Nikon P5000 + Fantasea FP 5000 housing

[tbgsub]

just got a new camera housing for my digital Point and shoot camera, so Now I am sub 10MP with manual. I used to use a 5600 Coolpix-great little camera, even good Macro!
I Like the Fantasea FP-5000 housing, except for a couple things that cant be overlooked.

1.)The tray mount holds the camera slightly to the left of all the buttons, but they still work = minor gripe that I can live with.

2.)when I mount the cam according to directions, and use the wide angle lens recommended by the manufacturer, the lens appears Vignetted on the right of my screen at full wide. Guess I have to zoom in slightly to use the wide angle lense, but it would have been nice to go full wide. (it looks like if I remove the longest guide screw I can get the camera lens to line up, but at the slight expense of the buttons not lining up = Annoying [were they in a rush spec'ing this case out and pushing it through CAD to the Die machine?])

3.) The Turning zoom/shutter button [the one that gets the most use], has spring issues that lock up at the zoom side and make operations a bit cludgie.
this is frustrating when trying to zoom just past the vignette of the wide angle lense while not zooming too far, so the Wide angle is maximized. PS. the lens is nice!

4.) The Lens hood inside the housing doesn't fully block out the internal flash during flash photos very well (admittedly the P5000 has a stronger flash than most Point and shoot cameras), so I have to decrease the flash exposure compensation = makes the ISO sensitivity less sensitive = I have to crank up the power on my external flash just to get a normal exposure = I have less controll on how my exposure and F stop regulated saturation comes out due to this issue. (I will most likely put electrical tape, or some other light blocker over the internal flash, except for a hole to allow light to hit the fiber optic cable, but I don't like the idea of having to tape, or alter my camera for good shots.)

over all I am pleased with the quality of images taken by the P5000, even if the focus is slow, I now use a focus light (UK C4 with a diffuser inside the lens) to throw a little extra light, and the focus comes out great most of the time with patience.

1/2 the time I use the camera for taking shots of wildlife when I am not spearfishing. and the other 1/2 the time it is a great excuse to lengthen my breath hold!!! I am gunning for 4 flash shots at 30-50 feet.

everyone in Saipan asks me if I scuba when I tell them about my Underwater Photography, but I tel them that although scuba would yield better, and more shots, that I am in it for the experience of self improvement, and the silence of the experience. If I wanted to be Darth Vader underwater I would have done that long ago, but I don't think I was meant to be a bubble blower, just a silent guest.

by the way I hope this post doesn't throw anyone off the P5000, or the housing, but I am anxiously looking for the next housing to come out to compare it to. I know Ikelite has a TTL housing, but I have heard of problems with leaking from other local users, so I am still waiting for something better, or to hear good news about the Ikelite housing (too bad it is bulky)

Fantasea did a nice job of keeping the housing size to a minimum, that is the main reason I got it.

thanks for reading.

and happy freediving

[Adon]

Hello there,
I am thinking about this Nikon and housing (need to save up first), could you post some of your pictures? It would be nice to see some taken with your set-up.
I use an old canon at the moment and am thinking of upgrading. I have a D70s and looked at the housing for that but it looks too expensive and bulky, hence the P5000 and the Fantasea housing.
Thanks,
adon

[tbgsub]

yeah I was looking at possibly upgrading to a D80 or D200 (now they have a new D300 and D3 to lust after) but the cost of housing put me over what I could do with a brow beating wife. actually she is really cool about it. but it was more than I was willing to pay and wait for funds to get a housing, so I went the P5000 route. If you have one or have played with one, you will immediately notice that using the matrix metering to focus greatly slows down the focus time even for a point and shoot. you can customize the way it focuses by making it center focus, and turning matrix off, and it focuses faster. with these settings you can also use the macro focus for crisp images. I am a patient person so it doenst bother me as long as I get a good image. for me it is all about the image not the deadline.

I am still getting acquainted with it above ground using the wide angle converter, which is 170 FOV above water and 100 FOV under according to the fantasea literature. Surprising that I will lose 70 Degrees just by submerging, I guess light bends that much from water to air inside the lens which is lost from the image.

