Longimanaus

This is a complete professional underwater kit. No expense spared. There are $3,000 worth of Nikon lenses and camera in this kit alone. Hugyfot housings are the best on the market and built to last. The rig is in terrific shape and has been well-looked after. I have dived it several hundred times all over the world and never had a leak. The Hugyfot preparatory vacuum and leak alarm system is the best system on the market. An alarm sounds if vacuum pressure is lost so that the camera can be surfaced before water ingress. - Hugyfot D700 Aluminum (HFN-D700) underwater camera housing with flood alarm, vacuum fitting, and 45 degree view finder - Nikon D700 FX SLR camera with two batteries (compact flash card compatible) with original box and manuals - Go Pro Hero 3 camera with two housings (including touchscreen back), remote control, back mount screen, camera top mount and suction cup mount - Backscatter Flip 3.1 filters for the Go Pro - Hahnel Giga T Pro II Remote Control - Zen DP 230, 230mm Dome - Nikon Nikkor 28-300mm 1:3.5-5.6G lens with original shade, dust bag, box and manuals - Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8 lens (pre-VR) with original shade, box, shade and manuals - Nikon AFS Nikkor 60mm 1:2.8G ED lens with original shade, box, shade and manuals - Nikon AFS Nikkor 16-35mm 1:4G ED rectilinear lens with original shade, box, shade and manuals - Tokina At-X Fisheye 10-17 F3.5-4.5 DX (hood modified for Nikon FX standard) - 1.4x Tenko Pro 300 DGX Teleplus - Manfroto Carbon Fibre tripod MKBFRC4-BH - Manfroto 390 MM394 Monopod - Two Inon Z240 strobes with protective neoprene jackets, red night pilot light filters and full daytime filters - Four backscatter ultralight arms and hand adjustment clamps with tuned buoyancy foam - Sola Photo 1200 light (three way top mount) - All Hugyfot ports, fittings and gears for Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, Nikon 105mm, Nikon 60mm and Nikon 16-35mm rectilinear lenses - Comprehensive assortment of spare o-rings, o-ring grease, desiccants, lens papers, maintenance tools and battery chargers - Four sets of eneloop rechargeable batteries with charger - spare housing batteries and vacuum pump batteries - Thinktank padded roll-on luggage suitcase - Lowepro shoulder sling day bag I am not interested in breaking up the rig and selling parts. Asking AUD$4,000. Can organise domestic or international shipping at your cost from New South Wales, Australia. Call mobile: +61 407 222 705 Private Seller.

One other thing. The challenge I gave myself was shooting a manta and getting the top/bottom lighitng balanced on a frontal shot. Near the surface, the sunlight will dapple their back beautifully, but the underbelly can be dark so I spent some time trying to get my strobes to fire up from beneath the dome at just the right power. I did this with white pointers in South Australia. You will have mantas for hours, so you can get plenty of practice. Once I got the lighting balanced, I never got one of the animals to swim directly at me because they start to ascend from a few meteres out to fly over your head. The closer to the surface you are, the further out they start their ascent glide path. Good luck! Matt

I went on the Nautilus Explorer trip. I don't think I removed my 16-35mm the entire time. Maybe only for the Tokina 10-17mm. www.matthewramaley.com

How do you get the camera from one housing to the other when underwater? Big smile. Nice work. Better than selling the "old housing and camera."

One last thing- the 105mm would be too tight in my opinion. You need something a bit wider so that you can spot the critter in the view finder amongst all the things glowing in the water and steer them into the epicentre I described above. The freedom is good to have. This would get frustrating on the 105mm at the f-stops I was using. Matt

