Advice on SLR/Housing combo Nikon/Aquatica

Hello folks!

First post here and a question.

I'm a diving supervisor on a 4-point anchor boat working the offshore oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico. We do regular maintenance and inspection work on the fixed leg platforms and need to upgrade our current U/W digital camera setup. We have been using Ikelite housings with various point & shoot digital cameras up to now, but as those cheaper cameras get outdated it obsoletes the case. The Ikelite cases are also only rated to 200 fsw and we dive regularly down to 300 fsw. Our typical photo subjects range from close up (~12") shots of grit blasted welds to medium range shots (~10'-15') of structural member connections. I'm interested in and have the budget to upgrade to the new Nikon D7000 and am interested in the Aquatica D7000 housing. I need a camera and housing that will be serviceable for ~5+ years. If the camera malfunctions, I need to be able to service or replace it without scrapping the housing too.

The advice I'm looking for would be which Nikon lens and Aquatica port would best suit these needs. I understand one size doesn't fit all here and I can pickup a second lens/port combo later if need be. I'm looking for the best versatile setup with emphasis on the close up to medium range shots.

Also, some advice on the type of strobe port on the Aquatica housing. I don't believe we need to run dual strobes. I need TTL-auto and manual capabilities. Looking for a durable strobe rated down to 300' also and some advice on what type of connection port to the camera/housing.

I have some good example shots of the work we do if I can post up when I get time too. U/W burning and other tasks/tools.

Thanks for any advice here.

Jim

hi jim,

i'll chime in and say i think a D7000/Aquatica is a great choice for you. i have a D700 Aquatica and their housings have taken quite a leap in quality lately. The D7000 is a reasonably priced consumer camera with many pro features. From what i read sounds like its out-shooting the D300s in many ways.

As far as lenses, I think a wide rectilinear zoom is your best choice, especially if you want 12" closeups + superwide. Shooting full frame myself UW, i've just outfitted my D700 wiht the 16-35mm and I'm very surprised how well it close focuses and shoots at 35mm (specs say close focus to .95'), allowing for some good closeups. The equivalent for a DX camera would be the nikon 10-24mm (close focus .8').

Your other option is the revered tokina 10-17mm fisheye, it does focus extremely close but it may be too wide for you (180-100 degrees vs 109-61 degrees with the 10-24mm rectilinear). I think the 24mm (61 degrees) end will work better for images of welds and 109 degrees should easily be wide enough for the structural shots. Besides, the fisheye distorts images and all those straight legs on the rigs will look horribly bent.

Also, you talk about the distance range for photos, perhaps you're used to 'medium range' at 10-15' with a P&S but the point of superwide lenses UW is to get close and minimize the amount of sharpness & colour robbing water between you and the subject. Strobes also do nearly nothing beyond about 6ft. I can't comment about deeper rated strobes, but Backscatter i believe has a cool strobe specs comparison feature on their website. Cheers,

Chris

As far as lenses, I think a wide rectilinear zoom is your best choice, especially if you want 12" closeups + superwide. Shooting full frame myself UW, i've just outfitted my D700 wiht the 16-35mm and I'm very surprised how well it close focuses and shoots at 35mm (specs say close focus to .95'), allowing for some good closeups. The equivalent for a DX camera would be the nikon 10-24mm (close focus .8').

 

Your other option is the revered tokina 10-17mm fisheye, it does focus extremely close but it may be too wide for you (180-100 degrees vs 109-61 degrees with the 10-24mm rectilinear). I think the 24mm (61 degrees) end will work better for images of welds and 109 degrees should easily be wide enough for the structural shots. Besides, the fisheye distorts images and all those straight legs on the rigs will look horribly bent.

 

Also, you talk about the distance range for photos, perhaps you're used to 'medium range' at 10-15' with a P&S but the point of superwide lenses UW is to get close and minimize the amount of sharpness & colour robbing water between you and the subject. Strobes also do nearly nothing beyond about 6ft. I can't comment about deeper rated strobes, but Backscatter i believe has a cool strobe specs comparison feature on their website. Cheers,

 

Chris

Thanks for the response Chris,

The Nikkor 10-24 mm lens sounds like what I'm looking for, and looking through Aquaticas lens guide I'll need the 8" port #18405 with an extension ring #18462?. I'm not familiar with the gear zoom though (#48696). Is that another extension ring with a lever for turning the manual zoom in and out?

