Just got back from a great trip where I got to dive Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, Bahamas and Bodrum (Turkey). It was also my first time using a DSLR rig and I was kinda nervous. My fears were unfounded though and I managed to get acquainted with my new baby fairly quickly. Here is the gear I used;
D300, Sea & Sea Housing & TTL converter
Inon 45 deg viewfinder
Fisheye HG20DX
Stix arms
Optical Dome port
Standard Port (With Woody's Diopter)
Athena 105VR Macro Port (with Inon Wet Diopter up front)
Lenses;
Nikon 105VR F2.8 Macro
Nikon 60mm AFS F2.8 Macro (new model)
Nikon 10.5mm F2.8 Fisheye
Sigma 18-50 F2.8 Macro HSM
I thought I might share some of my experiences as I had to do a fair bit of research on some of these items before my purchase...
First of all, I definitely found the 60mm Macro to be the most versatile lens. The new 60mm AFS fit nicely with the Standard NX port. Also, after doing a lot of research on how to use the Woody's diopter with the Standard NX port via mods, I found that the Woody's largest size (110) fit the standard port nicely! All I had to do was to cut two slits on the diopter so that it would fit (snugly) over the oddly shaped rubber front of the NX Port. The 60 internally focuses and the AFS is really quick. Not once did I feel the need for manual focusing although that may change as I get better at this! The Woody's really helped fill the frame and I highly recommend it. However, I found myself forgetting to take it off at times which made taking fish portraits/non-macro shots impossible of course. Here are a few shots I took with the 60;
105VR Macro, Athena port, Stix arms and Stix Buoyancy collar. This combination allowed for a slightly negative camera rig underwater (together with 2 YS-110 strobes). I found myself using the 60 more than the 105 macro. This was usually because throughout the many weeks of diving, I dove many different new locations and as such was hesitant to use such a specialized lens. I only took down the 105 if I was diving the same site and there were Macro opportunities there. When I did, I also had an Inon Wet diopter with me for super macro possibilities. Sorry, just one example to show here...
Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 HSM Macro, modified Nikon Zoom Gear, Optical dome port and SX Extension ring. I had thought this would be my "all round", "not sure what I'll see" lens. I was wrong. I found the 60 macro to fit that bill better. I suppose I am more of a fish portrait/macro person. When I wanted to do reef scenes, I went straight to the fisheye. I did use this lens when I expected to see sharks or rays. True to the posts on this board, the lens performed very well in this capacity. However, at times, I found the 18 wide to be not quite wide enough.... Sadly, I saw only one solitary shark (big or small) on my whole Bahamas trip! It was too far away and I did not even bother attempting a shot. Here are a few examples from this lens. The Twin smiling Remoras won me the photo competition of the trip. A very proud accomplishment for me given that it was my first time using this lens and a dome port underwater.
I call this picture below "The Pied Piper" The three remoras were actually heading off to harass the diver in the distance!
Finally, the Nikon 10.5 Fisheye lens. I was lucky enough to have a friend with this lens who loaned it to me for this trip. He shoots topside and barely has an opportunity to put this beautiful piece of glass to good use. I was hesitant to use this lens for a while as WA shots never really interested me. Boy was I wrong! I love this lens! It is tack sharp, works far better than I expected in cloudy (less than gin clear) water and allows for some creative possibilities. Yes, it is VERY VERY wide....CFWA shots need to be done really really close to the subject! The Barracuda in the picture below was 3ft long and about 2ft away from the dome port! The social feather dusters were almost touching the glass!
All in all, I was a very happy DSLR user. I started the trip more worried about floods and lens choices.... after a few days, This didn't bother me anymore. Even in heavy current, I managed to handle the gear without too much trouble (although the floppy arms was a slight pain. I wish Stix ball joints had the Rubber O-ring like Ultralight arms). The 45 degree viewfinder took a little while to get used to. Even for macro, I found myself hunting a little for the subject. Once it was found, tracking it was simple and so was maintaining my position (due to the 45 degree angle). WA shots seemed simpler to get used to with the 45 deg viewfinder. This was probably because there was no subject to hunt/track (or the subject was easy to spot in the case of CFWA).
The D300 was incredible. I shot mainly at ISO400 and at times 200. Autofocus was fast and trouble free. I found myself hardly using the focusing light even in tricky situations. The Fisheye light came in very handy during night dives of course!
The Sea & Sea housing was easy to use and all the functions easy to reach. My only gripe was that my thumb could not reach the Circular D-pad buttons used to move the focus point while my hand was holding the handle. I had to let go of the handle and place my hand on the housing itself (on the inside of the handle) to be able to reach both the shutter and the manipulate the buttons while keeping my eye on the viewfinder. I may mod a soft handle/strap so that I can do this while still supporting the camera with the same hand.
I hope this post has been helpful to anyone starting out in DSLR and thinking of getting a similar set. I also just had to share my happy experience and some of my first novice shots. There were many more but I think each post is limited to 10... lol.
Thanks for reading!
