Nikon Coolpix 5100

[ooblick 0]

I'm trying to decide what digicam to use underwater. I'll be migrating (downgrading) from a Nikon D100 in a Sea and Sea housing. I realize that the quality will likely be different, but I have had one too many strained muscles carrying my huge pelican case through airports and customs. I was also considering the Canon G9. Are there any other cameras I should be considering?

[ce4jesus 1]

I'm not sure if you've checked out the Oly E-410. Its a DSLR that is quite smaller than most and with an Oly housing wouldn't be too much bigger than a digicam in an Ikelite housing. Right now you can probably get the camera, port and housing at Ryans for less than you paid for your D100 housing. Just a thought. cheers.

[ooblick 0]

I'm not sure if you've checked out the Oly E-410. Its a DSLR that is quite smaller than most and with an Oly housing wouldn't be too much bigger than a digicam in an Ikelite housing. Right now you can probably get the camera, port and housing at Ryans for less than you paid for your D100 housing. Just a thought. cheers.

 

Hmmm.... can you put external strobes on the Olympus housing? Thanks!

[oskar 6]

I'm not sure if you've checked out the Oly E-410. Its a DSLR that is quite smaller than most and with an Oly housing wouldn't be too much bigger than a digicam in an Ikelite housing. Right now you can probably get the camera, port and housing at Ryans for less than you paid for your D100 housing. Just a thought. cheers.

 

 

I guess this is the housing you refer to, right? https://emporium.olympus.com/innards/empPro...?sku=260520-410

 

This is an interesting option to a compact, how much would a decent package cost and what do you need to get in terms of WA lens?

[jugglematt 0]

Hello ooblick

 

im currently using the coolpix p5000 which is the same as the p5100 except it is 10mp.i have it housed in a ikelite housing with 2 inon strobes , a inon dome lense and 3x inon macro lenses for very close up shooting.

 

im quite happy with its peformence underwater , when shooting wideangle it does blues nicley . macro peformance is vgood when using the inon ad on wet lenses.

 

here is a link to shots taken with my setup

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8825200@N08/

 

as you stated another system to consider is the G7or G9 housed . or i would also look at the sea&sea dx1g which is a housed ricoh , from personal experience the ricoh cameras usually have very good macro and wide angle peformance . also low shutter lag.

 

what ever system you choose make shure the housing allows for ad on lenses,

 

i hope this info helps

 

regards

Matt

[Kevster 6]

jugglematt

Amazing results there.

That is one of the best sets I have seen with a P&S.

Some of the macro, are simply fantastic. Well done.

This puts the P5000 up there with the E900 & S80 based on all the galleries I have seen.

 

I am really surprised as the reviews have not been good in general about the p5000.

 

Would be very interested to hear more of your thoughts regarding the P5000

[FlIrishman 0]

Hello ooblick

 

im currently using the coolpix p5000 which is the same as the p5100 except it is 10mp.i have it housed in a ikelite housing with 2 inon strobes , a inon dome lense and 3x inon macro lenses for very close up shooting.

 

im quite happy with its peformence underwater , when shooting wideangle it does blues nicley . macro peformance is vgood when using the inon ad on wet lenses.

 

i hope this info helps

 

regards

Matt

 

What kind of battery life are you getting with it underwater?

I'm getting rid of my Oly SP-350 as it only has about 20 min of on time underwater and am considering the Nikon 5100.

[chuckm 0]

What kind of battery life are you getting with it underwater?

I'm getting rid of my Oly SP-350 as it only has about 20 min of on time underwater and am considering the Nikon 5100.

 

 

I just started shooting with the P5100 in FantaSea housing. Still learning the camera and controls and my results were good but nothing as stunning as Jugglematt's. I was able to get 4-6 dives (45-60 min each) with one battery charge. I set the monitor to turn off after 30 seconds. recovery from this sleeping mode was very quick and helps battery life.

