ok - so this won't be like a pro review but i have some comments to make:

Ikelite D50 Underwater Housing

all the controls did work. some of the controls worked a little too well - watch the self timer selector and the flash mode selector - if either gets inadvertently depressed you may not be able to take the picture.

Ikelite DS-125 Strobe (Ikelite DS-50, Ikelite Substrobe)

the housing has a built in manual controller for controlling flash output and flash output can be changed from TTL to manual - you have to depress two pushbuttons at once to make that change and it is a bit clumsy. as far TTL (iTTL) is concerned that depends on the strobe and the camera, the DS-125 strobe i was using had not been upgraded for iTTL - when set to TTL the flash level was not always correct. The DS-125 does do TTL with my Nikon F100 and believe me working TTL takes out a LOT of guesswork. So anyway we eventually switched to manual flash level with the D50. Same deal when using the other smaller Ikelite strobes - manual flash level only.

Camera Lenses

used a Nikkor 20mm wide and a Nikkor 105mm macro. a digital SLR multiplies focal length by 1.5 producing a not quite so wide wide angle (30mm) and a super macro (no kidding!) the 30mm was easier to cover with flash and yields pics that are still wide but have a lot more detail - almost like using a different lens (than the 20mm on film). the macro was great and even was able to get AF. as far as required strobe flash level - don't need much for macro shots - i still was getting "all white" at f22 at full power - for macro it would seem you need no more than a small (DS-50) strobe. the wide angle stuff - still need as much flash as possible, dual strobes double the back-scatter;)

Nikon D50 Camera

great entry level digital SLR camera body - but apparently you do want to watch what lenses you use. both the above lenses are fine. i have heard "things" about the digital lens that typically comes with this camera however.

ok, not real cheap, hard to pack, and no real guarantee that some slacker with a small point-n-shoot will not out shoot you;) but the quality lenses and sufficient flash can result in studio like pics you just can not take with the point-n-shoots...

pics are over on the trip reports thread (june 11-24th)

ps - i'm still going to have my F100 housing overhauled...and get an iTTL DS-125 strobe to replace my flooded one;)

well, ok...

got my F100 housing back from ikelite today - they say they repaired the controls and the thing does not leak...i'm still gonna stuff 4 tampons in it;)

they also re-geared the macro port manual focus control so that works...the additional "gear" that one is suppose to use to switch the macro lens from auto to manual focus is problematic - it slips and won't adjust either way - so it will still be manual focus one dive, AF another...

however, really, after seeing my digital pics i'm not sure any the above is all that relavent anymore;) guess i still need a backup rig (one with true TTL actually)

also ordered a replacement DS-125 strobe head only - hopefully is was manufactured with the iTTL stuff...

i got lots of time to think about all this;)

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