Simon K.

Do you have Alex's full speach on Video? Even the couple of seconds in this viedo were intersting and I would love to see the whole. (If this is OK with Alex!) Simon

No they are not. Depending on different Systematics clingfishes are a Suborder in the Same Order as gobioidei (gobies) and blenioidei (blennies) or a seperate Order on the Same level as perciformes (the Order of blennies and gobies). On the other hand it is better than posting sperm whales and remuras!!!! I think if there is a Contest with a Topic, this topic has to be enforced! I have no decent clingfish pics so I will pause this week. I have nice enties for next week. Simon

Yes it is. The whole south side of the Ari-Atoll (Rangali is at the Sourth West Corner) is Whaleshark Area but you still have to be lucky. Good Luck and have fun! Simon

Welcome to Wetpixel e-rider! Maybe you shoulkd Tell Us what kind of a housing and which divecondition you are talking about. Then we may be able to help you. Simon

They are on getty images just search for Frilled Shark! They are cool! Simon

Hi, Tobias and I are looking for all UW-Photographers and Videographers in the Rhein-Main (Frankfurt) Area. We are planning to do a more or less regular meeting in the Area. Bitte Meldet Euch bei uns! Simon

Megapixel is for sure not the main point to look at. When judging a DSLR Body for UW I think following Points are Important: Useable ISO-Range (including Noise-considerations.), AF-Quality and Speed, Sensor Size (low Sensor Size MP Ratio) But generally you are right: Accessories such as strobe, lenses and a shooter who knows what he do are at least as much important. My Way was: decent Compact alone, Very good Strobe, Additional Lenses were not available at this point but i would have bought them at this point if I could, DSLR + Housing (not the top notch camera at this point which enabled me to buy a used Housing), Good Lenses (16-35L, 50mm and 100mm Macro), Second Strobe. I think this was a good way, and this Forum helped me a lot to buy next what is most important. I always tried to learn enough how to use it. Main problem is that I have not enough time to use it and breakes between the trips are to long so that I need at least halve of the trip to get back to my top performance and learn new stuff. I would like to add that "Digital Darkroom" accessories and skills are also very important for digital UW photography. Simon

I would go with the 20D and have a look if you could get a second hand housing out of good hands. I did the same 3 Years ago when i bought Erics D60 housing. I still use it. And if i wouldn't be such a gear junkie and not be so hot for the 5 D I would happily use the D60 for 3 more years. Save the Money and use it for some nice lense or strobes. Simon

Hi Eric, I thought a link was not neccessary because it was the only entry without a picture ;-). Sorry! It worked now. The first time i had to leave the computer at the preview screen for some time because of a a important phone call and submited it after that. So maybe it was som Session Timeout or a tmp dir cleanup. Thanks Simon

Hi I was not able to upload a Contest Photo (640x480 JPEG) The Entry is there but the picture is missing. This was the Error: Notice: Undefined index: wpc_entry_filename in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/index.php on line 50 Notice: Undefined index: wpc_entry_filename in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/objects.inc.php on line 734 Warning: filesize(): Stat failed for staging/.jpg (errno=2 - No such file or directory) in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/objects.inc.php on line 734 Notice: Undefined index: wpc_entry_img_height in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/objects.inc.php on line 735 Notice: Undefined index: wpc_entry_img_width in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/objects.inc.php on line 736 Notice: Undefined index: wpc_entry_filename in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/objects.inc.php on line 737 Could not open file staging/.jpg Notice: Undefined index: wpc_entry_filename in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/objects.inc.php on line 738 Could not open file staging/.jpg Notice: Undefined index: wpc_entry_filename in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/objects.inc.php on line 943 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/index.php:50) in /home/httpd/vhosts/wetpixel.com/httpdocs/competition/functions.inc.php on line 439

The first (green) Picture is absolutly fantastic!

Thanks for this very promising report. Has anyone else experience with the S&S Converter and Ikelite Strobes especially with Canon Cameras? I'm going to upgrade to a 5D with S&S Housing this year and would like to use the Converter. Simon

Hi I would like to ad my 2ct to the discussion. I'm a Canon shooter but there we have 50mm and 100mm Macro Lenses, so the situation is similar. I will call them short and long in the rest of the post. For underwater use the short lens is my 1st choice for flexibility. I use it when i don't know what to expect at a dive spot or there is macro stuff and also the chance for bigger stuff. You can make good macro shots withz it but you have to get very close. It is the ideal lens for Fish portraits and you have at least a chance with big fish. I even did some decent Manta pics with it. It is also my standard lens for night dives. The long lens is a pure macro lens. It isexcellent at that but not really useable fore anything else. It is also more difficult to use UW even the slightes current makes it difficult to hold it still. You need some pratice to use it correctly. But never the less if your goal is macro only this is an excellent choice. If I would have to decide which lense to take and I could take only one it would be the short one but manly because of the flexibility I have with it. If you have a other lens that serves this purpose and you are looking for pure macro the long lens is the way to go. I actualy bought the short first and the long half an year later. Simon

Hi Eric, I'm going to be there Friday next week. I can give a small report. Any special things you are interested in? Simon

IMHO the most important feature for underwater is the possibility to shoot RAW to be able to do correct whitebalancing (after the dive). All other features (Iso Range, Shutter Lag, Focus Speed) are secondary. So if you buy a Camera especially for UW don't buy one without RAW support! I don't know know about the Fuji and the others but the Ixus does not support RAW. I don't have a good marketoverview about the current Compact Cameras so maybe someone else can jump in with a suggestion. If you want to go the Canon way maybe look at one of the older S-Series Cameras (I think they dropped Raw with the S70?) so maybe the S60 with the Canon Housing. You can add a Ikelite Strobe with Sensor now or later, depending on your budget. But given the "cheap" Dollar you might rethink and order a nice Ikelite Housing for your EOS from the US. Maybe it is better to spend a bit more now than craving a better rig in half an year. Simon