I am planning to buy a 100mm macro lens for my trip to Anilao in '27, so I'll probably end up buying one eventually - but if it won't really work with the lens I have there's no point in buying now.

I have a MFT camera (Olympus) in a Nauticam housing. When I dive with macrolens (mostly a 45mm) I add a CMC-1 on a flip adapter. However, I don't like the combination, for me the DOF is to narrow. As I am also not very interested in supermacro, I am thinking about buying a CMC-2. Jet I doubt if I will be disappointed with the DOF of that wetlens as well.

Can someone tell more about the DOF improvement after moving to a CMC-2?

After upgrading to the Canon R6 mkII camera in Isotta housing I found out that the corners in the pictures with the 4" dome port are blurry, so I have to purchase a 6" dome port.

The options are Nauticam 140mm glass dome port, which are really expensive when I finally adapt it to my Isotta, I also can purchase Sea&Sea and Isotta 6" dome ports but this ones are plastic, and in these brands the glass domes are 6,5" which are to big for CFWA.

So this HowShot looks great in size and price, but I don't know anything about them.

I want to show a few photos to demonstrate the versatility of this lens. You can take whale sharks all the way to pgymies!!

For wide angle I think the image quality is the same or better than my old WACP-C. I didn't do any tests but this is just based on feel after processing thousands of images

These are photos on my last trip taken w Canon 8-15, Sony 2x combo. Everything here is with this lens.

https://joannaphotography38.pixieset.com/tritonbaywideangle/

Great for reefs capes and big schools of fish, and I appreciate the wider reach vs WACP-C. For macro I will zoom all the way then use APS-C mode as I am shooting A7R5 and it still produces a very usable image. Of course you still have the physical limitation of reach so it's not suitable for macro situations where you cannot get close (stuff deep in a hole or skittish subjects).

I did have to get a custom 3D printed zoom gear which @Gudge was super nice to design for me with very short notice.

Pixieset

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Curious what works well and how much filming/photographing was done with the camera still mounted to the DPV vs removing the camera from the DPV to shoot. Also considering building my own mount too.

It's my intent to adapt the Canon 8-15 at some point in the future so the adapter is coming one way or another.

Other than a bit of vignette on longer shots and the ability to shoot two FL on one dive, is there any other reason to prefer the MFO?

I see that Seacam has just launched tonight a new type of water contact optic seems it is designed to work with rectilinear lenses (16-35 range) and designed to give the same performance as in air. It uses an Ivanoff-Rebikoff lens system Called the Optical Precision Port it uses what looks like a relatively small flat port and a correction lens that is screwed in the front filter threads. Seems like it is very compact and travel friendly, though perhaps not particularly wallet friendly. Here is a link to their website, scroll down and click on the link "12 month practical test for some more details on the optics." A friend of mine Don Silcock did the field testing.

https://www.seacam.com/de/optical-precision-port/

Believe Zeiss many years ago developed something similar for the UW hassleblad system.

Is this a known issue? Is there a fix or special technique or is this brand new, now repaired once already ($$) and still not working housing just in need of some more repairs?

I am currently using a g7xiii, fantasea housing and 2 ysd2 strobes with a wet wide and macro lens. Its a pretty sweet setup and offers a lot of versatility! But lately ive been feeling like im not getting enough out of it.

Im feeling very lost on where to go to for an upgrade. I am looking in the z6iii, a7iv, a7v r6iiii range of cameras. Id like to get a mirrorless camera. My front runner was the z6iii until I went to the store and held it and it feels very uncomfortable. Doesn't matter in housings but I did notice that right away and im not a fan of the screen articulation. I kept trying to tilt it before folding it out to the side. That got me thinking more towards the a7v. I do like the nikon lens options more 14-30 and 105 seem very nice to me. I then came on here to find most people use the a7rv! Left me even more lost! It doesn't seem like the z6iii is used very much.

I also have the feeling maybe the z6iii is just this weird middle ground where its released after other cameras so it currently looks great until the next release comes out but im not sure.

I would like to use this camera topside too and I definitely was planning on an ikelite housing, which does not seem like the popular method on this forum. G7x is 20mp and it seems to do pretty well in resolution for me im not chasing pixels. Printed some photos but its mostly computer and phone screens where my pics go.

Anybody have any advice or know where the currently mirrorless market is or where its headed!?! Not sure what platform to invest in or what is even a good starting point!