Just for your reference when I do get SUBmersed and take some shots to post (may take me a while to get worthy pics as it is with any camera) , refer to what I prevously listed as my setup and see how close it is to what you are using.

I am also looking foreward to taking some Noiseless_VID with the wide angle lens and the Blue Filter (Red) with my spearfishing buddies to see how it improves the color rendition. (this cam has some negative reviews for recording video in quiet rooms due to the lightly audible hissing (I think it is a cooling fan for the image processor that has to overclock to get 10MP resolution in such a small body: I cant imagine what else the noise could be if not some small fan)) I am mostly concerned with still images and only Vid imagery to put music over so the slight hissing noise for me is trivial if the technology works. if I wanted quality video I would have gotten a video specific unit.

I can say that with stills, as you may know with fine resolution images, that you can crop considerably before the image becomes pixellated, which is nice for getting more useable images, especially with Macro photography.

you will also have to shrink the images more so than with 5MP images as they appear HUGE when trying to post them with image shack or other comparable web loading engines.

After using the 5600 in the Nikon WP-CP3 housing, and testing this p5000 in the Fantasea FP5000 housing, I finally feel like I am venturing into more serious underwater photography, especially with a submersible wide lens. I am really Looking foreward to seeing images taken from this lens, especially macro, as I want to see how the focus is maintained to the edge of the image. in air this lense is a fisheye and you can see a slight blurring a the edges (Yes - with a completely clean lens) the center area is quite clear but could be better, but underwater may be completely different as it is designed to have water on both sides of the lens, so this blur may be accounted for underwater with a layer of water. we will see.

anyway I hope to get under this next weekend, I will post pics in a week or more. thanks for your interest. so far after 3 weeks with the camera I am pleased but I only used a 5600 Coolpix for two years prior with only slight film SLR experience and no DSLR experience so I am not technologically jaded from the finer features of modern Digital image equipment....yet!

Prefocus and focus lock on a point and shoot to capture action (typically above water but can apply under) is kind of a skill that comes with the Point and shoot territory, DLSR people dont like that kind of patience and can be quite edgy about it. I dont think it is that bad or hard to get what you want. it just requires pre thought about the image you want and a perception of the focus distance of your subject before the y come into frame... well that and a little jedi mind trick on the subject to pass at the right place in the frame doesnt hurt either = (Luck)

wish me luck on sub photos for this week.

thanks.

[Adon]

I look forward to seeing your pictures once you get a chance to take it underwater. Wish you luck!!
I am used to lag on the camera, as the Canon I have is really slow, so I know a little about the Jedi mind trick. I was looking for a camera that would be a little faster. Might see if I can take a camera for a test drive.
You don't seem to be too pleased with the housing; do you think that it is a problem? On hindsight do you think that you would have gone for the ikealite even though it is a little bulky?
Have you contacted fantasea and mentioned your findings? Would be interesting to hear what they have to say.
Good luck with your pictures and safe diving.
Cheers.

[tbgsub]

well I am eyeing the corners of the o-rings today, and am going to take the housing diving this weekend without the camera (first dip this is highly recommended) down to 40 ft, if it doesnt flood then I know that the corners of the oring are contacting at a different area and get a good seal. I am a skeptic untill I am proven wrong on technical items, especially when it comes to housings. My only experience with a housing is the Nikon WP-CP3 housing for the 5600 that I used for close to 2 years. all buttons aligned, all features worked and there were no alignment issues. I treated that housing with the same reserved fashion and it proved me wrong on the level of dependency I assumed it would yield. It was very dependable!

Dont get me wrong I like the housing if it is water tight I wont send it back unless there are serious issues with the camera functioning. I can live withthe sticky zoom button as long as everything works.


I am glad that I picked this housing so far minus the issues, and no I wouldnt have picked the ikelite, too bulky. If i hadent gotten this housing I would have waited for a similarly streamlined one to come out. I freedive and it makes all the difference at 30-60 ft, and with strobe and arms the camera size matters with respect to drag. if there were a streamlined DSLR in my budget I would Jump for it.

