Bunaken and Lembeh with Canon 40D

Pictures: http://andresmith.speedalbum.com/Bunaken%2...0August%202008/

Equipment: Due to luggage constraints I left the 5D behind and used 2 40D bodies with my Subal housing. Lenses Canon 60mm EFS, Sigma 10-20 and for the first time Sigma 10mm fisheye. I love the FF Sigma 15mm fisheye so I thought I would try its new brother. It did not disappoint - very sharp in the corners at all apertures I used. Also slightly less fishy making it great for topside and split shots.

The trip: Tailored to family diving vacation ( two adults and two teenagers )and organised by Jeremy Barnes from Safari Tours and Travel in Manado - very highly recommended. Everything went very smoothly.

Accomodation: Bunaken- Cha Cha resort. Simple but very comfortable with fantastic atmosphere. Our kind of holiday. Kids loved the dogs and the jungle and mangrove exploration. Diving very well organised and very relaxed. Some serious current on a few occasions but all part of the fun. Owner Raf is a hoot and goes the extra mile for you.

Lembeh- Kasawari Lembeh Resort. Beautiful classy resort. Amazing diving set up with best UW camera room I have ever seen. Expensive but worth it. First time to dive in Lembeh for me and it certainly lived up to its reputation.

PS - Please correct me if you find any critter ID incorrect!

Cheers, Andre

Spectacular stuff Andre! I was especially impressed by your work with the 60mm. The portrait of the painted nudi is as good as I've ever seen. Congratulations on some great images. The best part is you got to do it with the whole family. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.

Steve

Great shots!

From the look of things you had some excellent dives and a wonderful time with the family. Did you come back with any preference of one area/diving over the other?

Wow! What a great set of photos.

Very nice set of images. How would you rate the 40D against the 5D for this type of photography?

Alex

Disappointed to see octopuses still flying at Kasawari Resort.

Very , very nice pictures !!

I think that the scorpion fish on picture 55 is not a lacy but an Ambon scorpion fish ( pteroidichthys amboinensis ).

I'm happy to see that "Léon" the purple Rhinopias is still there..I would be glad to meet him again in March !!

Nice collection Andre. Looks like a fun trip for the family.

So glad you all had a good time at Cha Cha, I'm looking up "hoot" in the dictionary at the moment ;-)

Photos really great and glad to see that the 40D stayed dry!!

Will contact you shortly for permission to use a few.

----

Raf

Great shots!

 

From the look of things you had some excellent dives and a wonderful time with the family. Did you come back with any preference of one area/diving over the other?

They are so completely different so I would hate to recoommend one area over the other.I would suggest doing both areas if you ever go to North Sulawesi!

Very nice set of images. How would you rate the 40D against the 5D for this type of photography?

 

Alex

 

Disappointed to see octopuses still flying at Kasawari Resort.

The 5D has some obvious advantages over the 40D - pixel count, less noise etc, but with typical underwater use it seems to be rather insignificant. For macro I might even prefer the 40D. For wide angle it also pretty much even for me especially since I have found the Sigma 10mm fisheye for the 40D.

I am afraid to say that "flying" the octopi does happen. One of the guests who dives the area regularly said it happens all over Lembeh. Our guide was quite happy to stop doing it after we told him that we didnt like it. In his defense I will say that he was pretty responsible in not allowing to many flashes from the photographers on some of the critters such as the pygmies.

Very , very nice pictures !!

I think that the scorpion fish on picture 55 is not a lacy but an Ambon scorpion fish ( pteroidichthys amboinensis ).

I'm happy to see that "Léon" the purple Rhinopias is still there..I would be glad to meet him again in March !!

Thanks for the correction.

We were not introduced to the rhinopia as Leon - maybe that was why he looked so unimpressed