TylerMoore

Oh, and the lens was a sigma 18-50mm. I wouldn't mind using a wider lens next time, and I used the 50mm to do close up portraits of of small things like christmas tree worms and such. I don't know if this is a common way to do things, a True macro would have probably been better for that. I was having problems having the photos in focus when I was at 50mm shooting smaller subjects, but I think it might have been a problem with my buoyancy, and holding still long enough for focusing. More practice will help I guess.

Thanks a lot for the comments and suggestions. We actually took an old Subaru station wagon, and we got the chance to break down in the small town of Odessa Missouri on the way down there (only about 5 hours into the 28 hour long trip- which was 14 hours longer because of the breakdown). A very nice local resident offered to fix our car, and we ended up making it down in time for all of our dives still. Hopefully I'll get the chance to make it out again soon for photos and for great dives.

3 friends and I went on a road trip from Lincoln, Nebraska down to Key Largo Florida to do some diving and free-diving as well for lobsters. This was the first time I've used my housing in the ocean, I had only shot with it one time before in murky Nebraska waters. I was trying my best to not get backscatter in photos when using a flash, because I never really mastered that technique on the 2 or 3 dives I made with my Nikonos setup. Let me know what you guys think I should do better for next time. I know the composition and photo content is lacking in most because I was so worried about having somewhat decent lighting. All photos with a 20D in ikelite housing with a Nikonos SB105 shot manually. Spotted spiny. Taken while free-diving. School of fish around a Brain Coral at French Reef, Key Largo. This was taken while actually diving. This is one of the swim throughs on our French Reef dive. It was pretty cool. Being my first dive in the ocean, I was excited to do some different stuff like that. This is 2 of the 3 friends I went with on the trip. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks a lot guys. Tyler

thanks a lot! that actually helped a ton! tyler

Thanks for the comments and tips guys. I'll just try and limit the need for changing settings as much as possible.

I have been shooting with a Nikonos V up until this spring where I bought my first housing for my 20d. I live in Nebraska, where there isn't much diving, but I finally got the chance to drive out to the clearest lake in the area (some sandpits off the platte river). These are a couple from the 2 days of diving. The visibility was less than 2 feet the first day, but up to about 6 feet the second day. A couple friends and I are diving down the Key Largo to do some diving for a week (taking some dives out with Quiescence), so I wanted to make sure I knew how to work the housing. If you guys have any tips for a beginner to get the most out of the housing, let me know. It seems like the settings are difficult to change under water, and the shutter dial couldn't be turned on most dives. Is there a way around this? Am I putting the camera in wrong, or do the dials need some repair? All photos were with a 20d, and if there was a flash, it was just a nikon sb105 shot manually.

I use a Minolta Dual Scan IV for slide scanning. It does a great job, and it is much cheaper than the Nikon counterpart. I would say that it is comparable if not better than the Nikon cool scan. Google it to get some specifics and stuff.

Stephen, your gallery was the one to actually rent out the housings for this show? That's interesting. What do you guys think of the show? I've never really watched it before. Do the photographers look pretty legit?

i love it

So if I'm shooting with 2 sb 105's what would be my wide angle options? Could I use flash for wide angle at all if I was within 4 feet or so? I'll look at the coverage area of the two flashes combined, and then of my lens to see if it will cover the whole area. Any body have experience shooting with a setup like this?

I'm going to be getting an ikelite housing for my 20D here soon. I already have a nikon sb105, but I would like to get a second flash as well. I'm wondering what is another good flash for underwater that I could get for less than $400. How necessary is TTL underwater? It can't be any more accurate than above water, where I generally manually meter my flashes anyways. Should I just get a more powerful flash without e-ttl, or get a less powerful one with it? Any opinions on different models to go well with the ikelite?

Thanks guys. I think that I've made up my mind on getting an ikelite housing. And i did see that ebay listing, thanks. Now that i'll probably get an ikelite housing, what is a decent flash that doesn't cost $800? Is there anything good for around 200-300? Could i use my sb105 as a second flash, would anybody recommend that?

okay, so with an ikelite housing, could i get ttl or e-ttl with flashes that arn't ikelite? what would my choices be?

Thanks for all the info guys. Is there any reason why ikelite housings are so much cheaper than subal and sea&sea? are there specific differences? Also, will any housing allow me to use my sb105 flash with it? and... Does anyboy know if any of the ikelite wide angle ports will fit a sigma 18-55mm lens? Thanks

I have 5 days left on ebay for the lens I'm selling in order to buy a housing. I would most likely be interested in this if it is still available at that time.