Using the advice I got here, I had two set ups. One was my 10-17mm on a 1.4x TC and the other was just my plain old 60mm. No diopters at all. The 10-17mm with 1.4x TC did not work well on tight focus (the combo was too slow) because I found that the best camera set up was my Z240s on full power, ISO 200, 1/200 and f13. If I were using a bigger f-stop the 10-17mm/1.4x TC would have worked well- but I had too much light so bigger f-stops started lighting the water. The sweet spot is governed by making the animals glow without blowing out their internal structures while achieving black water. Instead, I quickly changed to the 60mm and kept it "pre-focused" for critters about 20cm from my flat port (Wetpixel advice) which was the epicentre of where I had my pilot and focus lights. This was a good trick I picked up from Matt D' Avella of Jack's Diving Locker. Put your hand out and manually focus on your finger when it is brightest (when it is at the epicentre). When the critters come by, you steer the epicentre to them and then when they glow, depress the shutter halfway and let the 60mm/camera fine tune the focus. By pre-focussing, you prevent hunting (especially when the Copepods start to swarm). Only subtle adjustments to f-stop needed. Leave the speed alone. Matt told me during the dive briefing to start at 1/160 and f15 or so with the maximum strobe and focus light output possible. The critters are not that swift so he said ISO 200 is good. He recommended adjusting from there, but not adjusting speed unless you run out of f-stop. He said to prefer f stop so that you don't start chasing your tail. He does this with his video- he just winds iris around using the maximum light he can take down with him. We will definitely do this dive again on our next trip back from the east. It is too easy to duck into Kona and chill out for a few days on the tail end of a big dive trip. The dive is very easy and comfortable. Just a quick stroll from the hotel and a short van ride to the boat. The deep water is 4-5 miles off the coast, so you are there and back in a few minutes. We ended up chartering the whole boat (paid for four spots rather than just two) to make sure it went out both nights. This meant we had a relaxed time with Matt and the crew who are all experienced photographers/videographers. Plenty of great advice on how to have a great dive and take good shots.

I think that I might have fixed the drop down with Google Chrome issue described above. Anyone else have an issue that is using Chrome (I have heard there are lots of issues with Chrome)? Seems to work fine for all of the Apple product users..... I uploaded my Blackwater dive pics from Kona to the same site. If it were not for the advice I got here, I would have had a challenging few dives. I had the right set up and dropped the shutter to create some gorgeous frames. Enjoy. Matt

Just posted my Hawaii blackwater dive shots to my website. www.matthewramaley.com Many thanks to all of you blackwater veterans on Wetpixel that gave me advice before this trip so that I was able to get these shots. Two great nights of diving. Having the intel to set up properly before the trip made all of the difference in the world. Enjoy the pics. Matt

I have finally had time to edit and upload my shots from our trip to San Benedicto, Socorro and Roca Partida Islands Mexico. As we headed out into the current at Roca Partida for a safety stop after encounters with 7 species of sharks, a school of yellow fin, being buzzed by Wahoo and Cobia, and three different Mantas, we thought we were finishing one of the best dives of our lives when out of the blue a humpback mum and her two month old calf swam by- then stopped to hang out. Safe to say that was the best dive of my life- what a dive site. Enjoy the shots. www.matthewramaley.com Off to work on my Hawaii blackwater and volcano/lava shots. More to come... Matt

Stunning mate. I love the iridescence on the sailfish body. The contrast line on the bait fish leading edges makes the shots.

Hmmm. That is disapointing. I thought they were made from real ninjas.

Have you considered hanging onto your MKII and just upgrading the strobes to Inon Z4s? This way, you can spend your "savings" from a used housing on better strobes. The strobes will likely carry forward to your next rig in the future (including all of the connecting kit). The MKII is an awesome camera and many experts will tell you to hang onto it if you already have one vs jumping to the MKIII (even pick up another MKII second-hand). The MKII is one of those game-changers (especially the video) that will last for quite some time. Just went through the MKII vs MKIII debate last year. If you did not already have the camera, then more people will push you toward the MKIII (based on my polling experience).

Great reply and thanks for the link to Alex's article. Now I understand the physics behind the reason the white pointers' noses bumped my dome before I thought they were too close! I think that I am going to pick up a 1.4TC and give it a go. I like the option of this type of shooting over tighter macro with my 105 and 60. I remember Alex commenting that to him, places like Lembeh are a bit more about the bigger picture (what is around the interesting critter). I reckon its a slippery slope, so it won't be long before I buy a minidome....

