NeptunesTrident
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Posts posted by NeptunesTrident
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Hi,I have the 36 LED mounted on my Ikelite using the 3" Fantasea focus light adaptor from Ultralight. http://www.ulcs.com/strobes.html It is top picture, the right most one. It has a regular ball on one end, so you'll need a clamp and the post that goes into the Ikelite handle. You can either get that from Ikelite or from Ultralight. I like the Ultralight ones, their clamps are much better than Ike's clamps. I think the 44LED should fit the same way. This works great because the length of that Fantasea focus light adaptor will put the light right about centered over your lens port from your handle.
If you eventually go dual strobe, Ultralight makes a triple clamp.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
alan
Thanks Alan,
That was the very solution I was looking for. Can anyone direct me to a good online dealer which stocks these parts?
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I've been looking for a mount which can attach a Fantasea 44 LED to an Ikelite dual handle tray with Ball Socket arms. I've looked on the Ikelite webpage and am not sure what would be compatible. I am currently only using a solitary DS-51, so the right post on my dual handle tray is not occupied. Is there an adapter which will mount the light directly to the post? or attached to my arm?
This is the light in question:
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Thanks for the tips.
On the second image, I didn't swing the arm far enough out to eliminate backscatter. I have another image of the sheephead / reef taken a few seconds later, in which I did position the strobe right and also the diver is out of the image.
Totally agree about your comments on the Tree fish "fourth image" and fifth image.
Thanks again.
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Critique and Comments welcome
"Should have swung the strobe arm out wider for the shot below "to limit backscatter", but I was still happy with the result"
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Loving the nudis but then they are so easy to like.Here's a few more
's from the trip:
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Great story. Its got me excited for my 5 days at san clemente, ca this weekendMy old instructor / dive mentor did a series of dives at San Clemente 2 weeks ago. He said it was the most gratifying dives he's had in over 2 years. Mini walls, Blue Shark sightings and extremely good visibility. What more could you ask for? For someone who dives for a living on almost a daily basis, I took this as high praise. Needless to say, I'm currently looking for a day charter out that way.
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Amen brother. Great report Frank, Thanks for taking me back to an old stomping ground. You did a nice job with the marginal vis. It takes a while to get to know and love the Channel Islands but there is no other place like them. Again, thanks for taking us along.Cheers,
Steve
I'm completely hooked on them. This was my third summer taking this trip and I don't think I'll be breaking that habit any time soon. The scuba diving portions did have quite marginal visibility, but since I'm mostly a shore diver "dealing with everything from 5-30ft" on a normal basis, it was quite adequate. Not necessarily my idea of an island "like" conditions but still very enjoyable.
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As we made our way across the channel, I knew conditions were going to be nice. The ocean was almost lake like, with very little swell. When we arrived at Scorpion Anchorage’s pier I looked off the side to spot Garibaldi and various Rockfish swimming around the pylons. After packing all our gear the half mile to our campsite, I quickly setup my camera system and suited up. We tried our first dive over the left end of the cove heading towards the Sea Cave known as Marge Simpson, named for its silhouette. Patchy reefs over a sporadic kelp forest and sand channels were found on this dive. Pink and Red Gorgonians were abound, in very shallow water. Saw various Nudibranch’s, including San Diego Dorid, Yellow Dorid and Spanish Shawls. Visibility was 15ft but lots of particulates plagued the water. For the last two summers before this I’ve experienced better visibility here, but was still quite ample for diving. On our way back I found a huge Lobster under a small ledge. It was one of the largest I've ever seen, its body was close to the girth of my thigh! This dive really put the Channel Island waters into perspective for me. Life you usually only see in the deeper depths on the Palos Verdes Peninsula was found in only 20ft of water.
On the second dive we descended directly below the pier and found a new Nudibranch species. My first Catalina Triopha's! Being a Nudibranch fiend I was really excited. The pier also hosted a variety of other invertebrate life and some interesting rockfish. We then headed into the cove and came across a sand barren. While free-diving here for the past two years, I’ve found huge adult Bat Rays. Some of the biggest specimens I’ve ever observed, close to a 5 or 6ft wing span. This year they were nowhere to be found. We did find a couple young ones but none of the large adults I am so used to finding here.
