Eastport

[Larry Oberlander]

I was up in Eastport for a couple of days last week. Dove in front of Jonathan's and over at Deer Island. The weather was not entirely cooperative, especially since my friends and I were diving in wet and cold suits. Here's a http://www.ralphoberlander.com/ep/index.html link to a small gallery of images. Just about all of the images have some PP enhancement.

[Jonathan Bird]

Hey Larry!

Nice shots man! What lenses were you using?

Jonathan

[Larry Oberlander]

Thanks Jonathan. All the shots are with my new D200/Aquatica setup. The macros are with the old standards: 60 and 105. The close-up/wide shots - telia, wolfish eating urchin, diver and crab, and starfish and urchins - are with the Nikon 17-35 f2.8. I just purchased one second hand and it's a fabulous lens for Eastport.

[Clay Coleman]

Excellent stuff, Larry, and welcome to the forum. Those cold water subjects are beautiful; too bad I'm too much of a wimp to go see them for myself. -Clay

[Jonathan Bird]

Nikon 17-35 f2.8. I just purchased one second hand and it's a fabulous lens for Eastport.

That is not a lens I would have thought to use underwater, especially in Maine, but the results are great! That's like a 28-50 on a film camera. Do you use it mostly closer to the wide end? A 28 is a good medium macro lens in Eastport.

Jonathan

[Larry Oberlander]

All of these were shot at 17mm. The nice thing about this lens is that it will focus down to 11''. I used to shoot a lot in Eastport with my Nikonos w/28mm and the close-up kit. I was looking for a lens to replicate that FOV and I think the 17-35 handles it nicely.

[Jonathan Bird]

So what port are you using with it? An 8" port or a 6"?

Jonathan

[Larry Oberlander]

8". I'm not sure if Aquatica even makes a 6" anymore. I know you're an Ikelite user but that's one of the nice things about Aquatica; you only need 2 ports and with extension rings you can cover just about any lens you want.

[Jonathan Bird]

With Ikelite's new 8" dome, you can do the same thing. They are only making three different length extenders now, but they will be releasing a few more so they can match to any lens. But in many instances, like this, where you do not have that wide a lens, you can use a smaller dome and the advantage is a smaller rig underwater. If I don't NEED an 8" dome I would rather have a smaller one. Less chance of scratching it, less buoyancy to deal with, cheaper to replace if you do scratch it.

Best,
Jonathan