The port chart says to use N100-120 converter, extension ring 30, and 140mm dome. I have this exact set up for my other wide angle lens but when I put in 28mm F2 + fisheye converter combo I get vignetting on the outside.

Taking out the extension ring 30, with just N100-120 converter and 140mm dome, I am able to get no vignetting.

I'm curious if anyone else use this and can tell me if the port chart is just wrong, or if I'm missing something.

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For background, I took my gear to Mikomoto and Ito for the shark dives and did not realise I packed my Sony 90mm macro instead of my Canon 8-15+metabones+2x tele wide angle setup. In my defense they both had a black 3D printed zoom/focus ring on and somehow the 90 macro fits perfectly into the wide angle port urghhh. This 28mm F2 + fisheye combo was the only one that used the same ports and luckily I was able to pick up a used set in Tokyo for cheap. Curious to see how the quality compares - I would want the flexibility of the zoom setup for reef dives like Raja but I do hope the native lens combo has better auto focus for the shark dives... Took me until I was underwater in Ito shark scramble to realise... and even then I thought I messed up my zoom ring before I took it out and realised it was a macro lens... anyone else made such a silly mistake haha??

- must have controls/ranges that would be familiar to an 35mm SLR user - e.g F2.8 to F22 or greater, shutter speed controls etc
- must have really good battery life

- must be able to produce a good quality image - not sure how many megapixels that requires?

I've no idea what else are required as far as speccing a camera these days?

I found some cheap sort-of insulated lunch bags for school kids that happen to be just the right size. The housing goes by itself in one bag, and everything else goes in the other bag. I wrap the miscellaneous stuff in a layer of bubble wrap to prevent scratches, but sine the bag is never out of sight I am not worried about things getting banged around.

All in, the total weight is just under 6.5kg. There is room in my commuter backpack for a few travel essentials too. Water bottle is 1.5 liters for scale. I am happy to be a m4/3 user!

I then spoke to a Nauticam dealer I deal with often, in case they had any info and of course, was told they had no idea about the Marelux product, which I pretty much expected. So I reached out to a Marelux dealer who also sells Nauticam, and asked about it. I was told the Marelux double flip holder only works with the Marelux brand wet lenses, which seemed odd, since all these products have a 67mm thread, but whatever.

So I thought I would ask here in case anyone, perhaps Phil Rudin, could confirm what I was told or provide other info, mostly just out of curiosity at this point.

Introduction

Reta was very generous and agreed to provide me with a pair of their new Maxi strobes for evaluation. I’ve been shooting the Backscatter HF-1 for over a year now and have often made comparisons with Retra’s strobes. To be perfectly honest, I have been critical of Retra’s highest end Pro Max and Max II strobes due to their relatively high price compared to the HF-1, and their use of older AA battery technology. I consider AA power outdated in a lithium-ion era, resulting in limitations to core features like recycle time, video lighting, and run-time. The new Maxi strobe seems to have answers to each of these critiques. I appreciate their confidence in allowing me to consider their new product.

Retra included the required batteries, and two sets of their Reduction rings and Wide Angle / 4500k color diffusers. I am very happy to have these accessories as they match what I routinely use with my HF-1 strobes.

First Impressions

I was not able to do a proper unboxing unfortunately as my Maxi’s were provided in generic packing materials rather than Retail packaging. However, the hardware lives up to Retra’s familiar high level of refinement and precision in manufacturing. The Maxi’s silver-gray aluminum construction and controls are directly comparable to the Max II strobes despite being sold at nearly half the retail price.

I spent some time reading the manual and exploring the controls and features. I won’t regurgitate the specs in this preview, but I suggest reviewing Retra’s web site for details.

I am a Manual mode shooter, so I have not experimented with any of the TTL modes, and I don’t have a trigger capable of HSS. My Nauticam Z8 housing comes standard with a Nauticam manual mode flash trigger. Configuring the strobe in “M” mode, it shot perfectly in both single shot and rapid bursts at 1/8 to 1/4 power levels. I didn’t notice any loss of power in short 3 burst images.

