Steve Simonsen

I would suggest using the Mark II it has a bigger sensor and handles a larger tonal range in the near to over exposed highlights in the suns rays from underwater. Plus you can shoot some amazing surf videos at the waters surface and below. As for lenses I would definitely recommend the 15 mm 2.8 Canon and the 16-35 as the alternative. The Aquatica housing with 9.25 in dome port is the one I would recommend. It's pricey though. Need any help?

Tons of film equipment for sale, starting with a Sea & Sea Housing for Nikon F100 with ports, Nikon SB 105 strobes cords, a complete set with everything in MINT cond. Two Nikon F100's. Nikonos V's orange and green. 15 mm Nikonos lens, 20mm Nikonos lens.

Happy New Year All, I'm looking for a Fathom SWP35, the Super Wide lens for the Gates PD 150 housing. Or Gates housing with SWP25 for the Sony PDX-10. Anyone got one for sale? Steve Simonsen 340 775-4485 340 690-8986 ssimonsen@mac.com

Sam, I have a Sea & See housing in great shape for the F100. Are you interested, plenty of extras. Steve Simonsen

Brand new Nikkor lenses include a chart of DOF for all fstops and a range of subject to camera distances.

I have the 10.5,16 fisheye,12-24,60 and 105. I haven't found a way to get the image acceptably sharp in the corners using the 12-24. I'd like to know if using a +1 or +2 will improve this corner sharpness drastically or not.

Optech makes professional camera straps that connect and disconnect very easily available at BH Photo

just a tip. I use the D2X and found that shooting in the Adobe profile is more to my liking. Also I'm not sure of all the color settings available on the D200. But if you have three color modes I found the one for Nature as opposed to portraits has more vivid realistic color redition. Good luck have fun. Wish I just came back from Lembeh.

In Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D2X he backs up the reason why the D2X is more like a medium format image. www.bythom.com

You don't want to enable the limiter. You should check Aquatica's website for lens port combinations and get an extension ring if you need it. I do not have experience with that particular lens.

In my years of underwater photography I have come to know that I must carry and keep in my stock several Nikonos sync cords because eventually I'll need to replace the one or two that I'm using at the moment. I use Ikelite cords also and don't need to replace them as often. I'm all for asking that the industry to standardize the camera/housing flash connection. I'm also very content not using TTL at all. Steve Simonsen Thanks Stephan

You gotta love a new Nikon

I started using the D2X on land in Dec. I fell in great appriciation for the camera and all that it does for me. I had to house it. I've used Aquatica housings for over ten years. I purchased a brand new AD2X from B&H. It is a beautiful machine. It is the best Aquatica housing I've ever seen. Here are my ten reasons for choosing an Aquatica for the D2X. 1. Ergonomics: it feels great in my hands, and I can reach the two main command deals without removing the hands from the housing handles. 2. Less money than the Subal and Seacam. 3. Port system: I have only two ports (8' dome and flat port for the 60 mm Micro) and can use a combination of 5 lenses with them by combining the ports with two extension rings. 4. Buoyancy: the housing is almost perfectly neutral (just slightly negative) with nothing attached. It's slightly negative with strobes and strobe arms. 5. Easy to use: it is very easy and fast to mount the camera in the housing. A minor adjustment to the lens shade is neccesary when I add an extension ring to the dome port and Also, the compact flash card is removable without the need to remove the camera form the housing (just open it). 6. Not ALL the controls are labeled but most of them are and the others take one time to figure it out. 7. All the controls work perfectly with one exception and that is the metering command dial. A new part is on the way from the dealer to fix that. In the mean time it hasn't hurt me a bit. 8. Lens release button: just remove the port to change lens, no need to open the housing and remove the camera. 9. The diopter on the camera makes all the read outs easy to see, and theres a light that can be activated manually or automatically to see the read outs even better. 10. Did I say I saved some money that I didn't have to spend and bought a 10.5 mm Fish-eye at the time I ordered the camera. All from the same dealer and have been using it almost every day since. I still can't believe how nice everything works on it.

Great answer Karl

I've experienced loss of edge sharpness using the 12-24 with an extension ring on my Aquatica D2X housing. Using variable zooms underwater behind a dome port can't give you the best edge sharpness at all focal lengths. Using a variable zoom UW is new to me so I'm still testing to see at what focal length works best. There is nothing like a 15 mm lens on a Nikonos for sharpness throughout!

Is the dive tank open to the sky or indoors? Either way I would set the white balance to the type of lighting. Normally daylight works best. But if the tank is under incandescent or flourescent try that. I would experiment with Auto WB as a last resort. I agree with setting it up for manual exposure. Don't rely entirely on the monitor image it will look much better on your computer. Steve

May I suggest that to all those trying to make the decision as to which lenses to buy. Take a look at each members stats and many list the type of equipment they own/use. You'll notice that the 60 mm Micro comes up again and again and is a favorite of many underwater shooters both for macro and fish shots. The 105 mm Micro is even better. But I would suggest starting with the 60 mm. Steve

The 16, 10.5 or a 15 on a Nikonos. Sounds like fun! Steve

John Are you interested in selling just the SWP35 and how much? Steve

Not sure, but I'd suggest checking at Underwater Photo Tech.

I happen to be a wide angle fanatic, so I would say that the 18-50 is not wide enough and several others agreed. However since you got such a good response from the user of the 28-80 I'd say go with that instead of niether. Steve B)

Use the 16! There are large caves and the drift can be fast. Steve

I've been using Lexar 1.2. and 4 gig cards. Out of six cards I've had problems with two. But they replaced them no questions asked. Be sure to get WA cards that stands for write accelleration. Steve

Regarding the 70-200 vr and/or the 80-400 vr. The 80-400 gives you so much more for the price, size and not to mention you don't have to carry both the 70-200 and the 400. I'll tell you that the 80-200 f 2.8 seems to focus faster and be sharper than the 80-400. For what it;s worth I make the 80-400 work for me. Steve

D2X flash quirks I set up my new D2X in an Aquatica housing and was surprised to find out the the housing hot shoe connector only had two pins and the offset one didn't look like it was in the roght position for contact. I get no ready light information in the viewfinder, and I was wondering if this was done intentionally or a defect. Anybody have similar issues? Steve Simonsen