ThemesPhotographic Equipment
The photographs on this website were taken using a mixture of housed compact cameras and single lens reflex (SLR) cameras.
>> SLR
>> Compacts
>> Storage
SLR
Nikon D300 SLR
Following 3 years of shooting with Canon, I have recently upgraded my photo equipment switching to Nikon and the superb Nikon D300 SLR. Wide angle is shot with the Nikon 10.5mm fish-eye and Nikon 12-24mm zoom, while close-ups use the Nikon 60mm and Nikon 105mm macro lenses.
The camera is housed in a Subal ND30 body with the GS180 optical viewfinder. An 8" dome port (plus extension ring) and flat port with dual Inon Z240 strobes and Sea & Sea strobe cables complete the setup. The rig has been provided by Ocean Optics.
Natural light shots are enhanced using the Magic Filter designed by Dr Alex Mustard and Peter Rowlands. Appropriate filters support natural light photography in blue water and temperate green waters.
Canon 20D SLR
Between 2006 and 2008, the images were shot using a Canon 20D 8 megapixel Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. Wide angle shots use a 10-22mm Canon EF-S ultra wide angle lens, while the macro and close up shots are taken using a 60mm macro Canon EF-S lens.
The camera body and lens are housed in an Ikelite housing with an 8" dome port for wide angle shots and a flat macro port for close-ups. Lighting is provided by dual DS-125 Ikelite strobes, with housing electronics providing an Ikelite proprietary TTL system; the strobes can be switched between TTL and fully manual.
Compacts
The earliest images were taken with a range of Olympus Camedia prosumer digital cameras (3040, 5060) in Olympus Housings. In addition to fully automatic settings these cameras provide the photographer with control over both the aperture and shutter speed; in addition there is the option for fully manual operation allowing for greater photographic creativity. Additional settings such as white balance and ISO can be controlled, providing the type of control typical of SLR cameras.
When shooting with the compact, I currently use an Olympus 7070 7 megapixel camera with dual Inon Z180 and Z220 optical strobes. Wide angle shots are taken with an Epoque DCL-20 wide angle conversion lens screwed into the front of the housing; ultra close macro shots use a INON magnifying lens. Natural light shots are enhanced using a UR/PRO red filter and the strobes are attached using a series of ultralight arms and connectors.
The compact provides a high quality photographic tool in many ways comparable to the results from an SLR. However the SLR offers a number of distinct advantages to the photographer including more responsive auto-focus, neligible shutter lag, faster storage of RAW iamges and increased flexibility through the range of available lenses.
All underwater housing, strobe equipment and accessories have been purchased over the years from Cameras Underwater. and Ocean Optics.
Storage
The Olympus compacts use a mixture of xD and Compactflash memory cards. The xD card supports the creation of panoramic images, with capacities ranging from 32MB to 512MB. The SLR only supports Compactflash cards and I have a number of 1GB and 4GB cards.
When travelling I take a laptop allowing for image processing and backup to DVD disks. However when requiring a more lightweight and compact storage device I travel with an EPSON P2000 40 GB storage drive. In addition to the storage capabilities, the EPSON provides a 3.8" LCD display allowing for image review and slide shows.
Image Processing
Image processing is supported using a number of software tools including:
- Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe Photoshop CS3
- Nikon Raw Converter
- Macromedia Dreamweaver
Housing and strobe image courtesy of Cameras Underwater.
Epson P2000 image courtesy of Epson UK.
Subal ND30 image courtesy of Subal.