jzsj0

Hi All, I'm off to Zanzibar for a couple of weeks in october, staying solely in the north of the island. I've decided on East African Divers to go with but am not sure on which sites to go to. I think I'll be looking at 10 dives and the additional charges to sites are for Mnemba, Tumbatu, & Leven Bank. I think an extra $275 for a 2 dive trip to Pemba is a bit rich (to say the least!) so will be giving this a miss, but are the other 3 worth it? Mnemba & Leven sound ok but I can't find anything on Tumbatu. TIA!

Wow, got to love these forums - great info!!! I actually bit the bullet and decided not to waste my holiday running around looking for strobes so ended up buying the strobe from www.uwdigitalcamera.com and the arm system from Reef photos. Both were *very* helpful (thanks, esp Ryan@Reef!), just can't wait for it all to be delivered so I can have a play Cheers, James.

Hi. Thanks for the reply - useful info. We're staying at Japamala which (I think) is on the s/western part of the coast so I'm not sure how long that would take us to get round from there to Reef Divers? I just checked the prices too - nice and cheap! I suppose if you've got any recommendations about which dive sites to visit too (or any other things to do on the island as well) that would be really helpful, just can't wait to get out there to be honest Cheers, James.

Hi All, I'm off to Tioman for a couple of weeks in august and was wondering if anyone had any experience with the dive operators out there? I had a bit of a bad experience in another part of the world last year, so don't want to repeat the experience again this time around!! Cheers, James.

Hi, I'm looking to buy an Inon Z-240 so thought it might well be cheaper than the UK if I picked it up in either HK or Singapore when I'm over there later this year. Does anyone know of any decent underwater shops in either of these places where I could get a strobe up from? Cheers, James.

Interesting replies, thanks. Wouldn't have even thought about the burnout issue that's for sure. I just checked their website and they say: # Batteries:(*6) * AA Alkaline, Nicad, Nickel Metal Hydride, Lithium, Oxyride x 4 (*manganese batteries not compatible) # Recycle Time:(*7)(*8) * AA NiMH batteries: 1.6 seconds minimum (2,700mAh) * AA Nicad batteries: 1.5 seconds minimum (1,000mAh) * AA Alkaline batteries: 2.3 seconds minimum (1.5V) * AA Lithium batteries: 2.5 seconds minimum (1.5V) * AA Oxyride batteries: 2.1 seconds minimum (1.5V) # Flash Capacity:(*7)(*8) * AA NiMH batteries: approximately 320 flashes (2,700mAh) * AA Nicad batteries: approximately 120 flashes (1,000mAh) * AA Alkaline batteries: approximately 220 flashes (1.5V) * AA Lithium batteries: approximately 380 flashes (1.5V) * AA Oxyride batteries: approximately 250 flashes (1.5V) # (*6) Oxyride battery voltage is in excess of 1.7V and is fine for firing strobe. However when batteries are still fresh, and the Focus Light is turned on, the sudden high voltage will shorten the Focus Light bulb life. Refer to written cautions on battery packaging warning of shortened bulb life when using these batteries. To prevent shortened bulb life, do not use Focus Light until strobe has been fired at least 20 times at full power. This will reduce the voltage down to conventional battery levels. # (*7) Full strobe output at 30 second intervals with both Focus Light and Advanced Cancel Circuit OFF, at 25C (77F) degrees. * Tested with following batteries: Nickel Metal Hydride: SANYO Twicell 2700 Series, HR-3UG, 1.2V, 2,700mAh * Nicad: GP 100AAKC, KR6, 1.2V, 1,000mAh * Alkaline: Maxcell ALKALINE ACE, LR6(K), 1.5V * Lithium 1.5V: FUJIFULM/Energizer LITHIUM, FR6, 1.5V * Oxyride: Panasonic Oxyride, ZR6Y, 1.5V So. it looks like it's only the Panasonic batteries that can cause an issue - I won't be picking a high voltage battery now! Cheers, James.

Hi All, I've pretty much convinced myself (if not my bank manager!) that I need an Inon Z-240 strobe but was just wondering what's the best rechargeable battery that everyone's come across for holding their charge? Cheers, James.

Hi, Thanks both for the reply. Interesting comments on the D2000, but I couldn't find it *that* much cheaper than the Z-240 - cheapest I found was at divervision.com, 499 for the d2000 and 669 for the Z-240. Anywhere else that's cheaper?! Thanks, James.

Hi All, I'm off to Malaysia for 2 weeks in August (can't believe I've had to wait a whole year before diving again ) and currently I've got a Canon S80 with the Ikelite housing. Whilst it took good pictures on my last trip to Sharm I feel there's much more to be had out of the camera with a proper strobe. From previous threads, I'm thinking the Inon Z-240 1) because of the positive feedback, size, weight, and standard battery capacity, and 2) it'll be future-proof if (when cash allows) I can upgrade to a proper u/w DSLR system. 2 q's if I may for the experts: 1) Any other options worth recommending (Ikelite strobes obviously come to mind)? 2) I've already bought the Ikelite #9523.31 release tray so what else would I need to get the whole ball joint et al setup in hand? Many thanks all - can't wait to get back in the water Cheers, James.