For our third dive we were going to try heading out on the right side of the cove, but luckily decided to make the long surface swim out to the closest Scorpion Rock. Turns out this Scorpion Rock lays in about 40ft of water and is part of a gorgeous under pinnacle system. This area was full of life. Schooling blacksmith, countless rockfish, Treefish, Calico Bass, Garibaldi and much more were found here. This is why I came here. This is true Channel Island diving at its best. Brittle, Bat and Fragile Stars were in every nook and cranny. Bluebanded and Black Eyed Gobies darted back and fourth on the pinnacle wall, making the cold inanimate rocks squirm with life. Large male Sheephead kept just out of direct sight, making sure to give us bubble breathing behemoths a wide berth. We spiraled around the pinnacle for most of the dive, only venturing off its extending reef system for a few minutes before surfacing. This was an extremely fulfilling dive for SpKelpDiver and me. It is one I will soon not forget.
On our fourth dive we descended down just outside Scorpion Rock and hung around the outer extending reefs before heading 150 degrees toward shore. As we came into the shallows we hit another reef system in which we took a parallel heading towards Scorpion Anchorage. This reef system, though shallow, was very lush and full of life. We encountered a very friendly harbor seal which was kind of enough to perform some acrobatics for my camera. Another very enjoyable dive in this underwater paradise.
With only half a tank of air we decided for our final dive of the trip to head over to the shallow reef system on the right hand side of Scorpion Anchorage. This is where we encountered the playful harbor seal the day before. We found some very large adult Male Sheephead, but no seals. With our current heading keeping us too shallow, Charlie signaled to head directly out away from the Cliffside above. This dropped us down on to a lower reef system. This area was mostly an urchin barren, but we found some very large worms and other interesting creatures. Right before heading back into the shallows, we encountered a large pinnacle. We hung around for a few minutes before heading back into the cove.
While scuba diving was my main focus on the trip, it’s only half of the story. When we weren’t making bubbles, we spent our time kayaking through sea caves, hiking and free diving. On our free dives in the adjoining coves and inlets surrounding Scorpion Anchorage we encountered the best visibility of our trip. Between now and our next excursion, we are going to brush up on our scuba kayaking skills. That way we won’t be limited to scuba diving within swim distance of Scorpion. The trails around the Anchorage are spectacular. Charlie and his girlfriend headed out on the Potato harbor trail which we did last year together. This path leads you along the edge of the coastline and brings you to some spectacular overlooks. I on the other hand took the Scorpion loop trail which brings you deeper inland. This trail winds you past a Cypress grove, old ruins of a small oil derelict and brings you to some scenic overlooks of Smugglers cove and Montanan Mountain. Both Potato harbor and Scorpion loop trails are two hikes no camper at Santa Cruz should miss. On our second night there we were blessed with a 45 minute window of clear skies in which we observed several shooting stars. It’s these types of experiences which make life worth living.
I’ve attached a link to my video as well as some pictures below:
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Thanks for the advice people. I'm now thinking of going for the Ikelite, plus DS51 with ball arm.Would i be better off getting the TTL sync cord, or does the cord with EV controller also allow TTL as well as manual controls?
Thanks for any info, I'm almost there
I can feel the waters of Aruba calling me
If your gonna go with the Ikelite housing, then you should absolutely go with the TTL sync cord DS-51 package. Also make sure to go with the Ball Arm, its worth its weight in gold. Its a great little arm system which can be manipulated into any shooting position. With the TTL bulkhead built into the Ike housing, you'd be crazy to go with the EV controller. The DS-51 is a great strobe system, but its underpowered for ultra wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) angle. If your main goal is to shoot macro and mild wide angle, its a perfect choice. Ahh... Aruba... I have friends and family who've vacationed there... its a beautiful place... perfect dive environment to get used to the G10. Just make sure to dial in your buoyancy before even attempting to shoot photography. Otherwise you'll be damaging the reef and putting you and your buddy at risk.
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I keep hearing FIX vs Patima, but how about the Ikelite solution. Has TTL and is around 400-500 less. Why would this solution not be in the running? The G10 has caught my eye but Im only doing an upgrade from my Sony W-300 if I can do some sort of TTL. Can I do TTL through fiber? Or are we talking manually controlling the intensity with fire through optics? Any input is greatly welcomed. Thanks...Nestor
I have the G10/Ikelite setup and my buddy has the G10/Fix setup. For one the size difference is night and day. The Ikelite is quite bulky, while the Fix is really compact. I don't mind the size, but some divers may feel encumbered by it. I use the TTL bulkhead synced to DS-51's. The TTL works in every mode but Manual "which kind of sucks", but is still very useful for quick action shots. When I have time to compose my image, I'll switch over to manual mode and fully adjust the settings. When I'm swimming around and trying to get quick fast moving fish, I like to use Shutter or Aperture priority with the Strobe set to TTL. You can simulate TTL through certain fiber connections, but in my experince they are not as reliable as a true dedicated TTL bulkhead such as whats used in the Ikelite G10 housing. One major downside of the Ikelite system is its lack of wet lens options. The only wide angle solutions are quite dismal "only restoring the above water 28mm "FOV". There are some better ones rumored to be in the works, but who knows when they will come out. For G10/Ikelite macro options it is too somewhat limited, but Subsee has their diopters and will also make an adapter for any wet lens on the G10. Overall I am very happy with the Ikelite setup, but if money wasn't an object, I would have easily opted for the Patima or Fix.
