So how was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. So, recently I added a small item to my camera equipment collection. I currently have a Nikon Coolpix P5000 (10.1mp P&S), Ikelite housing, Ikelite DS-125 strobe and Ikelte wide angle lens. Recently I added an Inon Macro lens to help with some of those close up macro shots. As with any new piece of equipment (especially if it adds any complexity to diving), I am a firm believe in trial dives in shallower water just to work out any bugs. So to that end, I did just that.

This weekend I dove Cedar Hill with my camera set-up and my new lens. To date I would just put the WA lens on and leave it which was not bad but likely limited my results on some of the macro shots in Bonaire. So this weekend was all about starting a dive with no lens, and then shooting with and switching between the two lenses.

So Saturday my first dive started with no external lens attached to the housing. I already knew that I really needed a “system”. I did not have anything to properly hold onto the lenses (Wide Angle and Macro) when they were not in use because my "OMS thigh pockets" have not yet arrived. So I went into the water with a mesh bag in my BC pocket with one lens in it. I kept the second lens outside the bag but in my pocket to protect them from bumping into each other and causing damage.

I started the dive shooting some dives with no external lens. When I went to put on the first lens (the macro lens), I tried to find it in my pocket. It was not visible so I figured it had fallen under the mesh bag inside the pocket. When I pulled the mesh bag out to look underneath it, WHOOSH goes the macro lens to the bottom of the lake. These dives were the “TRIAL” dives for learning to play with these items so they were planned shallow. We were only in about 35 feet of water so it was not the end of the world. I noticed it hit the bottom, so I put the mesh bag holding my wide angle lens away and swam down the 6-7 feet to the bottom to get the macro lens. After I made sure it is basically clean, I begin to start threading it onto my housing. This took a little while but once it was finally done, I located my dive buddy (about 10 feet away laughing at my trials and tribulations) and then started to play with the camera. I tried focusing the camera on far off things, close up things, big things, small things etc.. I was just trying to get used to the lens after all.

Then I thought, I should have something to compare it against so I need to put on the wide angle lens. So, I reach into my BC pocket and get the mesh bag. I hold it and the camera (the camera is tethered to my BC via lanyard but I chose to hold it for some reason) as I unscrew the macro lens. The lens comes off the housing and I open the mesh bag to remove the WA lens and replace it with the macro lens. Well, with 7mm cold water gloves, it is a challenge to reach into the bag to grab the lens. So I turn the bag upside down over my hand....do ya see a problem coming? The WA lens is an odd shaped lens and therefore rolls unpredictably. It hit my hand and rolled right off. I saw this as it was happening and tried to throw it up in the air a little so I could catch it. NOPE!! It just rolled farther away and fell to the bottom. So, anyways, I put the macro lens in the mesh bag and put that mesh bag in my BC pocket. Now I have free hands because as soon as the first lens dropped, I let the camera hang by the lanyard when “handling” (juggling would be more accurate) the lenses. Here I go to the bottom again to fetch my lens. Once cleaned up, this one threads on much better and I can only assume it is because it is an Ikelite lens as is the housing, and the macro lens is an Inon lens. Anyways, the rest of the dive was uneventful and I wound up leaving the whole thing on the surface for the second dive. I do not see much purpose in trying to work a system which is not yet in place. Once I have my pockets, I will try again.

However, what I have taken away from this….this reconfirmed my philosophy: Controlled Test Dives are mandatory with almost any new equipment. It may not seem like much, but as soon as you add “One more thing to worry about” to your dive, you need to make sure you can put everything together into one SAFE dive. Before one of these dives, my buddy and I know what we are doing and what is or is not expected of each other.