Manual focus gear for Nikkor 105 VR lens

I was going to buy a Sea & Sea housing for my new D200 camera with the Nikkor 105mm VR lens. Now S&S told me there's no manual focus gear for this lens.

Is it needed????

I'm totally new to DSLR but I see there's focus gear for nearly every other lens, so I wonder what the use is of this gear, is it really needed with any lens? it's quite expensive!

Hi Erika, I've never used manual focus underwater, always AF and never had a problem. The occasions where you will need manual focus is when you are shooting super macro (teleconverters, close-up accesory lenses, etc), but that may take some time, so my suggestion is for you to buy the lens you want (even without the focus gear). I think Nikon will stop producing the old 105 soon and Sea&Sea will eventually come up with a focus gear for the new 105 in the future.

Luiz

The Ikelite port does not have manual focus. The secret with autofocus is to get your focus spot on the area you want, typically the eye of the fish. (Although I focused on the fish eggs I put up for you in the previous post)

Manual focus would be a nice option but only a few ports have it for the 105VR. More importent to me was the iTTL capability that Ikelite had. Shooting at a stationary subject is one thing but them little critters simply don't give me the time to make changes.

The diameter on this lens is so large I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't fit a focus gear around it. Since I got my D2X I've taken all the focus gears off of all my lenses.

Use single servo auto focusing mode (my method with the 60 and 105mm, I've never used manual focus; I normally shoot in Monterey so I usually have a focus light mounted on the housing, aim it so the edge of its beam illuminates what I'm trying to photograph, and turn it on only if the AF is hunting too much)

-half press the shutter release (result: camera achieves and locks focus)

-keep the shutter release half pressed

-recompose the composition

-move in/out slightly to get the critical focus just right

-fully press the shutter release (result: image captured)

or

Use continuous auto focusing mode:

multiple combinations (read the manual and practice shooting land macro shots)

-closest subject priority

-use (all AF points, wide AF pattern, single AF point)