ornate_wrasse

Thanks for directing me to the insurance thread. There is lots of useful information on insurance in that thread. Ellen

Hi, When I used a Nik V, I did not bother to get insurance. But since my new rig (Subal ND70 + Dome Port +GS Viewfinder +Focus Light) costs over $4,000 I think I will opt for insurance. It will be arriving soon and I will be taking it to Coz and Florida within the next two months. Fortunately, my Nik V never flooded (knock on wood), but I want to be covered in case there is a flood using my new housing. Not sure if the Beginner Forum is the right place to ask this question. Please direct me to the proper place on Wetpixel if the information I am asking is already available. What insurance do you recommend? Thanks for the help. Ellen

Larry, Those images are very nice. Thanks for sharing examples of both the 10.5 and the Sigma 15. You must have been very close to that nurse shark. In the shots I've taken with my 10.5 topside, it never ceases to amaze me just how close I am to what I'm shooting with that amazing lens. Ellen

Hi all, I'll be taking my D70S to Cozumel next month and plan to use it for the very first time uw (my Subal housing should be arriivng any day now). I own a 10.5, 60 and 105 Macro lenses for uw use. It was pointed out to me by the workshop instructor that there is a gap between the 10.5 and the other lenses for coverage. I'm not sure whether I want to buy a Tokina 10-17 zoom lens or a Prime lens as mentioned above so I want to hold off on buying a lens to bridge the gap. I was considering renting a Nikon 16mm or a Sigma 15mm lens for this trip. The cost of the rental is a big huge negative, but OTOH, if I don't like the lens, it will save me $$$ and the trouble of having to sell it. What do you think about renting a lens to bridge the gap between my WA 10.5 and the other lenses? I'd also be interested in hearing what lenses worked best for you in Coz. Tanks! Ellen

Hi Dave, I have had incredibly good luck buying used Nikon equipment from Nikonians Go to the "For Sale" forum. You will often find prices well below what you would pay for retail. I have not had a bad experience yet and have purchased everything from my DSLR to lenses to a Lowepro camera bag. Better than purchasing camera equipment from Ebay, IMHO. They also have specific forums for different cameras (including one dedicated to the D200). Experts are always there should you need to get an answer to a question you may have. Ellen

Congratulations! That is quite an honor for your image to be on the cover. But the model doesn't look like she is actually underwater

Congratulations! Click here to see winning images And to think I almost bought the Nexus housing from Simon Ellen

John, The suggestion James made about a used housing system is right on. I own a D70S and it was the camera I moved up to, like you, after using the Nik V. I considered several housings, but just recently purchased a Subal housing (ND70) for my camera. It cost me $1400 (note that does not include ports) for the used housing instead of $2800 new. Another poster on wetpixel recently sold his Nexus housing for the D70 on Ebay and that was a good buy, too, for some lucky D70 user. Ellen

Mike, Are you talking about the switch on the lens that allows you to put it into manual from auto? Where is the gear located that allows you to put it into manual? I'm geting the impression from what you and others are saying that it is very possible to function without the manual focus gear on the port. I think I'll just order the plain old FP90 and take my chances. When I get the 105 (not sure yet whether it will be the VR-less version or the VR version of the lens), I'll cross that bridge of which port to buy. By then, hopefully I'll have some experience with the 60mm lens on which to draw. I'll probably use the D70S and Subal housing locally (Puget Sound) before I dive in tropical waters and I think the 60mm lens would be the best lens for the cold water environment I'll be in. Tanks! Ellen

