Switching 35mm to digital - and needing advice!

For the past 10 years I've been using a Nikon 801 in a Subal miniflex housing, with SB105 strobe. I've always liked this set up, the only real drawback being the bulkiness and weight. I'm a marine biolgist and I've used it primarily for work as, with a 28 - 70 zoom, it has provided the right kind of versatility, as well as producing great aesthetic shots from time to time.

Now, I have to get myself a digital set-up, but my budget is not huge - up to about $1500 or so, tops. I'm starting from first principles, having not yet made any decisions about camera, housing or strobe.

Good macro would be nice, but mostly I need good habitat (wide) photo capability, along with good capability for fish photos. Many of the digital cameras I've used in the dry have long shutter lag, which would be a big disadvantage - maybe newer models have improved on this?

Any recommendations for a digital set-up that would provide similar or greater in-water versatility to the f801 kit mentioned above would be greatly appreciated. Getting the 35mm u/w photography kit specs right 1st time round was challenging, and digital seems like even more of a minefield!

Thanks

Mukawwar

I've recently moved from using 8008/801 to the D200. I won't be looking back, I think digital is the way for go for 90%+ of underwater photography. Sure film may be better in certain circumstances, but I think it's over. Since you are looking at a limited budget you might want to think about a D70. I'm sure a lot of folks are going to moving to the D200 and you ought to be able to find some used gear at reasonable prices. Your strobe will still work in Manual mode in the new dSLRs. And, there's no shutter lag on a dSLR (well milliseconds) it's not like the digital P&S cameras that drove me nuts on land, I could never see how someone was able to tolerate that shutter lag underwater - but that's me. You'll need a new lens for wide angle though, 17-55, 18-70, 12-24 DX lenses since the focal length is now a 1.5x factor.

HTH

rinjani

I'm not so sure about the DX lenses listed in reply: the 12-24mm has caused some grief because it needs a carefully matched dome, and many people have been unhappy. For environment shots I use the 10.5mm fisheye, and in warm water the Magic Filter can replace a strobe (see the appended image). Both with a D70 body.

I have found the 12-24mm OK with a large Nexus port and extension, but some Subal users have been amongst the disappointed.

10.5mm, filter: 12-24mm, strobe

Tim

B)

Hi Mukawwar,

In principle, I'd stick with Nikon so you can use your current accessories, and also stick with Subal so you can reuse your ports and other bits and pieces. The problem is that this kit will bust your $1,500 budget big time, unless you're lucky enough to find everything on eBay.

As an alternative, a decent prosumer camera (e.g. Nikon Coolpix 8xxx series) with housing and external wide angle lens (e.g. Inon) will fit nicely in your budget, and give you nice macro shots right out of the box. I'd only make sure that shutter lag is not too long, that the housing you select can be connected to your existing strobe (sync port) and can be fitted with your current arm setup (you may need a base plate for that).

Cheers,

Mat

Thanks for all those helpful replies. I'm now much more optimistic I'm going to be able to get something usable, within my budget.

I've been looking around via the web, various photography contacts etc, and am considering going for a Nikon, with Ikelite housing adapted for SB105. Is there any significant difference between the D50 camera and the D70? From other sources I've had completely conflicting advice about these two cameras in the past day or two.

Re the lenses, I get the impression that my former 28-70mm workhorse lens will be more like 35 - 100? Definitely need to change that, perhaps to an 18 - 70?

Thanks,

Mukawwar

Just to be clear, I was listing, not recommending, any lenses. The 17-55 doesn't fit in any Ikelite ports - it's a fraction too wide, but would probably fit in Subal ports. I don't have any experience with the other ones. Make sure you can get the appropriate ports before purchasing the lens. You can probably get more information about suitable lenses in the dSLR forum and on manufacturer's websites.

Regarding shutter lag: I had a Nikon 8800 and the shutter lag was bad even when half-depressed already. But even more annoying, the time to write to a card was so long that some subjects were 100 yards away before you could take a second one and that was on land. After a little time using it I was suprised anyone would bother taking it underwater. My 2 cents of course.