Just back from West Papua. Had two awesome weeks on MSY Seahorse. The boat, the crew, the diving and the whole experience was stellar. Cruise director Alberto Reija took exceptional care of us and provided us with memorable diving and always kept us entertained. He is incredibly knowlegable about diving in this area and along with divemasters Adnan and Arris we were treated to a very personalised diving experience.
Photographically it was a real treat with maco and wide angle opportunities on every dive; not to mention the dazzling topside scenery. I used my Canon 40D in a Subal housing for the first time along with my 5D. I wanted to compare shooting the 40D with a Sigma 10-20mm to the full frame 5D with a Canon 17-40 . I think I got better results with the 40D/10-20mm - certainly more contrasty and less fuzzy in the corners. I also compared the 40D with Canon 60mm EF-S lens against the 5D with the Canon 100mm macro. In this aspect I can definitely say that the 40D/60mm combo won hands down for me. The image quality was equally good but the autofocus ability of the 40D/60mm was way superior. Another thing that I found really helpul was using the Ef focusing screen accessory for macro with the 40D. In fact there seems to be no downside when you use it for non-macro shooting so it now stays on the camera permanently.
You really did get some great shots there. I'm especially impressed with the results you got with the 40D, and the macro shots in particular. You should be very pleased! Congrats on a wonderful trip...and wonderful photos to match!
A spectacular visual feast for the eyes!
Thanks.
Ellen
Fantastic fotos Andre!
When you were in Misool, by any chance did you stop by the new Misool Eco Resort? If so, how is it looking? ( I realize that it is not officially open yet). Just asking because I am considering going there in 2009...
Congrats on a great trip and some stellar images Andre. The 60mm rocks! The guy behind it is pretty good too. Which focus screen are you talking about? Any other things you learned about the 40D would be appreciated.
Steve
Thanks for all the nice comments!
AMW, we did see the Eco Misool Lodge but only from a distance. The diving is going to be superb and the location is breathtaking. I am sure it is going to be a top notch dive destination. Its going to be quite difficult to get to - about 3-4 hrs by boat from Sorong but I am sure they will get that figured out.
Steve, I was refering to the Canon Ef S focusing screen for the 40D. It comes with an installation kit and is pretty easy to install - less than 5 minutes. You then have to make an adjustment in your custom menu functions and you are set to go. It gives macro subjects more definition and thus makes critical focusing easier. The lens you use must be 2.8 or faster. Costs about $30. http://www.adorama.com/ICAEFS.html?searchi...n&item_no=1
As mentioned I was really impressed with the 40D in all respects. I was trying to answer the question of whether I should be getting a second 5D or 40D body for my setup ( my current system of two seperate housings for seperate bodies is becoming to much of a problem with luggage restrictions ) So I am going to go with two 40D bodies and my Subal housing. ( A lot cheaper too! )
thanks for the slideshow Andre, it was very nice
scott
Thanks Andre, great to hear. So what is the view with the EF-S screen if you're shooting f/8 or wide angle? Would you just leave it in or maybe your thinking to have one body set up for macro and one for W/A? Please excuse the dumb questions, I'm still working my way up the DSLR learning curve.
Steve
Andre,
excellent slide show. You had so many nice WA shots with divers it was tough to judge a true "best" but there were a few from the old 5D that really looked nice. But if you decide to throw it away let me know I do agree your best results overall were from the 40D. Your best Macro was the pink seahorse...crisp focus on the head with a very nice shallow DOF fading the background away.
Great pictures mate, I`m wordless:)When I see all this photos I wish I was born somewhere where is tropical sea:)...
Just back from West Papua. Had two awesome weeks on MSY Seahorse.
We were on that cruise on the SEAHORSE in Novenber, 07 and had 30' of green vis in Triton Bay. Notwithstanding, it was still an outstanding place to dive! Great boat !!!
How was your vis - March/April is susposed to be the clearest there?