The Spotting light is dead center of the strobe, making for easy and accurate aiming with a snoot or super-macro reduction rings. The spotting light is approximately 300-400 lumens with a 50% and 100% modes. I can’t find this documented in the specs or manual, so hopefully Retra will provide this detail in the future.

My Maxi’s include the optional Video Light, which is capable of an impressive 6000 lumens. Conveniently the Power Knob provides fine grained levels from 0 to 100% in its 17 positions. This is a very nice feature, but I suspect most users will just go to 100% if shooting occasional videos.

I don’t have enough time in the water with the strobes yet to comment on battery life. On the two macro focused dives conducted so far, I had one of the strobes running with the spotting light on for nearly a full 70 minutes. The battery indicator never left the green-zone of 100-75% power remaining. From my experience with earlier AA power Retra strobes, running the spotting light was sure way to drain the battery. This seems like a solid improvement so far.

Configuring my Rig

Before setting out on some initial test dives I swapped out my HF-1 strobes with the Maxi’s. My first dive would be limited to Macro shooting only as recent flooding in the Pacific Northwest have wreaked havoc on the usually excellent winter visibility. Rather than my usual Snooting setup for macro with the combo of an MF-2 + Snoot and HF-1, I used the two Maxi’s with reduction rings. I shot with a Nikon Z8, 105z lens, and double diopters MFO-1 and Subsee +10.

The first point of comparison is the weight of the entire rig in and out of the water. The Maxi strobes are just slightly heavier than the HF-1s using identical battery cells. (Nitecore 5300mah)

In the photo above, I have a custom ring float on the macro port that adds about 400 grams of buoyancy. I had to remove it after my initial dive with the Maxi’s as my rig became positively buoyant and wanted to go belly up! The in-water weight of the Maxi’s is essentially neutral while the HF-1 are about 250 grams negative, each.

The Maxi is a bit larger and 20 grams heavier than the HF-1. However, the additional volume seems to be quite deliberate in order to achieve near-neutral buoyancy.

Image - Bottom to top: Retra Maxi, Backscatter HF-1, Backscatter Atom

After removing the port float, I took the following measurements:

Preview images

As of this writing I have done three dives in the last week with the Retra Maxi’s. Two macro dive, one set for Wide angle. The Wide Angle dive ending up being a challenge, so I only got a few usable photos. This was due to fairly poor and hazy water clarity and strong currents at the start of the dive, and worsening visibility at the end of the dive once the current slackened. I’ll get a better sample of photos in the next few weeks.

Additional, if I carry an additional RF 35 1.8 or 501.8 as a supplement, will the image quality significantly decrease behind the 140 dome? （I just want to carry one dome）

This bow of Salem Express is photographed at about 25m depth. Part of splatting project.

300% crops

The culprit seems to be my flash trigger. I've been using Retra Pro Max strobes with a Nauticam NA-26308 TTL trigger, which was originally developed for DSLR cameras. It's possible that new firmware updates in my Nikon Z8 have rendered it incompatible with the old flash trigger.

Nauticam now makes a newer flash trigger designed specifically for Nikon mirrorless cameras (NA-26601), which costs $760. UW-Technics and Turtle also make flash triggers for the Nikon Z8, priced at $569 and $440, respectively.

Does anyone have experience with these newer flash triggers? I'd love your recommendation for which to install in my Nauticam NA-Z8 housing.

Many thanks!

“You cannot improve a lens’s in-air optical performance underwater.”

What I mean by that is fairly simple: any optical system not originally designed specifically for underwater use — with the obvious exceptions of systems like the Nikonos 15mm and Nikonos RS — will suffer once taken underwater. Image quality will always degrade relative to that lens’s native performance in air.

The moment we take a full-frame lens underwater and place it behind a flat port, dome, or a purpose-built underwater correction optic such as OPP, Ivanov, WACP, FCP, or Marelux Aquista, we are introducing a new front glass element into a lens design originally created by the optical engineers at Nikon, Sony, Canon, Sigma, and others.

