Video of Nikon D3 in Artic fjords of Norway

I found this video which was actually quite decent in production quality. They do talk about the D3 with the Subal housing but nothing in detail.

That is so cool. Quite a production - looks bloody cold.

Alex

Top find Drew,

I'm with Alex, it looks bloody cold, BUT...

Could you imagine the pic that Michael Aw would get from that free-falling King Crab at the end...

Hooroo,

Bruce...

Wow, very cool video.

The vis looks pretty good for green water. I always seem to hit the Pacific NW during storm season (Christmas and New Years).

Mark

That was done in Norway at a place called Artic Adventure Resort, run by Lars something (sorry Lars, I forgot ). It's actually warmer in the water than out of it. They do have hot tubs and saunas. For the very brave, they make a hole in the ice in the fjord for dips. I put my foot in there and chickened out. Just thinking about it sends chills!

How could the guy connect two wired iTTL SB800?

How could the guy connect two wired iTTL SB800?

Harald at Seacam offers a circuit board that allows you to connect two wired ittl capable strobes to his housings, so maybe it is something similar to that.

The vis looks pretty good for green water. I always seem to hit the Pacific NW during storm season (Christmas and New Years).

Yes, that would be above average vis here in Alaska. Looks like Subal wins putting the D3 in the water race, but no 14-24mm, more like the 14mm prime was used. B)

Check out this film:

Hm Noticed later that this has been posted a couple of days ago. Anyway - cool film

It was very difficult to get a feel for the D3 in that video but the I liked the video footage...which I think overshadowed the product. I was more impressed with Alex's photo of the gravel and the absence of noise when cropped into the dark areas between stones. Impressive indeed.

Harald at Seacam offers a circuit board that allows you to connect two wired ittl capable strobes to his housings, so maybe it is something similar to that.

For information, this requires Seacam's own TTL strobes AND S6 connectors.

Well... they said it was worst possible conditions, murky - no light etc.

That was clearly not the case, looked absolutly dreamlike conditions to me. Will be interesting to see when it's tested under difficult conditions.

Nice pictures though, but it should be with conditions like that.

Nikon D3 , Subal Housing, video camera and housing, snowmobiles, rigid inflatable boat, full face mask…

Looks like these boys have all the toys

Nice video, love the boat too.

The only downside for me with the D3 is no ISO 100, otherwise it's an awesome camera.

Looking forward to seeing more D3 images.

Still shots can now be seen on his blog site:

http://www.scanout.com/page/9332/

Johnny,

Checked out your website and photos, they are awesome rating an easy 10+ in my book! Well done!

I dove Norway as a very young man in 1967 from Bergen to Kristiansund. Again in 1969 from Bergen

to Hardangerfjord.

The memories of Norway both above and below the water are forever etched in my memory! Would

absolutely love to go back...

Best,

Tom Stack

looked absolutly dreamlike conditions to me. Will be interesting to see when it's tested under difficult conditions.

I know that you have a different point of reference to me - but that seems a bit harsh, Johnny. Those looked pretty hardcore conditions to me.

The image quality of the corners does not look great to me. The corners off those shots are noticeably smeared, although re-watching the video it is not a surprise looking at how the lens/dome were setup (lens right against the dome) and the lack of dioptre (not possible with that lens).

I think it is best to wait for a better setup example with the 17-35mm (properly placed behind a dome with a dioptre) before we conclue anything on Nikon's FF corner sharpness with rectilinear lenses. I am really interested to see whether the 14-24mm on FX can produce as good corner sharpness as the 17-35mm behind a dome, given that it can't take a dioptre.

Alex

p.s Does Brian Skerry have a D3 on his Nat Geo Japan shoot in similar conditions - I'll check his blog?

[EDIT] - checked it - doesn't mention it, so I guess not.

OMG Alex you are such a geek... you're analyzing the video for clues to setup the D3?!?

When I posted this video, I thought it was pretty funny and a reminder of how I took a skimobile to dive. I'm afraid we really need more women in these forums!

Fair call, Drew.

One of the big issues of FF digital remains corner image quality (sharpness and vignetting), particularly with CFWA with rectilinear lenses. I guess I wanted to say that these first images might not best to judge it on - having looked at them and seen poor corner sharpness I wanted to check the video for clues as to why. I guess my point is don't right off the D3 just yet - as these shots were not taken with an ideal setup. I just found a geeky way to check the facts.

According to my friends at Ocean Optics - Tom Peschak is using a Subal D3 on the Save Our Seas trip to Aldabra at that moment. Although there is nothing about it on their blog:

http://sosfexpeditions.blogspot.com/

Alex

I know that you have a different point of reference to me - but that seems a bit harsh, Johnny. Those looked pretty hardcore conditions to me.

 

The image quality of the corners does not look great to me. The corners off those shots are noticeably smeared, although re-watching the video it is not a surprise looking at how the lens/dome were setup (lens right against the dome) and the lack of dioptre (not possible with that lens).

I was wondering about this myself since I use an extension tube with the 14 and the Seacam system, you know more about Subal setups. The 14 just manages with the cropped format at f/8, can see smearing in the very corners. Probably need to use smaller apertures as well as proper dome set-up for FF with the 14, the 18 may be much better.

I tend to agree with Johnny, looked like very pleasant conditions for drysuit diving (e.g., won't overheat while topside in a drysuit because temps near freezing are ideal) as well as very good vis.

T