Little Cayman, it's jawfish breeding season

Last week I as at the Little Cayman Beach Resort attending the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society meeting.

Of course the meeting was a mix of education and diving. Enclosed are some pics shot with a D800 using a Nikkor 70-180 mm micro lens.

Elmer

The last one is not a jawfish

nice shots

I don't particularly want to be a party-pooper, but the sharpness and depth of field don't compare well to the prime 105mm F2.8 micro lens...

... so I wouldn't want to compromise, even the zoom lens is superficially more flexible.

I don't particularly want to be a party-pooper, but the sharpness and depth of field don't compare well to the prime 105mm F2.8 micro lens...

 

... so I wouldn't want to compromise, even the zoom lens is superficially more flexible.

I do not see any argument between the sharpness of a fixed focal length prime lens versus a zoom lens, the fixed focal will be sharper.

This was my first attempt using the D800 with the 70-180 mm micro lens. I was and remain concerned about diffraction with the D800, these shots were taken at f 11 and f 16. Would the shots be better with a smaller f stop (f 22, f 32) or would diffraction be more of a problem?

What is your D800 experience with diffraction and macro shots? Does diffraction obliterate the gain in depth of field with small f stops?

Elmer

I do not see any argument between the sharpness of a fixed focal length prime lens versus a zoom lens, the fixed focal will be sharper.

 

What is your D800 experience with diffraction and macro shots? Does diffraction obliterate the gain in depth of field with small f stops?

 

Elmer

I haven't noticed degradation at f22 underwater, although it's obvious in carefully taken images on land.

Nudibranch, Seraya Secrets, Tulamben: Nikon 105mm, 1/250 @ f22, ISO 200, Inon D2000 strobes x2, 30cm from focal plane

My personal dislike of the zoom lens is its relatively poor performance at longer focal lengths (wasting so much of the D800's capability) and an aperture that's just not wide enough for underwater shooting with the smaller strobes that are useful in macrophotography.

 

I haven't noticed degradation at f22 underwater, although it's obvious in carefully taken images on land.

 

It is good to know that diffraction with macro shots underwater is not troublesome as it is on land.

Thank you for your comments,

Elmer

It is good to know that diffraction with macro shots underwater is not troublesome as it is on land.

 

Elmer

 

I think that it's because the water and hand-holding introduce more significant threats to sharpness than diffraction, to be perfectly honest.