Ray! Rah!

I just got back from 13 days diving in Indo with my new 7D/Nauticam rig. It was also my first trip using a 100mm Macro lens. I upgraded from an XTi/Seatool.

I must say I hated the extra weight and bulk of the rig, but after the second day diving and seeing the remarkable difference in the images right out of the camera, I felt good about the purchase, and even less pissed about the over weight baggage fees.

On this boxer crab I sharpened slightly and added contrast to the face, but on most of the photos I took a touch of Levels was all that was needed. I love it.

I'll post some more here as I get them sized and loaded.

Mike

Great pom poms! Nicely done Mike. You made a big change in size in coming from the Seatool. Glad it worked out for you. Which 100mm were you using and how did the new AF on the 7D work for you?

More photos please.

Steve

Great to hear You are happy with Your new toy!

How is Nauticam housing working for You? What strobes are You useing?

Like Steve mentioned - more pictures please!

Cheers

Karel

Looks really sharp!

I love the Pom Pom dance of this crab, nice shot. I handled the Nauticam 7D on Saturday and was really impressed by the thought that had gone into most of the design, you have a very nice rig there. What strobe setup were you using?

Nice shot! I'm still to travel with my 7D settup, not going to be fun I'm sure. Good to hear you're happy with the new rig!

Great pom poms! Nicely done Mike. You made a big change in size in coming from the Seatool. Glad it worked out for you. Which 100mm were you using and how did the new AF on the 7D work for you?

 

More photos please.

 

Steve

Thanks Steve. I had the EF 2.8 USM. Since this was my first experience with the 100mm I can't compare the AF to the XTi, but I can say that I achieved focus lock easily most of the time, and most of the occasions of "hunting" occurred either when I was in low light and hadn't yet turned up my modeling light, or when I was too close to the subject. After using a 60 macro that allows focus practically up to touching the port, the stand off distance of the 100 took some getting used to.

Great to hear You are happy with Your new toy!

How is Nauticam housing working for You? What strobes are You useing?

 

Like Steve mentioned - more pictures please!

 

Cheers

Karel

I loved the housing for the most part. There were a couple small problems that popped up over the 50 dives, but I was using one of the USA prototypes lent to me by Reef Photo for this trip because my production model was delayed. It is likely that the small bugs I encountered were addressed in the production version.

I will say that the Nauticam housing with the Zen 100mm minidome port and the Tok10-17 is a dream WA rig ergonomically. I have a pair of Z240's, (2) 8 inch ULCS arms and 5 STIX floats on each side (5 is the magic number, makes the rig very slightly negative) and with this set up one hand operation of the camera was easy. Even out of the water, with the mini dome and without the focus light, the rig is light(er) and easy to carry.

Here's a quick WA example. This shot had levels applied only.

NIce shots!

very clear shot