Back to strobes though, what type of bulkhead connector should I get with the AD7000 housing? Sounds like there are a couple options. I'd need to have TTL light metering and Manual light metering. Some of the guys shooting the pics know what they're doing and some of them I'll have to set the camera up before it hits the water. Fiber optic? Slave? Electrical connectors?

I'll search around for depth rated strobes, just need to know what type connectors to consider.

Thanks again for any insight.

Jim

Contact Ryan at Reef photo in Ft Lauderdale http://marinecamera.com/

He posts here and is highly respected in the community.

Thanks for the response Chris,

 

The Nikkor 10-24 mm lens sounds like what I'm looking for, and looking through Aquaticas lens guide I'll need the 8" port #18405 with an extension ring #18462?. I'm not familiar with the gear zoom though (#48696). Is that another extension ring with a lever for turning the manual zoom in and out?

 

Back to strobes though, what type of bulkhead connector should I get with the AD7000 housing? Sounds like there are a couple options. I'd need to have TTL light metering and Manual light metering. Some of the guys shooting the pics know what they're doing and some of them I'll have to set the camera up before it hits the water. Fiber optic? Slave? Electrical connectors?

 

I'll search around for depth rated strobes, just need to know what type connectors to consider.

 

Thanks again for any insight.

 

Jim

The 48696 is the gear that will go on the lens so you can zoom in and out with the large knob on the left side of the housing.

I would consider optical fiber as my main choice, it is, for all purpose, maintenance free, will let you switch between TTL and manual (as would electrical connections), many of our deep diver uses Inon Z-240, they are small, run on easy to manage AA batteries, have both S-TTL and manual (with variable power)

, Ikelite are also rated to 300ft and the DS-161 with their built in Video light might be a choice, they carry more power than the Inon, but to get TTL you would need an external TTL converter which can create quite a bit of cable clutter on the housing, they have a recently introduced Optica converter for them, but it is for manual operation only, this being said from the condition you have described I am not sure I would want TTL with this lens anyway.

A quick way to teach your guy's how to shoot manual exposure with strobes is to simply to teach them to use the aperture control as they would a tap, open up to let more light in, close it to let less light, they don't touch anything else but this knob. you prep the housing prior to the immersion with a simple preflight check list (you can PM me and i will forward it to you).

Okuma, Ryan from Reef photo is indeed highly respected indeed, but is not a dealer of Aquatica, he imports Nauticam into the USA (one of our competitor) and Marinecamera.com is not the website of Reef photo, it is for Marine Camera a dealer in California who imports Nexus into the USA (also not an Aquatica dealer).

There is also deeper rating option available that will bring it down to 130m/425ft

As someone who does a fair bit of work with the offshore rigs in LA, (mainly LOOP and Shell, CAD & Engineering work is my real job ) there is a fair bit of rough and tumble activity going around and you want the least bit of muss and fuss. The D7000 housing as are all the Aquatica housings are very solidly built and as Jean mentioned it does have the additional 425ft depth option. Fiber optic would be the way to go as this decreases the chances of flooding by removing one way for water to enter (via electronic sync cords). I might reconsider the lens choice mainly because you have some fairly small detail capture requirements that could change to something rather large. The main issue with that is with a 10-24, you need to get up really close to get a smaller subject in the frame, and in the tight world of an oil rig and the fairly large 8" Dome, that might be an issue.

One of the more general purpose zooms, the Nikon 18-55 or maybe the Sigma 17-70 lens would better suit your needs. The Sigma will allow you to capture smaller objects and still back up to get larger ones, best of all, you can use the much smaller 6" Dome for your purposes.

I know the Inon Z Series & Sea & Sea YS strobes have been taken down to 300fsw (not personally!) and have continued to work. The do take to the S-TTL option and if low light is an issue, then the D7000 is a very good high ISO performer.

Just my 2 cents.

cheers

Stu

If you're looking for 5 yrs service life of system, I'd strongly suggest that you purchase a spare camera. As you know, in most cases a new camera model = new housing. If there is a camera problem that can't be fixed (like flood) a spare will keep you in the game with the same housing.

As someone who does a fair bit of work with the offshore rigs in LA, (mainly LOOP and Shell, CAD & Engineering work is my real job )

Stu,

I've worked out on the LOOP from time to time. We're doing some work for Apache right now.

I'll check out the specs on the 18-55 and 6" dome too. I will end up using the camera to take topside pictures too so that might be a good option.

I'm checking out the Inon and Sea 7 Sea strobes now.

