Need some advice on lenses for D70/Ikelite housing

I guess the two biggest differences here are:

1) one lens is a zoom and one is a fixed focal length

2) one is rectilinear and one is a fisheye lens

I know these are both "DUH!" factors - but we seem to have lost track of the obvious...

Zoom lens = better

Rectilinear lens = better for topside use

Cheers

James

Thanks Dave I appreciate all the info. I ordered the housing from Ryan today should be here in a few weeks. I told him about the dilemma of what to order. It just kind of depends on what you are going to shoot underwater. I keep going back and forth and probably need to make a decison on it. He said he had the ports in stock and it wasn't critical at this point. The nice thing about ikelite it only adds a few dollars to put the gear thing in the port. I better look into that Depp insurance now.

Tony

One more point that I completely forgot to mention is filter usage. This in fact was the main reason I decided to keep both the 15mm and the 12-24mm.

I intend to experiment a bit with filters especially on wide angle shots where I'm taking reefscapes or wrecks where it is impossible to cover the scene even with dual DS125s. Screw-on filters are very expensive especially if you want to stack them to figure out the right opacity for the distance to subject and depth (there are formulas for this I understand). The 15mm has a rear gelatin filter holder that allows me to use inexpensive clear plastic filters that I cut to size instead of screw-on types. This way I can stack several filters cut from a single piece that I bought at my local photo store on clearance for $1 ea. This way the lens will pay for itself if I want to play with red and magenta filters in incerments of 20 cc, versus screw-on filters that cost 50-$100 ea.

The 10.5mm also lets you do this but I'm a bit concerned that this may be too wide to get a clear shot without exterainious divers etc in the frame on the typical diveboats I go on.

Question about settings. Since I won't be or can't use ttl setting on camera where is a good place to start? Assuming nice bright carrebean sun I was thinking of F8, 1/125th, iso 200 with the D70 if I am below lets say 60 ft. versus F11 if I am shallower than 60 feet then bracket fstop and check histogram? Is this the general consensus. That's kind of the way I shot with my nik V. This assuming full power on the strobe (ys-120). Any suggestions or hints would be appreciated.

Tony

That sounds like a very good start. If the sun is in the frame, try going to a faster shutter speed, but otherwise, those settings look good.

Good luck and have fun!

James

I went with the Nikon 12-24 and have never regretted it. Combined with the Nikon 70-180 macro, I feel well-covered for the shots I want. My Sigma 28-80 macro (1:2) can fill the seldom-wanted middle ground when needed. I shoot with a D100 in a Nexus housing and ports. Add the Nikon 80-400 for long-distance topside shots. Though each is expensive, you can't miss with the 12-24 and 70-180 macro combination, IMHO.

I have a plethora of topside lenses Reefrunner. 24-120VR,80-400VR,50 1.8, sigma15-30, Tamron 90 and 180 di sp, non used anymore 28-105 ED. That's why the thought of another lens makes me wish sometimes I had another hobby like golf. I am seriously thinking about gong on that little cayman trip by digital divers to get my new housing wet. Anybody here going on the trip?

For James if the sun is in the frame I was instructed to go to 250 on shutter speed for those cool sillouette shots is that what you mean?

Tony

Tony

Yep. But be advised that the water will probably be pretty dark.

Cheers

James