Hi all, I'm making the final decisions on deciding what ports to buy for my soon-to-be-acquired Subal housing. Currently I own the 10.5mm and 60mm lens for uw. I'm buying the dome port for the 10.5. My big dilemma is what port to purchase for macro. Although I don't currently own the 105 mm lens, I plan on purchasing it very soon. The shop I'm purchasing the housing from said that most uw photographers use AF for the 60mm lens, but that most use Manual Focus for the 105mm lens as it tends to hunt focus. I'm debating between purchasing the FP90, flat port at about $279 and going with the more expensive port allowing Manual Focus costing about $300 more than the FP90. The rational is that, although I would not need it now for the 60mm lens presumably, I WOULD need it later for the 105 and adding an extension would be a lot cheaper than buying a completely different port later on when I acquire the 105mm lens. A little background is that I'm a former Nik V user and am relatively new to Auto Focus. I have never used an AF lens uw. So, I don't really know what works and what doesn't work when trying to capture images uw as far as focus goes. Would you buy the FP90 now for use with the 60mm lens or would you buy the more expensive port that allows MF in anticipation you would need it with the 105mm lens? Thanks for helping me think this thing through to the end. Ellen

Votre webpage est magnifique! Quelle ville au sud de la France vous etes ne? J'ai visite au sud de France. Merci pour les photos des seahorses (en anglais!). Helene

Where did you ever get the idea that I think it's unreasonable for the increased cost to be passed on?? I don't think it is unreasonable at all and would fully support a shop who passed on the costs that they had incurred. I merely inquired if I was out of luck. I talked to the shop earlier this morning and straightened everything out. I am completely satisfied with the way they handled everything. It turns out that the item was in stock when I called earlier. The shop then sold what they had left of the older inventory and, consequently, I have to pay the higher price for the new item which,I found out this morning, will be in stock by the end of week. I also found out that some of the housings went up in price by $1,000!! That's quite a price jump, IMHO. So, all in all, I don't have too much to complain about Thanks all for your responses. Ellen

Hi, I'm not going to name the shop. However, a couple weeks ago I inquired about a housing for my camera. I'm buying the whole package (Subal housing, GS VIewfinder, Dome Port, Flat Port, etc) which comes to over $4,000. When I asked, I was quoted $1,135 for the Dome Port. It was on the telephone and was not written. I offered to send money to hold the housing, but was told it was not necessary. When I called back to finalize the deal and to let them know what specific items I'd decided on, a time span of about two weeks at most, the price of the Dome Port jumped to $1,298. I asked if they would honor the earlier quote and was told no. The price to the shop had increased and they had to pass it on. Am I out of luck here? Also, I thought that the items were in stock and I'd get them soon, but was told they are ordered from Germany and take quite a while to arrive. Is this the norm? How long have others waited for their ports to arrive from Germany? One more thing, the package quote did not include o-ring grease for the port and housing o-rings. Is special grease required for Subal housing o-rings? Thanks. Ellen

Interestingly enough, I was able to use the 85 f/1.8 lens (Manual Focus) this past weekend to photograph my daughter at the State Choir Championships. Used the lens with an F3, both lens and camera were borrowed from a friend. I will be able to see the results when I pick up the film. Talk about a different era, it's been a long time since I've had to wait until I pick up the film to see the results! Thanks for the tip on the 105 VR fitting into the port. Ellen

Thanks. You have confirmed what I suspected. It's good to hear it from a pro with way more experience than I have. I still may purchase this lens if I get into Macro, but will confine its use to topside only. As for now, I'm shopping for a 105 mm lens with Autofocus capabilities. Still haven't decided whether to get the VR version or not. Ellen

I've been spending some time in another board which talks a lot about different Nikon lens and debates which classic lenses are the best. Not much different from over here, it's just that the subject matter is different It got me to thinking about using this lens underwater. It would clearly have disadvantages, but I wonder if it makes any sense at all to get this lens. I am assuming it's a manual focus lens and that alone would make it difficult to get shots of other than stationary targets. Is my thinking correct in that it would need some sort of focus gear so the focus could be adjusted? Feedback requested! Thanks for the opinions. Ellen