[FlIrishman 0]

I just started shooting with the P5100 in FantaSea housing. Still learning the camera and controls and my results were good but nothing as stunning as Jugglematt's. I was able to get 4-6 dives (45-60 min each) with one battery charge. I set the monitor to turn off after 30 seconds. recovery from this sleeping mode was very quick and helps battery life.

 

 

I'd be interested in knowing how long the battery would last with the monitor on all the time.

 

Or is there an optional battery available - sounds like the 1100 mAh Nikon battery is small.

 

Or is there another underwater camera [ TTL ] and case that would have bigger battery.

 

I had a lot of problems with Olympus - they screwed up my camera and in the end refused to fix it. I'll NEVER deal with OLYMPUS again!!

 

Irishman

[jugglematt 0]

hey guys

Hi flirishman

Re battery life.... i get 2 dives out of the p5000 battery, i usually set the monitor to go to sleep after 1 min of inactivity. i fire the strobe by the sync cable not the strobe , i think this also helps conserve battery life .

 

when i was in malaysia recently and was shooting many(100+ )images a dive i changed the battery after each dive to be safe. so batt life is good ,,,, could be better but its not a deal breaker for me .

there are after market batteries available some are even lower capacity o be carefull before you buy .

 

 

hi chuckm,,, i was also looking at the fantasea housing , but it was not available when i was purchacing my setup. PM me if you would like some suggestions on camera settings :-)

 

hi kevster,,, thoughts on the p5000, well at first i was very dissapointed i just could not make it work , i was coming from a full automagic p&s camera to manual controll. but i spent time and played with different settings and worked it out .macro shooting is my favourite at the moment , using 1,2 &3 inon stacked lenses there is a method i use that helps to get good shots , the more lenses i add the more i zoom in,,i moove the camera in and out to get image clear in screen before i prefocus , once you get the hang of strobe placement /zoom controll /camera position its fairly easy and repeatable . also the more lenses you add the less DOF. im happy now , but still striving for better images .

 

thanks for the positive feedback all .

here is a nudibranch i shot this morning with the 3 stacked inon lenses .

 

 

regards

matt

Edited October 27, 2007 by jugglematt

[Kevster 6]

Jugglematt.

 

Thanks for info. Your Tiger04 photo is excellent.

I have decided to take the plunge and go for the P5100.

After reading the G9 reviews and the lack of WA option lenses. Its just a shame my current AD lenses cannot be used with the P5100. I have the Inon UWL 100-28AD & UCl165AD.

 

Can i ask, are you using the AD adapter or just the Inon 100 for the 67 mm threaded port.

At the cameras 35mm do you have to zoom in slightly with the UWL100& dome attached? If so how much. Any comments on blurring when using the UWL& dome?

 

Also macro with & without the UCL again what is the focus like using the zoom, 50-80mm?

My old S70 macro focus was terrible as soon as i touch the zoom. Never tried the double stack due to smal DOF.

 

On my old S70 i used to shoot in Manual & set D2000 in TTL. I also found it difficult getting used to working with strobes ensuring they were pointing in the right direction. The focus light is very helpful in this respect.

Shame the P5100 does not have a live histogram.

I will also have to get used to manually setting the WB as the S70 had raw.

 

Thanks in advance

Edited October 28, 2007 by Kevster

[tarzana 0]

I am getting ready to buy a set up and this is one of the ones that I am considering:

 

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/16983/coolpix-p5100-housing/

 

( P5100 + fantasea housing + strobes)

 

does anyone have this exact rig with the strobes and all?

 

are there any more comments about this camera and its capabilities underwater?

 

thank you ahead of time to anyone that can help with some words of experience.

 

by the way Jugglematt your 004 in section 7 of the sea star was awesome... do you know remember how it was shot? wide angle lens? i used to be able to take shots like that with my 20mm wide angle and my Nikonos V. I miss it --but not the film part!!