In other words, we are adding more “filter” to the light path.

We are not performing magic.

We are adding more glass.

We are adding more interfaces.

We are adding more opportunity for compromise.

That does not mean such correction optics are pointless — quite the opposite. A lens may become far more useful, more practical, and more enjoyable underwater when paired with the right optic. But it will not suddenly become sharper, cleaner, or more transmissive than what the best land-based lab tests already show it to be capable of in air.

What it can do is perform vastly better in its actual underwater use case when paired with the correct optic, especially when compared with the same lens behind a flat port or a poorly positioned dome.

So when people speak as though a port or correction optic somehow improves a lens beyond its native land performance, I think that is where the language becomes sloppy. Better underwater than with the wrong setup? Absolutely. Better than its in-air optical ceiling? I do not see how.

So I am putting this out here for discussion and, ideally, confirmation or informed contradiction.

My working assumption has long been that the best way to identify a strong underwater optical system is to start by comparing land-based tests of lenses that already fit key underwater criteria — for example, short minimum focusing distance and other relevant characteristics — and then distill the strongest in-air candidate before bringing it underwater and matching it with the most suitable port or correction optic.

That, to me, seems to be the real algorithm:

start with the best land candidate, then optimize the underwater setup as intelligently as possible.

I have a question regarding the Nauticam 45° viewfinder NA-32203 and I’m unsure what it actually looks like in real use. According to my research, the viewfinder is compatible with my Nauticam NA-A7CII housing, but it may require an additional adapter.

However, my research also indicates that these viewfinders are less optimal for cameras like my A7CII, and that the viewfinder image may not be fully sharp or may appear soft at the edges.

My question is whether anyone can provide more detailed information about this. I’m currently using an underwater monitor, but the topic of viewfinders still interests me from time to time, and in my opinion, it takes several dives to really find out what would work best.

Therefore, I’m grateful for any feedback.
Tino

Cannot find on google. Just bought replacement glass for my Nauticam Macro Port 87 - any tips on removing and replacing? Not as easy as I thought - trouble removing existing o-ring to get the old glass out?

Cheers

John

Today I use a Sea&Sea housing with a Nikon Z7. For wide and not-so-wide angle I have three lenses, all with appropriate ports.

• The 8-15 fisheye on FTZ, with a small dome port.

• The 14-30/4 with Sea&Sea correction lens, with a large glass dome port.

• The 24-70/4, with the same glass dome port. This one is rarely used but could potentially be good for eg shy sharks.

I have, once again, started considering switching to a Nauticam housing to go with my Nikon Z8. This would require new ports all around (also for macro which I don't even go into here).

For WA I would then use the 24-50 lens, which I already own, together with a nauticam WWL-C wet lens.

I'm hoping this would more or less (not quite) cover all my three lenses of today.

• It seems to have about the same angular coverage as the 14-30, though with a distortion profile somewhere bewtween rectilinear and fisheye - correct?

• If there's a shy shark, I should be able to flip the WWL-C away and shoot at 50 mm through just the flat port, right? (You might say, if it's that far away, don't bother to take the shot, but oh yes I would take the shot.)

• Fisheye - well it's obviously not as wide as the fisheye, I would have to dive with the WWL-C and see if I'm happy or if I want a fisheye port too.

Expected pros with this switch:

• Would be able to use my Z8 underwater, with better AF than my Z7.

• Would get access to the front buttons on my camera (I think?), which my Sea&Sea housing does not allow.

• Significantly reduced weight and bulk when travelling, which is important. (Unless compared to only bringing the fisheye with today's equipment, that's probably similar)

Expected cons with this switch:

• Hugely expensive, as these things are measured by my humble circumstances

Have I missed or misunderstood anything important?

