Dslr

[fcallagy]

Jon dont know if the info on this site is any good for you as i am half looking at going down the fish eye/wide angle with adapter onto my compact but glad to see your comment about the water running out from the gap distorting the image between water and air.
Cameras Underwater: Lenses and Optics.

[Fondueset]

I have quite a few pictures with the lens gap half full (or half empty ) of water. In fact its best always to remember to loosen the lens and let water in as it can take awhile otherwise.

[fcallagy]

cheers fondue will probably be towards the end of this year before i get shelling out for it.

[fabrice]

Olympus produces DSLR with "live view" that allows you to compose like a P+S camera.
You can find e330 models on ebay quite cheap, and there is an Olympus housing.
I have a e410, it's a very good camera, but I still need to buy the housing.

[Jon]

I went to the camera store last night and ended up leaving with more question than when I went in!

The Canon D40 has live view and in a couple months Canon will unveil their new XSI with live view as well- but who knows how long it will take them to make a housing for it.

The Nikon D40 is a nice little camera, but it only uses AFS lenses by Nikon. None of the older Nikon lenses will work with it in auto mode- you need to jump up to the D80 to get that. I really wanted to put a 10.5m lens on it but it doesn't sound like that will work- unless I just set the focus and forget it since the depth of field would be so great. Not the best option, but I know I don't have the cash to move up to the 80.

As far as housings go, it looks like the Fantasea line would be good for the Nikon as they are smaller, and cheaper, than the Ikelite equivalent. The Canon version of the Fantasea housing has had some issues and have been pulled from the market while they redesign and find a new company to outsource production to.

When it came to taking split level shots with my old INON dome port system I needed to go underwater to completely flood the space between the lens and then angle (the front part of) the lens above the water. I would snap away until I came out of the water so far that the water would leak out. When the water leaks out, or if you have any air bubbles trapped in there, they show up as giant black circles. Once you have all the water drained out, and no drops left on the lens, then you get the full view capabilities back.

Things are adding up so fast with this venture that the DX-1G is starting to look better all the time.

Jon

[Fondueset]

I agree - this dSLR business is crazy making.

[Jon]

The Olympus E-410 with matching 8mm Fisheye lens is looking to be a good alternative system. Olympus makes a compactish (is that a word?) housing for it and INON makes a dome port for it.

Thanks for the head's up on that one Cliff.

It's all still out of my price range but I'm working on it.

Jon

[Cliff Etzel]

Hey Jon - you're welcome.

Welcome to the world of DSLR's and housings. One of the reasons I switched to shooting video. At least I didn't have to worry about so much gear.

Although it's more spendy in the initial purchase - Video has taken over where shooting stills use to give me that rush.

My HC7 with bluefin housing is the shiznit and I'm awaiting the monitor back set to arrive sometime today.

Shooting with a dome port is what is so damned expensive. The Olympus one adds almost $1000 to the price tag - Yikes!!! By the time you get done buying all of that - you could be into a decent HD video camera and L&M Stingray housing to freedive with.

I picked up 2 SONY HC7's for $899 each on Amazon and the Stingray housing from L&M is less than $1900 - and that includes a monitor back. Decent 60 degree port and will take their 80 degree w/a port, which is what I have for my Bluefin HC7 housing.

just throwing the idea out there for ya.

[Fondueset]

Dear Cliff,

Thankyou for adding yet another dimension to this already-thoroughly-mind-ruining-without-your-input topic

I can't speak for Jon but I personally have been archly disturbed since I once again wandered into this aberration.

I did recently see an extremely cool video housing buy someone like C4. I think I'll take my mind of all this dslr noise by browsing those things for awhile.

[ILDiver]

I've shot the Nikon 10.5 fisheye. It gives a lot of distortion on dry land, I don't know what it would do in water. The correction software for it works well though. I'm not sure I would like it for heavy use. I have not looked at many Nikon lenses lately.

We have a Sea & Sea 860 DX-860G STEPUP GUIDE with the YS25 flash. It's tagged at $1099. I think I can work a better deal on it. But I know it's a lower level camera that your looking for.

I wish I could find a GREAT deal on a used housing for my D100.

[Cliff Etzel]

Thanks Fondue...

I shot stills for over 25 years - 20 professionally. I hit burnout - it seemed the same routine over and over for me. Shooting video has opened a whole new realm for story telling. I'm still refining my technique for freediving and shooting video.

Lambis is big on using his Nexus housing with their small dome port and the 10.5mm lens. His work has blown me away - very zen like - unlike alot of the content I have seen typical bubble blowers shoot. I respect his and Fred Buyle's work greatly. I'm surprised they aren't published more - this coming from having worked in print publication a number of years back in the late 80's to mid 90's.

Fred is shooting video with a SONY HC3 in a Gates housing, but I prefer the L&M housings - the integrated monitor back is easier to work with as compared to the flip out screen option on the Gates. The only advantage to the Gates housing is the wider selection of ports available - especially their highly corrected swa port - which costs more than the housing and camera combined.

[Fondueset]

I like his work too. I am hoping to get more shots of freedivers this summer - first step has been to create more divers - with my humble S80 and Inon - but work like Lambis' is extremely humbling.

[Jon]

Chris,

My in-law's carry Sea& sea at their shop so I can already get it. I was looking at the new DX-1G with the wide angle lens as another system to go with- much more affordable from my perspective. It has RAW mode and video mode, but it still won't do the trick that a dedicated still, or video, camera will in their respective areas.

I've wanted to step up to a DSLR for some time, but they are just SOOO expensive and they keep changing things so often I've never been able to do it. The 10.5 might seem wide on the surface but everything changes underwater. Most of the shots I've had published were taken with a 16mm. Going with a wider lens in a housing would be similar- well, maybe a little wider. I know that Nikon always used to say that their 28mm Nikon's lens underwater was the same as a 35mm on land and the 35mm underwater was the same as a 50mm on land.

Cliff, What about TopDawg? I know that they make a wide angle lens and a video monitor back for them and you can keep switching out cameras as you move up in the world. I thought that they were also made by L+M? What camera would you suggest putting into something like that?

The E-410 looks like you could one-hand it from the size of the housing. I see they make a hand strap just for that purpose. It also has the live view screen on the back- which I find to be very helpful. The only way i could afford a set-up like that is to sell off some toys- anyone need a scooter?

Jon

[Jon]

first step has been to create more divers

Chris, is your wife pregnant?

[Fondueset]

GRHPHTZSHLQ!!

Pardon me.
I meant training, encouraging and generating public awareness. (The rumors about carp are mostly untrue)

I think the lcd composition screen is a big plus - I know I often do one-hand/weird angle shots I'd not get without it. I think we'll be seeing that feature, and smaller SLRs more and more in the near future.

My Inon lens is something like 170 on land and 100 u/w.