Hi James, I have finally made a decision after careful consideration of the options. It was not an easy decision. I decided to get the used Subal housing. At $1,400, I figured it was a bargain and not much different in price from that of the new Ikelite housing. I didn't check out the Nexus housing on Ebay because of an unrelated problem I'm currently having with Ebay. I got sent some phony Emails from Ebay purporting to ask questions about an item I had for sale on Ebay (I currently have no items for sale on Ebay). I got over half a dozen of these emails. Even though I did not go to any links, they ended up taking control of my computer, including setting up new folders on my email program. To make a long story short, I can't use Ebay at the moment. Ebay shut down access to my account after "suspicious activity". My computer tech recommended I close my Ebay account permanently. Thanks for alerting me to the listing. Now I need to make decisions regarding purchasing the GS viewfinder (at $1,250 ouch!) and ports for my lenses. Fortunately, there are already two strobe bulkheads on the housing. Thanks again, James. Ellen

I've narrowed my choice of housing down to three for my D70S. OK, to be honest, Ikelite is under consideration, too! The Aquatica housing complete with all ports required for the lenses I currently own would cost about $3,000 and would be purchased new from a dealer. The Nexus is the one advertised in the classifieds right now. It is used. I just found out about a used Subal ND70 available from a dealer and I'm getting really excited about this housing as it is small and lightweight, two features that are very important to me. IMHO, buying used from a dealer is different from buying used from a private party and can be a little less risky. And, I posted about this on another uw photo board, and they pointed out ,almost to a man, that it's not a good desicison to spend beaucoup bucks on an older camera such as the D70S and recommended I go for the Ikelite, something I hadn't considered before my post on that board. I've heard great things about the Subal ND70, but, if I'm not mistaken, there's only one strobe connection on this housing. Not sure if that would seriously limit me. My prior uw photography was using double strobes on the Nik V. The main thing is I just don't want to blow big bucks on this purchase, but want to get a decent lightweight housing for my D70S. I really wish they had housings available in my area that I could try out to see which feels best in my hands. As it stands now, that's not an option. So I have to go with recommendations of others and the results of my own research. I'd be interested to hear the opinions of others, especially opinions about the Subal ND70. Ellen

Good points, Mike. Thanks for the ultra-fast reply. I think I'll let Tim know I'm interested in that option. Ellen

I've heard about the henrichs i-ttl converter. Since I'm buying the housing from Tim Rock, guess I'll have to ask him about the option of adding this converter to the Aquatica housing package. Is it a good idea to get the converter when purchasing the housing? Tanks!

I'm now shooting a digital SLR (D70S) after shooting a Nik V for a few years. Don't have a housing for it yet, but planning on purchasing an Aquatica housing for it very soon in preparation for a trip to Wakatobi next year. I haven't used my Ike SS 200 for a few years but am planning on using it with my D70S (shooting in manual) so I sent it in to Ikelite for maintenance. Ikelite's Repair Dept first sent me an email asking me what housing I was going to use. I replied that I was going to be using an Aquatica housing. Then they sent me a second email asking me if the Aquatica housing was manual. I was surprised by this question, since I thought that only the Ikelite housings had TTL in the housing. I plan on shooting manual with the Aquatica housing. I have no immediate plans to get digital strobes, although I may do so in the future. I also have an SB 105 which I've used while shooting with dual strobes with the Nik V and was hoping to use that set up with the D70S. My goal is to use the SS 200 (and SB105 if needed) with the D70S and also to use it with the Nik V if I want to use the 15mm lens to shoot WA. My question is: Why are they asking if the Aquatica housing is manual? Do they somehow configure the SS200 differently depending on the answer? I also have some questions about shooting in manual but that will have to wait for another time. Thanks all! Ellen

John, That's some photo! Looks like it has Big Teeth I look forward to reading your report. Thanks, Ellen

A local dive shop is planning a trip to Bega Lagoon Resort in February 2007. I read some negative comments on this place in the December 2005 Chapbook put out by Undercurrent. The diving didn't sound that spectacular, although everyone said the rooms were large and the location had lots of interesting topside activities. I was also wondering how friendly the place was to u/w photographers and what kinds of shots worked best (macro or wide angle). I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks! Ellen

Hi Linda, Glad you decided to post that pic here on wetpixel. Congratulations on finally getting the shot you wanted! Kind regards, Ellen

Hi Chris, I take it that you are suggesting I choose a housing other than Ikelite. Is that correct? Kind regards, Ellen