Coral Close Up

Here are some shots from the first dive with the strobes. The lens used was a 50mm macro (which due to the crop factor on the K5 means it’s the equivalent of a 75mm lens on a 35mm camera). The strobes mean macro shots will be a lot sharper. This is partly because the flash sync shutter speed of 1/180 maybe quicker than the shutter speed used without strobes, but mostly it is because  it is the much faster flash duration that actually freezes the action. The result is that you can make out the teeth of the grumpy anemone fish, which otherwise would have been just a blur.

Grumpy Fish, Cape Maeda, Okinawa

The bright modeling light of the DS-161 strobe is a great help allowing the camera to autofocus more easily. The operative word  here is more, as getting it to lock onto a fish as it whooshes by is always going to be tricky. That’s why you’re going to be seeing a lot of photos of fish that either don’t move much (see below) or tend to stay in the same place (see above).

Fishbeard