Has Alberto quieted down yet?
Thanks Andre, great to hear. So what is the view with the EF-S screen if you're shooting f/8 or wide angle? Would you just leave it in or maybe your thinking to have one body set up for macro and one for W/A? Please excuse the dumb questions, I'm still working my way up the DSLR learning curve.
Steve
Sorry Steve - maybe I didnt explain that very well. The EF S focussing screen simply replaces your 40D's fcusing screen and helps you get better vision for critical macro focus. It doesnt matter at what f stop you are shooting as you are still always viewing your object through the lens widest aperture. Therefore this feature is only really helpful in fast ( f < 2.8 ) lenses. I founfd that I really couldnt tell any difference in use when shooting medium or wide angle and have thus just left the EF S screen in the 40D permanently.
Hope that explains it better!
Andre,
excellent slide show. You had so many nice WA shots with divers it was tough to judge a true "best" but there were a few from the old 5D that really looked nice. But if you decide to throw it away let me know I do agree your best results overall were from the 40D. Your best Macro was the pink seahorse...crisp focus on the head with a very nice shallow DOF fading the background away.
Thanks! I presume you are talking about this Pygmy
You may be quite surprised at the EXIF - f/5.0 , 1/25sec, ISO 400, Aperture priority! What happened was that my strobes were not working on that dive ( due to a fiddly connection from the housing to the camera hot shoe) so I shot the whole dive only using my focusing light as a source of illumination. Thats why the slow shutter, wide aperture and high ISO. I was getting shutter speeds no faster than 1/40 sec. The beauty of it is that I could shoot in high speed mode at 6.5 frames per sec as there was no issue of strobe recycling! I shot the Pygmy over two hundred times in a few minutes and of course it didnt even bother him! Of course at f5 your depth of field is so incredibly shallow that about 90% where out of focus or had some motion blur in them but with so many shots there was bound to be a few OK ones. And yes it gives you a slightly different "portrait" look of a pygmy! Just something to remember if you find your strobes not working on a macro dive!!
We were on that cruise on the SEAHORSE in Novenber, 07 and had 30' of green vis in Triton Bay. Notwithstanding, it was still an outstanding place to dive! Great boat !!!
How was your vis - March/April is susposed to be the clearest there?
Has Alberto quieted down yet?
We were a bit more lucky - 50 ft or more I would say. The currents were ripping at times but that of course is what makes it such a great place.
Alberto - quiet??? - are you kidding???
Supurb shots. I would love to know what the file/trigger/leatherjacket is image 40D5831.
Great photos.
How can I tell which photo was shot with 40D or 5D?
I can tell you really like the 40D/60mm; I am curious of your thoughts on the 40D/100mm?
TomC
Great photos.
How can I tell which photo was shot with 40D or 5D?
I can tell you really like the 40D/60mm; I am curious of your thoughts on the 40D/100mm?
TomC
Tom, the file no.s start with either 40D or 5D.
I did use the 40D with a 100mm macro as well. The downside is that it focuses so much slower than the 60 -EFs and that the effective focal length of 160mm is often too much. I found using the 60 with a Woody's diopter to be far more versatile for general macro.
Tom, the file no.s start with either 40D or 5D.
I did use the 40D with a 100mm macro as well. The downside is that it focuses so much slower than the 60 -EFs and that the effective focal length of 160mm is often too much. I found using the 60 with a Woody's diopter to be far more versatile for general macro.
Andre.
Thanks for telling me about the file names; I didn't notice the obvious.
I think that I like your 5D w/a shots better than the 40D w/a; but what I am most impressed with is the fact that you are accomplishing this without feeling the need to utilize mega strobes. (I believe that you are using YS-90s.) For a couple of years now I have been working under the assumption that I will eventually be able to improve my w/a shots by better utilization of a proper lens without having to light up the entire ocean. It is is great to see that you are doing so and perhaps I can reach that point.