[Adon]

What set up do you have?
Nikon p5000 with the Fantasea FP 5000, what is the strobe that you use?
I have a Nikon SB 600 that I use with the D70, do you use something similar?
Could you post a picture of your set up?
I have only used the camera in the housing and have not gone down the road with trays and arms etc. Would be interesting to see what it looks like and also to gauge the size.
How long have you been in Saipan?
I went there last year with the family and asked questions about spearing. Met a guy from one of the tour companies that speared regular and was planning on heading back there are some time for a spear.

[tbgsub]

I use the Sea&Sea Lite tray and lite arm set with a YS25Auto Water proof to 50 Meters (sadly discontinued at Sea&Sea) strobe on one arm and a UK-C4 flashlight (60M waterproof) with a home made diffuser for a focus lite on the other arm. the focus lite is KEY with a wide angle lens on a Point and shoot that typically relies on a focus assistance lamp. the FP5000 housing fits perfectly in the tray. I also use the Fiber optic synch cable that makes a big difference.

One thing to note is that the FP5000 housing with lens attached is kind of heavy above water! so put it in a padded bag when transporting or dings can happen.

also I figured out the issue with the zoom button. there are two springs that catch a plastic stop which didnt match up with the springs as the knob can be pulled back slightly during use and allows the springs to scrape past the stop. once this happens getting the springs back in place is annoying. it may be fixable without hampering the waterproofness with a metal gate glued to a metal plate that is either screwed in place or glued (epoxied) in place to hold the little return springs. (basically the spring ends arent long enough for the factory stop so the push past their intended position) again not a big issue, and certainly not enough for me to send it back. i am going diving this weekend!

a lens protector screen might serve well on the back of the polycarbonate housing to prevent scratches, I am looking into a solution.
my old housing got a few scratches that can become annoying after a while.

[Adon]

Look forward to seeing your pictures!
I hope to go for a dive this weekend too, but the weather has been really bad this past week. Fingers corssed for a good one.

[tbgsub]

OK I am back from spearishing with the two best locals in Saipan, Manny Camacho, and Felix Sasamoto. I took time out during the first day to test the housing, and then brougnt the camera with the wide angle lens and filter on the second outing fishing off naftan point! with a good ammount of chum it could be exciting!

here are a few pics I took. (some of these are near full resolution, to they take a while to load, but I didnt want to slow down Deeper blues server, so I put them on Image shack. please be patient they are worth it.) all shots taken in Full AUTO to see how it meters light and to watch the Shutter speed and F stop change under various conditions. I didnt use the YS 25 strobe or the focus light, this was just the housing and wide angle lens, and red filter for the wide lens. if you dont have a wide lens the red filter is great with non flash shots, but dont use the filter for artificial lighting or your pics turn obviously red!


My day started out great! waiting for the small boat to arrive.




coral colonies. (Onboard flash, no red filter no wide lens)



Blenny with a buddy (no filter no wide angle lens {gets in the way of the onboard flash}, using the camera strobe, not external, I was surprised shooting in Auto how well the light metered by a point and shoot!) Fantasea's decision to cut the port below the flash was right on!. I didnt notice the flash bounce inside the housing, but images will come out more clear with an internal mask, more on that later. so far I am pleased.



Sub_sea_heaven
ambient light no strobe with red filter

[Adon]

Hey TBGSUB,
Thanks for sharing those pictures and for all the information you have given on your camera set-up. I think that I am going to get the Nikon and the FS housing. Will just need time to save up a bit of cash.
I look forward to seeing more of your shots.
Cheers,
adon

[covert]

And now for the rest of us poor people ok guys accidentally stumbled upon this site,
Digital Hero Camera Home I know its cheap as hell probably a bit on the crappy side, but for us spearo's that don't want to do major digital photography , ie take a photy of a great white eating a fish kebab while your still attached to it, the occasional seal, turtle, school of fish etc. I think this should work just fine. Also love the idea of the wrist strap for comfort convenience and less drag. I think I'm going to get myself one of these and see if they are any good. Ill post back here if i remember and if I havent become fish food by then.

Sure as hell beats paying 3K USD for a proper housing for my cannon lol.

