Underwater camera housing manufacturer SeaCam recently reported that they are going to reengineer  the classic Nikonos RS 13mm fisheye lens for use on Nikon DSLRs.

The Nikonos RS 13mm fisheye lens was launched in 1992 and discontinued in 1996. However, there are still many of these original lenses on the second hand market.

SeaCam recently communicated to offer a service in order to adapt original Nikonos RS 13mm lenses for use on today's DSLRs. See the article on WetPixel.com.

Here is more about how it is being done: link

And excessive testing results: link

Underwater Photography - Strobe Techniques

One of the most difficult aspects of underwater photography is using the right lighting technique. Using strobes is more difficult underwater than on land given the reduced reach of the flash and the narrower angle of illumination.

Seacam offers a very good training in their underwater photography academy: link

Another source is the tutorial on strobe positions by Scott Gietler at http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/underwater-photography-strobe-positioning

In the end all theory is helpful but the only thing to good results is practice and patience.

As you can see in the following video from our last underwater photography expedition to the Maldives, positioning of strobes as well as using the right settings can be subject to discussion.

Hasselblad Mirrorless Medium Format: Testimonial

Expert Talk - Chase Jarvis on Strobe Sequences

Photographer Chase Jarvis and his crew explain how the strobe sequence of freestyle skiers was taken.

They elaborate on technical challenges they were facing when preparing for this series of sequence shots.
The main challenge is having a strobe system which is strong enough in order to have the reach to freeze the athlete in action and second to have a short enough recharging time in order to keep the sequence.

Film Photography - Fuji Medium Format Camera Review

Film Shooters Collective presents a post by HW Kateley reviewing the Fuji GS645S Review | HW Kateley: "HW Kateley reviews the Fuji GS645s"

Mirror Less Medium Format Cameras

Is 2016 becoming the year of mirror less medium format photography?

After the introduction of the Hasselblad medium format mirror less camera x1d earlier this year Fujifilm introduced their version of a mirror less medium format product line - GFX 50s - at the Photokina show.

Film Cameras in a Digital Age

Why a mechanical film camera in a digital age? - A question which keeps me busy since quite some tome. And apparently not only me. - A recent post on leicaphilia.com all deals around this question.

Mechanical cameras have been considered obsolete for some time. The number of digital camera models hitting the market in the last slightly more than 10 years is almost infinite. - Never the less analog cameras undergo a comeback.

Photography shops have old mechanical second hand cameras again in their offering and retired mechanical engineers who still know how to service them start small businesses again do do so.

The post on leicaphilia.com is worth reading for everybody who is interested in this topic.

How to use a light meter

When using old analog cameras for your photography, determining the right exposure can be tricky. First of all old cameras do not have built in light meters, and second there is no immediate control on a display. You only know about the correct exposure once you developed the film.
Watch this educative video by Mark Wallace explaining how to use a light meter.
It is not only limited to film photography, but also to measure the right exposure for digital photography under special or difficult conditions.

Twin Lens Reflex Camera

The Hasselblad X1D - The first medium format mirror less camera

High End Cameras - Alpa Phase One

Have a look at this humanistic report by Kai W. on the high end Alpa Phase One camera. - Testing out the gear lead to several spectacular failures...



And a second report using the medium format Phase One for high end large scale photos:

Camera Shopping in Japan

Japan offers a lot of opportunities for camera gear addicts. With respect to price - even given the fact that many camera manufacturers are Japanese - there might be more attractive places on earth, but in terms of selection and variety Japan is one of the most attractive places.

Read the blog post by Cameron Kline on Film Shooters Collective: http://www.filmshooterscollective.com/analog-film-photography-blog/camera-shopping-in-japan--2-3#at_pco=smlwn-1.0&at_si=57656d0c18c1fb60&at_ab=per-2&at_pos=0&at_tot=1

Underwater Pocket Camera

Hi fellow underwater photographers!

Have you ever thought of having a little pocket camera for your bouncy jacket in addition to your DSLR setup with strobes with you when diving.

There are many options using compact cameras in respective housings which fit into a jacket's pocket. But what if there were a smaller camera? - Yes, GoPro is always an option, but is this really a backup? I would consider the GoPro rather an add-on than a backup.

Recently I saw somebody using the Nikon Coolpix AW130 on a dive. And I was impressed by the results.

This point and shoot camera has some incredible specs. Among these the water resistance down to 30m.

Yes, the camera does not replace the DSLR setup but it can be handy in special unforeseeable situations - which always happen once in a while.

Imagine you are on a dive using your macro setup. You took many award winning macro images and suddenly a whale shark appears. Bad luck! - Having a camera as the Coolpix AW130 in your pocket could be very helpful. Probably not to shoot a front page image but at least to keep a couple of shots for your memories, or for a slide show.

There are many other situations where such a compact point and shoot camera could come in handy on a dive so that I consider the AW130 as a considerable option.

Film for Color Landscape Photography

What is your choice of film for color landscape photography?

Ben Horne talks about his experience using Fuji Velvia 50, Kodak Ektar 100, and Kodak Portra 160 film shooting landscape.

Nikon Museum in Tokyo

The Nikon Museum, Tokyo located close to Shinagawa Station seems to be an interesting place for everybody interested in photography and photography equipment.

I never visited this museum so far, but from what I've read it must give an excellent overview on the history of Nikon cameras and lenses.

Definitely worth thinking of visiting when in Tokyo.

Gadgets for controlling time-lapse photography

Time-lapse photography is a technique whereby the frequency at which film frames are captured is much lower than that used to view the sequence (Wikipedia).

The holy grail of time-lapse photography are landscape sequences during day to night transitions. Difficulty is to adapt correctly exposure going from bright day light to darkness, moon light, or artificial light.

There are a number of gadgets to support producing time-lapse photography sequences. Here, two recent exciting examples.

Alpine Labs: Gadgets for controlling time-lapse photography. Radian is an entire system to not only control the camera during capture of a time-lapse sequence but also to introduce motion in the sequence.


Pico: a small and simple time-lapse trigger which can be programmed using a smartphone and connect easily to your camera.

A modern camera

How does this look for a modern digital camera? - Is there somebody who can share a similar explosion chart for today's state of the art digital cameras?

Nikon SLR camera