Dave H

The species is Dermatobranchus ornatus. I have an image of it on one of my nudibranch pages on my website at: Nelson Bay Nudibranchs They are not a very common species but they do have a very broad distribution around the world, especially in the Pacific region.

Hey guys, Thanks for the kind remarks, if you ever get a chance to do some diving in PNG don't hesitate - it truely is one of the best diving destinations in the world. And for those with a camera it is true heaven - especially if you are interested in weird and rare marine life! In reply to a couple of your questions: Davephdv - I was generally using the 28mm lens and on a couple of occasions I used the 19mm in the dome port - I was a little nervous at first at using the 19mm as I was worried about flooding through the dome port - obviously my concerns were not warranted. As for adjusting white balance, that is something I'm going to spend practising at my local divesite which is 1 min away! Focusing on sharks was a major pain in the arse... I was buzzed my hammerheads on 3 occasions and by the time I got the camera settings correct they were to far away for a worthwhile shot. Bob - yep they are Harliquin Ghost Pipefish but in Australia people also refer to them as Ornate's. I normally name everything by scientific name but this gets confusing for people. The species is most likely to be Solenostomus paradoxus. I love your image of the Harlequin, I tried a couple of similar shots but got nailed by backscatter The pygmy seahorses proved to be the most difficul subject to photographer b/c of the way they just 'dissappeared' into the fan! Unfortunately I could only spend about 10 mins on the fan so I rushed my shots... I was a little dissapointed when I got them back but I suppose I should be happy for my first attempt. And yes they are cropped, but only by a small amount. yahsemtough - As Bob eluded to photographing Manadrin Fish is not an easy task. They are generally only active at dusk/night and this is the best time to photographer them out in the open. I spent about 20 - 30 mins with my buddy trying to get 1 decent shot, she would spot the mandarin fish with a torch which I needed to focus with. However, these fish do not stay still!!!! Trying to follow a fish that is 2-3cm long in your view finder by the shine of a torch is very frustrating!!!! And your buddies pateience only lasts for sooooooo long...... jamesw - Thanks for the comments. I spent 2 weeks before I left printing out all the information that davephdv and yourself had posted on the CP5000 before I went to PNG. When I was over there I used the information you both posted to help fix problems/setting etc... your information proved so useful As for why my photo's are on an Australian server, probably because this is where I live, work and dive

I have a couple of favourite images from the trip. I like my Mandarin Fish photo as this guy was only 2-3 cm big and took about 25 mins to photograph: my other favourite image would be the hairy ghost pipefish, it's probably not the best photo I've ever taken but this would be the rarest species I've ever seen! Both these images were taken with the CP5000 using the macro settings I described above.

I have created a website that contains a selection of images that I took with the CP5000 in Papua New Guinea on a recent trip in January 2002: Papua New Guinea CP5000 Images I’m pretty happy with some of the shots that I got, please bare in mind that this trip was the first time I’d used the CP5000 underwater. Feel free to provide any suggestions or feedback. Taking macro images took a while to get the hang of, by the end of the trip I had the settings and strobe position to my liking. I am very grateful to the advice I received from all the CP5000 users in the wet pixel forums, especially davephv! The settings I used for macro were: Shutter speed 1/500 or 1/1000, F8, White balance @ Cloudy, Speedlight turned down to minus 2, Strobe set to TTL, ¼ or 1/8 power (depending on brightness of subject) and the strobe positioned approximately 1.5 – 2 feet away above the camera. I normally used auto focus but sometimes would try manual.

I've been using a MMII setup for the past 5 years and I have finally bitten the bullet and decided to go digital. I'm in the process of ordering myself a CP5000 and a housing (still haven't decided on which housing yet - choices are a little limited here in Australia). I currently have 2 Sea & Sea Strobes, they are the YS60 TTL and the YS50 TTL and they both have 4 pin connections. Neither strobe has a slave setting. Will I be able to use these strobes with a digital camera setup, namely the CP 5000? Can they be connected to any of the CP5000 housing? or should I look at selling them asap and buy myself a new strobe?