Stacking the Achromatics.

Well its been a while since I have been able to shoot any macro, not that I'm complaining about diving with sharks, mantas and turtles almost daily......oops sorry, were you reading this during your lunch break in the factory??

Although the weather was pretty foul today in Palau (OK I hear your laughter) I did venture out with the Gates Z1 to test and see what gives with the Squid 250's when shooting Macro. I had ordered some Achromatic Diopters, a +3.5 and a +2, a while back but had no time to hunker down and use them. I'm planning a trip later this year to PI and Lembeh so really wanted to see if I could stack the diopters given the smallish distance between the front of the camera and the Gates flat port. Well I'm chuffed to bits to say that the diopters can be stacked although there is very little room left once the housing is closed down around the cam. I breathed a sigh of relief when the trace element of silicone grease I put around the front rim of the diopter did not leave any marks on the inside element of the flat port, just.

I love shooting macro and am now only trying to imagine the options for this set up on the impending 6 week macro shooting bonanza. The only gripe I have is that the underslung Green Force battery packs for the 250's and the size of the housing renders it impossible to get a true ground level POV. I may, seeing as all I'm gonna be doing is crawling through the muck in Lembeh anyway, see if I can rig some kind of chest harness for the batteries that way at least giving me back the few inches for any lower angled filming ops in the future.

So what did I film? Here's one shot of a curious onlooker who was the size of one of those erasers you get stuck into the end of some pencils:

- f10 - Gain locked at 0dB - ND Filter at posn. 1 - 1/60th - WB set on slate with Squid 250's.

......and here's the beast that shot it, no not me. You can also see the stacked diopters almost scraping the front element of the flat port.

Cheers,

Mark.

Mark

Can't really see in your small jpg but did you zoom in all the way with the diopter on? Did you notice any distortion/softness in the edges? When I stacked my CO +7 and +4 to shoot pygmy seahorses, I had pretty bad edges and my DOF was pretty much blown. And this was on dv.

With your settings, don't you think those lights are overkill for macro? I mean to need ND1 and F10 (which isn't the sharpest part of any video lens), is pretty much trying to kill light. It may be useful for WA in daylight to have such powerful lights, but obviously you've had to kill a lot of light to shoot that blenny.

Looking at that pic, I'd hate to be the guy pulling up that rig. Have you weighed that setup? I'm thinking at least 24 kg.

Hey Mark

How far away would you say the port was from the blenny to fill the frame? What zoom setting? (ie can you zoom past 74?)

Mark

Can't really see in your small jpg but did you zoom in all the way with the diopter on? Did you notice any distortion/softness in the edges? When I stacked my CO +7 and +4 to shoot pygmy seahorses, I had pretty bad edges and my DOF was pretty much blown. And this was on dv.

With your settings, don't you think those lights are overkill for macro? I mean to need ND1 and F10 (which isn't the sharpest part of any video lens), is pretty much trying to kill light. It may be useful for WA in daylight to have such powerful lights, but obviously you've had to kill a lot of light to shoot that blenny.

Looking at that pic, I'd hate to be the guy pulling up that rig. Have you weighed that setup? I'm thinking at least 24 kg.

Hey Drew,

Yeah I was on full telephoto. I can't see any edge distortion but I could only imagine what that would like like at +11. I used to film with a single element +10 and I think there was a patch of around 50 pixels square in the middle of the image that was visible past all the distortion. I was also looking around for the CO +7 but couldn't find one anywhere, I think its discontinued??

These lights are definitely overkill for Macro. I had not tried them before, this was my first foray and after this initial results will be looking for a gentler solution for the impending trip. Unfortunately I can't dial the output down with these suckers so I had to go with this. I hope the Blenny didn't get too suntanned. This sequence was the first I shot on the dive and once I realized the potential harmful impact on the wildlife I ended the dive. Mind you, saying that I did have the light heads very close to the port so that may also be a factor. I may get much different, more agreable to the wildlife, shots with the lights positioned at greater distance to the port.