SInce I have gone from lighting to lenses, I thought I would bring this query over to this forum: Two weeks until we leave for our Socorro-Hawaii trip. I read everyone's posts over the last few years on Blackwater diving set ups (twice). Great info. I am very happy to have this library of info to study beforehand. I am on the fence between using my 60 or my 10-17 with a 1.4x TC. Query for you on the Tokina-TC set up: If I get a 1.4TC and use it with my shaved 10-17, can I use my 230mm dome? Normally I use the 10-17 with this dome, but I am wondering if the optical maths don't work if I add the TC. I have a 35mm extension ring so I can put the outer glass on the 10-17 in the same place after adding the TC as before. Trying to avoid buying a minidome since I don't have that many opportunities to use it. Thanks for your thoughts.

Two weeks until we leave for our Socorro-Hawaii trip. I read everyone's posts over the last few years on Blackwater diving set ups (twice). Great info. I am very happy to have this library of info to study beforehand. I am on the fence between using my 60 or my 10-17 with a 1.4x TC. Query for you on the Tokina-TC set up: If I get a 1.4TC and use it with my shaved 10-17, can I use my 230mm dome? Normally I use the 10-17 with this dome, but I am wondering if the optical maths don't work if I add the TC. I have a 35mm extension ring so I can put the outer glass on the 10-17 in the same place after adding the TC as before. Trying to avoid buying a minidome since I don't have that many opportunities to use it. Thanks for your thoughts.

I shot the 105 E and found it to be perfect for Lembeh. Shot this for a full week. Did not need the 60. All of the Lembeh shots on my webpage were with my older generation 105. Dunno what you Canon equivalent is (without VR micro autofocus image stabilisation- these systems hunt and drive you nuts). A good focus light is a key piece of kit.

Wetpixelers: I just added a page from a trip to Tasmania. We dove with Eaglehawk Neck Divers around the Lanterns on the Tasman Peninsula. If you have not had a dive in the giant kelp forests- do it because it is a beautiful experience and they are disappearing quickly. Especially, if you have a dry suit. We had 14 degree water in the middle of summer. Brrr. Incredible experience- like walking through the forest after a fresh snow. Very peaceful and quiet. You can see where Ridley Scott and James Cameron's set designers get their inspiration! Very Avatar. I also have pages up from diving with Andrew Fox in the Neptunes and from Damai I in E/NE Indo and Lembeh with Critters@Lembeh (Damai: Triton Bay West Papua to Halmahera). Enjoy my website. Matt Off to the Socorro Islands and the Hawaii Black Water dives in two weeks.

I use the 2 TB Lacie rugged for on the road and they take a beating quite well. I use the Lacie 6TB thunderbolt dual disk for home storage. Very fast and you can work on Final Cut from them. At some point, bulk storage will go solid state and cheap. This will give us a giant leap forward in reliability.

Try Wix.com They make it very easy to set up websites from their templates and they have commerce templates too.

I recently did a bonehead move and tried to install Lightroom 4 on my older Mac desktop without reading the readme file that plainly exlains that I needed an OS upgrade for it to work. The installer worked for 30 seconds, errored and then quit. When I tried to start Photoshop in CS5, I am now consistently getting an error. I tried looking at the error report to figure out what is going wrong, but it is not that intuitive. My query is how can I repair Photoshop's corrupted files without doing an uninstall/reinstall (assuming that a file or two was corrupted by the attempted Lightroom install)? Or, how to I save my settings? I reckon I just need to put a file on the side that has all of my settings, keywords, etc and then drop it back into the correct directory once I have reinstalled. Many thanks in advance for your help. Matt

I have this lens on my D700 and I use the Zen 230mm dome. I have a hard time finding a fault with this rig. Perfect for large pelagics, walls, schools and very sharp in low light. I find this lens very useful when I run the ISO up to 400 and try to shoot sub 1/100 (for saturation) with the tightest f stop I can manage (low light shots of pelagics just below the surface). I am after that rich blue background. The corners are sharp, although I have not tried a smaller dome. I am very happy with the fast focus in low light too. No hunting at all. I don't find the zoom to be an issue. Most of the subjects you will drop this lens on for will be within a few metres so you can pick your focal points and get super sharp results. This means you can zoom and crop in post-production (heresy to some). Its an expensive lens but worth every penny both topside and underwater. There is a reason Ken Rockwell has it in his top 5.