Hi All, Just fyi, there seems to be a problem with the initial batch of these housings, here's a cross post from another forum: --- We found this control problem after an initial shipment had left Ikelite. The front office is in the process of contacting our dealers regarding this issue. The good news is that the fix is an easy one. We will send you a small kit to remove the wheel control and install an arm type control. Call Ikelite customer service direct at 317-923-4523, or send your request along with contact and postal info to repair@ikelite.com. If you have any additional questions, feel free to e-mail me at brett@ikelite.com. Sorry for the inconvenience. Brett Foster / Ikelite ---- cheers, James.

Hi DesertEagle, Here's a couple of shots - go easy on me, i'm a total amateur with a ton to learn Cheers, James.

Hi All, I recently got back from a nice (if v. hot!!) time in Sharm where I got to test out my Ikelite S80 housing for the first time. I must say, build quality is really good - definitely feels like it'll stay together! The problem I had with it though is that I couldn't use the knob to adjust the scroll wheel ( so I can change shutter speed, etc) since, at anything more than 10m, the rubber grommit was pressing too hard into the camera's wheel itself which meant that the camera was constantly looping through all the settings Seems like a bit of a design flaw here as I would've thought it better to make this spring loaded so that you had to push the button in to make contact with the wheel, and then rotate. The only way I could see of fixing it would be to bevel off some of the rubber off the housing wheel or to pack some plastic against the upright nipple to stop the camera pressing into the rubber grommit so much but didnt try either technique due to 1) cutting too much of the rubber off and 2) nothing strong and slim enough to place inbetween the nipple and the camera itself. The other problem I had was with the zoom as this had the unfortunate issue of sticking when trying to adjust, so to get the zoom to stop you had to rotate the housing wheel in the opposite direction. Again, I would've though some sort of spring-loaded system would be better here so that it self-centres back to a neutral position... Has anyone else had these problems and, if so, how did you get round them??? Other than that, it was good fun trying out the different settings, even though it is only a P&S (and definitely not a P.O.S. ) Thanks! James.

oh, it's supposed to work with: OLYMPUS C-5060wide , Olympus E-1, Olympus E-300 Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom,E-500, EVOLT E-500 ，EVOLT E-300 CAMEDIA C-5060 Wide Zoom , CAMEDIA C-8080 Wide Zoom Cheers, James.

Hi All, Due to the recent demise of my C-8080 I now have 2 batteries & charger that I no longer need. They're basically brand new (housing flooded on 1st trip with camera...) so just name your price and they're yours!! Oh, I'm based in the UK too. Cheers, James.

of course i meant quandry james.

Was looking at the same quandy myself, ended up ordering the Canon S80 instead. A620 was also interesting but prefered the smaller size of the S80. The mixed reviews put me off the two you mention but I've seen nothing but praise for the two Canons. Good luck! Cheers, James.

Interesting, I'm looking into exactly the same scenario. I'm err'ing on the side of the S80 & the E900 but have been put off by the latter's bad purple fringing. not having used RAW mode before (let alone photoshop!), is it seriously worth the option of having Vs jpeg? the S80 does have an underwater mode which granted is going to be no way as flexible but that's the only limiting factor I see of the Canon. such a quandry as no compact has all the features and quality you want, no matter how much you want to spend!!! cheers, james.

well the company i bought the housing off have replaced a couple of bits n pieces off the housing and it's still leaking so we've come to the agreement that they'll hold a credit note for me whilst Ikelite figure out what the problem is with the housing - at least that gives me time to figure out which camera next to go for, and good of them to do that too. the new sony looks good so i'm looking forward to seeing what kind of reviews it gets in the near future. cheers all, james.

Hi, It wasn't my fault which I'm quite relieved about to be honest. The shop I bought it from is currently testing in a pressure chamber to figure out where the leak is coming from. Just v. suprised/disappointed that a brand new housing would fail from a company I thought of as v. reputable Have been thinking about taking it up with them directly to see what they say but I don't know whether that's worth me time - any thoughts?! Cheers, James.

Hi All, After a rather terrible time with my now-defunct C-8080 & Ikelite housing (yes it leaked after only the 2nd dive, but it wasn't my fault!!) I'm in the arena for buying another camera. Looking around there doesn't seem to be much new in the 8mp market apart from the Fuji S9000 & the Panasonic DMC-FZ30, both of which don't have u/w housings for now. Is there any other cameras people could recommend around this sort of quality/price range? Of course I could go for another C-8080 but since it's discontinued I'm pretty nervous about going down this avenue due to be being relatively old technology. Cheers, James.