scubaboy1

Here's the response I got from Roger at Ikelite ... Do I need a 4116.32 to make my 2 SB 105's work with >the housing now that it has the TTL circuitry? Yes. And when using the SB105 strobes, you will not have TTL and must shoot in manual mode. > >Can I use the system with 1 SB 105 and the 4115.31 >cord without causing any damage to the system? Using the old 5115.31 sync cord may cause erratic operation and is not recommended. It will not damage anything, but may cause the strobes to autofire (strobe fires on it's own). I am surprised it is not autofiring. Shooting in manual mode may helpf prevent the autofiring. So you will not cause damage, but be aware the flash operation may not be as desired.

I have been shooting a D70 in an Ike housing for 3 years. I bought the housing before the TTL circuitry was available. I used the housing with 2 SB105's connected with a 4115.32 double synch cord. The system worked flawlessly. I recently bought 2 DS125 strobes and sent the housing in to get the TTL circuitry installed. I bought a 4103.52 strobe cord to connect the DS 125's. I did my first dives with the new system at the beginning of May in Hawaii at the Kona Classic. I had issues on the first dive. After taking a couple of shots the strobes started firing continuosly without tripping the shutter. I powered the system down (camera and strobes) and then back up (camera first). The system took a few shots successfully and started to fire continuosly again. I checked the cord at the end of the dive to make sure there were no leaks. The connections were dry. I borrowed another cord from one of the pros at the contest. The system worked flawlessly the rest of the week. I even managed to shoot a couple of prize winning photos I sent my 4103.52 cord back to Ikelite for repair / replacement. In the meantime, I wanted to use the camera so I tried hooking up my old SB105's with the dual cord (4115.32) I used before I had the housing upgraded with the TTL circuitry. This isn't working. The stobes will not fire at all when both strobes and the camera are powered on. The TTL light tree on the back of the housing does not light up. If I power off the secondary strobe the primary strobe fires. The TTL light tree still doesn not light up. I hooked up 1 SB105 with a single strobe cord (4115.31) and the system works fine. The strobe fires and the TTL light tree lights up. I double checked the 2 SB105's. They work fine when connected to a Nikonos V with a dual synch cord. I checked the Ikelite website and noticed they don't list the 4115.31 or 4115.32 strobe cords anymore. The new cords are the 4116.32 (dual) and 4116.31 (single). Does anyone have any experience with this issue? Can anyone confirm the new 4116.32 cord vs. the old 4115.32 is required to make 2 SB105's work correctly in a housing equipped with TTL circuitry? Will it cause problems if I shoot 1 SB105 with the 4115.31 single cord while I'm waiting for my replacement cord for the DS125's? Thanks B)

I have been diving with Ikelite housings for the last 5 or 6 years. I have used Ike grease as well as generic 100% pure silicone grease on the O Rings and have never had a problem. I have heard that some greases may contain additives (i.e. are not 100% pure silicone) and can cause the O Rings to swell. I have been specifically warned not to use Nikonos grease on Ike O Rings. From my experience, the generic 100% silicone grease works fine.

For manual exposures you can use the guide no (32 at ISO 100 for the DS125 strobe) to determine your flash power. To get a balanced wide angle exposure use the light meter in the camera and meter on the blue water. Use the strobe's guide no to set the power on the flash. For example, when metering on the water if your light meter zeros out at F8, a full power flash will light a foreground subject 4 feet away correctly at full power (guide no divided by strobe to subject distance - 32/4=F8). If your foreground subject is 2 feet away set the strobe power to 1/2 that will cut your guide no in half to 16 divided that by 2 feet to the subject gives you F8. If there is no blue water background just use the guide no to determine your power setting on the strobe. Happy shooting B)

Based on the photos in the links you posted, I would agree with your choice of the 60mm with the flat port. This is a fairly versatile and cost effective setup that will allow you to shoot small macro subjects (nudibranchs, anenomes) as well as fish portraits (angels, soldiers etc). You will also be able to get head shots of larger fish (reef sharks). You won't be able to make any wide angle images with this setup but given the choice of only one lens I like the 60mm. You can also add a teleconverter later on for smaller macro subjects. When your budget allows you can add a wide angle lens, dome port and another strobe. In the short run the 60 with a flat port and one strobe is a great economical choice. Happy shooting B)

It's issue no 17. www.fathomsmagazine.com

Karl Dietz posted on this a while back. If I remember correctly he said the 3T diopter did not touch the port. The 4T does just touch the port at full extension. Maybe you can search for his post to be sure.

I agree with Larry on shooting RAW. If you don't want to pony up the license fee for Nikon Capture or Capture NX, I believe you can download NikonView and/or Picture Project from the Nikon website for free. These programs don't give you the ability to make adjustments like Nikon Capture / Capture NX. They will let you open the RAW files and save them as JPG's though. This would allow you to keep a copy of the RAW file for future use should you decide to invest in Capture / Capture NX and let you create JPG's to edit in Corel Paint Shop Pro X ... just a thought. I have been using NikonView as a browser since 2001 when I bought a Coolpix 5000. I shoot a D70 now and use Capture NX to edit RAW files.

Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography by Jack & Sue Drafahl is also a good reference.

