Advice needed.

Hey Folks,

Not being a photographer and just a lowly videographer I really need some advice to help someone else from S. Africa who emailed me with this question. Not even sure if this is the correct forum to post this but would appreciate any help and advice I can pass along to her. She will be going to the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica in August and her question relates to that specific type of wide angle shooting.

"Hi Steve I really need some help here, am i am sure you will be more knowledgeable than I am. Not a lot of local help here.

I have a Nikon D40X with a Sea and seaand sea case RDX-D60

currently I have a macro lense 60mm and the standard 18-55 lens. with the standard port.

I think that perhaps a fish eye lens or wide angle would be great for cocos? What do you think?

I was think about something like Nikon 10.5mm but it needs to be autofocus on the lens for the D40x camera.

Not sure which optical dome but maybe part number 30104 sea and sea? or is there something better? Do I need an optical dome? or will an optical dome suit all lenses?

Really do not want to spend a fortune would the B and H

Sea & Sea CX 6" Compact Dome Port

Fit the housing i have? and would it be suitable for a fish eye - wide angle lens??

You can see I am confused help if you have time.

many thanks

Tricia"

Hey Folks,

She will be going to the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica in August and her question relates to that specific type of wide angle shooting.

 

"Hi Steve I really need some help here, am i am sure you will be more knowledgeable than I am. Not a lot of local help here.

I have a Nikon D40X with a Sea and seaand sea case RDX-D60

currently I have a macro lense 60mm and the standard 18-55 lens. with the standard port.

I think that perhaps a fish eye lens or wide angle would be great for cocos? What do you think?

I was think about something like Nikon 10.5mm but it needs to be autofocus on the lens for the D40x camera.

Not sure which optical dome but maybe part number 30104 sea and sea? or is there something better? Do I need an optical dome? or will an optical dome suit all lenses?

Really do not want to spend a fortune would the B and H

Sea & Sea CX 6" Compact Dome Port

Hi Steve,

I could not imagine going to Cocos without a wide angle lens. The opportunities there for schooling fishes and mammals is incredible and one should not miss shooting that opportunity.

The Nikon 10.5 is very sharp and is an autofocus lens. Many people have opted for the Tokina 10-17 mm or one of the new Nikon or Sigma wide angle zooms because of the increased opportunity they give because of being able to zoom.

A dome allows the user to get a wider field of view than a flat port. Flat ports magnify an image by approximately 25%, which negates much of the coverage of a wide angle lens. For the extreme wide angle lenses, a dome is a must.

I am not sure what Tricia means by "an optical dome"; maybe she just means a dome port? All domes are not created equal and are designed for variety of lenses. I shoot with a Nexus housing and have found several different Nexus domes are available based on which wide angle lens the user has. Sea and Sea has several domes which they will be more than happy to tell her which dome would work best for her particular lens. When checking the Sea and Sea website, I see what they call an optical dome. Their optical dome is made of glass, which glass domes are more expensive. I have always used acrylic domes and have never had a problem, so do not care about glass; a topic which is greatly debated.

If I were her, I would first select a lens, then contact Sea & Sea to find which dome would work best with that lens. Then, she needs to figure out if she wants to spend the money.

I hope I have helped,

Barry Guimbellot

Contributing Editor

"Dive Training" and "Dive Center Business" magazines

I have a Nikon D40X with a Sea and seaand sea case RDX-D60

The D40X requires AF-S lenses to autofocus (AF motor built-in to the lens; the camera body has no focus motor to drive standard AF lenses).

Maybe,

-nikon 10-24mm AF-S f3.5-4.5G

-sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6D

plus zoom ring and 8" dome port.

Another thing you could consider:

-buy a low cost Manual focus or standard AF (not AF-S) lens

-pre-focus it to the distance range you want to shoot

-use the view finder to check focus before you shoot

Take Care,

ChrisS

Thanks Barry and Chris for the comments. I will certainly pass them on to her.

Steve