I love the 105

Hi Gang,

I got to borrow the 105mm f2.8 Nikkor for my last trip and I love it!!!

It's a super bright lens and the autofocus works pretty well.

On our night dive at Stetson Bank, we were in ripping current conditions and I knew I wouldn't have a free hand - so I shot it in Auto and TTL.

I set the S2pro to +1 Flash Compensation and used 2 SS200's with the modelling lights turned on for the night dive. I also shot in RAW.

I was really pleased w/ the results!!! Some shots from that dive:

More shots from my most recent trip at:

http://www.reefpix.org/modules.php?set_alb...=view_album.php

We also got to rendezvous with the NOAA research vessel Nancy Foster while they were doing deepwater ROV surveys of the Flower Garden Banks in ~300' of water. It was awesome!

Cheers

James

excellent color and detail........we are heading for the Flower Gardens again in two weeks

Karl

James - Welcome to the wonderful world of the 105mm! It has become my favorite lens, and I have to force myself to use other lenses for at least part of a dive trip. All those shots we dreamed about taking with the Nikonos V are now almost simple.

Very nice photos!

Hey gang,

I bought a 105mm lens about a month ago after Jimbo's raves about it. I used it on about 6 dives here in So California where the conditions have been poor lately. I wasn't very pleased with the auto focus, but I'm not sure if it's due to the low lighting available lately. (conditions have been poor all season). I relied on using the AF then moving the housing in and out. The shots that were in focus were very impressive, but I had much better results with the 60mm. I haven't taken it into the pool yet to make a comparison. I have been considering selling it and putting the money towards the 12-24mm. I just received the gear sleeve from Ikelite for it.

Any experiene with the 105mm in lower light situations? I'm going out to San Miguel this week and was going to leave the 105 at home.

Thanks,

John

James,

By the way, awesome shots! What settings were you using with the 105mm?

Thanks,

John

Great colors on the last one.

Oooh! That is just not fair. Us poor prosumer users would have to get .001 inch away from the Blue Angel with a wide angle lens to get a shot like that. On top of that you didn't blow out the mouth area, which is extremely difficult not to do. Nice job, James! All your other shots... ditto.

Out of curiosity, what distance were you away from each of the critters? Does the S2 store the distance info in the EXIF data?

Thanks guys!

With the 105mm, you can shoot an angelfish from 18" away, or a nudibranch up very close. You just adjust your fstop accordingly. The camera records "focal length 105mm" with each shot. I'll have to check if it gives the actual distance that the lens is focusing at - D-type lenses are supposed to "know" this info too.

The 105 is not a great focus performer in low light. I use the modelling lights on the Ike strobes or a modelling light on the Aquatica hot-shoe mount to help the lens focus.

Cheers

James

The 105mm is well known for its focus hunting in poor light. Even in good light, well good for underwater, it struggles a bit. It can get frustrating, especially if it starts winding over the entire zoom range. It sometimes sticks and the long end. You can use your hand to get it close to the focus distance you intend to use, which makes it a little quicker. Overall sharpness is as good as the 60mm, but you do lose a little DOF.

I've used the 105mm and 2x tele. Losing 2 more stops of light and holding your focus point steady in the viewfinder combine for a real challenge to AF.

Once, I tried to use the 105mm, 2x tele and diopter indoors. It wouldn't AF on anything.

Hopefully Craig, Herb, David, Todd & I will get something like that from Lembeh in October, maybe a touch weirder though. Love the Angel shot, the exposure was spot on James.

Agreed, the 105 tends to hunt in low light. About two thirds of the time I shoot this lens on manual focus, especially really close stuff. Autofocus is OK for spooky little fish pictures in tropical waters. For super macro, focus first, then move the camera backward and forward for critical focus.

Thanks Bob. Yes, I shot that in TTL :-)

Yes, I DO wish I could go with you guys...

Cheers

James

Shame that you can't come twud be a blast.... As it is we will be pushing more computing power and lenses to rival the 'Hubble'!

If James uses the 105 I'll have to switch to the 200. Come big or don't come at all!

Guess I need to do my "goin' to Lembeh" dance now. If only I could get the airline tickets.

Lembeh! Yeah!! Roll on October.

Air tickets ... good point, thanks for the reminder!

Bob, I'll be doing my bit to keep the averages low (Prosumer, minimum size housing, 1 strobe, and I can guarantee my computer is smaller than yours ) ... am I going to feel inadequate??

-David

I have to say that I found the 60mm more use in Lembeh than the 105. Of course the 105 is best for the small and hard to approach, but the 60mm is much much easier to use on OGPF, froggies, scorps and all but the smallest nudis.

Con Petrinos in his "Pygmy Seahorse" book is one of the few people to use lots of different lenses there and has a number of great Lembeh shots using 28mm on his RS. I think a 28-70 (possibly with a weak dioptre to improve close focus) might also make a good lens in the Strait.

Boy I wish I was going there again...

Believe it or not I was using a 20mm on most of the dives in Lembeh last year!

Well we have 1 seat left!

A typical 20mm Lembeh shot

That's typical? Maybe for you but not for me. Hope I learn something from you in October!

Looks like the strobe must have been just above the fish (way in front of the camera but high out of shot) -> I would expect to get problems with glare on the lens if I tried this ... ??

-David