 

tarzana

[DDT uk 4]

I've just bought my girlfriend a Coolpix 5100 and housing for Christmas. Rather than the Fantasea, I went for the Ikelite housing which has the add benefit of ttl via a synch lead when used with an Ikelite substrobe (I bought a DS51). The Ikelite also has a 67mm thread making it easy to find direct fit quality WA and macro lenses.

 

Daniel

[tarzana 0]

I've just bought my girlfriend a Coolpix 5100 and housing for Christmas. Rather than the Fantasea, I went for the Ikelite housing which has the add benefit of ttl via a synch lead when used with an Ikelite substrobe (I bought a DS51). The Ikelite also has a 67mm thread making it easy to find direct fit quality WA and macro lenses.

 

Daniel

 

thanks for your response Daniel...

 

Is this D551 + Ikelite housing a relatively heavy set up? I am trying to avoid weight but still get quality.

 

Does your choice mean that the Nikon housing/flash set up did not give TTL and you cannot use wet lenses?

[JackConnick 76]

The Fantasea 5100 is smaller and lighter than the Ike. As such, there isn't room for a bulkhead for hardwired sync to provide i-ttl. The Nikon FSB800 strobe will work with it and any other digicam, but only in manual mode with a fiber optic sync cord.

 

My customers are having good results with this setup using the Sea & Sea YS27DX. It's a powerful manual strobe that works well.

 

Jack

[tarzana 0]

The Fantasea 5100 is smaller and lighter than the Ike. As such, there isn't room for a bulkhead for hardwired sync to provide i-ttl. The Nikon FSB800 strobe will work with it and any other digicam, but only in manual mode with a fiber optic sync cord.

 

My customers are having good results with this setup using the Sea & Sea YS27DX. It's a powerful manual strobe that works well.

 

Jack

 

Jack,

I would like a strobe that has TTL capabilities. Is a heavy Ikelite system one the only one for the Nikon P5100?

 

tarzana

[jugglematt 0]

Hey Guys

sorry i havent posted for a while., to ans a few questions

 

kevster: thanks for you kind words, the tiger shot is one of my favourites. also re the AD mount lenses , the ike housing can only take the 67mm thread lenses.

re zoom and macro focus , when using the inon macro lenses i use the method thet DR bob uses for his fuji e900 . one lense zoom 1/3 ,,two lense zoom 2/3 ,,three lense zoom up to 3/3 or alll the way . i usually get good focus and am fairly happy with the results , it is important to select you subject and then moove the camera in and out till the subject is quite clear and in focus BEFORE you pree focus ,,, then pre focus and shoot . if you dont moove the camera in and out before prefocus the camera will just hunt for focus and not achieve sharp focus .

 

focus with no inon ucl macro lense but in macro mode is quick , (do use your focus light though). when adding 1,2 or 3 lenses focus is slower and DOF is much finer,, but it can be done . and the rewards of shooting nudibranch head shots are worth the time it takes .. also i find tht image quality drops using 3 stacked lenses when the water is murky due to the silty water your shooting through in your wet lenses .. im happy to get 1 or 2 really nice shots from a dive when shooting super macro.

 

Hi Tarzana

thanks for your kind words also .

yep i do remember the how i shot image 004 . i used my ricoh rr30 in a sea&sea dx3000 housing ,a 3.2mp camera which had a nice sharp wide lense , this shot was taken using the 20mm sea&sea ad on lense with a inon d180 strobe.

 

also as far as i know the only way to have ttl with the p5000/p5100 underwater is with the ikelite housing with a ikelite strobe fired by sync cable . all my p5000 shots wete taken with the inon strobes using manual settings i hope this helps folks .

 

i like the p5000 , im not saying it is perfect but it can achieve some very nice resuts , i particulary like the way it does blues in wide angle shots.

 

by the way here are a few shots,, 1 taken today and 1 taken a few weeks back using the inon uwl100 with dome attachment . camera in manual WB setting , no strobe

 

regards

Matty

[randini 0]

Re. the P5000/5100

 

Actually you can mount AD lenses on the Ike housing. You just need one of THESE.

