Wide angle lens for Fuji F31?

[Kirstie]

Originally Posted by Bardo

Yep - Mr Yuzo is your man! Even if you do have to pay import duty and VAT on the lens, it'll still work out a lot cheaper than the 'rip of Britain' prices that places like Cameras Underwater try to charge for it!

In answer to your earlier question, the UFL isn't really suitable for 'macro' stuff but then the Fuji does a pretty good job of that without the need for an extra lens. If you do want to get in very, very close though, Inon also make a 'UCL' (close up) lens which will do what you need.

Thanks for that. Most of my photos up til now have been macro (and you're right, the Fuji is superb for those) but longer-distance shots are hopeless. I'd like to get the lens and practice a bit before we go to Sulawesi in March, even if the results aren't fab over here. I really wanted to take 'views' of the reefs last year (with my Oly C50), but they were all disappointingly indistinct and blue.

BTW, I got Martin Edge's book for Christmas - I'm all fired up and desperate to dive to try out all his tips!

[Bardo]

Originally Posted by Kirstie

Thanks for that. Most of my photos up til now have been macro (and you're right, the Fuji is superb for those) but longer-distance shots are hopeless. I'd like to get the lens and practice a bit before we go to Sulawesi in March, even if the results aren't fab over here. I really wanted to take 'views' of the reefs last year (with my Oly C50), but they were all disappointingly indistinct and blue.

BTW, I got Martin Edge's book for Christmas - I'm all fired up and desperate to dive to try out all his tips!

If your photos are all 'indistinct and blue' then the fisheye lens will certainly help but it's only part of the solution. Personally I'd also invest in a strobe as it'll allow you to highlight areas of the photo, therefore bringing the colour of the reef out. For shallower stuff, you should also play around with the manual white balance feature - this makes *alot* of difference...

[Pigpen]

Just been on hols (Sulawesi ) and there was another guy there who had the F31 and Inon w/a lens. The problem was, the adaptor and lens totally obscured the built in flash. Don't know how it would be with the close up lens.

[Kirstie]

I've got a Fuji slave strobe, presumably this would solve any colour/flash problems.

It's like this one:

Great Digital Deals - Fuji UW-120 Strobe & Arm Bracket

[peter lamb]

Originally Posted by Kirstie

I've got a Fuji slave strobe, presumably this would solve any colour/flash problems.

But it will present you with a new set of problems
Photos taken with the flash will be overexposed I still havent worked out the correct settings on mine yet.

[Kirstie]

Originally Posted by peter lamb

But it will present you with a new set of problems
Photos taken with the flash will be overexposed I still havent worked out the correct settings on mine yet.

Roughly how many warm-water holidays do you think it would take before I could resolve this problem?

[Marc T]

Hi Kirstie

you could certainly use your existing strobe as a slave no prob.
You may have issues though using your flexi arm and tray with the Inon mountbase system.
The cheapest option would be to buy a longer fixing bolt to accommodate the wider mountbase.Cameras Underwater stock many accessories so they might have something to fit this kind of rig.
Otherwise you would need to replace your existing arm/tray with one compatible with the Inon mountbase adaptor.
The internal flash will be mostly obscured by the front dome port of the fish eye so will be useless.
I'm not personally familiar with the operation of your strobe, but I'm sure you can manually adjust it as a slave.

Marc

[Kirstie]

Originally Posted by Marc T

Hi Kirstie
you could certainly use your existing strobe as a slave no prob.
You may have issues though using your flexi arm and tray with the Inon mountbase system.
The cheapest option would be to buy a longer fixing bolt to accommodate the wider mountbase.Cameras Underwater stock many accessories so they might have something to fit this kind of rig.
Otherwise you would need to replace your existing arm/tray with one compatible with the Inon mountbase adaptor.
The internal flash will be mostly obscured by the front dome port of the fish eye so will be useless.

Marc

Will the expense never end?

Perhaps I should stick to 'point and snap' shots of starfish. Women, know your limits.

[wooflad]

Hi kirstie , i own an F31 with the fuji dedicated strobe mounting , bought the fish eye lens and adaptor from the dive show in october . cameras underwater wanted nearly £470 for them both, but the Photo partner stand as mentioned early did the same deal for £271 after i got my bill and all the exchange rates were sorted. The lens is great, got pics of my son in full from a few feet away, and it works fine with macro stuff as well. Now i cant say if a dedicated macro lens would be any better cos i havent got one. If you want a few examples of my rather ordinary photos with this set up , just shout.
I too bought the martin edge book which is excellent reading, but i thought it concentrated more on DSLR's. I was lucky enough to get a canon eos 400d for xmas, so now im looking for a suitable housing for it, which i hope wont cost the earth. Have fun, i know i am, its great learning how and what these cameras can actually achieve.
Bri

[Marc T]

Hi Kirstie
I've just tried fitting an old tray I have which looks similar to your one.
It works ok on my rig using the Inon mountabse and supplied fixing bolt, although there is some side to side movement and it's not long enough to screw in using all the threads securely.
I would still suggest finding a longer bolt if you want to use your existing kit.
I'm using an Olympus SP 350 with PT 030 housing.
Regards,

Marc