On 6/14/2026 at 1:42 AM, Chris Ross said:

Your alternative is the Nauticam trigger which doesn't register with the camera and will sync to 1/400 without HSS. This will give you more flash power at 1/400 than a HSS trigger will deliver. It a purely manual trigger. It should be able to rear curtain sync as well as this is set in the camera and I can set it in my camera without a flash attached.

I wonder if this would be true of the ULM laser trigger as well

On 5/28/2026 at 11:34 AM, TimG said:

Still mourning my beloved Subal housed D500, I have to think about next steps.

I don’t want FF and there’s no Nikon Z equivalent to a D500. So I’m thinking M43 and the Olympus OM-1

I thought I’d switch to Nauticam. Paired with a 45 degree finder.

Then an Olympus 60mm macro and FP.

Tokina 10-17s are hard to find so I’m thinking a 100mm Zen glass domeport with either the 8mm Pany or 8mm Olympus.

Various articles I’ve read suggest the 8mm Pany works better in a Zen100 dome than the Olympus. But maybe I’m missing something?

I’m not sure I really want to head down the Canon 8-15/adaptor route. I do have a Nikkor 8-15 but understand that’s hard to set up with an Olympus.

So that’s where I’m at: saddened with slight trepidation staring into the barely known.

Thoughts welcome to add to excellent advice from Chris.

Thanks!

I'm still struggling with the decision to upgrade/update my Subal/D7200. Considering the OM-1 vs a used D500 and a new Subal housing, and I'm wondering what persuaded you to go with the OM-1.

I had a housing issue shortly before our last dive trip, and my wife graciously allowed me to shoot her EM1 Mk ii on wide angle dives. Once I got the hang of it, I found it takes very good pictures. I didn't love the speed of focus acquisition and I did not love the viewfinder. But I understand the OM-1 has improved on both. I was also a bit ambivalent about the small Nauticam housing. It felt less polished than my Subal and was also a bit awkward in my somewhat large hands--though I imagine I just needed more time to become comfortable.

Have you had your OM-1 in the water? How does it compare with your D500?

Hi Reuben

Have to say I agonised. The decision to move to OM and Nauticam was for multiple small reasons which seemed to make the case. I usually only traveled with the Subal housing plus a Nikkor 60mm macro and Tokina 10-17 plus the relevant ports (100mm for the Tokina), Retra strobes and LSD. Even then I was finding the weight and bulk a bit of a pain.

When I lost all my gear I thought it time for a rethink. Was it wise to buy a second hand D500? I had contacted Subal about a housing and got no reply. And much though I loved the housings, I couldn’t help but feel Subal were fading away. Nauticam is everywhere in terms of product support, quality, second hand desirability etc. Then there didn’t seem to be a D500-like Nikon body available. I didn’t want to go FF for the weight issues. Several members on Waterpixels talked about the merits of M43 and the OM-1.

Those factors persuaded me to switch. There were probably more thoughts in the back of my mind.

Not yet got the new system in the water. Soon! But first topside impressions are good. Lenses for underwater use are mind-boggling small and light compared to

Nikkor. The Nauticam housing feels good, fits together nicely and I really like the integrated vacuum system and USB bulkhead charging/downloading capability. Port mounting is a little easier than Subal. Push and lock rather than push hard, twist and maybe lock.

The housing feels good to handle, perhaps not quite as refined as the Subal. I really liked the size, feel and placement of Subal’s shutter and aperture control wheels. The Nauticam’s are a little smaller and, at the moment, my Subal muscle memory doesn’t find them so easily. Practice eh? Over 25 years of Subal practice.

The OM-1ii is similar in size to the Z6 series. It seems hugely capable. AF seems excellent topside. Massive learning curve from Nikon. But one step at a time. Image quality? Waterpixelers, whose views I trust, tell me I won’t tell the difference. I bought a topside lens with the aim of slowly switching entirely to OM. Again, steep learning curve. I got the 12-100 which is similar to the Nikkor 24-200 which is/was my go to travel lens. It’s very similar in size. But other long tele/zooms in the OM range are significantly smaller and lighter than Nikkor equivalents.

Everything other than strobe arms now fits in a 1510 Pelican case. Yeah, it’s still heavy! So no real weight saving but it is compact and my second cabin bag will be much lighter.

Sorry, this is rather a long reply now. I can tell you more when back from my trip. But so far looks good and I thought it might be helpful to explain the context for my decisions.

9 hours ago, reubencahn said:

I didn't love the speed of focus acquisition and I did not love the viewfinder. But I understand the OM-1 has improved on both.

What lens were you using? I've used the Oly 12-40, Panasonic 8mm and even their 7-14 AN found it snapped to focus quite quickly. I now have an adapted Canon 8-15 - it's not always fast but that's to be expected with an adapted lens but a small shift on focus distance is almost instant most of the time on that - the flexibility is astounding though.

