Okay, just in case you are really
interested to know something
about my diving career or my
photo equipment, have a look at
the following lines:

 

I started diving in the Mediterranean Sea in 1990. The following
year I met Sabine and convinced her to start diving, too (I bribed
her with a vacation to the Maldives...) Since then, we have been diving
in many places in Southeast Asia, the Red Sea and also in the
Carribean and southern Africa.

Although we have seen a lot, there are still so many places in the world
we would like to visit - Leni Riefenstahl, the Grand Old Lady of German
photography was still diving at the age of ninty, so we have a couple
of years left ...

We try to go on a dive vacation twice a year, sometimes we manage to do
a third trip. In between these trips I work as a dentist in my own practice
near Cologne.

I also dive here in Germany in freshwater lakes all year round (no problem
if you have a dry suit) and in the North Sea. Sabine does not like this kind
of diving too much, so on many dives I buddy up with my camera only.


Since I am growing old, I feel it is becoming harder and harder to adapt
to modern technology. This is the reason why I stick to my "Dinosaur"
photo equipment:

All underwater photos were taken with a Nikonos V or a Nikonos RS.

The Nikonos V with a 15mm lens was my camera of choice for wide angle.
In 2005, when everybody was going digital, I bought a second-hand fisheye lens
for my RS. Wow. I only wish I had bought it earlier ...

I also use my Nik V with extension tubes (1:2, 1:1, 2:1) and a YS120 plus
a YS30 strobe. Takes a lot of patience to convince a fish to pose right in
between the framer rods. Sometimes it works.

With my RS I use a 50mm lens (plus a 2x Teleconverter every now and then),
a 28mm lens, the 20-35mm zoom lens and now preferably my fisheye lens.
When shooting macro, I normally take an Ikelite SS200 plus a Sea&Sea YS30,
set to wireless TTL slave mode; when using the zoom or fisheye lens, I take my
two Ikelite SS200 strobes. I can tell you, it is good exercise for your arms to
carry such a setup during a dive!

One piece of equipment I just love is the "Ultralight Pivot Tray" for my strobes.
I can switch my camera from portrait to landscape mode without having to
adjust the strobe positions. Really comfortable!