28-200mm Lens

There has been a lot of talk about using the Nikon 70-180mm Micro-Nikkor lens for macro photography and after seeing some amazing examples it's easy to get hooked on it. I am curious to know why something like the Nikon 28-200mm Zoom-Nikkor lens, which has a close focusing distance of 16" (1 inch more than the 70-180) at 200mm, wouldn't be as suitable as the 70-180mm lens. Plus at a much smaller price tag to boot.

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Welcome to the dark side Laz.....we are enjoying our D70's and expect our housings any day....first dive next month at the FG's

I don't know anything about the 28-200, but it's size looks like it would fit in a port underwater....not sure it would have as much magnification at close focus as the 70-180 micro

Let me know if you are interested in a 70-180 micro....they are pretty hard to come by.....I bought one a couple of weeks ago, before I committed to Ikelite housings...Ikelite doesn't support the lens, so I'm interested in selling it.....seller claims that it was never used...certainly looks that way

Karl

At 200mm and at min focus distance, the magnification is 1:3.1, whereas the 70-180mm is 1:1.3.

I'm not familiar with the lens, but cheaper zooms with wide ranges tend to get crappy at the ends of the zoom range. At the long end you are looking at a f/5.6 lens. Not real bright.

Karl - I saw that you were selling your 70-180 and if I have the opportunity I will probably buy it. Right now I can't afford a neck strap.. The dark side sure is expensive! $4K to do basically the same thing I can do with my $600 Olympus. Sheesh!

I don't quite understand why the big difference in magnification considering that the difference in focusing distance is only an inch between the two, plus its 180 vs 200mm. As far as brightness is concerned, both lenses actually have the same f/5.6 at the long end.

It's obvious the 70-180 is going to be a better quality lens (if price means anything) but for someone poor like me.. I'd trade some quality for the big price difference and the huge size difference of these lenses.

Easy payment plan for friends ...remember this one lens plus a diopter or two, can take the place of the 60micro and 105 micro

I know what you mean about the scuba bucks....try doing 2 D70's/6 lens/2 housings at the same time...

Kimberly enjoys shooting underwater so much...it's worth every $

Karl

Kimberly enjoys shooting underwater so much...it's worth every $

That's a blessing, even if you have to spend 2x. In the 9 years I've been married, I've found that it's much easier to justify and enjoy a hobby if your spouse / SO is engaged in it as well.

Kimberly enjoys shooting underwater so much...it's worth every $  

Agreed, I think that's cool.

I'm just glad it's you buying two rigs and not me

The rigs are on their way from Ryan........they've hit my credit card, so I hope they're getting close

Karl

Very cool!

I shot the 70-180 for almost all of my macro work in Fiji and enjoyed it extremely. I just wish there had been less current.

You can see a picture of me using the 70-180 and LMI titan on echeng.com's fiji trip report. I used the Aquatica port and port extension and the lens in manual focus.

Here's a photo taken by Eric demonstrating the macro setup (yes, those are Inon strobes):

Cheers

James

James - How did you like diving the Titan? Were there any problems with those units in Fiji?

James,

What did you think of the Titan?

How did you feel about Manual Strobe Control w/ ROC vs. TTL on your S2?

How do you feel about the reliability of electronic housings v. your Manual Aquatica S2?

TIA,

Ryan

Hi Guys,

I used the Titan all week and I liked it a lot. Dan Baldocci shipped me a unit to try out in the pool and then take to Fiji for the shootout, so I had a weekend to get familiar with it. They also shipped me the Aquatica port conversion ring so that I could bring two setups, and use the same ports. Along with the housing, they also sent replacement ROC board, and handle batteries and circuit boards.

Luckily, I didn't need them as the housing worked great all week. In fact, once we got all the demo units set up correctly (menu options for AF, etc) they all worked flawlessly.

I took a bunch of photos and such for a Wetpixel review which I will write when I get a chance - probably after Seaspace.

I was exceptionally pleased that the Aquatica 70-180 port setup and even zoom gear were compatible with the Titan. That setup was just about perfect - almost neutral underwater and easy to shoot using MF. Maybe next time I will try using it in AF with the Titan's AF lock button.

Cheers

James