Thanks,

Jim

Hi Jim,

I strongly recommend looking at the Sigma 17-70 as well, it's got a bit more range than the Nikon 18-55, it has built in image stabilization and the hypersonic AF motor.

s.

Hi Jim,

 

I strongly recommend looking at the Sigma 17-70 as well, it's got a bit more range than the Nikon 18-55, it has built in image stabilization and the hypersonic AF motor.

 

s.

I'll check it out Stu, thanks!

Jim

Hi jim,

Not sure if this will help, but here's a shot i snapped my first dive with the 16-35mm on my D700 at 35mm, testing minimum focus distance (haven't had a chance to shoot proper closeups yet). Unedited, behind a 9.25" dome, no diopter, the dome was quite close to the coral. So 24mm on DX is 36mm equivalent and the 10-24mm has slightly closer focusing. Thought it might give you an idea of the closeup ability of these lenses. It may be hard to judge size, but most brain coral has similar sized patterning, and i'm sure you guys have brain coral out there. Its quite a small piece. So something like the 17-70mm will get you much closer, into macro range, but you'll sacrifice good wide angle ability.

Cheers,

Chris

Hi jim,

 

Not sure if this will help, but here's a shot i snapped my first dive with the 16-35mm on my D700 at 35mm, testing minimum focus distance (haven't had a chance to shoot proper closeups yet). Unedited, behind a 9.25" dome, no diopter, the dome was quite close to the coral. So 24mm on DX is 36mm equivalent and the 10-24mm has slightly closer focusing. Thought it might give you an idea of the closeup ability of these lenses. It may be hard to judge size, but most brain coral has similar sized patterning, and i'm sure you guys have brain coral out there. Its quite a small piece. So something like the 17-70mm will get you much closer, into macro range, but you'll sacrifice good wide angle ability.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

I'll probably try to stay with whatever will fit in a 6" or 8" dome for starters. I sometimes have to wedge the camera into some tight spots to get a shot of a weld, and actual cracks tend to be in the tight spots. The better the pics I can produce for our customers, the more likely they'll be to fork out for more parts. I may try to talk them into the Nikon 10-24 and Sigma 17-70. They'll both fit in the 8" dome and use the same extension ring and shade. It seems like the Sigma 17-70 would also double well for topside photos.

It's nice shopping with other people's money...heh

Thanks,

Jim

I'll check it out Stu, thanks!

 

Jim

Looks like there are two versions of this lens? The f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro HSM and the f/2.8-4 DC Macro HSM (OS). What are the differences?

Price range around $450 looks like.

Jim

Get the one with the OS, that's the latest version.

S.

i didn't mean you needed a 9.25" dome, just what i use. the lens should work just fine in a 8" dome with a diopter. however if you need to get closeups in tight spaces, perhaps the 17-70mm in a 6" dome may be a better, more compact choice. but if it's someone else's money, just get both

i didn't mean you needed a 9.25" dome, just what i use. the lens should work just fine in a 8" dome with a diopter. however if you need to get closeups in tight spaces, perhaps the 17-70mm in a 6" dome may be a better, more compact choice. but if it's someone else's money, just get both

I think I'm going to start out with the 6" dome and 17-70mm Sigma, get some great shots to sell it, and hit them up for the 10-24 with an 8" port for WA stuff. If they'll go for both from the beginning I'll try that too...

Thanks,

Jim

Have you thought about the 100mm mini dome and Tokina 10-17mm (maybe with the 1.4x TC). I know that the Tokina FE will have distortion but it focuses really close and the 100mm mini dome would allow you into sports where the other domes would have trouble.

Regards Mark

If you're looking for 5 yrs service life of system, I'd strongly suggest that you purchase a spare camera. As you know, in most cases a new camera model = new housing. If there is a camera problem that can't be fixed (like flood) a spare will keep you in the game with the same housing.

You should definitely get a spare If I was spending my private money, I would put a note in my calendar to buy the spare about 1,5years from now. D7000 will be readily available until then and y then the prices has come down.

Cheers

/O

Ditto on the 17-70. It will focus quite closely and give a closeup at 2.3:1 magnification should you need it. I have a 12-24 and it is simply too wide for closeup work.

Thanks for all the advice everyone,

I think I'm going with the Aquatica AD7000 with fiber optic ports, 6" dome, and Sigma 17-70 lens. It seems like the most versatile setup to start with. I'll add an 8" dome and Nikon 10-24 later for wide angle work. The strobe is still up in the air, but probably Inon or Ikelite.

Jim