All Activity

I forgot to mention that Seacam said "This is not possible with a simple adapter", concerning my situation with Nauticam housing for Sony A7R5. I did not measure distances and compare to Seacam ( distance from housing mount to the sensor), but the information from Seacam suggests that the Seacam port, designed for Seacam housing, is too long for adapting to a Nauticam housing for Sony FF... I have no idea about Canon, but probably they will tell you when you ask them...

If you venture toward Olympus, you will likely end up reading some reviews written by Robin Wang. He uses the term „shutter therapy“ - I like that a lot. I own a Nikon APS-C, the D3300 bottom-feeder model. Bought it new as my re-entry into photography (shot 35 mm Film when I was young, nothing when our kids were young) and loved it - humble kit lens and the 50-200 for reach. Then, I bought the pre-owned Olympus housing + Epl system for UW. I thought I should get the Epl out on land to learn the Olympus menu system & controls. I literally haven‘t touched the Nikon since. M43 is great because the lenses are really small and very lightweight. The bodies are almost too small for my hands (also have a 1st gen OM5 now), but the lenses are really nice to lug around. I have both Olympus 14-42 kit lenses (fine) but my favorite combination top-side are the Panny 12-32 and the 35-100 (the slow one, tiny) in a pocket. UW, with the housing, strobes etc the size &weight difference to APS-C may be less pronounced - but if you also use the camera top-side I can say that the system is very attractive. Corner sharpness, contrast, fringes: Not an issue for me at all but AI can anyways straighten that out for you.

I use 8 Stix jumbo floats, 2 on each arm segment, for both setups. The Nauticam 4.33” FE port is not very buoyant so that setup is almost perfectly neutral, while the macro setup is slightly negative.

Interesting, at least one more lens on the Sony front. You do not know by any chance if they also offer it for Canon Lens and which one they decided to pick ? ..would be interesting to see the progression of this system. My personal opinion is that if you go for rectiliniar lenses and wider than approx 20mm focal length, things are likely to look odd / weird underwater, even if the lens has been well corrected behind a dome or OPP style optic. It would have been very interesting if @Alex_Mustard would have elaborated more on what zoom level the presented images in the video were shot and how much he cropped in each RAW. Especially the sweet lips shots and some other look to me like he is not at the ultra wide end of the setup. I also think some of Don Silcock's initial sample images - which were heavily debated at DEMA and in the community - suffered a little bit from shooting this too wide. But I may be wrong, would be interesting to see a follow up in the show and in more detail.

How much buoyancy do you usually need to add for a macro and a WA setup? I usually add Stix Jumbo floats to ULCS arms.

These are exactly my experiences with Shinobi. Clean HDMI out ? Very good tone mapping for HDR preview. And plus for Sony users its waveform shows the levels of log signal, not interpreted (Canon users can display their own camera waveform). Want to make stills and video? Tough life. Unless shooting stills on slog3 profile. Want control monitor on a big screen? Not a chance. Lower status line obscured with housing controls even when I collapse Shinobi menu. So that’s that.

Do you use the MC-11 or Metabones?

Regarding the alleged fringing problem of the Pana 8 mm fisheye on Oly bodies, we should make sure to update the camera and lens firmware to the latest version.

Hey @TimG Definitely a time of mixed emotions. Mourning the loss of your extremely dependable companion is tough, but this is also a time of excitement for some new features and a fresh new body. I just hooked a buddy up with a pre-owned Oly E-M1 vII, the Oly 12-50, Nauticam housing, and WWL-C. Due to the unique macro locking capabilities, this lens does full zoom with a true macro option at 42mm. It's not the sharpness of the 60mm, but it's a pretty slick overall system. Compared to my years of both APS-C and FF, I was pleasantly surprised at the image quality from such a small rig. I owned the E-M1 and loved it as a land camera due to the size and much cheaper lens prices. As you mentioned, the Pan or Oly 8mm is a solid fisheye option. So far he is using the mini-flash as a trigger and it works great. The Nauticam trigger would be the go-to for faster action series. As a bonus, you would make Chris a happy-camper. If you want to enjoy the rich "Canon colours" (and I even spelled it correctly for you 😁) the Canon R7 APS-C is an incredibly solid choice. The Canon 8-15 would be your fisheye option with the ability to use the WWL-1B for a very versatile wide option with zoom. If you find a Tokina 10-17 it works perfectly as well. The Canon RF 100 macro is exceptional. It is also a great land camera at about the same size as your D500. Lastly, the Sony a6700 rounds out the APS-C line-up. I have used this as well and enjoy the overall size both uw and as a land option. It contains many of the great focus technology of the larger Sony a7V in a much more compact body. Focus tracking is one area in which the Sony line excels. Your Nikon 8-15 can work using the correct Monster adapter, but the Canon is potentially a better choice due to the Metabones V and Sigma MC-11 models having a more dependable connection. The new Sony 100 is razor sharp and a fast focus. In total this ends up slightly smaller than the Canon R7 rig and a bit larger than the OM option. Sorry, Nikon is the only brand I have not personally owned so I defer to others to speak in that realm. Rather than "telling" you which to buy, I'm just sharing my experiences with the various brands and models. From there it's up to you as to what best fits your needs, budget, and overall feel. In the end, thank you for contributing to the local economy and welcome to the Nauticam global alliance. 😎 Cheers! chip

