adrian_r._ferre_damare

I also vote for a 20 mm or wider (17-18 mm) lens, after a sturdy

tripod and a good ball-head, of course. I don't know the capabilities

of the Rebel G, but if as some posts have suggested, its exposure

metering is not very good, an old Pentax spotmeter would be a better

investment than a slightly better body. IMHO, if a good viewfinder

is desired, then one should go for one of the "pro" SLR bodies with 100% viewfinder coverage. DOF preview, bright screens, mirror lock-up, and all other amenities will be forthcoming as well.

That involves spending more money (and hauling many more grams)

than Mr. Lester seems to be considering at present.

I'm afraid that underwater photo gear is inherently more expensive

than topside equipment. A cheap initial toy might be a ewa-marine

flexible case (with a cheap p&s inside), for instance, but in anything but ideal conditions (noontime sun, 100 ft plus visibility, shallow water) you are unlikely to get great pictures with such a

setup. I recommend getting a Nikonos with a 28 mm lens and a good

flash with a long arm. If you get serious, then you can get the

Nikon 15 mm lens, which is probably the best wide-angle underwater

lens available, more flashes, and extension tubes for macro work

on sessile organisms. This equipment is what produces most of the

published underwater photographs. If you want to do close-ups of

mobile things (like fishes) then you might want to consider a housed

SLR with a big ("action") finder and a macro lens. These latter

options imply spending as much money as would buy you a new compact

car, though.

I tend to take most of my shots in the mountains with either

a wide-angle lens or a short telephoto (85 mm). When I started

using a P&S camera with a superb 28 mm lens (Ricoh GR-1), the only

reason (except for the rare occasions in which either a super-wide

angle or long telephoto were called for) for climbing with a heavy

SLR became the 85 mm lens. Aside from (heavyish) cameras like the Leica M and the Contax G series, can anyone suggest a small, light

35 mm camera with an excellent medium telephoto lens and an metering

system that is suitable for (slow) slide film? Thanks!

I suggest you have a look at (and through) the Nikon Diplomat 8x23 AS

binoculars. For about $170 you get absolutely superb image quality

(aspherical optics have something to do with this) in a compact

package. These binoculars are much brighter than "8x23" would imply.

The drawbacks I've found are (1) somewhat narrow field of view; (2)

no waterproofing; (3)a bit fragile (Porro prism design).