 

And for those questions on battery life, I stumbled across THIS the other day. It's a 1500mAh battery. The Nikon original is 1100, so this one should last a good 36% longer and it's only $15.

 

@matt: your pictures are awesome. Since I really did want to upgrade my camera, your pics convinced me that and that the p5000 really is far from as bad as some of the other forums make it out to be. So I got (what I think is) a good deal on a used p5000 off ebay and am now anxiously waiting for my "coyote" to bring it to me here in Chile.

 

Now I'll just need to get a housing for it. Considering that: I'm happy with the other Fantasea housing I have now, Ill be using an optically triggered strobe, the Fantasea housing also has a threaded lens port for add on lenses and since it's smaller and half the price, I'm pretty convinced that I'll be going with the Fantasea housing.

 

@Jack, it looks like you'll be getting a call from me soon.

Edited November 30, 2007 by randini

[ce4jesus 1]

Hmmm.... can you put external strobes on the Olympus housing? Thanks!

 

You have several choices the best of which is an Inon Z240. You can also use a hardwired converter from Athena or Matthew Heinrichs to use Sea&Sea strobes. The housing is compact but allows the internal strobe to pop up to support the Inons.

[ce4jesus 1]

I guess this is the housing you refer to, right? https://emporium.olympus.com/innards/empPro...?sku=260520-410

 

This is an interesting option to a compact, how much would a decent package cost and what do you need to get in terms of WA lens?

 

Ryan from Reef Photo can get you into the housing, port, kit lens and camera for around 2K. Olympus has several lense ideal for underwater. Here's the lenses I see most of.

 

14-54mm - older lens but very versatile

50mm macro - Seems to be the choice out there for macro shots.

14-42mm kit lens

7-14mm fisheye

11-22mm WA

 

There is also a new lens 12-60mm that really looks like a nice option.

[tarzana 0]

Hi Tarzana

also as far as i know the only way to have ttl with the p5000/p5100 underwater is with the ikelite housing with a ikelite strobe fired by sync cable . all my p5000 shots wete taken with the inon strobes using manual settings i hope this helps folks .

 

i like the p5000 , im not saying it is perfect but it can achieve some very nice resuts , i particulary like the way it does blues in wide angle shots.

 

by the way here are a few shots,, 1 taken today and 1 taken a few weeks back using the inon uwl100 with dome attachment . camera in manual WB setting , no strobe

 

regards

Matty

 

 

Matty,

thanks for the tips... it seems that with either the coolpix P5100 or the canon G9 i will have to go for the ikelite housing.wish i could make up my mind about the camera first of all but i have had 2 other nikons and it is always a joy to shoot with it..

 

i looked up the inon strobes and they look lighter than Ike's Sunstrobe 51 set up.. Can anyone share their experience and compare the Inon one with the Ike 51 for quality, recycle time and weight? would like to go with the lightest of the two but not spare quality. i will be looking manana to see if i can find the 5100 here in okinawa.

 

Matty do you have a pic of your setup? is it dual strobes? how do you find the weight? btw-- today's pix look like partly like an abstract painting!

 

Thank you everyone who has contributed in this forum on the Nikon P5000-5100 for all the info so far!! i am starting to narrow my search down

 

tarzana

[jugglematt 0]

Hi Tarzana

 

i did share in the same dilema you are having p5000 or g9 mmmm what to pick .

i do think that both systems in the ikelite housing will be similar size and weight .

 

i use the inon strobes i find them to be reliable , compact and the modeling/aiming light is essentail , i would not but a strobe without a modeling/ aiming light. i find the inons are ready to shoot by the time the camera has written to the card. so recycle time is good. i use my inons in manual mode and am getting nicely exposed images.

 

 

the weight of my system , well speaking as someone who only ever wanted a BC pocket camera(a famous quote of mine i will never live down ) LOL the set up with 2 strobes arms ad on lenses and ike housing is not light on land but i manage it ok . underwater i find it better , it is negativly boyant so when you put it on the ocean floor it definetly sits there .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so this is my setup , 2 strobes home made baseplate , ucl165 close up lense and ultralight arms .

