A close look at our camera and underwater equipment

[Deepdiver]

Here is an image taken last week showing our dive and camera equipment we use for deep wreck exploration. And it's very heavy.......


Camera equipment and rebreather by nicolas.terry, on Flickr


The photographer by nicolas.terry, on Flickr

These images were taken at a depth of around 52m to 62m using mixed gases.

[nimrodisease]

Very cool.. are you able to provide more details about what exactly you use? Or have you discussed that elsewhere?

[Deepdiver]

Very cool.. are you able to provide more details about what exactly you use? Or have you discussed that elsewhere?

Hi John

i use a Nikon D700 with a Sigma 15mm fisheye for these wide angle shots. The camera is housed in a metal Subal housing with a glass dome port. As light and colours underwater change with depth, I use INON Z240 strobes two attached to the camera with ultra light arms and two remote strobes for cave and wreck photography. My diving equipment for deep diving is a mixed gas rebreather, mixed gas so I can dive down to 100m and have a clear head to operate the camera and settings.

[Allie]

Wow, that is a lot of impressive gear, thanks for sharing. I can imagine it would be heavy (almost needs its own PFD) Do the underwater creatures react to that approaching or do you allow them to just approach you?

[Mary Anne]

Very interesting Nick being a land lover I have no idea what it wold be like to have that much gear on my body and it looks so heavy.
Thanks for Sharing

[Deepdiver]

Wow, that is a lot of impressive gear, thanks for sharing. I can imagine it would be heavy (almost needs its own PFD) Do the underwater creatures react to that approaching or do you allow them to just approach you?

Allie, with the rebreather there are no bubbles as with normal Scuba gear, so we can interact with the underwater world better. They approach you to check you out due to the fact you are silent and they don't know what you are. I love taking images of sharks, without the cage it's like being one of them.

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Very interesting Nick being a land lover I have no idea what it wold be like to have that much gear on my body and it looks so heavy.
Thanks for Sharing

Mary Anne, yes it's very heavy on land walking into the water or sat on the boat before jumping in. But once in the water, it's heaven..............

[Allie]

......I love taking images of sharks, without the cage it's like being one of them.

..............

Wow, thanks for the information and especially the above insight!

[Glenda]

No wonder your shots are so amazing and lucky being in the water reduces all that weight. Must be an amazing experience and thanks for sharing it via your photographs.

[aussie girl]

I dont know much at all about scuba diving, but most of the setups most people are used to seeing is with the tanks on the divers back. Is there any reason why the tanks are at your side?? or is that because, due to the depth, you have tanks on your back and extras at the side in case those run out?????

[Mark L]

Wow, was waiting for Sigourney Weaver to appear in your first photo.
Thanks for the interesting post.

[Deepdiver]

I dont know much at all about scuba diving, but most of the setups most people are used to seeing is with the tanks on the divers back. Is there any reason why the tanks are at your side?? or is that because, due to the depth, you have tanks on your back and extras at the side in case those run out?????

Aussie girl, Due to the depth of these wrecks we are all on Closed Circuit Rebreathers (no bubbles) not like normal scuba gear where each breath you breath out is waisted in bubbles to the surface. But with these devices we need to have a redundant air source to get us to the surface in an emergency, so the cylinders on the divers side are his redundant air source.

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Wow, was waiting for Sigourney Weaver to appear in your first photo.
Thanks for the interesting post.

Mark, It does look like that and some of the critters we find down there are straight out of the Alien movies...............

[aussie girl]

so when you get down so deep what effect does the pressure have on you, and what does it feel like. I should think that it would be harder to breathe due to your lungs being compressed from the outside?

[Deepdiver]

so when you get down so deep what effect does the pressure have on you, and what does it feel like. I should think that it would be harder to breathe due to your lungs being compressed from the outside?

Now that is a hard question to answer, to start with our air we breath is 21% O2 and around 79% Nitrogen. That's fine to breath down to 66m but then the O2 content becomes toxic to us . But also on the other hand the Nitrogen is also bad for us, it's this that can give you the bends!!!!!!

So we reduce the Nitrogen by adding Helium (there are other issues with Helium as well).

The pressure is no more or less than breathing as we do now. The trick is to have a clear head at depth so you can deal with all emergencies, that is why we add He.

I could go on for hours about this but I don't want to sound like an anorak .

[Boo53]

That must be an amazing world you get to visit.

The gear looks pretty special and thank you for sharing. The shots are simply amazing.

[Deepdiver]

That must be an amazing world you get to visit.

The gear looks pretty special and thank you for sharing. The shots are simply amazing.

Thanks John.

[fabian628]

that's really cool, Im currently using a sea&sea housing for a small canon film SLR and I thought this was already and pain to lug around at the moment only natural light and the most fearsome creature ive seen is a giant cuttle fish at 7m http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/...m/V700_593.jpg

id be interested to see some of your shots :P

[Deepdiver]

that's really cool, Im currently using a sea&sea housing for a small canon film SLR and I thought this was already and pain to lug around at the moment only natural light and the most fearsome creature ive seen is a giant cuttle fish at 7m http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/...m/V700_593.jpg

id be interested to see some of your shots :P

Nice to hear that we have another underwater photographer here. Please check out my flicker page for more of my underwater images....

[Ged]

Great setup. Is there any advantage or disadvantages of the INON Type 2 strobe over the other types?

[Deepdiver]

Great setup. Is there any advantage or disadvantages of the INON Type 2 strobe over the other types?

Hi below is a direct copy from INON, if you are asking about different types. But if you are asking about different strobes, then I would say INON is small, easy to travel with and has lots of power. That's why I use them.

• non Z220 - Z240 predecessor - great strobe, but not as strong as the Z240
• Inon Z240 Type 1 - Original Z240 strobe
• Inon Z240 Type 2 - Added compatibility with Nikon D80/D200 (and future models) when used with fiber optics, because of the increased number of pre-flashes with these cameras.
• Inon Z240 Type 3 - Has a stronger modeling/spotting / aiming light, the bulb changed to an LED. Recommends low-discharge batteries such as the Sanyo Eneloop or Powerbase instant, to prevent overheating, especially when the modeling light is on.
• Inon Z240 Type 4 - Can be fired optically without a fiber optic cable. The TTL flash sensor is many times more sensitive than the previous types. Also, it is safer to use regular AA rechargables.

[SirLozalot]

Great pics as usual. Thanks for showing equipment. Equipment must really fill up car on way to dive.
In my younger days I got a diving license and did a few shallow shore and boat dives but never progressed to deep diving. You are doing two great hobbies at once. I am jealous.
Keep showing your pics..please!