Today, we'll talk accessories.

Because we bought the Elite bundle with our DC1200, we got two key accessories - a Digital Pro Flash and a 24mm Wide Angle Lens.

First, let's look at the flash strobe. I used this model of strobe last year on our trip and honestly had nothing but bad luck with it.

I believe the issue I was having was that a "pre-flash" setting got turned on somehow. After reading my manual that came with the new one, I found that the pre-flash setting works for other brands of cameras that use a burst of the flash to assist with the auto-focus system. The pre-flash setting tells the flash to ignore the first X flashes before firing. Since the SeaLife flash does not use an electrical signal to fire, but rather uses a sync-cord which is a fiber-optic cable that passes the built in flash along to signal the external flash ti fire, this pre-flash setting is necessary.

The other item I needed to learn about this flash is that it still only has an effective distance of 2 to 8 feet underwater. This is not a problem of the flash not being powerful enough, but a side-effect of light not traveling through water as easily as through air. To be specific, light travels 25% slower through water than air, thus making the light fall-off from the flash that much more drastic.

This is definitely something I'll have to work on while in Wakatobi if I plan on bringing back good photos.

The second accessory, I have not worked with before. It is a wide angle lens adapter that attaches to the front of the housing and works with a couple optical elements to allow for a wider view than the built in lens.

The lens is very heavy and from looking at it and reading reviews, it sounds like the optical glass is of decent quality, so hopefully it won't matter to have those extra elements in the mix. The extra weight will probably end up making the entire setup negatively buoyant, which is somewhat unfortunate since a positive buoyancy would cause the camera to float should it slip from my grasp during a dive (making it more likely to relocate).

Additionally, it comes with a soft neoprene case to keep the optics from getting scratches in the carrying case, and also has a dock that attaches to the bottom of the flash bracket to store the lens during dives when not in use.

So I mentioned this briefly earlier, but back in August, Anya and I purchased an SeaLife DC1200 underwater camera.

The camera is a point and shoot model, which obviously is not my preference, but we simply can't afford the extra $3000 it would cost to purchase the housing, strobe, and dome ports.

We're saving up for a trip to Wakatobi Resort in Southeast Sulawesi in Indonesia. I am sure there will be some incredibly awesome photo opportunities, and I hope I don't regret having to cut corners and take a point and shoot.

We've rented other cameras from SeaLife from our dive group - Divehards International - and gotten mixed results. You can see our best underwater photo which was taken with a DC600. Then last year, we rented a DC800 and came back with several sets of photos (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

The kit we purchased came with everything you see to the left:

Normally, you wouldn't think of macro when you think of a 35mm lens, but that's exactly what got delivered to my door today.

This is a Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1.

I have been debating what lens to buy next, and to be honest, this lens wasn't really on the list until recently. There are many other (read: more expensive) lenses on the list, and because the budget is still pretty tight (need to save up for our Indonesia trip) I had to go with a less expensive lens. As I said, you don't normally think of macro photography with 35mm lenses, and that was part of what drew me to this lens. I had been looking at 60mm, 90mm, and 100mm macros from both Canon and Tamron.

But the deciding draw to this Tokina was its minimum focusing distance - a mere 5.5 inches. In messing with the lens just tonight after unpacking it, that means basically right up to the front of the lens. In fact, if I leave the lens hood on (which I will discuss shortly) literally is shorter than the lens!

So let's get down to some details about the lens... some pros and cons and interesting facts.

Price: This is certainly a budget lens, so we'll have to keep that in mind that this is not a Canon L-series lens. But at $309 at Adorama for their lens kit (which includes the lens, a UV filter, a lens cap leash, and a lens care kit) it is certainly affordable.

Size: The lens is small, and thus very portable. It weighs only 340 grams (almost 12 ounces), and is 60.4mm (about 2.4 inches) long at its shortest length (focused to infinity). So it will be an easy addition to my camera bag - which means it increases its chances of being used and not just left at home.

Construction: So far, the construction seems very sturdy - except for the AF/MF "switch" which I'll get into below.

Aperture: The lens has aperture ranges from f/2.8 to f/22 and uses 9 blades, which I haven't had a chance to test, but supposedly produces some really nice bokeh. I have the feeling that this lens will end up being a very nice portrait lens with its equivalent 52mm focal distance on my camera's APS-C sensor and the nice blurred backgrounds with the f/2.8 maximum aperture.

Focusing: Remember - we're talking about a budget lens here, so there's no hypersonic motor here, so AF is a little slow and a bit noisy. However, the lens doesn't take too long to seek and finds focus pretty well. There is a nice large focus distance scale display window which even provides info regarding the macro magnification ration info.

Additionally, the lens has a focus distance limiter switch - something I've never seen before. Basically the switch lets you select from the whole range (infinity to 5.5 inches) or break it into two sections with a break at about 0.55 feet (so infinity to 0.55 feet or 0.55 feet to 5.5 inches) - this feature will help reduce any lengthy seeking when by eliminating half the range if you don't need it.

However, the focusing system is where I have my only complaints so far. First, the AF/MF "switch" is actually the focusing ring. My Tamron 180mm Macro lens uses a similar setup, but I think because of the size of this lens, it misses the mark. Basically, you slide the whole focusing ring forward to select AF and back towards the camera to select MF. Unfortunately, where this feature is smooth and simple on my Tamron lens, it feels clunky and uneven on this Tokina lens. It sometimes sticks, and you can't flip between modes with a thumb, but rather have to carefully make sure to slide the ring evenly at all points along the circumference.

