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Digital SLR Cameras for Underwater Photography

 

- The Nikon D100

Nikon's release of the D100, their first prosumer DSLR, in June 2002 was a real game changer.

For the first time, affordable digital SLR technology was available to serious amateur photographers who use Nikon equipment, and for many it was the catalyst to go "digital".

The wide range of underwater housings that were subsequently released meant that, at last the significant advantages of digital photography were available underwater.

A lot has changed since 2002 and these days it seems like a new DSLR is released every few months.... an exaggeration perhaps, but the reality is that if you buy a new state of the art DSLR today, you can expect it to be superceded by a newer & better model within probably 2 years but definitely within 3 years.

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight it's interesting to look back at the D100 and it's capability, as many of these cameras & housings can be bought quite cheaply and provide an excellent starting point for anybody looking to get into underwater photography with a DSLR.

When I wrote the original article on the D100 for Underwater Photography magazine in 2005 Nikon was about to announce the D200, the successor to the D100 and I was contemplating my first digital upgrade. I subsequently sold my two D100 bodies and Subal housings & bought two D200 bodies, but just one housing.

I made the decision to upgrade after a trip to Raja Ampat in Indonesia where, after having owned the D100 for about 2.5 years I realized that I had reached the true performance boundaries of the camera when used underwater. The full article can be downloaded on the link below, but here is my summary of the strengths & weaknesses of the D100:

Nikon D100 Strengths for Underwater Photography

Nikon put a great deal of effort into the D100 and it was positioned as having most of the functionality of the earlier D1 DSLR, but with higher resolution (more pixels) and a much lower price. It was a great success and Nikon sold a lot of them!

Based on the F80 film camera, the D100 gave real SLR performance with a six mega pixel sensor that matched the resolution of film upto A3 and images produced by the D100, particularly using the NEF Raw format, are (in my opinion) sharp and of publishable quality.

In short, in the right hands, the D100 is capable of producing stunning images.

Nikon D100 Weaknesses Underwater Photography

Probably the weakest point of the D100 is its dynamic range, which dpreview.com (Vincent Bockaert) defines as “the largest possible signal divided by the smallest possible signal it can generate.  The largest possible signal is directly proportional to the full well capacity of the pixel. The lowest signal is the noise level when the sensor is not exposed to any light, also called the noise floor”.

What this really means to us underwater photographers is that it can be very difficult to get a good result when shooting wide angle with the sun in the frame as the sensor of the D100 cannot record detail in the shadows without grossly blowing out the sun and turning it a sickly shade of cyan. For macro and general fish photography I do not see this dynamic range limitation as a big issue because it is pretty rare to get the sun in the frame with these type of shots and here are two examples from the D100 taken on the Raja Ampat trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, it can be a real issue with wide angle and here are two examples of the D100 at its worst during the same trip:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the image on the left I exposed for the coral @ f10, but blew out the sun, whereas in the one on the right I stopped right down to f22 to get the sun under control – but lost all details in the shadows.

I do not pretend to have an answer to the dynamic range limitations of the sensor in the D100, my argument is that it is possible to work around them and get very pleasing wide angle shots provided you really understand the limitations.

The simplest way to deal with those limitations is to avoid them – shoot with the sun behind you so you do not get the extremes of bright sunlight and details in the shadows. Here is a good example of doing just that at Mikes Point in Raja Ampat.

If you are shooting into the general direction of the sun, then you will need two powerful wide angle strobes such as the Ikelite 200 units that I was using at that time, because the only way to get a good result is to close down the f stop and put the shutter speed at the maximum setting of 1/180 on the D100.

Stopping down on the f stop brings the sun under control, but the small aperture means you need powerful strobes to punch through and illuminate the subject. Here are two examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So in summary, the D100 can produce excellent images and there are lots of them around, complete with housings - so if you are thinking of upgrading to a DSLR for underwater photography, check out the second-hand market and see if you can get yourself a bargain!

Download D100 Underwater Photography article - 824kb