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Question for underwater photography equipment


jyanscole

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Hi, I'm thinking of getting into proper underwater photography, but after reading a few sites about it I'm a little confused. I was thinking of getting a housing for my D750, and maybe use the 12-24mm as the primary lens. But it seems mirrorless cameras are a better option altogether, especially because when diving it's harder to use the viewfinder apparently (and smaller size helps). I know I can use liveview on a 750 but the shutter is a lot slower in my experience. Does anyone have a recommendation?
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I was a Nikonos UW film photographer back in the day. If I were to re-invest it would be for an UW-specialist camera system, rather than a housing+body+lens system. Something like the SeaLife DC2000, or similar. Depending on your specific interests, even the smaller, point-and-shoot options could meet 90% of your needs. Keep in mind that the vast majority of your images will be close-up, ultra wide angle shots. There's no such thing as telephoto underwater. The longest focal length lens you should consider will be 35mm equivalent, and that is quite long by UW standards. 16-20mm is preferable. This necessitates a dome port or equivalent in order to get the desired angles (from within a housing). The other alternative is macro or near-macro shots, which must use a flat port. (The need to buy two separate ports is another reason to consider a purpose-built camera system.) In both cases, unless you are at extremely shallow depths, you will need supplementary lighting to bring out the available colors. At any more than about 3 feet (1 meter) depth, there is a severe degradation of color rendering as the water filters out all but the blue light. Anticipate spending a substantial amount for a multi-light underwater strobe kit. For any UW camera, whether or not in a housing, you will want to be able to use the LCD as a viewfinder, and it will eat a lot of battery. Carefully consider battery life in live view conditions when selecting your equipment. If feasible, I would also consider a system that offers a 2-memory-card option, since it is so very difficult to repeat an underwater photo opportunity.

 

Another note: Auto-focus is not even a consideration. At the extremely wide angles and very close focus distances involved, you will do very little in the way of focus, and all of it will likely be manual. Wide angle shots will be focused at infinity, and macro shots will be at or near close focus. Not much in between.

 

Given the risks versus rewards, and unless you are planning to do this as a full-time occupation, I would hesitate to invest in a top-flight camera body and housing. The likelihood that you will flood your housing and ruin or damage your camera and lens is quite high. Rather, if a housing is the answer, I would go with a lower-cost, easier to replace body in the housing. Perhaps a Nikon D5XXX or even a D7XXX series, with the expectation that the components are likely consumable items and likely will need to be replaced at least once. The problem with housings is that they are quite camera-model specific, and rarely can one swap across different camera bodies in the same housing. Note that a new housing for a Z6/Z7 is near $1,700 US, without ports or strobes. You can likely buy a used housing for an older body for much less, at least for entry level use, and will be better able to replace the camera and lens if you flood. You could do the same thing for any brand or model camera, DSLR or mirrorless. I recommend to take our housing out for a full depth test WITHOUT CAMERA INSTALLED before risking expensive body and lens. Good luck and have fun! Don't drown.:rolleyes:

Edited by DavidTriplett
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David's covered it very well. I used to dive and shoot with a Nikonos film camera and strobe light. It had a close up attachment as well. Actually I still have all the equipment although not used in years. You can probably buy one for $200 including a strobe light. Just if you want to play around for cheap. You can get scans of the film from a developer. If you can live with the results of film, it's an effective tool.

 

Being waterproof, it's also great for white water rafting, beach shots, in the rain and snow, parasailing, canoeing, etc. Anyway here are some shots taken with it above and below water. There are limitations of course. You can use it above and below water without changing lenses. But you're limited to the 35mm which acts like a 50mm underwater due to refraction. I would get a wider angle lens now for underwater. But then you'd need the 50mmm for above water shots.

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Oh, the Nikonos I used was the IVa.

I had the VA. Please note the "had". I learned the hard, expensive way to be more selective in dive buddies, as I got caught in the surf line on a beach entry because by buddy couldn't manage to stay upright. Came up after getting rolled pretty badly with my reg in my mouth, my fins still in my hand, and a heavy duty lanyard sans camera. :( :mad::confused::eek: Put up reward offers in all the local dive shops. Had a call from one that a guy came in asking how to use the camera he found, and left immediately when the staff asked if maybe the camera he found was mine? Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Now I mostly dive or snorkel only with equipment I can afford to lose or inadvertently destroy.

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Sorry you went through that with your buddy. I had experience with a buddy I didn't know who really saved my life.

 

I was diving off a big dive boat with a lot of other divers. The master paired people off with buddies randomly. We were diving on the Rum Runner a boat used during Prohibition that ran rum and was sunk with no reports, obviously, since they didn't want to get caught. Years later it was found by fisherman and then divers started to dive it looking for rum bottles, which were found. Anyway, we go down on it in about 70 feet off the south shore of New York's Long Island in the Atlantic not far from Coney Island. So I go into in through this hole on the deck by myself leaving my buddy on the outside, move forward, and start digging in the muck. I only found a few shards of glass. So I turn around to leave and can't see three inches. I stirred up all the muck. But I figure it's ok. I'll just move rear and look for the hole above me that I came through originally.

 

So quickly enough, there's the hole. I try to go through it and my regulator clangs against the metal deck. It's too small. Wrong hole. I panic. I check my air regulator - 10 minutes left. My mind flashes back to basic scuba training and doffing and donning. I figure I'll take my tank off and push it through the smaller hole and follow afterwards.

 

Then I see a small hole on the side of the boat. I look through and there's my unknown buddy looking for me. I shove my arm through the hole and grab his with a death lock. He realizes what's going on and waves to let go. Then it happened, Do I trust this guy to let go? Well, I let go. He swam back to the original hole, reached down with his light and flashed me. I followed his light and came up and out through the original hole.

 

So it does pay to have a buddy, whether you know him or not. I don't remember his name, what he looks like, or anything else about him except he saved my life and boy was I glad he was there.

Edited by AlanKlein
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I don't remember his name, what he looks like, or anything else about him except he saved my life and boy was I glad he was there.

Find him, buy him a beer, and maybe, just maybe, you can pay him back one day...

 

The World will be a better place... water can be a very, very scarey lesson.

Edited by mike_halliwell
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