For what it's worth, I bought a pristine (美品 - bihin) second-hand GoPro13 at MapCamera for 210 euros, shipping to Okinawa included in January - not a tourist so no tax free for me. WA lenses improve corners and IQ quite a bit in my experience. Here's a quick side-by-side test I did with and without the AOI wide lens on the ol' GoPro7: https://youtu.be/RNcaR-fzBAo

Thanks for recommending this. Seems like a solid option. I’ll look into it. This is super helpful. I mostly only ever shoot photos, so the video capabilities that many monitors offer are not necessarily appealing. Especially if they come at the cost of price, size, and limited functionality.

Not sure about prices compared to Canada, but theyre lot cheaper than Finland. I have just looked at Mic21 due to the Inon lens i might want, but im sure you can squeeze out few ¥ buying somewhere else specially if you dont want WA lens. Also worth noting are the prices inclusive of tax (Tourist can shop taxfree in Japan) Would still love to hear from people with actual experiences are the WA lenses worth it for a "extra" camera.

@Sokrates I'm also looking at action cams in Japan, wondering whether I should just wait until returning to Canada. Any particular shopping recommendations?

I have a Canon 60 as well that I often use on black water dives with my a1. I find it focuses as well or better than the 90. The find the lens length is a good option just like the Nikon 60. As I use it for blackwater any vignette is not an issue. Ironically I use the Nauticam 90 port for it as well.

Just out of curiosity I asked Seacam whether they have tested more lenses/systems for use with OPP, especially Sony FF (I am just curious and not planning to acquire OPP in the near future). I was told that Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GMII works perfect with OPP... They say that the right extension is critical, but they do not support use of their products on other parties housings (I have Nauticam). It should, however, not be a big problem to find out the right extension for an adapter, in case one wants to go rectilinear...

Why not look at a Nikon Z5-II system? If you don't want FF drop it into DX mode. You can use your Nikon lenses and leave open FF for when it might have value https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/all-articles/nikon-z5-ii-underwater-review/.

Camera therapy for PTSD? Sounds right to me. I've used the 8mm Panny with the 4.33" Nauticam dome for many years on a series of Olympus bodies, and have never been disappointed by it. Although the OM-1 (mostly, at least) comes with the LM-3 mini-flash, it depends on the camera for power; I've found that the O-Turtle triggers work well (I have the same flashes as you . . . had). All three Olympus/OM macro lenses are excellent; I'm currently enamored of the 90mm, but not everyone is.

use sigma MC11 + Kenko 1.4 on A7V and it works well for photo. Not tried video...

You’ve described my system (well, the camera body is a generation older). I’ve been very happy with it. The 60mm macro lens is fantastic and produces top quality images, add a +5 diopter and you’d want for nothing. I use a Nauticam port with the 8mm fisheye and find nothing to complain about there either. A 12mm rectilinear will also work behind that port for a bit more reach. I’d guess that compared to a Subal the Nauticam housing won’t feel nearly as refined, but it’s plenty ergonomic for me. Good luck shopping!

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 have acquired the metabones V and the Canon 60 EF-S for a pretty moderate price. As reported only minor vignette at distances which are beyond what our local visibility will allow. It has probably a 20mm gap to the front of the port but still a good 5cm of working distance and focuses fine with a +6 diopter as well. AF struggles in low light but that's every lens. Seems just as fast and possibly less breathing than the Sony 90mm. Going to do a test dive tomorrow.

Davide, thanks! If you can, a Cressi Big Etes and let me know the cost. 🙏👍🏼👍🏼

SOLD