dhphoto

Just a quick not to say I swear by hyperdrive (google them). I dunno if any of the other manufacturers have caught up to them in terms of transfer speeds but a few years back when I got mine, they hadn't at all. Not only is it great to have faster transfers - it also means less battery drain. I think the Hyperdrives can get 200-250 gigs of transfers on a charge. The one I have is an old one w.o. an LCD, but I have heard nothing but good things about the newer ones. Except, I don't think they can play videos(?). I trusted mine so much I went on a three week reportage trip ONLY with that, my camera and a few lenses, and no laptop. It worked flawlessly. I am a pro photo journalist on land (a total newbie UW;-)) but finally I could chip in with something where I actually have some real experience;-) All best, David

I think they must have changed their name or something. I didn't even notice, but now I see that when I type hobbytool.com, it takes me directly to the pjtool.com. If that doesn't happen to you please post the link you used. All best, David

Hi Bruce, I think you will get to it before I do. I am in China and wont have time to start working on the dome for the next month or two. I am thinking that no matter what, except for shattering the dome, I will be better off trying to repair it. Even if I do loose the coating, it should be better than what I have now. Alternatively, a resin or compound to fill in the scratch would be interesting as well. Let's keep this post alive to see if anyone has practical info on the latter approach and of course I would love to hear about your experience with the glass polishing kit. I suspect you got it from here: http://www.pjtool.com/glasspolishingkits.aspx All best, David

Hi all, I have a Subal glass dome with a scratch in it that definitely affects the images more that I can ignore so looking to see if there is any agreed upon DIY approach. To be exact it is not as much a scratch as it is an abrasion of what I suspect is the coating. The result is a triangularly shaped rough and matte patch around 5 mm wide. When shooting just a bit against the light, the reflection of the patch shows up in the image as a blurry patch in the image. I can not afford a replacement dome but am willing to try to fix it myself. Or perhaps take it to an optician or someone else. If anyone has good advice let's try to compile it here. I read through the amazingly helpful thread on what to do with scratches in acrilyc domes. I found two posts that dealt with glass domes and have taken the liberty to copy-paste them here. I was wondering if the original posters (or others) can tell me more about their final results - I am particularly worried about losing coating once I start this process, though losing the roughed up coating due to the abrasion is probably needed and better than what I have now, I am wondering whether the transition to the unharmed areas of the dome will be smooth and whether the uncoated, but at least polished patch, will show up in images afterwards? From Yellowmon on June 20, 2009: Glass port scratches are as problematic as they are inevitable. Fortunately, it is possible to remove scratches in glass ports if the scratches are not too deep. Stephen Frink suggested to me I use "jewellers rouge" which I found on Amazon. I used a Dremel which has a power cord (when I tried with battery packs, ran out of juice before finishing) and a whole bunch of felt polishing wheels (catalog #414). It took a long, long, long time. Perhaps an hour but the minor scratches did disappear. I went through a number of felt wheels. It is a long and boring process but gives one time to reflect on the dangers of rocks attacking poor defenseless dome ports and to be more protective in the future. I write this now as I am preparing to attend to another session of polishing, which I hate as much, if not more, than cleaning the camera's sensor (also necessary this weekend). While you are out diving and having fun, think of a tiny wheel spinning round and round and be thankful if you have acrylic domes how much easier they are to repair. I can't guarantee this process will work for everybody but so far it has done well for minor, hairline scratches and little dings. I hope this advice cuts into the sale of replacement Seacam domes, Harald is doing far too well these days. Good luck! From Kogia, August 18, 2009: I had been told by opticians and housing manufacturers that it is not possible to polish out scratches from glass domes: they must be replaced. However, after reading this post, I did some searching online, and found a DIY Glass Polishing Kit for $40 at www.hobbytool.com. I had a couple of scratches on my glass dome that were not deep, but close to 2cm long, and managed to produce really ugly black scars on the image files when shooting into the sun. To my utter astonishment, they disappeared after only about 20 minutes of polishing using an electric drill with the wheel, pad, and polish solution provided in the kit. Best $40 I ever spent. Thank you Yellowmon! _____ Here are some images of the worst of the abrasions/scratches on my dome(reflection is of same patch on underside of glass dome):

I am trying to decide on the last things before taking my first rig under. I will shoot wide angle and do not need to focus very close at all - think reef scenes or schooling sharks at a distance (not what I will be shooting - I will shoot a "sea gypsy" community in Asia, so think more like pearl divers). I may want to do some half in/half out shots, so I guess a diopter is not a possibility then? And I was wondering if it is needed at all if I don't get too close to the subject. Not ultra close up but perhaps 1.5-3 meters mostly. I don't know if the virtual image created by the dome actually moves in and out according to focusing distance, but if it does, then perhaps I can go without diopters and still get OK corner sharpness? I will shoot a 5D in a Subal housing with the FE2 dome. Also, if anyone has used either a Sigma or Canon fixed 20mm and have any pointers on it, I am all ears. All best, David

Hi Loftus, I have read through all the posts on using the Tokina with an extender on a FF body. Very interesting and since I will be shooting a Subal FE dome on my first (2nd hand) rig soon, I was wondering if the 30mm extension is still what you use for this lens+extender combo? All best, David

Just wanted to say thanks to all WP members who chimed in or gave offers. In the end, I had two very nice offers and would have been happy with either one. Thanks a lot for helping me get started in this new part of photography while at the same time not breaking the bank too much. Best, David

yup, still looking. D.

After having thought a lot, I am back where I started - somewhat off the idea to have an adapter made to put another brand dome on my first Subal (2nd hand) UW-housing. Please PM me and feel free to circulate this to anyone you feel could have one lying around. Best and so sorry if I am borderline spamming WP... David

Hi Randall, Good thing you didn't take your wife to e.g. Shanghai for the total eclipse. Though it lasted app. six minutes clouds made sure none of us ever saw the sun. But it was still a great experience when bright morning turned to dark night in a few minutes. Picture was taken at the time of the total eclipse 9.40 in the morning, local time Shanghai.

Hmmm, nope unfortunately none of these two methods work for the 5D2 (at least not mine) - the last method gets closest actually displaying a number. Only problem is that the number is: 0... I don't have the solution, but pls tell us if anyone out there knows how to get a 5D or 5D2 to tell us how many clicks it has on it. D.

Hi Ken, thanks a lot. I realized it is quite an undertaking having an adapter made, so I am giving it one more go at finding an original Subal dome.... Anyone out there? I am Looking for 6'' or 8'' dome.

There is another post here on WP on the subject and someone else has done it by extending some buttons and putting two more in. Can't find it right now, but think it is in DYI section. The good thing about the ikelite conversion is that e.g. for the bigger LCD one just has to move the padded spacers on inside of the back of the housing and not worry about having to put in a bigger polycarbonate window in an alumium housing... Good luck, if you are handy with precision tools I remember reading from the post that it can def be done. D.

Hi Pakman, thanks so, so much. I am here right now for a few days so will have a look around. Great write-up and I am sure others can benefit in the future also. Best, David

Just wanted to get this post another run since I am heading to HK all of a sudden. Between work I would have a day ot two to look at UW photo shops - so any update advice? Best, D.