PetaPixel

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-a7r-vi-review

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...and please add to this list what you would like in the table -
- flashes on full power
- guide number
- focusing light Y/N
- TTL compatible
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Feel free to add info as you learn more combinations! If anyone has a Z8 and can test out a Kenko, that would be a useful addition.

Nikon D500 (DX)

D500 + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 DG + Tokina 10-17: AF works; no vignetting at any focal length

D500 + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 DGX + Tokina 10-17: AF works; no vignetting at any focal length

D500 + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 DG + Nikkor 8-15: Err message. No AF; no vignetting at any focal length

D500 + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 DGX + Nikkor 8-15: AF works and aperture display; no vignetting at any focal length

Nikon D850

D850 + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 DG + Nikkor 8-15: ??????

D850 + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 DGX + Nikkor 8-15: AF works and aperture display

Nikon Z6 (and, presumably Z7) with firmware 3.0

Z6 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 300 DG + Tokina 10-17 : No AF; No aperture display; vignettes with hood attached after 11

Z6 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 300 DGX + Tokina 10-17 : No AF; No aperture display; vignettes with hood attached after 11

Z6 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 300 DG + Nikkor 8-15: AF works; vignettes with hood attached after 11

Z6 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO300 300 DGX + Nikkor 8-15: No AF; No aperture display; vignettes with hood attached after 11

Z6 + FTZ + Kenko HD Pro + Nikkor 8-15mm  No AF; No aperture display 

Nikon Z6III 

Z6III + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO 300 DGX + Nikkor 8-15mm: No AF; No aperture display

Z6III + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO 300 DG + Nikkor 8-15mm  AF works and aperture display

Z6III + FTZ + Kenko HD Pro + Nikkor 8-15mm  [Likely does not work]

Nikon Z8

Z8 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO 300 DG + Nikkor 8-15mm  AF works and aperture display

Z8 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO 300 DGX + Nikkor 8-15mm  ??????

Z8 + FTZ + Kenko HD Pro + Nikkor 8-15mm  No AF; No aperture display 

Nikon Z9

Z9 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO 300 DGX + Nikkor 8-15mm: No AF; No aperture display

Z9 + FTZ + Kenko TELEPLUS PRO 300 DG + Nikkor 8-15mm  AF works and aperture display

Z9 + FTZ + Kenko HD Pro + Nikkor 8-15mm  [Likely does not work]

Conclusion

a. If you want to use the Kenko with a Tokina 10-17 on a D500 no problem with the DG or DGX model

b. If you want to use the Kenko with a Nikkor 8-15 on a D500, you need the DGX model

c. If you want to use the Kenko with a Nikkor 8-15 on a Z6/Z7/Z6III/Z9 you need the DG model

d. Forget trying to use either the Kenko DG or DGX with a Tokina 10-17 on the Z6/Z7 (well why would you anyway)

e. HDPro Model does not work with Z6/Z8. Not tested with Z6III or Z9 but likely does not work

Optical Features

Aperture: Constant F2.8 throughout the zoom range, stopping down to a minimum of F16, featuring a 12-blade circular diaphragm.

Optical Construction: 17 elements arranged in 12 groups.

Angle of View: Ranges from 121°58′ at the wide end to 94°30′ at the tight end.

Autofocus: Driven by a VXD linear motor.

Physical Build and Dimensions

Sony E version: Measures 119.3mm in length and weighs 570g.

Nikon Z version: Measures 121.3mm in length and weighs 585g.

Maximum Diameter: ø90mm.

Filters: Designed with an integrated rear filter holder instead of front filter threads.

Durability: Features a moisture-resistant construction and a fluorine coating on the front element.

Focusing and Magnification

At 12mm: Minimum object distance is 0.18m with a maximum magnification of 1:5.8.

At 20mm: Minimum object distance is 0.28m with a maximum magnification of 1:9.1.

Warranty and Availability

The lens comes with a 6-Year Limited Warranty. Release dates are scheduled for later this summer:

Sony E mount: July 30, 2026

Nikon Z mount: August 27, 2026