http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/index.html Copyright MVPix.com - All Rights Reserved. Photographer Weblogs on MVPix.com : Photography : Equipment Category Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:02:12 -0500 Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:02:12 -0500 en-us webmaster@mvpix.com Jean-Sebastien Morisset weekly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/index.html http://www.mvpix.com/images/logo4xml.gif MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/think-tank-airport-security-carryon-review.html Photography : Equipment Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:02:12 -0500 Travel-ready Think Tank Airport Security carry-onsA while back I wrote an article about our carry-on luggage for two dSLR housings. Since the Storm Cases combined could only fit a single flat port and small dome port, all other ports (including some Aquatica 8" ports and port shades) had to be packed in our checked luggage. I assumed a bunch of ports would have little or no value to thieves. Well, a connecting flight through San Juan proved me wrong. They stole five ports, including two limited edition Ikelite-Aquatica dome ports with port shades. I later found one of the Ikelite-Aquatica ports bundled with a housing for sale on eBay. You can read part of the story in our Bonaire... 211@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=211 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/ikelite-offers-free-exchange-for-551016-and-551024-stalks.html Photography : Equipment Sat, 16 Sep 2006 19:05:51 -0500 Ikelite released a new 8 inch dome port several months ago that accepts up to three different stalk lengths. I wrote a review of this new dome port -- although it remains a draft until I can finish sorting / post-processing a backlog of photos. :-) In August, Ikelite announced an upgrade to their medium and long stalk lengths for this port. The original stalks are rated to 150 ft, while the new stalks are rated to 200 ft. Ikelite is offering a free exchange for the old stalks, so if you have some, you may want to take advantage of this offer sooner than later.... 210@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=210 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/review-of-ikelites-new-8-port-551040.html Photography : Equipment Tue, 02 May 2006 18:02:49 -0500 Please note: I started writing this article shortly after returning from Bonaire in June, but have not had a chance to complete it yet. Hopefully this draft version will be useful for those of you currently looking at buying Ike's new 8" dome port. I expect to have this article completed (with example photos) within the next few weeks. A Little Background Info... To truly appreciate the current 8" port design, it's necessary to talk about it's predecessor... Over a year ago, Ikelite purchased four hundred 8" ports from Aquatica, and packaged them with custom delrin adapters. I bought two of these 8" dome ports #5510.80 for our Ikelite Canon 20D housings. I also bought some Aquatica WA port shades... 209@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=209 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/addon-floats-for-housing-with-macro-setup.html Photography : Equipment Sat, 15 Apr 2006 17:14:36 -0500 Housing buoyancy has been a problem for just about every photographer I've met, including myself. Compact strobes like the DS-125s pictured here are very compact, and thus very negative underwater. It takes air filled spaces to offset the negative weight of batteries, lenses, cameras, etc. When shooting wide-angle, the large diameter of a dome port will help offset some of the weight. ULCS and others also offer buoyant strobe arms of various lengths. The longer the arms, the more lift is achieved. This is all great for wide angle, and indeed, our wide-angle setup is close to neutral and a real pleasure to use. The opposite is true for a macro setup though - especially at night. You can see... 208@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=208 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/rinse-tanks-and-securing-equipment-on-location.html Photography : Equipment Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:15:56 -0500 203@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=203 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/canon-20d-lens-and-ikelite-port-combinations.html Photography : Equipment Sun, 30 Oct 2005 10:38:10 -0500 Before every trip I ask myself which lenses and ports I should bring along. And once at our destination, the question then becomes which lenses need diopters, extension tubes, and what ports are best with those lenses. The following article documents my experience with the lens and port combinations I've tried. In some cases, I also include notes on camera settings and substrobe arm lengths. These notes are as much for myself as anyone else, since I will use this article as a reference on future trips. You can expect this information to be updated once in a while as I try new lens / port combinations and fine-tune old ones. If you have additional information and/or opinions on... 202@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=202 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/carryon-luggage-for-two-dslrs-housing-setups.html Photography : Equipment Fri, 14 Oct 2005 13:46:58 -0500 Every underwater photographer I know struggles to carry-on as much equipment as he / she can. As we prepare for another trip to Bonaire (in October 2005), I took a few snapshots of our carry-ons to describe our setup. Hopefully you can use this information to improve your own setup, and if you have some suggestions / comments for us, please feel free to post a comment bellow. Melanie and I both use complete dSLR setups with dual strobes and a variety of ports / lenses, which makes travelling a little equipment intensive. When packing, I try and carry-on as many essentials as I can, figuring our checked luggage might arrive late, or not at all. We use two... 200@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=200 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/canon-20d-with-ikelite-housing-a-field-report.html Photography : Equipment Fri, 03 Jun 2005 13:08:57 -0500 In early 2005, Melanie and I upgraded our photo equipment to Canon 20Ds with Ikelite housings, ports, and substrobes. On a trip to Bonaire in May 2005, we had the occasion to try a variety of lenses and port combinations. Excluding all the various support and spare parts we brought along, our underwater photography equipment consisted of:... 185@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=185 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/sony-dscf717-with-accessories-for-sale.html Photography : Equipment Tue, 26 Apr 2005 10:35:24 -0500 184@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=184 Jean-Sebastien Morisset MVPix Photographers : Photography : Equipment Category http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/archives/photography-equipment/selling-ikelite-housing-for-sony-dscf717.html Photography : Equipment Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:37:05 -0500 I'm selling this Sony DSC-F717 Ikelite Housing on eBay. It's in excellent condition and includes two Hoya +4 Diopter Filters, a Removable Top Mount Assembly, Slate and Bungie, Extended Black-out Material, O-Ring, Lube, etc. There are only small signs of wear - little scratches on the housings polycarbonate surface - mostly where the slate has been removed (and replaced under the bungie) a number of times. See my eBay listing for additional information and sample photos. Jan 4th 2005 Update: The Ikelite housing and accessories pictured here has been sold. You may want to check-out some other Ikelite stuff I have for sale...... 176@http://www.mvpix.com/photographers/ http://www.mvpix.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-post.cgi?entry_id=176 Jean-Sebastien Morisset