I haven't weighed the rig when set for Macro but for wide work with the Fathoms and the Squids we're talking 64lbs!! I do all the lifting as I wouldn't want anyone to drop it when handing back into the boat. Getting in is easy, I just hold the rig over the side and let gravity take its course, me connected to the cam of course. The unit is very slightly negative but is still a big lump to push around, I've added some buoyancy to the rig by putting on some insulation lagging foam around the light arms and Gates buoyancy tubes. Using 15l tanks I can still stay the normal 1 hour dive on Blue Corner in a mild current, when it rips I generally come up alone in the blue after about 45 minutes.

Mike, I can zoom all the way to 100 which is where I was on this shot. The front element of the flat port was about 4 inches from the Blenny.

Cheers,

Mark.

64lbs? 20 more lbs and you can have a F900.

CO +7 was discontinued 3-4 years ago. Too specialized. Oh but you could get a pygmy seahorse in full frame.

I found distortion in even the +4 CO. Esp at full 12x zoom. But I'm a bit of a pixel peeper that way.

I know what you mean though. My housing was around 23kg with camera and I added an emergency removable ballast of 0.5kg so that it would float up on its own should heavy forbid I ever have to let it go. I learned a very expensive lesson about having negative housings. I think my old housing is still in the antarctic somewhere.

Nice shot indeed Mark. That's a lot of magnification.

I too am very interested in how far from the subject the camera was. I think in the past I've generally been too close to get the best out of my diopters (VX2K).

You could try neutral density lighting gel over those lights to enable you to do without the ND1 and give the critters an easier time. You can even get it in a frosted version. However looking at them it doesn't look like it would be very easy to attach.

I would say a low POV is very important in Lembeh. The shots look so nice when you can see the horizon behind the critter. I often found myself literally shuffling the housing down into the muck to get a low POV as well as a steady/level base. So mounting those batteries somewhere else is a very good idea and one I might borrow myself for my Bluefin.

By the way, on the subject of diopters, I've forgotten which should go first on the cam if you have say a +2 or +4. Someone mentioned this a few months ago. Was it you Mike? Could you remind me?

64lbs? 20 more lbs and you can have a F900.

CO +7 was discontinued 3-4 years ago. Too specialized. Oh but you could get a pygmy seahorse in full frame.

I found distortion in even the +4 CO. Esp at full 12x zoom. But I'm a bit of a pixel peeper that way.

I know what you mean though. My housing was around 23kg with camera and I added an emergency removable ballast of 0.5kg so that it would float up on its own should heavy forbid I ever have to let it go. I learned a very expensive lessen about having negative housings. I think my old housing is still in the antarctic somewhere.

Sod the F900 mate, I'm happy with my REDservation any day!! A lot bloody cheaper too.

Good idea for the removable ballast, methinks I'll try coming up with a similar system, thanks for that. I'd hate to have this rig join the F900 from a Discovery shoot some five years ago off of Blue Corner. Gets pretty deep around those parts.

Nick, I always place the higher magnification diopter closer to the camera. With single element diopters I also tried stacking three together, it works but really horrible edges as you can imagine. I used a +4, +3 and a +2 for giggles with the +4 on the cam then the 3 and lastly the 2. I read this guideline in a paper given to me by someone who does a lot of the big time projects with HH.

If you have the luxury of being able to slide the camera backwards and forwards you can find the sweet spot at full magnification. I'm actually looking to see if I can come up with a threaded forward and rear traveling gear for my Tripod so that I can nail the distance exactly when double stacked.

Cheers,

Mark.

P.S I'm off to 2 Fish Divers in Lembeh in June, see ya there?

Thanks for that MArk.

I'm thinking of combining another Lembeh trip with a Bali mola mola trip so I don't think I'll be there as soon as June but you never know. Would be great to hang out and compare results. What dates you going exactly?

You're going to love it there. Get ready for some long dives. 75 mins is the norm and we did 100 minutes once. And prefare for it to be cold. I needed 3mm hooded vest under my full length 5mm to keep warm. Say hi to dive guide Opoh for me, crazy ***er. I hope they've managed to get a new guitar by now. Really missed their live music on my last trip. If they still haven't got one, I'll buy em one myself when I go!

Hey Nick,

Not sure of the exact dates but should be within the first week of June for the arrival. Does 2Fish arrange transport from the airport? I emailed Nigel last week but no response as yet. I saw it on their site so I guess they do, duhhhh.