5 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

What lens were you using? I've used the Oly 12-40, Panasonic 8mm and even their 7-14 AN found it snapped to focus quite quickly. I now have an adapted Canon 8-15 - it's not always fast but that's to be expected with an adapted lens but a small shift on focus distance is almost instant most of the time on that - the flexibility is astounding though.

The Oly 8mm FE behind a 160 dome. It also occurs to me that I am so unfamiliar with the camera that my settings might have been suboptimal. In any case, everything I've read about the OM-1 autofocus is that it's among the best, so that's less of a concern.

10 hours ago, TimG said:

Hi Reuben

Have to say I agonised. The decision to move to OM and Nauticam was for multiple small reasons which seemed to make the case. I usually only traveled with the Subal housing plus a Nikkor 60mm macro and Tokina 10-17 plus the relevant ports (100mm for the Tokina), Retra strobes and LSD. Even then I was finding the weight and bulk a bit of a pain.

When I lost all my gear I thought it time for a rethink. Was it wise to buy a second hand D500? I had contacted Subal about a housing and got no reply. And much though I loved the housings, I couldn’t help but feel Subal were fading away. Nauticam is everywhere in terms of product support, quality, second hand desirability etc. Then there didn’t seem to be a D500-like Nikon body available. I didn’t want to go FF for the weight issues. Several members on Waterpixels talked about the merits of M43 and the OM-1.

Those factors persuaded me to switch. There were probably more thoughts in the back of my mind.

Not yet got the new system in the water. Soon! But first topside impressions are good. Lenses for underwater use are mind-boggling small and light compared to

Nikkor. The Nauticam housing feels good, fits together nicely and I really like the integrated vacuum system and USB bulkhead charging/downloading capability. Port mounting is a little easier than Subal. Push and lock rather than push hard, twist and maybe lock.

The housing feels good to handle, perhaps not quite as refined as the Subal. I really liked the size, feel and placement of Subal’s shutter and aperture control wheels. The Nauticam’s are a little smaller and, at the moment, my Subal muscle memory doesn’t find them so easily. Practice eh? Over 25 years of Subal practice.

The OM-1ii is similar in size to the Z6 series. It seems hugely capable. AF seems excellent topside. Massive learning curve from Nikon. But one step at a time. Image quality? Waterpixelers, whose views I trust, tell me I won’t tell the difference. I bought a topside lens with the aim of slowly switching entirely to OM. Again, steep learning curve. I got the 12-100 which is similar to the Nikkor 24-200 which is/was my go to travel lens. It’s very similar in size. But other long tele/zooms in the OM range are significantly smaller and lighter than Nikkor equivalents.

Everything other than strobe arms now fits in a 1510 Pelican case. Yeah, it’s still heavy! So no real weight saving but it is compact and my second cabin bag will be much lighter.

Sorry, this is rather a long reply now. I can tell you more when back from my trip. But so far looks good and I thought it might be helpful to explain the context for my decisions.

I appreciate the long reply. Sounds like your considerations are really the same as mine. My left brain is telling me the OM-1 in Nauticam is the way to go. My right brain is lusting after the D500/Subal.

FYI: the housing problem that left me shooting my wife's camera was an LCD window that cracked when pressure tested after servicing. That was two weeks before our trip. It's now 7 weeks later and still no replacement window from Subal. I note they still don't have a housing for the OM-1 even though it's on its second generation. I fear you're right about them fading away.

Look forward to your thoughts on the camera after you've had it in the water. Especially interested in hearing what you think of the viewfinder for wide angle.

2 hours ago, reubencahn said:

My left brain is telling me the OM-1 in Nauticam is the way to go. My right brain is lusting after the D500/Subal.

Oh, I hear ya!!!!

Interesting to read of your Subal experience. They serviced a 45-degree viewfinder for me after I scratched the viewing glass a few months ago. That was quite quick. But, yeah, not sure I'd want to invest in a new system. Such a pity. They have been superb housing.

Will post for sure on how it goes.

As for the Nauticam, 45-degree viewfinder. Mercy, it is LARGE compared to the very neat Subal one. Easy to install/remove though, has a diopter adjustment which is nice.

On 8/30/2026 at 3:13 PM, reubencahn said:

The Oly 8mm FE behind a 160 dome. It also occurs to me that I am so unfamiliar with the camera that my settings might have been suboptimal. In any case, everything I've read about the OM-1 autofocus is that it's among the best, so that's less of a concern.

I used an 8mm fisheye behind a Zen 100mm dome with my EM-1 MkII in the past it snapped to focus. You do have to watch fisheyes, the foreground can be much closer than it looks and can fall out of the depth of field if you are close. They have a lot of depth of field but it's not infinite at CFWA distances. DOF is less in the foreground so focusing in something fairly close can help.