larth

Hi Adam, thanks! I've spent some time looking around and will try it out the next two weeks. Guess my error was thinking that since I got ok pictures in auto mode with my old one, I would get it too with this (better) camera. Practice time! best regards, Lars

Hi, so I finally was able to dive with the D7100 and experienced some issues with over exposure. Searching the net shows some have the same problem (no solutions), others saying the D7100 would under expose instead. I tried a variety of changes in settings and there was a big improvement when changing the ISO setting from dynamic to 100, but there are still problems even in easy conditions. The below is an example with a green turtle on the sandy bottom at a depth of 10 meters. The equipment: D7100, Ikelite housing and a DS125 flash. Scaled picture attached. Location: Red Sea near El Quseir. EXIF / information from original file in case the scaled picture has different: General: EXIF: Nikon info Picture style: Any clues would be appreciated! Next trip comming up in a month. Also it seems that it is not possible to use a single center focus point in auto more, correct? Many thanks, Lars

I am now the proud owner of a new Ikelite housing for the D7100! The trade-up program looks very nice (green and price-worthy), but requires one to send in the old strobe for the upgrade since the actual parts are re-used. There were no time for this time since I picked up the housing during a visit to the USA. So will look into that and the modular ports next time (I couldn't get that with the short time notice this time). Now let us hope that Egypt cools down for a trip to the Red Sea next year. Many thanks for the advice and tips!

Many thanks for the comments Mark. I am pretty much dedicated to the ikelite housings - at least for now. Being able to see if any water is entering was the initial "big point" in addition to good reviews. Now I am looking forward to be see if live-view will work well (which I hope). Good info on the VR! I'll stay with the lenses I have until I've tried them. The strobes are quite heavy, but robust. One was dropped 80cm when returning from a night dive, but apart from a big dent in the front there is no other effects. They and the camera itself is pretty much all I carry on after being catched in the customs with a 28 kg backpack... They were not amused. Nor were the the rest of the family once the surpluss landed in their backpacks! Thanks again!

I've been using the Nikon D80 with an Ikelite housing and the 5502.41 port for the 60 mm macro for the past years. Earlier I also used the 5503.35 6" dome port when I was on the D70, but haven't used it with the D80 much as I experienced troubles zooming with the 18-70 mm lens when (maybe wrong zoom kit?). There are also two DS125 strobes. Now I got the D7100 for my birthday and is looking at the options, especially what to keep and what to sell. The little I've used it so far on land makes me very happy with it and but also shows it a big step from the old D80, so it is with some trepidation I am looking forward to the switch! Housing: obviously a new one is required and I'd be happy to stay with ikelite. Ports: it looks like I can keep the ports with the new housing as well. However, are there compelling reasons to ditch these and go for the modular system? I would like to stay with one macro lens and one lens with some zooming / wide-angle capability for stuff larger than nudibranches and gobies. Possiblities I see: swap to the 17-35 mm to get another F2.8 lens. look for a VR lens like the 16-35mm f/4G ED VR AF-S or the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S DX, but this requires a new port. Does VR add something UW? Strobes: I am happy with these except for the weight in my carry-on bag but could consider selling one if there is a good reason for getting one/two of the newer ones. Anything else I need to consider? Many thanks in advance! Lars

Thank you very much for the answers! It seems like it is different brittle stars though - at least to my non-expert eye. The first has was looks like roman numbers on it's arms and the second rings. Also the star "tattoo" is different. The discussion of the second has prompted me into a new resolution for the future: for strange objects take photos from different angles. :-) I suspect a photo from the side along the bottom would have helped here.

Hi! we found these two on a night dive in the Maldives last week and would appreciate any hints. Number 1 - moved like a big spider when not directly in sharp light. The radius was about ten centimeters. This was at ten meters. There are two extensions in the middle looking suspiciously like the eyes on a crab. Number 2 - also moved in a strange way. Quite agile. It has five arms. The centre corpus was about 2.5 cm / one inch in diameter. Depth was just about two meters. Thanks!

All, thanks for the comments! I did not think of the original as bland, but going back to it after seeing this makes it look ... bland. I really like how the spots between the eye and arms came out! Wow. Got to try that a bit more. Thanks Steve!

Thank you for the comments! Can the lack of contrast come from shooting with flashes at night?

Ok, finally took some pics I thought I could show! Please criticize. Both have been at least trimmed from the originals. and

Is this a Bald-Patch Urchin?

Thanks and merry xmas to all!

Will go for Full and Auto / Cloudy. I'll try yo remember to try both on the same dive to get a comparisson. Thanks Mike!

I have just received a 60mm Micro and will take it underwater for the first time next week with a D70 / ikelite / DS125 and the port for the 18 - 70. From reading older posts this should work for 60 mm, but with less depth of field. Also to be able to play around with WB I will use RAW mode for the first time. The visibility will hopefully be as good (20 - 30 meters, with few particles) as last time. I have read up on the hints from Splashdown for the 12-24 and full manual settings, but prefer to have the camera checking some of the parameters for the photographer! What can I expect? Since the length is fixed I will need to maneouver more to get the motive right. Is automode + RAW good enough for the WB or is manual WB measuring and using a non-manual mode better? Since there is a Full / Limit manual switch I need to make the choice between macro or normal fishes before going down. So much to try and so few dives! Thanks in advance.

Sounds doable. I assume folding the arms and just use the handles on the housing will be ok. I am unsure on how to handle something like the rig on splashdowndivers site. Lots of good info there BTW. One one boatrip to Ras Mohammed there was a girl with a housed videocamera who just held it above her head with both hands and just jumped in like that. It didn't have any light source though. Perhaps it is better to start with one flash and go for the 2nd later...