Stefin

Sorry, screwed that first post up. I thought some of you UK wetpixellers might be interested in going to this event. A fellow diver and I have provisionally booked a boat with the intention of offering this as a trip for our club but we have had a cool response to the idea so I thought I would open it up to you guys to see if there is any interest in going to this weekend, There are 4 spaces left on the boat. here are more details of the competition; http://www.lundyisland.co.uk/splash003.htm and some info on the boat http://www.clovelly-charters.ukf.net/jessica.htm

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The built-in hood could be a problem for those of us with smaller domes and could cause unwanted reflections from inside larger domes. It also looks like a "Phat" lens, remember the problems with the Nikon 105 VR and port diameters!

Also check out my post and save £££s http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291

I love the shots and great use of natural light, I dont think you need to have the diver any larger in the frame, it allows the viewer a referance point to then marvel at the scenery and/or other parts of the picture (sub/wreck ect). The first thing I noticed was that all your shots seem to have the sub moving away from the camera and into the background, I believe that there is more interest from the picture viewers point when a main object in a shot is coming toward them, even the wreckage of the plane in the magazine example, we know that it's not going anywhere but the photographer has taken the shot so that the plane is pointed toward the veiwer. I realise that there may be a lot of persuading to be done with the submarines owners but for saftey's sake you may have to talk them into bringing the sub to a complete stop in order to get this shot. I'm sure that you will eventually get the knockout picture that all the magazines will be after.

Don't forget the Tokina 10-17, its a more compact lens than the 12-24 and I believe closer focusing, also its a big hit with all the guys that use it here at wetpixel.

I believe its a track called "why does my heart feel so bad" from the artist Moby. It's on the album "Play".

Have you looked at my post ? http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291 it may be a lot simpler ( and cheaper ) than getting gears custom cut.

Question. With the housing open and your finger pressing the button, how much of the buttons shaft can you see? Apply the grease there, then release the button and work it a few times. Also try warming the grease up by putting the tube into some hot water for a minute, this may help to "thin" the grease allowing it to reach those hard to get at places. Don't forget to wipe off the excess grease after!

I have been thinking about split ND / split dioptre filters and how to move them when inside the housing. Has anyone tried attaching a small weight to the outer rim of the filter so that when you rotate the housing the weight swivels the filter to landscape/portrait?

Post some pictures of the housing, showing how the gearing works and maybe the combined "brainpower" (Ahem!) of the Wetpixel boatshed D.I.Yers could come up with a solution. I'm sure the British contingent of WP are sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for April/May to arrive

I've not seen how UK Germany fit there zoomgears, but have a look at my D.I.Y. Thread here: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291 it may give you some ideas.

If you want to save yourself some money on zoomgears you should check out my posting here: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291 But if you still want the "real" thing, check out Mavericks dive shop, it's in London and they are very knowledgeable and helpful, and I'm pretty sure that they are NEXUS distributors. www.mavericksdiving.co.uk

I use "ultralight" arms myself,I like them and they seem to be popular in with wetpixel folk. But if your looking for something more interesting search this site for the "Stix" arm system, a very light arm that allows you to add bouyancy to balance the weight of your rig underwater

Check out my thread, http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291 And save yourself some money

Don't know about thje NIKON 12/24 zoomgear fitting on the TOKINA 12/24 lens, but I doubt it. But check out my posting and you could save yourself a packet. http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291 I also have a TOKINA 12/24 lens, which I have fitted with one of these gears, I just haven't got around to adding any pictures of it to my posting.

Sorry for the delay in replying, the part I was refering to is the "Nano adapter kit" Fantasea part number 61151 See if this link works, http://www.fantasea.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.495/.f It's the first thing on this page. My camera set up has one Sea and Sea YS110 hard wired to the camera housing, the fibre optic link is from one strobe to another YS110 on the other side of the camera.A couple of these and a length of fibre optic cable from your local electrical store, "Tandy" in the UK for instance, The beauty of these is if you damage the fiber optic they can be fitted to a new bit.

Had a trawl through the web and found these, http://www.fantasea.com/product_details.asp?id=359 Two of these and a length of fiber optic cable and your laughing.

Had a look at the website through the link you gave but couldn't find the product you mentioned, any chance of a picture of them? And was there a product number on that invoice of yours that could further identify the items when I E-mail this company

Sorry this is a bit of a long one, hope it helps. The NX standard flat port and the custom flat port are, in fact the same port, the only difference is once the body of the port has come out of the mould a man with a drill puts a hole in it to accept a manual focusing gear. So I expect the "nub" that needs to be removed is still on your port, but it sounds like a simple job to do. The problem, as I read it, is that the fattest part of the 105VR lens, when mounted on your camera and fitted into your housing, is situated at the point where the ports are attached to your housing which is the narrowest point of the rear opening of the port. So I suspect that there will not be enough room to fit the focus gear because the gear will have to pass this point to mesh with the gear knob in the housings body I have looked at a SEA and SEA port webpage here http://www.seaandsea.jp/products/accessory/acce/port.html there are two new ports that were introduced recently I believe thay have been especially created to house the 105VR lens, they are the DX PORT BASE, and the DX PORT 50 check out these new ports, they are not as big in diameter as the standard flat port and I am assuming that they will accomodate both the lens and the focusing gear, not exactly sure how they managed that not having seen them up close yet. If you do not already own the standard flat port you may want to think about the custom port because I have not heard anyone saying that the focus/zoom gearing on the custom port interfers with the lens in any way. with the custom port you have access to manual adjustment on the port itself away from the tight spot at the ports base, check out my posting which may give you ideas on making your own (very cheap) focusing gear which meshes to the ports manual control. I've looked at a picture of the 105VR lens and the manual focus ring is near the front of the lens barrel, so a D.I.Y. Project could work well for this. http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291 I have used a Nikon 60mm macro through a flat port AND a dome port, both worked well, but there are several downsides to the dome; The dome port is bigger than the flat port, making creeping up on your subject a little harder You lose the slight magnifying effect of the flat port ( think about how everything looks larger underwater because your eyes are effectivly behind the flat port glass of your mask) The glass of the dome port is much less protected than the flat port, so if you find some critter down a hole DON'T be tempted to push your expensive glass down there to get a closer shot. The upside is, when travelling abroad you may only need to bring one port with you, saving weight and space. the dome port also allows more ambient light around you lens which will adjust your cameras meter readings allowing for better saturated shots. What I am trying to say is that you dont have to put macro lenses behind macro ports. I have not used woody's Diopters but have heard good things about them, as for the diameter sizing I imagine that there sizing includes the frame they come in and I believe the D.I.Y. Posting you linked to says that you have to remove the frame to make it fit. Check the diameter of the glass on your port to give you an idea of what size you need. You should post another question specifically asking anybody at wetpixel if they could supply photo's of thier D.I.Y. Fitting of a woody's to a Sea and SEA Flat port

Check out my post, http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291 it may give you ideas to tackle this problem another way.

Read this: http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/proper-dome...-and-placement/ its a bit technical but the diagrams are helpful. Typeing "nodal points" into the Wetpixel search engine will bring up lots of posts on this subject for you to look at.

I'd love to know what you,ve found out so far. and please keep us updated, Good luck.

I'm not sure about Subal gear, but if you have handles like Sea and Sea with a flat top on each handle where the mounts for your strobe arms go then why not make a piece of metal that will fit between the two handles giving you a platform to fit anything you like.

Sorry about the bad Sea and Sea link, not sure what happened there! Go to this Wetpixel thread: http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21888&hl= Post No 14 has the link I used.