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Yes, doing the white balance while holding a card and trying to hold the housing was impossible, lol... Here is a photo of the setup. It's just a cheap selfie stick off Amazon that had a 1/4 - 20 threaded hole in the bottom for the ball mount. Now taking custom white balance is easy as pie and it has made a noticeable difference in my footage. I used aquaseal to attach an old dive slate to the back of the whitebal card to stiffen it up a bit too.

Actually this is the first camera without insane RAW data rates. Raw data rate is comparable with the compressed H.264 and 265. Other raw flavors (Red and Prores) are around 1Gbps. Hence it's the first time that a raw is a viable option for some problematic shoots without taking a mortgage for media cards. Sony FX5 Codec & Data Rate Breakdown X-OCN LT (16-bit RAW): ~389 Mbps (at 24 fps) — highest quality raw option available internally on the FX5. X-OCN C1 (16-bit RAW): ~289 Mbps (at 24 fps) — balanced intermediate raw compression. X-OCN C2 (16-bit RAW): ~232 Mbps (at 24 fps) — maximum raw compression tier designed for smaller files. XAVC-I (All-I H.264): ~384 Mbps (4K 24p equivalent) — traditional heavy intra-frame codec. XAVC HS (H.265 Long-GOP): Varies down to lower distribution bitrates (typically 100–200 Mbps range depending on user settings) — significantly smaller footprint for non-RAW delivery.

I know someone who is quite happy with his lower tier Letonpower 15000lm lights. Definitely not constant output or high CRI but the price was right for a casual videographer.

I'm a huge fan of used shopping, I have gone through a variety of setups to find what I like (and in one case what I shouldn't have sold). But I'd draw the line at nearly 20 year old systems, especially ones which aren't coming with exactly the lenses I wanted.

I would love to see a picture of that contraption, as I also now shoot on an A7SIII and also use a partial Ultralight sled. I've been shooting in artificial light but it woulds way more practical than stretching a whibal card out with one arm like I used to on the previous camera. which comes at a price of a minimum of 65-80 GB of data for 10 minutes of footage in the lightest X-OCN LT 4k 60fps....

FWIW, I needed glass on a macro port replaced. My Nauticam dealer service guy did not charge for the labor, just price of glass and shipping. Said it would take about 10 minutes. Might be worth checking with your usual source of Nauticam (or whatever brand you have) to see what they would charge. I think shipping cost on a port was well worth avoiding the stress of doing it myself.

Yes, that is what I thought. It looks like a great camera to me.

Agree with all the above. I started with Canon FD series (F-1, T90, new F-1), then various iterations of the EOS series (EOS-1), DSLRs like the 6D/7D. The newer cameras, especially crop sensors, are smaller, lighter and faster. The lenses can be similar in size to the old EF lenses if you shoot full frame but can be very small if you opt for smaller sensors like those you find with micro-fourthirds. Autofocus and the ability to track subjects is a game changer. Amazing dynamic range is also a thing. Size and weight for travel is a thing. You’ll be able to make nice photos with the old 7D but you’ll be missing out of seriously excellent tech.

Custom WB could be a problem shooting in H.265/264 but in internal 16-bit linear X-OCN RAW video allows you to change and fine-tune white balance non-destructively in post without losing image quality.

Is CWB still a big deal when you're shooting in 16 bit raw as the FX5 does? I currently shoot with a Sony A7SIII and use CWB all the time but I have a selfie stick with a whitebal card on it mounted to my Ultralight camera sled. I set my lighting, push the selfie stick down, take a white balance, and then I am good. Super easy as a one man show.

Thank you. Yes I meant the collar is not long enough so cannot fit the retaining o-ring. This clarifies and confirms I currently have a 32205 but I need a 32203 to fit my NA Z8 housing https://www.nauticam.cn/upload/portal/20190124/201901241132017209.pdf My confusion came from the fact that the description for the 32203 says 'DSLR' which the Z8 is not so I assumed I needed a MIL collar adapter instead of a DSLR collar adapter. It looks like the old 45 DSLR viewfinder just works on the Z8 https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/3071-questions-about-45%C2%B0-viewfinder-na-32203/#findComment-20934 I will ask my Nauticam dealer anyway but I wanted to avoid the 'is not fully compatible' response as I understand this can be resolved by reducing the viewfinder size on the Z8 to small which has appeared in multiple posts already.

Aloha and welcome @Russell

In live view mode the AF in DSLR world outright sucked as it wasn't using PDAF but contrast detection. Up until Sony came with hybrid translucent mirror and we know where it end up. With mirror up there was nothing reaching PDAF sensors. Do not remember which models if any from DSLR world introduced PDAF on the chip...