Additionally, messing with the lens tonight, I've found that if I slide through the focus range with the lens pointed up, it seems to catch and get hung up from time to time. I don't know whether it would damage it trying to use auto focus while pointing the lens up, but I think I'll avoid trying it. If the lens is pointed horizontally or downward (which is obviously the more common orientation) it is smooth and I have not noticed it catch once.

Accessories: This lens comes with only one accessory standard (I'm not discussing the bonus stuff I got with Adorama's kit) which is a small metal lens hood (MH-522). It threads into the lens like a filter, and if you don't know to look for it, you'll likely miss it. I honestly am not sure if this lens hood is necessary as the front element of the lens is pretty deeply recessed in the lens to begin with.

Other: Lastly, I don't know exactly what to say about this, but if you use Canon SLRs, you know that they use a white square to indicate the mount point for EF-S lenses and a red dot for EF lenses. This lens has a white dot on the barrel and a red dot on the flat part that sits flush to the camera. I'd say this is very odd, but interestingly enough, my Sigma 150-500mm lens has a red dot on the barrel and a white dot on the lens end. Weird.

All in all, I'm fairly pleased with this lens so far. I wandered around the house trying to decide what to take photos of to test with, and hopefully those matchstick photos work. But the truth of the matter is that the proof will be in the pudding, and we'll see what kind of photos I can get with this lens out in the field, so stay tuned to see what I can come up with.

- Bill

So after I bought my Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 lens, I decided that the cheapie tripod we had just wasn't cutting it.

I spent several weeks searching and comparing and debating and pricing various tripods. I gathered advice from several different people to try and figure out what I should buy. I was all set to spend $300+ on a tripod and ballhead combination, when unfortunately, I hit some surprise expenses that have dried up my camera equipment budget for a while.

Then my friend Tom showed me this tripod:

I won't even begin to tell you this tripod compares to some of the other tripods I was looking at. It really doesn't (well, I don't think it does, but I guess I can't say for sure since I've never gotten to work with some of those expensive ones). I did get the chance to borrow Tom's Dolica AX620B100 62-Inch Proline Tripod and Ball Head.

However, considering you can get this combination for $39.99 from Amazon.com, it really makes a strong argument. Especially in my situation where budget becomes a major factor...

There are definitely pros and cons to this tripod, so after working with it for the weekend, let me give you my somewhat lengthy impression of it.

Pros:

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've had some stuff going on recently that has been messing up my routine.

In the meantime, I've also been looking at purchasing a new tripod. I figure it is time I upgrade to a real tripod that can deal with the camera and lenses I have. Hopefully if I can get a decent tripod, I'll be able to convince myself to use it more often.

I'm hoping to pick up something light - possibly carbon fiber. But one of the problems I keep running into is the maximum height. Being 6'6" tall, I feel I need a pretty large tripod, and those don't come cheap.

I've been looking at the Flashpoint F-2228 tripod. For a carbon fiber tripod that holds up to 22 lbs, the price is definitely appealing. However, the specs seem spotty since this is a fairly new tripod. The listed maximum height is 65" which is still a bit low for my preferences, and probably is with the center post extended. Ideally, I'd like a tripod that hits the height I want without extending the center column (but realistically, that's never going to happen).

Additionally, I'd like lever lock legs instead of twist locks. Something light - preferably below five pounds. It needs to support at least eight pounds, but I wouldn't mind something more in the 15-20 range. I've been looking at ballheads as well.

I think part of the problem is that there are so many options out there, and the price range is so great. It is tough knowing whether you're going to get something worthwhile for the price. And though the internet allows for more access to a wider range of options, it isn't easy to make a purchase decision without actually getting to check out the product and see whether the write-up matches the product.

Have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them. Drop me a comment and let me know.

Thanks!

- Bill

Yeah - I know - I've been slacking and haven't posted for a while. I promise I'm working on getting out of the funk I'm in. I will be posting soon.

In the meantime, I know my birthday and Christmas are just barely passed, but if you're looking for a gift to get me, here it is!

A travel thermos mug that looks like a Canon 70-200mm L series lens.

If only I had somehow started into photography at a much younger age, and been a professional photo-journalist that got to go to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I would have one of these for free.

Instead, I have to wait around till mid-April supposedly, and then it looks like pay about $60 for mine.

But it does look awesome.

And I *need* one.

Wonder if they include the tripod mount so you can have a handle...

- Bill

So after clicking refresh on the UPS tracking page for my new lens all day long and being presented with info that didn't make it look promising that it would be delivered today, it finally showed up around 5PM. I do have to say, this lens is very nice.

Big. Heavy. Kind of intimidating. But very nice.

So one of the cool features of this lens that none of my other lenses has is Optical Stabilization which is Sigma's term for Image Stabilization (if you're a Canon person... or Vibration Reduction if you're a a Nikon person... or Vibration Compensation if you're talking Tamron lenses... you get the picture - and with any of these features regardless of the name, it should be a little sharper (sorry, bad pun)).

So naturally I wanted to see if the OS was worth all the hype.

At 500mm without OS

At 500mm with OS mode 1

At 150mm without OS

At 150mm with OS mode 1

All shots were taken at f/6.4 but the 150mm shots had a much longer shutter time for whatever reason (I wasn't looking to take quality shots, so I wasn't trying for perfection).

On a normal basis with a lens at 150mm, I have no problem holding the camera steady myself. With this lens, it simply is too heavy and bulky to be able to do that with the same level of ease.

I am, however, extremely impressed with the effect at 500mm.

The OS motor is semi-loud. Much louder than the auto-focus motor which is labeled as a HSM (hyper-sonic motor). The AF motor is near silent.

That's it for tonight, but I'm sure I'll post more about this lens in the coming weeks as I play with it more. I think the idea of a zoo trip this weekend has been kicked around already...

- Bill