I use baby shampoo on the port. I picked this up from reading other posts on wetpixel. From what I have read defog is not good for acrylic ports. The baby shampoo seems to do the trick

My wife and I recently took a dive trip on a liveaboard. On one of the dives I took an over / under shot of the back of the boat at the end of the dive. I posted that photo along with our other favorites from the trip on our website. I have been approached by a magazine that wants to buy the over / under shot to use in an article in the magazine. I'm obviously flattered and eager to accept the offer. The photo does show the the name of the liveaboard. Are there any modeling rights or permission issues I need to be concerned about? Do I need to get a release from the liveaboard to sell this photo? The text accompanying the article is not derogatory in any way. The fact that the name of the boat is visible is probably beneficial to the liveaboard. Thanks for your input!

It will be interesting to find out if Nikon is designing the DX (made for digital) lenses with greater retrofocus. If they are not, it would appear from reading the comments in this thread that there is no difference between Nikon's DX (digital) lenses and their non-digital lenses. At least now I understand there is no difference in the field of view between a DX and non-DX lens.

Thanks for the explanations. If I understand correctly, a 16mm (non-DX) lens will act like a 24mm (16 X 1.5) lens due to the cropped sensor. However, the focal length (16mm) does not change. In the case of a DX lens, a 16mm DX lens will act like a 16mm lens because it was designed to account for the cropped sensor. Is this right? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience!

What is the conversion factor to use when using a non-digital lens on a Nikon digital camera (I have a D70)? Is it 1.5? For example, what does the 17-35mm non-digital lens equate to on a D70? If the conversion factor is 1.5, it would be approx 25-52mm ... is that correct? Also, I believe the digital lenses (DX) are already corrected for the cropped digial sensor. Is that right? Thanks!

I had the same experience the first time I used my D70 in an Ikelite housing with the 18-70 kit lens. I was very disappointed with my new set up after that first trip I did some checking when I got home. I did not have the +4 diopter recommended by Ikelite on their lens port web page. After I added the +4 diopter the lens focused with no problems B) I usually shoot in AFS.

Thanks guys! Great information. I'll plan on getting the flat port. If I have a chance to use the lens before I get the flat port, it sounds like I'll be ok to shoot it in the dome ... as long as I'm careful not to scratch it It's really great to have a forum like this to ask questions, share information and learn

I just added a 60mm macro lens to my kit. I have a Nikon D70 and an Ikelite housing. I looked up the port requirements on the Ikelite site. They say you can use the 60mm Macro with port # 5503.5 (the dome port recommended for the 12-24 WA lens ... which I already own ). I'm thinking I'll give that a go before buying a flat port (Ikelite has 2: the 5502.41 autofocus only and the 5506 auto/manual focus). I'm wondering if anyone can comment on this. Karl posted some great photos taken with the 60mm in an Ikelite housing in a recent thread on Turks & Caicos. He posted a shark portrait and a macro shot of a gobi taken on the same dive with the 60mm. Can I accomplish similar results using the dome port or should I bite the bullet and buy the flat port? Considering the flat ports, is the 5506 (auto/manual focus) preferred to the 5505.5 (auto only)? I have a 105mm. I rarely use the manual focus knob and shoot on autofocus whenever possible. Thanks B) John

Hi, I am shooting 2 SB105's with a D70 in an Ikelite housing. I tried the shooting with 1 synch and 1 slave. I was getting inconsistent results. Sometimes the slave wasn't firing. I had a diffuser on both strobes ... not sure if that was interfering with the sensor or not. At any rate, the uncertainty was enough to make me buy a dual synch cord to eliminate the problem. Happy Shooting B)

Karl, Thanks for the Wakatobi gallery. Awesome images! You have definitely given me something to strive for. When you are set to AFC what focus area are you using ... single area, dynamic or closest subject? I have never tried using the AF/AL button to lock and then trigger the shutter when the shot looks good. I'll give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion! Tony, Your post says I'll need a diopter with the 12-24. I checked the Ikelite website they say .... (?*) This zoom lens will focus close enough that adding a + diopter close-up to the lens is NOT required. What power diopter are you using with the 12-24? Also, I'm used to using the half shutter press to focus ... something I developed using the CoolPix 5000. I'm glad to hear your daughter has success with that method. Are you setting your autofocus mode to AFS or AFC? What focus area do you use ... single, dynamic or closest subject? Thanks again for all of your help! John

I did not have the AE/AF Lock set to lock. The 105 did hunt as you mention. I did not have a 4X diopter on the 18-70 so that may solve my problem. I did read the requirement for the diopter on the Ikelite website. I also have a 12-24 that I have not used yet. I have the port for it and will be using it on my next trip. The nexst trip is to Wakitobi at the end of Aug. so you comments are very much appreciated. I want to have it all dialed in for the trip. Thanks!!

I recently bought a D70 and an Ikelite housing. I've had it down twice. I'm having problems with getting the lens to focus via autofocus. I used the Nikon 18-70 DX and the Nikon 105 Micro lenses. Both lenses failed to focus when set to autofocus (AFS / single area). When I depressed the shutter the lens would not focus and the shutter would not fire. When I set the camera to MF (manual focus) I was able to shoot. The port for the 105 Micro has a focus knob so I was able to get some decent shots by focusing manually. With the 18-70, I could control the zoom with the controls on the housing but I could not fine tune the focus. I had the camera set to manual with AFS (auto focus single servo) and single area focus. I tried changing to AFS with dynamic area focus. That didn't work. I also tried AFC (auto focus continuous) this only worked when I set the focus area to closest subject. I don't have any problems using AFS with single area when shooting on land. I used a Nikon CoolPix 5000 in an Ikelite housing for the last 3yrs and did not have any of the problems I'm having now. Does anyone have any experience / recommendations? Thanks! D70 newbee