Glass dome solution (aluminum "scratches"): Didn't have time to read the whole thread, so apologies if this is a repeat of another post. Thought I would offer it anyway- just in case. I was shark cage diving in South Australia with my Zen 230mm dome kitted up and had my rig through the cage's camera port. Every so often one of the huge South Australian white pointers got a little too close so I had to retreat into the full safety of the cage in a hurry. I had heard stories of sharks squashing cameras against the cage or having a test taste, so decided to pull my kit "indoors". A few times I bumped the dome on the aluminum cage which left a mark. When one of the marks was right in the center of the dome, my heart sank. When I got out of the water and grabbed my Colgate regular toothpaste from the cabin, and started rubbing. 30 mins later I had removed the aluminum "mark" on the glass and was delighted to find out it had not actually left a scratch. Good news. Chris, one of the Divemasters, suggested I use "Jiff" which had "microcrystals" instead of toothpaste because it worked faster and would not scratch the glass. He said that this happens to most of the people with big glass domes. I tried it and it worked a charm. I just used my leather palmed dive glove as rubbing cloth and rubbed off the aluminum marks. Very good outcome. I reckon this product is called Softscrub in the states. Not sure, but it worked well and I have a perfect dome once again. It only worked since the aluminum is so soft compared to the optical glass- no scratches, just aluminum colored marks. Good news considering we had 7 different white pointers in 3 days (I was more terrified of the 13 degree water than the 5m males)!

I have the Hugy system with the Hugy check (vacuum and leak detector). In the last 60 dives the vacuum system has saved my camera on two occasions where I had a problem getting my Zen dome properly seated directly to the hugy housing (operator error as I was trying to get the shades at a 45 degree angle without using an extension ring- specific dive that needed this set up). I could not get the vacuum to pump down and get a green "go" light. The second time was related to some water that had gotten under an o ring I had out for a clean and it could not seat properly- same thing, no pump down or green light. Second save. The leak detector saved me when I was opening the hosing during a short surface interval to change lenses and a few drops of water ran down the inside of the housing. The audible alarm went off and I was able to safely blow the drops out so I did not have a fogging problem later (doubt they would have hurt the camera). Lots of detail, but I just wanted to illustrate that these things happen. It does not matter how careful that you are. Most of the pros say that a flood is not a question of "if", rather "when" so wear the risk. I reckon my vacuum and leak detector system have already paid for themselves a few times over. While i am a big Hugy fan (after using one for some time now) the reason I went with them is that I wanted this sort of protection in a well-manufactured housing. By the time I added up the costs of putting these system(s) into competing housings, the Hugy price was compelling. Good luck.

Good tip. I have done 5 Sydney to Hobarts through some nasty roaring forties weather and know the importance of being physically connected to the trip home when in the wet. The tether will be interesting underwater. What was the water temp like? I'll be on my way back from drysuit diving and I was wondering if this is overkill or is the current cold enough so I can avoid bringing a 5 mil? What strength of current did you have? Can you get away with slower shutter speeds to saturate the colour or will this cause blur on the swimming bits of squids, etc? I have been looking for the meta on great blackwater shots to get a feel for settings.

Great info. Its always helpful to have this type of advice in advance for planning purposes. I appreciate the time and consideration. I am leaning toward a 60 with a 1200. Your feedback on the critter movement is a key datapoint in this decision. I'll bring my muck stick to discourage shot poachers! Its a proven very effective behaviour control device.