D80 Camera setting question and general UW settings

I have a D80, Ikelite housing, Nikkor f2.8/D 60mm and SB105. Had it in the pool and taking it on a dive trip this weekend.

Have a question on the camera settings. I would like to see the exposure meter in the control panel if possible. In the manual it says:

"If a CPU lens is attached and a shutter speed other than bulb is selected, the electronic analog exposure displays in the control panel and viewfinder show whether the photograph would be under or over exposed at the current settings."

The control panel is the digital display on the top of the camera but I do not see the exposure meter showing up in the control panel, it only shows up in the viewfinder (eye piece). Is there a way to make the exposure meter show up on the control panel ? It would be MUCH easier to read there than trying to read the tiny one inside the viewfinder.

And I will take any advice for my setup on some general exposure settings to set as a baseline and I can adjust based on conditions from there.

shutter, f stop, flash pwr (full, 1/4, 1/16)

1) < 1 ft

2) 2-3 ft

3) > 3ft

Thanks for any help !

hello tsetsefly,

welcome to wetpixel.com. you should fill out your profile a little bit when you have a chance.

if you get an Ikelite strobe you won't have to worry about setting your strobe power, the TTL circuitry will do that for you. but you probably knew that

I'm not sure why you want to see the exposure meter, I really don't think that will help you with macro photography. What you want to do is view the histogram in the monitor after taking every shot. if you rotate the aperture dial (secondary command dial) while viewing a photo you will be able to see the histogram. Leave it in that view going forward.

with regard to exposure settings, start with this:

ISO 200 (this way you can use your strobe on half power and get more shots per dive out of your strobe)

shutter speed of 1/200th for darker backgrounds.. (you can try 1/100th for bluer backgrounds for fish shots)

- keep your strobe on the same power setting, half power. this will make lots of things easier on you.

- adjust your F-stop depending on the distance to the subject...after a few test shots and viewing the histogram, you'll get it right... high f-stops for subjects very close to the strobes (F22), smaller F-stops for fish far away (F7.1), and in-between f-stops for in-between stuff...

this will get you going right away!

scott

Thanks for the reply

I plan on getting a wide angle lens soon, so I would still like to know if there is a way to get the exposure meter in the "control panel", if anyone knows.