Q. for Fuji E900 users

Ok folks, I've searched the archives here and there is a lot of discussion about the Fuji E900 as a camera.

By all accounts, it seems like a pretty handy unit and I am seriously considering getting this instead of a housed DSLR.

I do have 2 questions, neither of which were clearly answered in my search here:

1/ How responsive is this camera underwater? I think the publsihed stats are somewhere around 0.1s shutter lag, but that doesnt take into account the speed of autfocus So those of you who use this - what is the real-world lag between pressing the shutter and the taking of the photo, including time to autofocus? Is it easy to take fish portraits, etc with this camera?

I currently use a housed S70, and am not too happy with its shutter lag. I understand that digicams are never going to be as responsive as SLRs, but there are digicams with much better response times (my Panasonic LX1, for one; the Ricoh series for another).

2/ My understanding is that with the Ikelite housing and the 9306.81 attachment, I will be able to attach an Inon UWL-100 wide angle lens, and an Inon UWL-100 dome on top of that as well. Anyone using this setup and can comment on the minimum focusing distance of this setup, and also whether there is any vignetting?

Edit: Also, would the Inon UFL-165 fisheye converter give a wider angle of view/closer focusing than the above combo?

Thanks,

Vandit

I find the autofocus and 'take' time with this unit to be very fast - faster than my brain! I can take shots just as fast as I can frame them.

I haven't used this lens set-up with the E900 but did use them with an earlier F810. The minimum focus distance was way up close to the dome - there is a small amount of vignetting in the corners with this set-up but that can easily be zoomed or cropped out. I didn't find it unacceptable but changed to the AD mount lenses for the ease of changing lenses in cold water with gloves on.

I've done over 50 dives with my Fuji E900 rig.

You want the AD lenses, they're much easier to use and cheaper. Both the W/A and dome work well, but you have to zoom in slightly to avoid vignette on the corners. You can stack macros and get very close. Stacking macro and W/A really doesn't accomplish anything.

I would only recommend using the Inon strobes with this pre-flash camera, they have a pre-flash cancel circuit that makes the camera strobe recycle much faster on anything less than a full dump shot such as most macro and fish portraits. I like the Ike DS-50 strobe, but the controller doesn't work well with the pre-flash and there's an un-acceptable lag and long strobe recycle on the camera.

I'm very happy with it and it can shoot up with many dslrs in my book. There's lots of shots on my Flickr site.

Jack

Hi Jack and Jander4454 -

Thanks for the very useful feedback. Good to know that the camera is fast - the S70 I have currently drives me up the wall, that's how bad it is. That is the single biggest criteria I have for a forthcoming purchase.

Also good to know that the AD lenses will work, as I just ordered me a 165AD macro lens for the S70 case.

2 clarifications:

- re. the AD mount WA lenses, is that the UWL-105AD? That's the only WA converter in an AD mount that I can find, excluding the ones in the 28AD mount.

- as per the specs on the Inon website, the UWL-100 dome doesnt fit with the 105AD. So I assume you are using the UFL-165AD fisheye converter? Does this attach to the front of the 105AD, or do you use this instead of the 105AD?

I have been considering the Inon strobes for this rig as well - if I find this setup to be a long-term keeper, that'd be fine; but if I do end up migrating to a DSLR at some point, it'd be nice to reuse my strobes.... hence leaning towards Ikes. I think I may shoot this camera with my Sunpak G-flash initially and see how I like it, before deciding on strobes.

Thanks,

Vandit

- re. the AD mount WA lenses, is that the UWL-105AD?  That's the only WA converter in an AD mount that I can find, excluding the ones in the 28AD mount.

 

- as per the specs on the Inon website, the UWL-100 dome doesnt fit with the 105AD.  So I assume you are using the UFL-165AD fisheye converter?  Does this attach to the front of the 105AD, or do you use this instead of the 105AD? 

 

I have been considering the Inon strobes for this rig as well - if I find this setup to be a long-term keeper, that'd be fine; but if I do end up migrating to a DSLR at some point, it'd be nice to reuse my strobes....  hence leaning towards Ikes.  I think I may shoot this camera with my Sunpak G-flash initially and see how I like it, before deciding on strobes.

1) Yes

2) Yes, it is a standalone lens. Note that you need Ike's lens attachment ring for the housing to use the lenses

3) You will be sorely disappointed with anything other than the Inon strobes if you want speed. The E900 strobe is very slow to recycle when it does a full dump and Inon's strobes are the only ones to have the cancelation circuitry.

Jack

Jack,

I had heard about the 9 second recharge time on the E900 internal flash and that you couldn't make it do anything but a full dump even to trip an external flash.

"The E900 strobe is very slow to recycle when it does a full dump and Inon's strobes are the only ones to have the cancelation circuitry."

Because I'm considering a strobe for my point and shoot as well, can you elaborate on this "cancellation circuitry"? Does the camera need a hotshoe? If not, how does it cancel the camera's internal strobe from firing?

No, it all works optically. It fires a very fast bright pre-flash that tricks the internal strobe into shutting down quickly. Works very well for macro and fish portraits. Camera slows down when you start to do full dump W/A. But I never really found it a problem.

Actually, for reefscapes the magic filter does a better job without strobes.

Jack

Thanks for the answer, Jack - helps a lot!

I'm going to try to play with a Fuji E900 and see how I like it - if i do, then I'll get the full set for it, including the Inon strobes.

Regards,

Vandit

No, it all works optically. It fires a very fast bright pre-flash that tricks the internal strobe into shutting down quickly. Works very well for macro and fish portraits. Camera slows down when you start to do full dump W/A. But I never really found it a problem.

 

Actually, for reefscapes the magic filter does a better job without strobes.

 

Jack

Do you have any idea where the light sensor is in the camera? I'm wondering if I can trick it into shutting down early by using a fiber optic cable inside the housing somehow.

Chris

Do you have any idea where the light sensor is in the camera? I'm wondering if I can trick it into shutting down early by using a fiber optic cable inside the housing somehow.

 

Chris

It's through the lens, I believe. I don't think anything like that would work, but who knows. The Inons use a super bright, very fast preflash.

Jack