Manado and Bunaken with my new D90 and Aquatica

Well, its been one heck of a long time since I have posted any shots here, simply because... well... I haven't taken any! haha

That has all changed now, I finally broke down and bought a new camera system, the Nikon D90 and an Aquatica housing. Suffice to say that i really like the new setup, the autofocus is eons faster than the D70, the screen is a wonder to behold as it seems around 40 times larger than the old one, and the video feature is a cool little gimmick that i haven't really used much although I did take a few clips with the fisheye which is a great perspective on video. I also like the great resolution of the camera, the clarity of the photos are immediately apparent as soon as I zoom into 100% plus in Lightroom. It also seems to handle sun rays a lot better as well.

I am also very impressed with the new Aquatica housing. You can tell that Blake et al. have really listened to the WP community in our wants and needs. The first thing i noticed was the fact the housing is much more compact than my old one. The buttons (especially the shutter wheel) are a lot easier to reach and the construction of these are also new, they are a larger and have nice large grooves for those cold water divers out there. The other obviously new feature is the sexy black colour and a great new housing construction which seems a lot sturdier than the old design. There are two zincs on the bottom of the housing to avoid any deterioration of the metal. Two other new features are a port lock as well as a great new camera tray that slides in and out of the housing on rails very quickly and smoothly, as well as a lens release lever. All of the buttons are clearly marked and the viewfinder and window are large and easy to look through. I did not purchase the large viewfiner (my eyes are real good and I am broke now ) so i can't comment on that. There is also a built in TTL assembly and leak alarm standard when shipped.

I am very happy with this combination and it has inspired me to get back to shooting, i have done more dives with a still camera in the last two weeks than in the last two years haha

Enough blathering, here are some photos to peruse. Needless to say, i was excited to jump into blue water and wide angle for a few days in Bunaken rather than my regular murky mucky frontyard although as i found out, Manado has some great macro too.

and some macro...

Looks stellar, just great shots. Really great to see the new rig in action and glad you are enjoying the new rig and camera

Sweet shots dude! Glad you are having fun with your new camera!

Mike

Mike what lens did you use for the young Anemome fish. I couldn't get anything that close with my 60mm.

Cheers.

Thanks guys, yes it is fun! Going diving again today haha

The lens for all of the macro shots is a 105mm plus 2 extension tubes...

Looks like it is performing well Mike

Very nice Mike, looks like you still remember how to shoot.

Awesome Mike!

Great shots Mike, thanks for sharing them with us, I'm off there Xmas eve...cant wait!!!

Woody

Wow, great work.

What on earth is going on in that first macro shot? Are those baby fish in eggs, or....?

amazing!! beautiful set!! love it!

Great shots! Is there one of those weird toungeeating parasites in the mouth of the clownfish? If so, do you have any idea of how common they are (that is the parasites, not the clown)?

regards

Bent C

Thanks again everyone, been out shooting a bunch more macro here in Lembeh the last few days so will post that soon.

The fish eggs, those are anemone fish eggs, should have popped a day or two after that shot i would think.

The tongue parasite, yes they are actually quite common here, i would say at least one fish per anemone has it, sometime 2 or 3 of them do. Weird eh?

Awesome photos man

That second from last macro is terrifying! (in a good way )

great job

very nice!

The tongue parasite, yes they are actually quite common here, i would say at least one fish per anemone has it, sometime 2 or 3 of them do. Weird eh?

So cool! I will be in the area in February, definitely will check this out. Is it species specific, or do most of the anemone fish have them? I have never seen this parasite yet, really looking forward to getting a reasonable chance of seeing it.

Regards

Bent (and looking forward to seeing the Lembeh macros!)

So cool! I will be in the area in February, definitely will check this out. Is it species specific, or do most of the anemone fish have them? I have never seen this parasite yet, really looking forward to getting a reasonable chance of seeing it.

 

Regards

 

Bent (and looking forward to seeing the Lembeh macros!)

I think in Lembeh you'll find that the more common anemone fish species is the clark's anemonefish and every anemone usually will have one or two individuals spotting a parasite. I took a picture earlier this year where you can actually see 2 inside the mouth if you zoom in, slightly behind the first one.

After watching them for some time you'll realise that anemonefish will pause from time to time to try and 'cough' out the isopod and that's when you'll can a chance to shoot a pic of the isopod. Have a great time at Lembeh and sorry Mike for hijacking your thread for a while.