New images from the Islas de Revillagigedo

I have posted a new gallery of images taken in the Islas de Revillagigedo this March.

http://homepage.mac.com/daveburroughs/PhotoAlbum28.html

Hey Dave-

Looks like you guys had some great Manta action! Glad to see I did not scare them all away when we were there in January...

What lens were you using on the d100 for the wide angle shots?

M.

All D100 shots were with the 12-24. Manual exposure at 125th and ISO 200. Most all of the good shots were zoomed out to 12 mm. Could have gone wider.

I like your gallery. Why did you shoot so much with the 18-70? Seems like an inbetween lens for Socorro. I was tempted to shoot my 17-55 but was concerned that something big would come by. For the big stuff all the good shots were at the widest end as mentioned above.

Hey Dave-

I shot most of the Mantas with the 10.5... The 12-24 was (it is sold) not a good performer for me behind the Nexus setup... The 18-70 is good for almost any situation when I'm not familiar with the location or subjects that will be swimming around. I replaced my 12-24 with the Sigma 15mm FE.. which is a great lens. Im moving away from zooms and just have two rigs underwater with different lens setups.

M.

I'm surprised you have problems with the 12-24. I love this lens. I also much prefer zooms UW. I had read of problems with the 12-24 with smaller domes. Which one were you using?

I had considered shooting some Mantas with my 10.5x but in the end like the versatility of the zoom better. Now if Nikon came out with a 12 mm rectilinear DX lens I would be very interested.

I love the 12-24 as well. It is nice for both CFWA and wide angle. I do admit that since I got my 10.5, I have not used the 12-24 very much. I am having way too much fun pusing the 10.5 to the limit. The 10.5 is a very flexible lens and can provide unique composition opportunities. However, so can the 12-24. It's like my fix on the 105mm. I use it for a year then try my 60mm, and get hooked on that. Doesn't mean one is better than the other, just that each has its own value.

Joe

Great stuff there guys! I was glad to see the discussion about the 12-24, 18-70, etc. I am currently shooting a 10.5 and am looking for a zoom to add. Going on a live-aboard sometime this year and trying to make a decision. I like the 17-55 but it is out of my budget for now. Another issue might be what focus gears and rings are available for a Titan Housed D100 with a Sea&Sea BIG dome port. I have the light and motion flat port for my 60 micro. Thanks again for the discussion here, have a Happy Easter!

Aurabest,

john

I, too, am really hoping for a DX rectilinear WA -- like 10mm/2.8, rather than 12. But there is no buzz that I've heard.

A new DX lens in the ultra wide (weitwinkel) was just my speculation. I will have to do more work with the 10.5. Still it seems the possibility of such a lens would improve with the success of the D2X. You would think some of the buyers of this camera would be biased against zooms and would like a really wide fixed lens. The 18mm was my best lens when I shot film. But due to the versatility of the lens and the variability of UW photography I usually shot the 17-35.

I agree about the D2x helping lens prospects for all Nikon shooters -- this is one of the reasons I chose Nikon over Canon. I can't justify FF, and Nikon seems more committed to high-end ~1.5 crop lenses, as the current DX range attests. And I like primes because of ease of set-up, price (usually), compactness (usually), larger apertures (almost always), and no aperture variation (of course). I use fins or patience to "zoom."