Basically the only advantage of these lens if the reduced minimum focus but the WA lenses (Inon 165 and AOI UWL-03 become useless for infinity focus). If there is a good subject within the focus range (the jellyfish in the Nando's video) the blur/OOF effect could be nice but if your main subject is out of the focus range or you are simply panning and truck on the reef the effect is catastrophic. Guys, your tests are valuable and interesting. Please keep posting but we try our best to keep the forum slick and clean so that our member can find easily the content they are looking for. @BeppePADI please do not create a new topic for every new post. I'm continuously merging topics. We have this topic for all with and without wet lenses comparison. @Nando Diver I moved your latest posts here: that thread was about GoPro Lab fw and not wet lenses. Go Dive! 🤿

basically the AOI lens behaves like the Inon. In your video the out of focus effect is much less visible due to the bad viz while in the @BeppePADI video here it's clear thank to the better viz.

I used to shoot with a 7D 15 years ago, at the time it was a really good camera with fast AF (comparatively to what was available) and a good sensor . It's an APS-C cropped sensor, which is good for macro, even excellent for supermacro when coupled with the 100mm. I used a Canon EF100/2.8 USM lens (Canon EF100 IS/L woudl be better, watch out the Canon non USM 100mm is painfully slow) and the CAnon EFS60mm for macro. For wide angle my preferred choice was the Tokina 10-17 fisheye with a Zen 4" domeport (great for travels!). The Canon 10-22 lens didn't have a good reputation AFAIK, fisheye lenses with or without 1,4 Kenko multiplier had better results. Problem is that for 100mm macro/supermacro it definitely needs an external viewfinder such as a cheap Inon45. WHile it was a good choice this camera is outperformed by newer mirroless cameras (equivalent now would be the Canon R7 in the APSC sensor category) and its eletronic viewfinder which can give you a clearer view especially in low light as well as much faster AF. The sensor and image processor are also outdated, the 7D 24MP sensorused to wash out highlight/sunballs too easily, in the opposite range of lower light the noise at high ISOs has so much improved then. It was impossible to get clean images above 200 ISO, while now I don't see so much difference between a 100 and a 800 ISO pic with the R7's 35MP sensor. You'll find plenty of 2nd hand EF lenses for the Canon 7D however the newer RF lenses for the mirrorless R series prove to be faster and better, such as the RF100L/IS which is one the sharpest macro lens ever allowing a 1,4 magnification ratio (40% more than the older EF100). Problem is that you cannot fit R lenses on EF systems while you can use EF lenses on the R system with an adaptor.

I think it means that you can use the monitor only when the DSLR is in "live view" mode, when the mirror is panned upwards and the sensor delivers the "live view", e.g. on the back LCD (or an external monitor). Not when you view through the lens via the mirror (what is the "normal" mode of operation of a DSLR). All functions, especially AF, work only as good as they are in the "live view" mode (you can test easily by yourself with your Canon 7D, how happy you are with the "live view" mode; just use the back LCD, that would be mirrored by an external monitor, on some dives for framing and producing photos)... It is also important to note that AF of the "new" mirrorless cameras is regarded on par with the top DSLR models (e.g. Nikon D850) only since Sony A7R5, Canon R5 and Nikon Z8 and newer models. Before these models, AF was regarded to be inferior compared to the top DSLRs (I have no idea where the 7D stands in this comparison)...

IMHO useless for real WA shots

Reading the article that @Architeuthis provided the link to - I think that a monitor will work for me - but I need a bit more info on this part from the article - "Back in the DSLR days, monitors were really practical only for videographers, because you would have to rely on the camera’s “live view” autofocus, which was painfully slow and unreliable. As a stills photographer, you needed to frame your images through the optical viewfinder, for the camera’s autofocus to perform at its best. " How bad is it with a DSLR such as a Canon 7D? Having only ever used 35mm film cameras underwater, and the only digital camera I've used is on a mobile phone, so I've got no idea how bad what he is talking about actually is - or how big a problem it really is?

One more

Many thanks - will take a look!

From this video its possible to drawn some conclusions about infinity focus Infinity focus is out of focus even with AOI lens Limited focus distance 15cm to 1m, maybe 2 meters (hard to tell the exact distance) While getting closer the Barrel jellyfish, the Focus gets better, and when i stop the background behind the jellyfish is still out of focus..

Another one in the over 50's club - still going!

A little but off-topic, but here is an interesting review from an UW phorographer, who was using a monitor for 5 months: https://theunderwaterclub.com/blog/underwater-stills-photography-with-an-external-monitor-pros-cons-and-verdict/?utm_source=scubaboard.com&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=scubaboard-2026-07-external-monitor