[tbgsub]

Just a note:

I bought the P5000 on E-Bay for 280.00 from a korean source, but buyer be ware, there is no US warranty on a japanese camera sold on EBAY (I checked the serial number and even tried to add it to my NIKON product list online but it wouldnt accept the serial number). CNMI where I live exists just outside US Customs so there would likely be no warranty anyway on a US product this new, it is one of the reasons DELL and HP wont ship new products here directly! because their domestic products cant be warranted outside US Customs. it would be worth the extra money if you lived in the US to get the warrantable model, and pay the 2 or 3 year warranty. it has to do with my non US Street address capacity in this island, we only have PO Boxes, and Saipan 96950 MP isnt listed in warranty claims for domestic products. It isnt a problem if you are travelling but list a recognized US residence of ownership.

I bought the FP5000 housing through an on island distributor for cheaper than it should have cost me, around 290.00-300.00 is what you can expect, but I am telling you now, after using it only twice, that it is a good compact housing with minor flaws that can be overcome. Fantasea has a nice warranty on the camera replacement if the housing ever floods (I bet you have to sell alot of housings to make this marketing scheme profitable, or they have housing production flood insurance that covers the costs). They dont warrant a replacement of the housing, or other items not associated with your camera, but at least you get another camera if it floods. My old Nikon housing didnt offer that kind of security or guarantee, hell it didnt even have a pressure tested sticker! But the Fanta sea housing DID, just like the Sea&Sea products. I guess you pay a little more for guaranteed products. The underwater wide lens is really nice, screws right into the housings port threads without an adapter, it even had crisp focus out to the edges of the frame on average distances of 10-15ft. In case you are wondering, the red filter for Ambient light images and video is worth 50.00 bucks if you appreciate near life color rendition prior to digital manipulation from 0-20ft, after that and things get blue again. I figure if I can accomplish 80% of the image I am trying for at capture, I will only have to do 20% post processing, which in the long run saves time for me to keep shooting.

I also have tried mounting the Tray and Arm on the back of my bluewater speargun to catch video but the drag is a drag! no kidding, it felt like a parachute pushing the gun, and the camera through the water! It is easier to just spearfish, or just film and shoot stills than do both, and I have huge admiration for those that do exactly that, it isnt easy at all. I mounted the strobe arm to the bottom of the butt with a large stainless screw, and turned the tray reverse so that it sits above the trigger mechanism above the bolt, giving a great view of the tip and the intended target, while allowing the spearo to see between the camera and the gun with 3-4 inches of room. if you are fishing shallow bluewater this could be a sweet setup. I get annoyed fishing deep dropoffs with it though due to the drag, and the decreased dive times I have because of it. I use this set up strictly for Video, because stills are impractical while you are shooting. In case you are wondering, the camera, by way of the arm, bends out of the way for loading the spear, and then bends back in place simply enough. perhaps the same could be done with disposable cameras, but video is where it is at behind a gun!!!

I do notice that the non flash shots using Auto are fairly rapid compared to my old 5600, and I was able to click off three shots of coral, a landscape of the coral and the surface, and a view of the boat and freediver from below, and still shoot a fourth shot of my watch at 55 feet before 35 seconds had elapsed! I know it is not deep, I go deeper, but this was a second day out with the camera and I was going nuts on the resolution and the color rendition from the red lens!

[Adon]

Covert,
Would like to see what the thing can do. Look forward to your pics.

tbgsub,
Once again thanks for the info.
I will be getting the camera in Japan, so will not have the problem of warranty.
Regarding the housing and filters, is the filter for the wide-angle lems that is shown in the link?
http://www.fantasea.com/catalogues/s...olpix_5000.pdf
The price quoted for the housing is US$245.

[tbgsub]

GOOD NEWS the New NIKON P5100 with 12.1MP and EXPEED processor is the exact same dimensions as the P5000 = it will fit in the FP5000 housing, and it only costs 399.00 so for another 100.00 you get 2more MP resolution and a faster processor. I wonder about the lack of Live HIstogram. anyway good luck in deciding. I bet the p5000 price comes down a little since the introduction of the p51000.

take care and test it before you buy.

TBGSUB!

[Adon]

Thanks for the heads-up!
I think that it will be a couple more months before I buy, so it will give me time to check them out.