 

matty

[tarzana 0]

Hi Tarzana

 

i did share in the same dilema you are having p5000 or g9 mmmm what to pick .

i do think that both systems in the ikelite housing will be similar size and weight .

 

i use the inon strobes i find them to be reliable , compact and the modeling/aiming light is essentail , i would not but a strobe without a modeling/ aiming light. i find the inons are ready to shoot by the time the camera has written to the card. so recycle time is good. i use my inons in manual mode and am getting nicely exposed images.

the weight of my system , well speaking as someone who only ever wanted a BC pocket camera(a famous quote of mine i will never live down ) LOL the set up with 2 strobes arms ad on lenses and ike housing is not light on land but i manage it ok . underwater i find it better , it is negativly boyant so when you put it on the ocean floor it definetly sits there .

 

so this is my setup , 2 strobes home made baseplate , ucl165 close up lense and ultralight arms .

 

matty

 

 

thanks for pix. ohhhhhhhhhhhh yeah, i does look heavy. hmmm i thought i saw somewhere on the net a uw set up for the 5100 up with flexi arms??? i know fantasea sells one and that one i do not want as it does not allow the ttl but I will have to look more. perhaps i will just buy the ike housing and the 5100 and go off to sipadan like that. i know i will be sorry when i am in the water without enough light but time is running out for me if i buy this online and send it here to japan.

 

so perhaps i will do some research on a different site with UW equipment forums for a lighter TTL hook up for the ike housing with the 5100. if anyone has any suggestions for elsewhere to search. i am all ears!

 

anyway thanks for your help, matty!

tarzana

[Islandbound 1]

Tarzana, Kitamura Camera on 58 near Mihama will have the Nikon camera and most likely the housing for it as well. Hirohito is the fellow I usually talk to there and is very helpful as well as a diver. Makeman also has the Inon flashes in stock as of today in their dive shop area too.

[tarzana 0]

Tarzana, Kitamura Camera on 58 near Mihama will have the Nikon camera and most likely the housing for it as well. Hirohito is the fellow I usually talk to there and is very helpful as well as a diver. Makeman also has the Inon flashes in stock as of today in their dive shop area too.

 

islandbound,

thank you for your help...i went to computown in korinza today and they wanted $389 for the 5100. it can be here in 3 days ...amazon wants 305 but that will take about a week to get here.. that i still ok ...don't know where mihama is and i cant seem to find the okinawa branch of kitamura camera on the net to see where it is or call but will research it tomorrow. i almost went to Makeman ( the one in Chatan right??) but i ran out of time. hope i can call one or the other and someone will speak some english!

 

as for a battery is this one the one everyone recommends to get?

 

Nikon EN-EL5 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery

 

attached is the inon that i saw with a flexi arm, jugglematt, but i think i would like a double strobe. wrote to divervision and hopefully they will can help me out or i can find what i want in makeman here.

 

tarzana

 

Tarzana, Kitamura Camera on 58 near Mihama will have the Nikon camera and most likely the housing for it as well. Hirohito is the fellow I usually talk to there and is very helpful as well as a diver. Makeman also has the Inon flashes in stock as of today in their dive shop area too.

 

islandbound,

thank you for your help...i went to computown in korinza today and they wanted $389 for the 5100. it can be here in 3 days ...amazon wants 305 but that will take about a week to get here.. that i still ok ...don't know where mihama is and i cant seem to find the okinawa branch of kitamura camera on the net to see where it is or call but will research it tomorrow. i almost went to Makeman ( the one in Chatan right??) but i ran out of time. hope i can call one or the other and someone will speak some english!

 

as for a battery is this one the one everyone recommends to get?

 

Nikon EN-EL5 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery

 

attached is the inon that i saw with a flexi arm, jugglematt, but i think i would like a double strobe. wrote to divervision and hopefully they will can help me out or i can find what i want in makeman here.

 

tarzana