Gazpacho

Just came back from my forth trip to the Maldives (last time almost 8 years ago). This year I was on MV Theia, a quite comfortable liveaboard (but without enough proper places for camera storage, and no Nitrox), on a 10 day trip. We encountered some problems in the beginning, due to a broken engine of the dive vessel ("Dhoni"), which caused a start delayed by two days. The rest of the trip was nice, including encounters with whalesharks and some very nice dives with manta rays at channels in the western side of Ari Atoll. You can see some of my images here (hope you enjoy): My current impressions of the Maldives as a diving destination are as follows: - still a good combination of pelagics, some nice reefs and good macro shooting opportunities, all this in very warm waters - unfortunately, most of the touristic islands are now suffering from the epidemic of water bungalows, resulting in a strong impact on the formerly idyllic landscape - shark populations dramatically smaller than 8 years ago, presumably due to still strongly ongoing finning - where I frequently used to see groups of maybe 10 grey reef sharks, now you are lucky to see one or two - many dive sites crowded (even in low season) - at some sites that used to be beautiful (e.g., Fish Head) we saw groups of 30 Asian tourists at "discover scuba diving" sessions, not having any bouyancy skills at all - Fish Head and Maaya Thila now almost destroyed I might be too spoiled as a diver already, therefore commenting a bit harsh, but maybe this will help somebody to plan for the next diving vacations. And I would wish the clock had stopped 15 years ago, when the Maldives used to be quite simple, but with beautiful reefs full of life. Coral bleaching hit them hard in the past, but finning and kind of touristic development are their own responsibility. Merry christmas, everyone. Gazpacho

Hi Johnjvv, I just reviewed the parameters of the pictures and think you are right. The shutter speed of the posted image was 1/400. On other images I had 1/320, and the dark part was smaller (curtain not that much closed, makes sense to me). On images with shutter speeds 1/200 or longer, the problem does not seem to exist. I´m impressed by your profound knowledge and speed of response. I had not been aware of this problem. Thanks a lot! Where did you get the technical information (1/200 for a D90) from? Unfortunately, in the menu of my camera you can only define a LONGEST shutter opening when using a strobe. According to this problem, you should also be able to define a SHORTEST opening, and the problem would not occur. But as I shoot on manual settings anyway, now that I am aware of this, problem should be avoidable. Pictures (without technical problems) of my latest trip to Cocos Island can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulikallenbach...57628567090599/ Thanks again.

Hi folks and happy new year to everybody. I´d appreciate your advice on my following problem: Sometimes, but not always, the lower part of my images is too dark when using strobes (lower part of image not being lit by flash lights). I post an example of my problem, taken at a night dive. Sorry, it´s not a good picture, but illustrates my problem. I´m shooting a Nikon D 90 in a Hugyfot housing without TTL converter. I´ve got 2 INON Z 240 stobes, connected electrically. Usually I shoot completely on manual settings (camera and strobes) and use diffusers on the strobes. My guess would be that this a a sync problem with the shutter, but I have not yet been able to find out systematically. Any experts out there who can help? Would be very much appreciated. Greetings from Switzerland, Gazpacho

Hi Thomas, As I stated here (http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=40508&view=findpost&p=291594) I´ve been shooting my D90 in a Hugy housing for two years. I´ve been very happy with it. I got my rig at Dive Society in Root (LU), which is a qualified supply and service point for Hugyfot with nice folks running the store (to which I am not affiliated, by the way). I love the Tokina 10-17, just as everybody else, and also like my 105mm macro lens. The Tokina 12-24 is excellent, but the fisheye zoom is so much nicer underwater that I leave the other wide angle lens at home now... If you need more help, please feel free to contact me.

You can find my comment about my Hugy experience here: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?s=&am...st&p=291594

Hi Simone, I am not sure if this question is still up to date, but I´ve been shooting a D90 in a Hugy housing for 2 years. I am very happy with it. What sets the hugy apart from other manufacturers is the hugy check system, which to my knowledge is the only pre-dive check system on the market. Quite some peace of mind to know the housing is well sealed BEFORE getting into the water - once you hear a moisture alarm, it might be too late! Everything has worked just fine so far. I shoot a Tokina 10-17 and Tokina 12-24 with a dome port and a Nikon 105 with a macro port. If you have any detailed questions, please feel free to contact me. Gazpacho.

@blimbo: nice pics! Here are some of my shots:

Hi Pete, Just came back from a Red Sea safari yesterday. I got a Nikon D90 in a Hugyfot housing, shooting the Tokina 12-24 with the big dome port and a Nikkor 105 with the flat port. An INON Z-240 was used as flash. It was the inauguration trip for my new rig, and I have to say I am really glad with it. The whole rig fitted into my hand luggage, together with lenses, camera and two dive lamps. Hand baggage was limited to 8 kg, and I almost could keep it ... no complaints by the airline! Acrylic ports have certainly a advantage when it comes to weight issues. The whole thing is rather a monster above the water, but was easy to handle u/w. With the dome port, it had neutral boyancy, with the macro setup it was slightly negative. The hugycheck system did a good job to convince me that I had assembled everything the right way. Easy to use. With the dome port on, it takes about 45 sec to get the housing to the right negative pressure... quite a lot of volume... I saw the 45º viewfinder in the shop, and it must be great to have it. It really magnifies the image quite a bit. But my budget did not allow this purchase right now. The standard viewfinder did a good job, too. At least the framing is manageable, and all important camera settings and lighting measurements can also be seen on the screen at the back. No problem. All controls worked fine u/w. I can post a few pictures taken if required. Hope this helped. Gazpacho.