Thanks,

Lost

“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've recently purchased an old Subal N99 housing for my Nikon F90x. The housing appears to be in fantastic condition, but when I secure the camera on the baseplate, and shut the housing, there are a few issues:

• Through the housing viewfinder, the camera viewfinder appears sufficiently out of focus as to make any attempts at photography impossible. My housing is not the deluxe edition, and therefore I do not have the option of adjusting the dioptre of the viewfinder. My suspicion is that I need some form of dioptre adjustment eyepiece for the camera itself, as the following image from the product brochure (https://www.marinfoto.no/subal/pdf/en99.pdf) shows some sort of larger eyepiece.

  

• The aperture ring cannot be adjusted within the housing (and the zoom can only sometimes be adjusted it seems). I expect I need to source/3D print some gears to solve these issues, but just want to make sure I'm on the right track here. I assume a zoom/focus gear sized for the aperture ring should do the trick there too? If anyone has any further information on sizing (Nikon 24-120mm 3.5-5.6 D) and/or can provide some good options on where to source these gears from, that would be great.

• Controls such as the on and off switch and mode wheel seem to be slightly out of reach of their respective levers/buttons - as thee only work sometimes (on/off switch will turn off reliably but not on)

Hopefully this is enough information, but happy to provide more as needed.

Cheers!

So looking at the housing and doing some measuring it seemed that I could get a 3D printed gear that would use the the housing zoom control.  I adapted a file for a an N85 zoom gear and played around with a CAD program to get roughly where I needed things and contacted member Ross Gudgeon who does 3D printing (  @Gudge ) to ask his help fixing up the rather rough and printing a gear.  On the second iteration I have one that works quite well.It takes a little fiddling getting mounted correctly but it's easy enough to do.

There are tight clearances and a need to accommodate the lens release and the jog lever on the Metabones and the projecting "viewfinder" hump on the OM-1.  I ended up grinding down the jog lever a touch as it was contacting the inside of the gear.  End result a zoom gear that works nice and smoothly from the housing control knob.

Some pics:

You can see how tight it is getting the gear in place here:

Tight clearance to the camera body:

Thanks to Ross for helping out on this project!

AI says that compression at the edges is moderate for 7-14 and significant for 8-15

Would anyone have comparable samples what it would do underwater to see?

 As an old guy who's been around the block for decades I thought about evolutions in underwater imaging especially in the last year or so.

Below are categories and changes I see as "coming soon". These musings apply to any ILC camera from dSLR, new mirrorless both APS-C, Full Frame and compacts.

Feel free to disagree!!!!! 

As long as people are having fun creating images and videos go for it!

Category #1 - Lenses and Dome Ports and Wet Lenses for wide angle shooting.

* While wet lenses and their optical ability have been the rage for awhile I think many shooters are considering going back to optically good rectilinear lenses paired with dome ports, extensions, etc.    Witness the interest in the Laowa 10mm with a 140mm smaller dome. This simplifies amount of gear for traveling plus a lens you might use for above water shooting. Plus split shooting which is difficult (impossible?) with a wet lens or at least not easily achieved.

* One well known shooter recently schooled me on choosing a rectilinear WA lens for UNDERWATER use. He recommended rectilinear lenses with a minimum focus distance of 22cm (7.48") or closer. This will allow smaller domes to rival large domes image sharpness.

* Fisheye lens corner sharpness is an obsession for some. Others hate the "fisheye / sperm" look of fisheyes.  Many do a simple crop of objectionable corners and  I personally would die on the hill proclaiming every photo could and should be cropped to improve the look!  In WA shooting things happen quickly. It's the rare shooter who will swear the image was composed exactly as they wanted!

Category #2 - Strobes

* Sizes keeps coming down. Flash tubes in many new offerings are back to more straight tubes whatever the configuration. Diffusers, filters, etc. are options in all shapes, colors and sizes.

* Batteries will evolve to LION despite the 88+ replies in recent threads on battery packs versus individual batteries, cheap versus "good"  or "Safe" battery brands etc.    I never understood someone buying an expensive $$$$$ strobe then buying cheap batteries 😞     LION has been in video lights a couple decades or more?   Whether it's an 18650 or 21700 or whatever LION will become a standard.   My own small LED flashlights and a video light have used individual 18650 for over 7 years and no problems traveling, charging, etc. 

