pics weekend gone.

[Tank]

Vis never gets too clear here in Dublin, but it was pretty ok for us

[dave s]

Hi Derek,

Nice pics, where abouts in Dublin were you diving ? I dived the Vanguard a few years ago + the viz was less than 1m.

Most of the diving we do in Ringhaddy (Strangford lough) is in crap viz , normally 1 - 2m.

The closest place for use to get great viz is Donegal.

[Tank]

The pics were taken around a island called Rockabill Lighthouse. Its off the coast of Skerries. Were getting about 5 meters vis at the moment which is ok for us here Seems we all need to go to the west of Ireland to get decent vis.
We dive with www.Firststagediving.com who are based up in Dunshaughlin which is on the N3.

[TimIngmire]

Very nice pictures Derek. I guess these weren't with the Fuji?

[Tank]

Hi tim.
You have been busy posting everywhere
No my 300d flooded the second day in the red sea (long story but was an accident) so my buddy there lended me his new consumer F810 for the rest of the week on the livaboard. I quite liked the results...
The day i arrived home i went on the look out for a replacment 300d and lucky enough a shop had a second hand body only for sale. So i snapped it up and just got my new 105mm macro lens the other day too.
Was an expensive trip
But my love for taking underwater pictures was enough to justify it. Thank you visa card
Just back from a night dive as I type this

[Mike W]

Hi Derek - nice stuff!

Question for you, tho' - you flood a 300D, use an 810 for a week and are impressed by the results, then come home and buy a new 300D. I'm trying to decide if I should upgrade to a better compact or an SLR. On land, no contest, SLR every time, but the housings are so expensive I need to be really, really sure afore I spend the cash. Would you (And anyone else who has an opinion!) care to post their thoughts?

[Tank]

on a whole, your never going to get as good a result as from an slr. The week i spent with the handy F810 was all well and nice, but I feel I could have got more dramitic results if I had my slr (300d). Consumer cameras are good and nice for snaps. I dont want to step on too many toes here but if you want professional results then the way forward is an slr camera.
After using my old Canon S40 and S50 for a couple of years I was happy with the results..I upgraded my setup (well, a completely new one) to the 300d and on testing my camera in the water on a shore dive without any strobe and looking at the results on the computer, my first reaction to the images was WOW, Look how SHARP the image is. Was something i never got with my consumer S50.

Theres no doubting that an slr setup is stupidly expensive!! Hey, I would recommend a slr setup over a consumer one pretty much any day....but it comes with a price. there is no reason why you cant get amazing shots with the consumer but it will always be the same lens on it.....I found the pictures kinda looked all similar after a while.

my 2cents

[Mike W]

Cheers, Derek! If I'd had to answer the same question about shooting on land I'd probably have said the same sort of things. Sounds to me like I ought to shut up and save up!