whatisea

I am selling some ULCS strobe arm parts on eBay. 2 dovetail bases and angled ball adapters at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=330131225644&rd=1&rd=1 ://http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...;rd=1&rd=1 ://http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...;rd=1&rd=1 1 dovetail base and straight ball adapter at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...p;rd=1&rd=1 2 clamps at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...p;rd=1&rd=1

A Nigerian scammer screwed up my auction (I'm not kidding). The Fuji S2 camera has been relisted at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...p;rd=1&rd=1 The new auction ends Monday night, April 2nd.

The auctions for these items end Monday evening (3/26)

SOLD!!!

I am selling my Fujifilm Finepix S2Pro DSLR Camera and Aquatica Housing if anyone is interested. They are on eBay (use the following links): - Housing\ - Camera I am buying a Nikon D200 and Aquatica housing!!!!

I just bought my wife a Fuji F30 for x-mass/haunuka/kwanzaa. Anyone using one of these underwater? Any tips/tricks you can share? It is just a p&s, but at just 1/10 sec, the shutter lag (or lack thereof) is pretty damn impressive.

Ebay cancelled my listing for the Ikelite DS-125 strobes for having a link to my website on it (see details below). The strobes have been relisted. Here is the url for the new listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7618865281 Here is what eBay said about canceling my original auction: your listing was in violation of eBay's Inappropriate Links policy and has been removed from eBay. We have credited all associated fees to your account and notified eBay users associated with the transaction that it has been cancelled. We would like to take this opportunity to let you know what part of your listing is not permitted. Your listing(s) contains the following information: You can see lots of example images taken with these strobes on my website at: www.whatisea.com. Sorry for the inconvenience, Chris

For a long time now I have been struggling with this question, so maybe some of you can steer me in the right direction... There are times when I have trouble getting the desired dynamic range out of my camera. This applies more to topside photography, but does have some applications in the wet. Here are 2 examples... When there is bright sun in part of the picture and another picture is in the shade I have troube getting both into the useable range.... either the bright areas are blown out and the shaddows are correct, or the shaddows are black and the bright areas are properly exposed. In this situation, what can be done to minimize dynamic range? When the sky is overcast I often end up with pictures that have a uniform exposure throughought. They appear very flat and almost monochrome (I mean that figuratively). In this situation, is there anything that can be done to maximize dynamic range? I understand that in some situations, there may be no good solution, but is there anything that can minimize these issues? camera settings? filters? etc.? Thanks in advance for any help....

I'm selling a couple of Ikelite DS-125 strobes with chargers and spare batteries on eBay if anyone is interested. Check it out at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7618865281

Ryan from ReefPhotoVideo had a Z240 to display at his booth at Beneath the Sea this weekend. I understand it is exactly the same as the Z2000Wn except with increased power. Exact same features. If I owned Z220's I don't think I'd spend the money to upgrade though I must say the diffence between the 2000 and the 240 is signficiant enough to be worth some money.

The purists may lynch me, but I say start with the 18-70mm kit lens. It is quite a versatile and good lens. Good to very good optics. It can go behind a dome port to get reasonably wide (though not super wide) shots. It can go behind a flat port for smaller objects. You'll need a diopter for the dome port anyway so put it behind a flat port with the diopter and you have a macro zoom lens. My progression was: 18-70 Nikon with flat and dome ports 70-300 Nikon (cheap ass top side super zoom... not great, but cheap) 105 Nikon macro... It's like diving with a telescope 60 Nikon macro... hasn't been wet yet )-: 12-24 Nikon... just arrived today!!!!! 12-14 Nikon is $899 at B&H vs. $499 for the Tokina. $400 difference, not the $500 everyone keeps quoting. Not a huge difference but significant enough to factor into my decision. Definitiely some barrel distortion and soft corners with the Tokina. Not bad, but you can see it when you look for it.

See aquatica's lens chart for your answer... at least for the nikon lens: http://www.aquatica.ca/database/lens_charts/a_d70.pdf You will need the 8" dome port and the 18456 port extension (that is a different extension than the 18-70's 18453). I just ordered a Nikon 12-24 from B&H on Monday for $899 with 2 day shipping for $18. So, the price difference is closer to $400 than $500. That's for an imported/ grey market lens, but that's still better than buying on eBay (domestic lens was $839 I think). I couldn't find any definitive comparisons between the Nikon and the Tokina. The Tokina has pretty good optics but it has some barrel distortion and slightly soft corners. I believe the Nikon is sharper in the corners and has less distortion. Is the extra quality worth $400?.... I guess it all depends what you are trying to accomplish.

This whole subject really just comes down to how much money you have to spend, I think... For 99% of non-professional photographers, the difference in the quality of the pics they can get with a D2x versus a D50 is very small. Sure, more megapixels are nice, but only if you're cropping or printing posters. That is a great point, however I think the longer product cycle is also going to make new DSLR users take a serious look at buying used gear. The cost of getting into a DSLR is pretty intimidating once you start looking at buing a half dozen lenses, ports, extensions, zoom gears, etc. I was looking to buy a D70 for my first camera, but ended up with a pre-loved S2 and 4 good lenses with all the ports, extensions, gears, etc. for less than I could have gotten into a D70 with one lense for. And, the S2, though old, is still way more camera than I can handle. This will help the equipment we already have hold it's value a lot better, making it easier for us to upgrade once we truly grow out of our current gear.

Hey Jean, I've been looking for a good WA zoom to go with my S2/Aquatica. I was looking at buying the Nikon 12-24 and 10.5 to cover the entire range. I really hadn't considered the Sigma 10-20 until this post. Can you give me any more info on it? How does it compare in terms of distortion (both topside and underwater)? Which port extension/zoom gear would I need for this lens? Thanks!

I agree with the others that the housing isn't going to make much difference in the quality of your pictures, however there are some reasons you should look into upgrading your housing now. #1, ports, port extensions, zoom gears, and focus gears are not cheap. If you are going ot change housings, you want to do it before you invest a lot of money into these items. Additionally, you can keep these items even when you change cameras/housings in the future, so there is a definite advantage to picking a housing manfuacturer and sticking with them. #2, the biggest difference I have seen in as you go up in price for the housings is how well and how easily the controlls funcion. I started with an Ike and loved it, but sometimes you have to look through the housing and fiddle with the control knob to line it up with the switch on the camera and actuate that switch. I recently bought a used S2 and Aquatica housing and I can't believe how well all of the controlls function. If you line the camera up right when putting it in, all of the controlls just function... not having to screw around with them to get them to line up. Also, the shutter release has much more feel to it. I once saw a friend's Subal housing and couldn't believe how nice the controls on it were... they seemed just about as refined as the controls on the camera iteself... sweet! #3, Chicks dig aluminum housings B)