Kevin Whitworth / Jacurutu

Since I started playing octopush again, I've been dying to mix octopush and photography. Sure, I could shell out lots of money and buy a full waterproof dive housing for my Nikon, but I simply can't justify the cost for the amount of use it would get. I've looked around for waterproof housings for my Minolta G400, but with very little luck. There are many dedicated solid housings around for other point-and-shoot digital cameras, jut not mine. The best option I came up with (until recently) was the D-MM housing from ewa-marine, but that's about £50.

So, rather than splash out on that, I got myself a couple of disposable underwater cameras from Boots. I've had some success with these before (they were actually from Max Spielman) when out in Jordan a couple of years ago. However, the results this time were non-existent. They don't have a flash on them, and there simply isn't enough light inside (let alone underwater in a slightly murky swimming pool) to get anything resembling a half-decent exposure. Cue one strip of practically unexposed negatives.

After that, I thought long and hard about the ewa-marine housing. However, having realised that flash was key to getting a good exposure, that housing has a potential design flaw - the entire front of the housing (which is really just a heavy-duty waterproof bag) is made from a sheet of transparent acrylic. The downside to this is that the flash could reflect off this and on to the lens - causing flare and other artefacts.

A bit more research turned up a Korean company called DiCAPac. They make very similar housings to ewa-marine (ie a heavy-duty waterproof bag), but there design is slightly different. They have a dedicated lens port, which is enclosed in rubber - helping to isolate the acrylic plate from the flash (similar to dedicated solid housings which are available). Whilst some of the ewa-marine housings also have a dedicate lens port, it tends to be made of transparent material, again risking lens flare etc. Plus, with shipping from Hong Kong from Digital Rev's eBay shop it only cost £21.00. The model I got was the DiCAPac WP-400, which seems to be designed for zoom cameras (it appears the lens port is slightly longer to allow extension of the lens).

As I said, the WP-400 is basically a sealed heavy-duty plastic bag with a port for the lens. It's sealed with a zip-loc closure, which is then rolled over several times and held shut with velcro (the ewa-marine housings seem to have a more substantial closure system using two metal bars to clamp the bag shut). Having guessed on this model, the camera fits in it OK, but the case design has the lens port slightly off centre, whereas the G400 has a more-or-less centred lens. At wide angles the port can cause vignetting if the camera isn't in exactly the right place, but it's manageable.

I tested the case in the pool down to 2m, and there was no sign of leaking (no air bubbles, and the tissue paper inside wasn't wet at all), so I tried it with the camera. Taking photos is a bit tricky - the focus speed isn't particularly fast, and the shutter lag is terrible. (Is this because it's underwater, a bit dark, or just because I've become spoilt by the D200?) Also, the housing has some buoyancy, as do I, so it's difficult to stay still. The flash seems to do the job, but there are a few artefacts in the photos - probably from dust on the lens. However, with the camera set to full auto, the results are only acceptable. Shutter speed seems to end up at 1/60s, and as the flash isn't lighting the whole scene (much of the exposure is from ambient light), there's noticeable motion blur (octopush is a fast moving game!). The G400 is also set, on full auto, to automatically select the ISO, so given the lack of light, it's turning it up a bit resulting in quite noisy pictures. I might try it on full manual next time and see how I get on. Failing that, my next project will be to work out how to trigger an external flash (I don't think I can get an optical cell and Skyport in the DiCAPac case as well) and build a case for one of my Nikon Speedlights.

I should also report that I noticed a small amount of moisture inside the housing after a few minutes use with the camera, so rather than risk the camera, I quit whilst I was ahead. I suspect this was condensation as it really was a small amount of moisture, and there were no sign of air bubbles. I'd loaded the camera into the housing on the pool side - a warm, humid environment - and then taken it into the pool, which is significantly cooler. Next time I'll stick to the shallow end I think (where there's more ambient light as well).

All in all, I'm pleased with the DiCAPac WP-400. It has it's problems, but for £21.99 I can't complain. It's much cheaper than a new camera + housing, or a waterproof camera (even a second hand one like a Nikonos V - and I have seriously considered that!). I'll persevere with it to check it is condensation on the inside (easily fixed with some silica gel) and not a leak, and to try and get the hang of taking decent photos underwater with it. Watch this space!

OK, I admit, this is partly an excuse to post another photo from the Fairburn Ings set, but I did want to say a few words about my Nikon AF-D 80-400mm VR lens.

I bought it just before we went to Kenya last year, as I knew I needed something longer than 200mm. The problem here is cost. There are cheap 70-300mm lenses, or you're up into the multiple-thousands of pounds for something like to AFS 200-400mm VR lens, or fast AFS 300/400/500/600mm primes. There's a couple of non-Nikon lenses out there (Sigma do a 50-500mm and a 150-500mm), but in the end I went for the Nikon 80-400mm, which I picked up second-hand for slightly less than the cost new. It's still not a cheap lens, but anything else is at least twice it's price, and until I'm earning lots of money from photography, I simply can't justify spending the money. I also bought a Kenko 1.4x teleconvertor, just for little extra reach. I didn't get the Nikon TC partly for cost savings and partly because Nikon's own TCs seem to not always be 100% compatible with their own lenses (I think they're aimed more at the AFS lenses though).

Anyway, In Kenya, I used the TC and 80-400mm lens together a lot. However, a lot of the photos have come out very soft. In general, I've been less than impressed with the 80-400mm lens. Aside from the softness (which I at least exaggerated by the TC, if not caused by it), it's slow to focus and being f/5.6 at 400mm, it needs lots of light (even with VR) to get a good shot (especially if you've got the TC on it as well). I've been in two minds whether to sell it and cough up the extra cash to get something better.

That was until the Fairburn walk. Carting around my D200, the Kenko TC and extension tubes, 18-70mm kit lens, 70-200mm and 80-400mm lens all day, apart from the damselfly shots (taken with the 70-200mm lens with Kenko extension tubes), all the other shots were taken with the 80-400mm lens (no TC). Now, I won't say all is forgiven, but I think I've got some good shots with it - including the pheasant shown here. A bright day helped (although I was still using ISO 400), as did not using the TC. There's still a lot of soft shots, and focusing is still not great - tracking moving birds is almost impossible - and it still doesn't have enough reach for bird photography, but I think I'll hang on to it until I win the lottery.

(When I do win the lottery, I'm after the Nikon AF-S 200-400mm, and probably the AF-S 600mm as well. And an assistant to lug them round for me!)

Shooting RAW files gives you lots of flexibility in post-processing, but they don't half take up a lot of space on memory cards. Typically, a 2GB card holds 100 RAW files for my D200. For day trips, I've enough memory cards to get by, but for longer trips I need something else. A laptop is one option, as would be something like the Nikon Coolwalker or Epson P-2000/3000/4000. However, I found the Thecus N1050 "nano" 2.5-in drive enclosure together with an 80GB Fujitsu drive on offer from Scan. Having used it in anger a couple of times, I've now got a good idea of it's pros and cons.

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