Posted by mike on December 21, 2001 at 21:20:27:
In Reply to: Re: Indonesia posted by Steve on December 21, 2001 at 13:24:04:
You would have been about 1500 miles away from my favorite spots. Try Sangalakki, Kakaban, Derawan, Wakatobi, Lembeh Straits, Banggka, and of course, Bunaken. In all of these places, the coral was untouched in the '98 ENSO, and, most of these are absolute paradise for someone with a 105 mm lens. The fish portraiture opps are incredible! You will likely as not see and photograph stuff that is barely even in the guidebooks. Of course, unbeknownst to the US media, Muslim insurgents have killed roughly 3-4000 Christians in the neighborhood recently, so the place has a little cooling down to do, but some of the dive spots are safe enough by virtue of their remoteness and Bonnie Cardone has relayed to me 2nd hand that most of the country remains tranquil with the exception of a few trouble spots. I have been toting around a couple of titanium F3s in old ikelite housings and for most of my stuff, i carry a 55mm Micro Nikkor or a 24mm Sigma. I'll be biting the bullet shortly and buying a good used 105mm Micro Nikkor now that i have a port for it. One of these days, a 20mm or even an 18mm may be in the offing for more wide-angle stuff. Video is not my cup o' tea either...when i watch someone else's video, i keep thinking "my what a nice still that last frame woulda made".