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You had mentioned that you were considering fabricating a wide angle wetmount for the G10 Ikelite as well. Is this still in the plans?I too am very interested in this! The one thing the Ikelite/G10 setup lacks is a proper wide angle solution.
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Thanks for the Tips! I've had similar problems with bulk bought rechargeables, now I know the problem.
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NeptunesTrident, do you have any shots taken with your Ike+DS51+G10 setup to show us?I've been dry for a week and a half now and its really getting too me. I'm doing some E-dives, checking the scuba forums and deep cleaning all my equipment. When will the Swell die down!! Here's a few;
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SOrry to revive an oldish thread...NeptunesTrident, where did your mate get the seatool case from? I've not seen anywhere that supplies it?
SeaTool's sister company is Fisheye. The G10 case is sold under the Fisheye label; BackScatter SeaTool/Fisheye G10 Housing
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I assumed the TTL option would enable things to work first time every time ? Please correct me if i'm wrong!Having looked at the Ikelite DS Strobes, it seems that they generally get poor reviews compared with the alternatives. As a result I'll probably need that adapter to get TTL with an alternative strobe. If I'm looking for a good all-round strobe that will work well on its own for both macro shots and pictures up to a few meters, which would you recommend? Would a single DS-51 be useful at distances over a meter?
Thanks again!
You would be right "in theory" the TTL should work first every time, but it doesn't. I have the Ike Case, G10, DS-51 setup and a few times during the dive it will either under or over expose an image. Sometimes it will do it repeatedly when try to compose a picture and I am forced to switch into manual control. I don't know if this is because the camera is focusing on something else "such as floating particulates" or just some other type of random aberration. Otherwise, I am completely happy with my setup and have had nothing but great results.
There are several other higher performing strobes in the same price range as the DS series, but you have to consider other factors then just performance numbers. Inon is one of the highest reviewed strobe companies, but they just recently pulled their customer service centers out of the US. That means if you ever need repairs, you'll have to send the product to Japan. Ikelite is an American based company, with some of the best customer service ratings. They have an extremely quick turn around on repairs and have very lax service policies. If your acryclic casing on your housing should crack or fail years down the road, Ikelite will migrate your existing controls and latches onto a new case. What company will do that? There are also many cases of non--in-warranty products being serviced and repaired for free.
While performance numbers look good on paper, you have to think about what your intended use will be with the strobe. I shoot mainly macro, with the occasional mid-wide angle. The DS-51 is not the most powerful strobe, but it works perfect for my intended use. A single DS-51 can be somewhat effective over a meter but you'll have to swing out the arm wide to prevent backscatter.
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What gear are you using?Canon G10, Ikelite Housing, DS-51 Strobe TTL
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Diving has been pretty good for us on the Palos Verdes peninsula this summer. Here are some shots taken at Christmas Tree and Honey Moon cove: "Critiques welcome!"
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Have dove scorpions many times.Also have dove and camped and kayaked the area.
Peacock is out in the middle of the anchorage. Depth sounds about right.
South of little scorpion rock in 55 ft of water is where you will find the sarcastic fringeheads. They are out in the sand. I usually run into a mantis shrimp and and octopus or two when I'm am looking for them. Otherwise the diving is right up against the cliffs.
Very cool... nice to finally talk with someone who's both camped and scuba dived there. Did you do your diving straight from shore or did you kayak/boat out? If you dove the main bay at Scorpion Anchorage, what was it like at depth? I've free-dove the area, but only stayed in the shallows. Any areas of reef that I shouldn't miss? Any specifics about your dives there "entry/exit, headings, depths, point of interests, experience, etc.etc." all would be greatly appreciated.
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Check in the SoCal forum on ScubaBoard, that has the biggest number of local divers, and someone will most likely know the answer.You may also want to post over on the diver.net bbs.
Thanks for the recommendation Compu. Incidentally, I've already posted on DiveVets, BBS and SoCal scubaboard. There doesn't seem to be many people who have dove this area. On my past two trips, I saw one dive boat "The Garabaldi" and a few free-divers/hunters. But besides that no scuba divers, who were shore diving from the anchorage. My trip isn't for another month, so I have plenty of time to gather a game plan.
