Newbie - Nikon D7200 Lens and Strobe Queries

Hi,

I am new to underwater photography (apart from using my GoPro). I am planning on buying a housing for my Nikon D7200 (Most Likely an Ikelite).

My main question is this; Most websites I have read recommend macro or wide angle lenses. If I only have the budget for a single lens any suggestions on what I should go for as a 'capture all' ?

Also, what kind of strobe or autoflash should I be looking for? Any tips on configuration (single strobe, dual strobe, strobe and focsuing light)

My diving is generally in the UK (so dark, wrecks and general marine life...not much visibility) however I'm looking to have a decent set up for trips to Scotland (SCapa FLow) and an Antarctica dive trip next year!

Any advise much appreciated!

I use a D7000/Aquatica system and love it, so you should enjoy your 7200 as well.

As for lenses, I think it's fair to say that the lens you want is something of a holy grail in UW photography... If you are truly limited to one lens, then it makes sense to base your choice on the type of shooting you are going to be doing "most". Given your dark water, and wrecks, I suggest you start with a wide angle lens. I have both a Nikon 12-24 and a Tokina 10-17. For what it's worth, I rarely use the 12-24. The Tokina isn't as well made as the Nikon, but the price is right. There is a similar Sigma lens as well, which gets great reviews. Like you, I shoot wrecks primarily, in the Great Lakes.

If you decide that macro is where you want to start, I suggest the Nikon 60mm macro, and consider adding a +5 wet diopter. I use this combo a lot when I dive in our coastal waters of British Columbia or our east coast.

There are zooms that some people use that can do both "wide-ish" angle as well as "macro-ish", but I think that you will very quickly learn that these lenses won't do either well.

As for strobes, I use two Ikelite 161s. I believe that these give you pretty good ttL results with an Ikelite Housing. I shoot full manual though, so that isn't something I would care about. Ii have found the 161s very reliable, and fast to recycle, even on our frigid water. (I went with the 16s with the video lights not because I shoot video, but I can use these as focus lights when the water is especially dark. I am not a huge fan of the Ikelite housings, but given the price of them is significantly lower than Aquatica, Nauticam, Subal etc, I would expect differences. To me, they are awkward and significantly less "ergonomic" than these other housings. It's a limitation of the manufacturing process they use I suppose, but even the controls seem kinda "floppy" comparatively.

I hope this helps!

Stu

www.wetspotimages.com

Hi Chris

Not an easy question to answer on the lens.

I agree with Stoo that one-size-doesn't-fit-all. Others will disagree but my own experience is that "capture all" lenses are unsatisfying.

So where do you go from there? I think in many ways you need to decide what you like photographing - or what would you ideally like to photograph. Is it the shipwrecks with a wide-angle? Not necessarily easy in UK low-light, turbid conditions. Or do you fancy a go, or like, doing close-ups of fish portraits. In which case, again, I agree with Stoo - go with the 60mm.

Once you have decided that you can then think about the strobe to go with it. You can do a lot with one strobe if you recognise the limitations. Maybe easier with macro and one strobe than wide-angle. But wide-angle is doable.

I have an aquatica housing with a nikon d60 with two sb 105 strobes. For lens i use the nikon 16-85mm lens. Aquatica recommends a +4 diopter for the lens. The standard setup i have does mild mild angle to macro 1:1. When i want to do 2:1 macro i add a second +4 diopter. The advantage of the setup i use is when you have only one shot at each dive site you can capture it all by using the zoom. I would recommend the aquatica housing as it is much lighter for travel and easier to setup. The sigma 17-70 is another lens you should consider as it is very good also. For strobes if you don't want ttl the nikonos sb 105 work very well. I have an ikelite 100a which works very well also. These two strobe are from film days so the camera does not register there are strobe attached so you guess on settings. With digital it is very easy. And the film strobe are a lot less money. For samples of my work. reefscenics.smugmug.com

Obviously, you'll get a variety of opinions from different folks. For what it's worth, I'll add mine to the mix.

I currently shoot underwater with a D7100. At some point, late in the fall, I'll send my Ikelite housing in to have the strobe hardware in the housing upgraded so I'll be able to use both my D7100 and D7200 camera bodies underwater.

If you can swing it financially, get two strobes. Two strobes are better than one; one strobe is better than none. I seldom shoot without the diffusers on mine. Get long strobe arms; these will give you more options for lighting than short ones.

My underwater rig has three lenses. I've got a Tokina 11X17 Fisheye, Nikkor 60mm Micro, and a Nikkor 10X24. The lens that sees the most use is the Nikkor 10X24. The optics of this lens are incredible.

Many really like the Tokina 11X17, but I'm not a big fan of the curvature one gets with the fisheye. Of my three lenses, the Tokina sees the least usage. The Tokina is a good lens, but I just like the results I get with the Nikkor 10X24 better. I'll be doing some work with the Tokina next week in Hawaii.

I enjoy chasing wide angle images better than doing the macro thing with my Nikkor 60 Micro. The 60 has produced some remarkable images.

Believe it or not, I've been in situations where I was rigged for wide angle stuff with my Nikkor 10X24 and found smaller critters that I just had to try to get photos of. I've been able to get usable images by changing the image area from DX to 1.3 in the Setup Menu. Check the sea horse images on my website: www.cortezbluephotography.com and see if you can figure out which ones were taken with my Micro and which ones were taken with the 10X24. Keep in mind, I think a macro lens is best for shooting macro and wide angle is best for wide angle; still, sometimes, one has to get what you can with what you've got.

What lens (wide angle or macro) you choose if you can only afford one lens to begin with really depends on what you want to shoot. I shoot with other photographers who started with a macro lens. If I had only had been able to purchase one lens when I started, I would've opted for the 10X24. Wide angle stuff has more appeal to me.

-Tinman

Here's about the only Nikkor lens I know of that could go both wide and macro. I've used the Nikkor 28-70D on my housed Nikon 8008s film camera. It has a macro focus zone. The lens requires a 4X close-up filter in order to focus underwater.

I've never tried it on my digital rig.

-Tinman