Every year I service my Nikonos and 15mm and it's costly.... I'm thinking digital... I'd be interested in suggestions as to how to start, where, what etc..... I know my camera inside and out and I know how to set it for beautiful background blue and to use the strobe for fill.... will I be able to do this with digital???? So many questions so little time

no...at least i have not;)

you probably can get a dSLR and a housing and a lens and a lens port and a strobe that will come close - how well the dSLR and the strobe are gonna communicate is kinda unknown (lots of practice required)...

then again even if the new setup is "off" a little, photoshop can fix that stuff up...

for the money you would have to spend i would stick with the nikonos if you are happy with the pictures it takes...

a couple of old film shots, 105mm then 20mm...




i went digital because i am both basically both lazy and obsessed

(and no cheap 55 min photo on bonaire) ;)

Bill,

I shot film underwater for about 5 years before switching to digital and went thru the same dilema.

As long as you get a camera with that allows manual aperure and shutter speed control, you should do fine. You can just walk down the f-stops till you get the mid-water blue you are looking for. My pics are far from perfect, but you can see what's possible at www.homepage.mac.com/j.ciurczak

A big part of the decision depends on what you do with your photos. If you do a lot of slide shows, it would be impractical to convert the digitals to slides. For me, most of my pics end up on my website, so shooting digital cuts out 1 big step in the workflow, (scanning the slides).

You need to consider the entire camera system, (camera, housing, ports, strobes, and sync capabillity), to make sure you get what you need.

I shoot with an Olympus 7070 WideZoom in a Light & Motion housing with a wide angle port and Inon z220 strobe, electrically synced.

You can probably get a higher end compact digital rig for about $2000 all-in. dSLR rigs can run $5K or higher.

As far as pros and cons of film vs. digital.

Film
Pros - Can't beat the color saturation of Ectachrome.
Cons - only 36 frames per dive, recurring film and processing costs.

Digital
Cons - Not quite up to film color saturation (yet!), and entry cost can be high.
Pros - Instant feedback - Know that you nailed the shot before surfacing. Bracket to your hearts content - how aout 200+ frames per dive! Change lenses underwater (OK, I mean use the camera's zoom to get the same effect as changing lenses).

Lots to consider. Maybe you could rent a good digital rig for a couple of dives so you can look before you leap.

Some digital Mid-water blue examples...

And some more...
(see website for full size pics)

You guys have given me a whole bunch to think about.... yikes 5K to switch.... as far as film... I use the Fugi professional stuff and I get great photos..
The idea of fixing things with photo shop bothers me at some level.... it's like, heck if I didn't get it, then I don't deserve to have it... maybe I need counseling, heh.... but I do like to take credit for the good stuff.... one of these days I'll digitalize the photos I got of the sharks at 7 AM in the morning... the light and blue and shark were all wonderful.... an\BTW any suggestions for turning slides to digital??????

It can be done cheaper.

For example, this camera is now about $200

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/software_results.asp?id=1188&os=w

and this housing is under $200

https://emporium.olympus.com/innards/empProdDetails.asp?sku=202021-410

Strobes and a tray will add quite a bit more, but you will be able to take pictures like those in this report-not mine, unfortunately

http://www.pbase.com/wychen/uwlembehfav2006

There are other makes and models out there that do as well. The Fuji FinePix E900 comes to mind, and Ikelite has a housing that comes with a strobe tray.

http://www.ikelite.com/web_two/fuji_e900.html

Welcome to the dark side

Bad links, try these---

Camera
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_archived_product_details.asp?fl=2&id=1188

Housing
http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-PT-030-Underwater-Housing-SP-310/dp/B000BSEWL4

It still takes great pics. Anything digital for sale today is, almost by definition, obsolete. This does not make it worth less. Computers are a fine example of this.

This is great info. I have a question though. If you are using the internal flash to trigger an external slave... don't you get into a back scatter issue??? Is it possible to disable the internal and use only an external flash.... so many questions, so little time....
I'll have my nikonos this this trip, but I'm thinking I have to pick up a new strobe for that. My old Ikelite bit the big one last trip so I'm searching for a used etc. Being retired and fixed income.... really limits my toy buying.... god I hate being an adult...

Another question.... since I'm so used to the 15mm and being able to shoot very close while getting everything... what can you do with wide angle with this type set up????

Bill if you are using the internal to trigger the external you would typically block the internal flash. Most newer digital focus down to 1" to 4" min, so getting close is not a problem. The bigger issue when using the internal flash is the housing can block the flash if you get to close. This is worse with a strap on wide angle lens.

My advice is get one of the inexpensive point and shoots, like the Olympus SP350 recommended above (a great camera). Use it with the internal flash. My bet is you will forget you own a Nikonos after a few dives.

No matter which digital camera you get, make sure that it has full manual capabilities. This will make the transition from film much easier. One great thing about digital is the ability to see your pictures as you take them and then adjust F stop and shutter speed as needed. I would also recommend as large a view screen as possible--my eyes are not what they used to be and the difference between a 1.5 and a 2.5 inch screen is huge.

On last question for anyone who can help. Can you have slides transfered into a digital format....??? Please and thank you.

yes you can.. I dont know how or where but I do know that you can have that done.. years ago I had a friend that had an adapter for her scanner that scanned slides onto her computer I am sure this adapter is still around..

Bill you can buy slide scanners,

http://www.digmypics.com/slide/scanner.asp

http://popular.ebay.com/ns/Cameras-Photo/Nikon+Slide+Scanner.html

I just went digital for the first time last week in Bonaire. I was using a Nikon D200 in an Aquatica housing with a Nikon 60mm lens. I was very happy with the way the housing handled u/w. I'm planning on selling all my old Nikonos equipment on e-bay. Here is one of my photos



To see more go to our Sand Dollar February 2007 trip report