I was originally planning to do the Molas this year and kill 2 birds with one stone but I'm planning to do a short film on the critters for Antibes this year too so I want to get as much editing time in as possible.

Cheers for the info regarding composition, I kinda guessed that was the way to go with the image I could see in my minds eye. Should I scout for an old Guitar on my way over?

Cheers,

Mark.

Yes, they pick you up from the airport. The driver's mad too but they're all really nice folk. If you showed up with a guitar donation you would basically be god for the entire time you're there. Opoh does the Hendrix thing and plays a right-handed guitar left-handed but without re-stringing. Check him and the location out in my Lembeh Strait (topside) video which is on my Lembeh Strait muck diving videos page if you haven't seen it already.

Nigel's connection can be quite intermittent on Bunaken so you might have to wait a bit for him to reply. I'll PM you the email address of the lady who arranges transport etc..

CO +7 was discontinued 3-4 years ago. Too specialized. Oh but you could get a pygmy seahorse in full frame.

Hey Drew,

So do you still have the Diopter? What size is it? Good for the Z1? Wanna rent or sell it for the months of June/July? PM me if any possibilities.

Mark.

Did you use both lights for macro ? Is one light powerfull enough and wide enough coverage ?

Do the batteries come or the mounts come off easily underwater ?

So do you still have the Diopter? What size is it? Good for the Z1?

Yes I do but it won't fit your camera. 58mm. Sorry.

Did you use both lights for macro ? Is one light powerfull enough and wide enough coverage ?

Ron

One light is enough but limits how you shoot. Lighting is one aspect most uw guys don't care too much about in terms of making the shot more interesting, esp with macro. I'd like to see more experimentation with lighting.

Thanks Drew. I was asking because of your comment about the lights being too powerfull for macro. Buying a single lamp & battery might also be an option if I can't afford to buy the dual setup.

Hi ronrosa,

The Squid 250's have a beam angle of 110 degrees so yes they are wide enough to use one light if you use either the 67 degree field of view of the Z1 without any ancillary lenses attached to it, or one of these diopter filters or achromatic diopter lenses. With the Flexi III battery pack I get 180 minutes of burn time which is obviously fantastic for a two tank dive day. Don't think you can buy them singly though. They come as a pair. Lastly, their kelvin characteristic is 3800 so just a bit warmer than most HID options but this too is good news as I get nice Reds and Yellows.

Drew, thanks for the heads up re: the diopter. Bummer. Also with lighting I do have a lot of stock of macro shot with one light. One of the really pleasing aspects for me with night filming is the games one can play with lighting. After all 'painting with light' is what this game is all about.

Cheers,

Mark.

P.S I've not, thus far - touch wood, had a problem with either the batteries or the mount coming unscrewed underwater. I do though keep an Allen key set with me on the boat at all times, just in case.

Mark

That looks like a mighty rig you have set up there.

How many people does it take to put it into the water

Those Squid lights look the go..... what kind of money for them?

Mark

That looks like a mighty rig you have set up there. How many people does it take to put it into the water Those Squid lights look the go..... what kind of money for them?

You're right there mate, putting it into the water ain't the problem. Getting it out is like raising the Titanic!! I manage though, well I actually hand it up to the boat handlers and they always seem fine with it. One thing though is that I ALWAYS put the protective cover on the camera before handing it up! The best way to avoid accidental dinks. Great way for me to work out though. One day I'll use my right arm the following my left. Keeps this 41 yr old grumpy git in shape.

The lights are really nice. Mind you since posting that Blenny image last week I've been laid up with a chronic sinus issue. Swollen right sinus from an infection after a slight head cold. Bummer. People been seeing Hammerheads on Blue Corner and I've been sat here picking me snotter......double bummer. On the road to recovery though so I'll be back in the water soonish.

Cheers,

Mark.

Ohh, I paid U.S$4,275 for the light system. Bought them through Mike Luzansky over at H2O Photo Pro's.

$4200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

crikey

$4200!!!!!!!!!!!!! crikey

Tell me about it........but they are very nice Mike.

How's the weather? Crappy this side of the pond.

M.

$4200 US for tthe Squids...ouch....do they come in different colours

Get well zoon Mr snotty nose..... .