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My buddy and I have planned a camping/scuba trip to Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. This will be my third time camping / free diving there, but will be our first scuba expedition. I made a previous post on this, months back, asking about the wreck of the Peacock. It seems that there is very little known about this wreck, other then it is NW of Scorpion Rocks laying in 60ft.
I am wondering if there are any areas of interest for divers that is located close to Scorpion Anchorage? On my two free dive trips here, I found some shallow kelp beds and reefs located off the pier and over towards little Scorpion Anchorage "which is the closet mooring site". If worst comes to worst, I will just wing it and explore those surrounding areas. But if anyone has dove this area and knows of any particular site which is especially nice for scuba, please share.
One site which is described in a diving book I have is Southeast Scorpions. It mentions that there are a series of mini walls and ledges in about 25-65ft of water. Unfortunately there is no map to this specific site in the book and it only has a very vague description of its location. Any data, maps or experience for this area and any site in the general vicinity would be greatly appreciated.
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Will there be huge differences, or possibly even strong overexposure if a picture is taken with a wrongly configured strobe ?You are correct in that assumption. There is not much leeway when dealing with setting proper strobe power, not properly set you will either get a under or over exposed image. Over time this becomes less of a problem because you learn what settings are required for specific shots. I'm not sure if the DX-1200HD offers TTL with Sea&Sea strobes, but if it does you can have the strobe power controlled directly from the cameras own metering. Effectively allowing you to leave the camera to decide the strobes intensity.
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I'm going to give the G10/Ikelite housing a shot and see how it works out.I am using a G10/Ikelite setup and couldn't be happier. My buddy uses the Seatool housing with the Fisheye Wide Angle lens with his G10 and he too couldn't be happier. The Seatool is obviously much more compact and it has a "real" wide angle solution, but is it really worth the extra 500-600 bucks for the housing and then another 500-600 for the lens? If your a wide angle guy there are some solutions for the Ikelite housing "Dyron has a replacement port and lenses, Ikelite has a "sorta" wide angle wet dome and there are some full wide angle options in the works". The Seatool is more compact, but unless your some kind of "girly" man you won't have a problem handling it. I have the Housing, Camera, dual handle tray, Ball Socket Arm/DS51 and have no problems carrying it when hiking down the goat trails on the peninsula to my local dive sites. As mainly a shore diver, compactness, weight and streamlining is key and I have had no issues with my system, even on the most agreesive entries / hikes.
As far as the debate between getting the DSLR setup and a P'n'S. I think it all depends on budget. If you have the money to spend, I would go right for the SLR. It will outpreform "with the proper user" any point and shoot period. The G10 "IMHO" is the best point and shoot money can buy, but is in no way a SLR. I personally couldn't afford a SLR setup, so the G10 was an easy choice. But, I am already looking into purchasing a mid range DSLR for my topside pics, which in time I can get a housing for.
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Yep, we seem to find a lot of golf balls out here on the Palos Verdes Peninsula too. Many houses on the cliff sides are uber expensive and upscale. I think its a yuppie past time to go out in their backyards and knock a few into the sea. I try to collect them when I see them, as well as any other trash I come across. I wonder if there is any substances or materials in golf balls that could be harmful to the environment?
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We are contemplating building a wetmate wide angle lens for the Patima G10 (possibly Ikelite too) that offers a 105 deg diagonal field of view, with good corner sharpness. It is big, heavy, and has some flare when you shoot into the sun (which we are trying to solve), but it is the best of the wetmate options I've tried.Any idea of when it might come out for the Ikelite? I know many people on the scubaboard forum and locally which are trying to decide which housing to purchase with their G10. Having a real solution for wide angle with the Ikelite would easily qualm their decision process. I am currently shooting with an Ikelite G10 setup and ReefNet's subsee adapters has fixed my macro lens issues but there is still the question of a true wide angle solution. This would be a must buy for me if it would come out.
The one thing that has kept me from getting a G10 is the lack of WA. I see Fantasea is coming out with a wet dome adapter similar to Ikes G10 solution. Any thoughts on how good this might be? I like the G10 as a camera and hope this is good enough to get a bit wider angle underwater.What housing is the adapter intended for?
Panasonic TZ5 / G10 Housing Similarities
in Photography Gear and Technique
Posted · Edited by NeptunesTrident
You should also look at the Canon OEM housing for the G10. It has a very port similar and there are a few macro lens adapters for it.
Also Reefnet "the makers of Subsee Diopters" will make a custom port mount for any camera, so your covered there.