* I was shocked reading the new Backscatter HF-1 strobe, Marelux Apollo models and others INCLUDE some form of S-TTL or TTL after years of people dissing automatic but + / - adjustable output automatically! LOL....Variety of shooting modes (plus the 5,000 lumen HF-1 LED Video light) are all welcome developments.   I wonder if Inon whenever their Z440 or whatever will stick with AA NiMH or maybe also go with LION (?????) 

* Cordless firing (yes, it requires line of sight for triggering, but it works!)  Marelux has introduced is amazing and I'd expect others may follow.

Category #3 - Post Production and Editing

* The elephant in the room is of course AI. For better or worse it will be used more and more if only by those who DON'T enter contests with rule restrictions,  are "purists",  etc. 

* Editing in programs whether Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or ???? will make "getting it right in camera" almost obsolete.    I use the lowly Apple Photos which has 90%+ of  Apple's previous PRO program Aperture contained. Thousands (millions?) are happy with finalized photos edited quickly to share with family and friends. 

* Evolving tools will automate backscatter removal,  color correction whether a JPEG, RAW, DNG or whatever.   I personally have used a FREE App on my iPhone called SeaReal (currently iPhone only) but might be available for Android platform soon.    One simple color slider on my iPhone underwater photos or  "old digital camera pictures"  has me editing easily.  For Apple users I AirDrop back and forth from my Mac computers (iMac desktop and M2 MacBook Air laptop) which is so easy it is obscene 🙂   You can then use either the native Apple Photos App or on my iPhone the SnapSeed App.  Share any image immediately from the phone or pop it back to a computer and create whatever art you desire.

*The SeaReal App developer may create a backscatter removal App.        I told him color, backscatter then "effects" is all most UW shooters might ever need.    The  "effects" tools would eliminate Snooting, HSS (High Speed Synch) for brighter or darker backgrounds plus more.   While such effects are available via Lightroom or other programs editing will be faster and easier.

As I mentioned in opening these thoughts are mine and mine alone !!!!

I still enjoying being underwater, marveling at the beauty after diving for 55 years. I may grab a shot to enhance my experience but the days of "working hard at it" for what the majority of UW image hobbyists are over...... 

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple   (love it or hate Apple)   comes up with an UW mode in coming years.

Housings for smart phones are everywhere. On my trips more and more folks have ditched any type camera for a smartphone.   Maybe they add a video light for nighttime / close up shooting.

Let's hear your thoughts where YOU think UW imaging is going!    The speed of evolving tech is increasing.

It's still an exciting time to capture the underwater world!

Just some old guy;   David Haas 🙂

My name is Terry and I am an underwater photographer based in Hawaii. I am interested in the Canonn RF 14 1.4 for shooting sharks, people, whales, and orcas.

The lowlight capes would be good for Norway for orcas I would assume. I am not sure what extension would be needed for a 230mm dome or a wacp-2 but if anyone has tested it or any insight I'm open to hear. I have one available near me so just debating if it's gonna be better then my 14-35 f4 or my 15-35 2.8.

I’m currently shooting the Olympus OM-1 with the Panasonic 8mm fisheye in an AOI DLP-06 acrylic dome.

I haven’t had enough bottom time with this setup yet to know if internal reflections will be an issue, but looking at the port hood petals, I'm curious: does anyone proactively line the inside of the petals with matte tape or similar materials to kill stray light?

Is this a known quirk with the DLP-06/8mm combo, or am I overthinking it before seeing the files? Would love to hear if anyone uses flocking or gaffer tape here.

Cheers!

I tried twisting and pulling it upward, but it doesn't seem to open.

I could really use your advice. I’m planning to upgrade from my RX100VA to full frame, but I can’t decide between the A7 V and the A7R V.

I’ll be doing both video and photography, though not on the same dive. I’ll also use the camera topside alongside my A7S III and A7C II.

Here are my thoughts so far:

Pros A7 V:

• Faster sensor

• 4K 60 without crop

• Dual base ISO of 8000

Pros A7R V:

• Ability to crop for macro with 61 MP

• Basically two cameras in one with APS-C mode

• Better viewfinder

Which one would you go for?

Thanks!

 

Edit: Or should I go for the A7CR and use the A7C II for video dives, and the A7CR for photo dives? The only downside is that I’m not a huge fan of the smaller bodies for topside use…