E [/img]

Hi Chris, Yes the Gina in my photos is the same...Gina Castillo, my best dive buddy and a great friend! She ROCKS! She is learning to put up with a newbie photographer : ) I might have to get her out in the surf taking pictures while Andrew and I surf...hmmmm. Echo