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Ciao Alessio, first of all welcome to the forum. I am a long time Panasonic user. Now I use a "vintage" GH5 and a GH5 MKII in Nauticam housings. From the video point of view it is one of the most long lasting cameras I have ever seen. Except for the AF, it is still very usable. Given the incredible success of the GH4 and GH5, it seemed that Panasonic was destined to stay in the underwater market, but the failure after not introducing phase detection AF in the GH6 brought it back into oblivion. On the other hand the GH7 is still one of the best video cameras due to its completeness of features and codecs. It even records in Prores Raw internally. Unfortunately the magical moment has passed. Returning to your question... If you want to buy a used GH5MKII, there are many opportunities around. Complete kits with Nauticam housing. IMHO some prices are crazy but you can negotiate and I think the sellers will come to their senses when the kit stays unsold for months. The choice of lenses and ports depends on your taste. What do you shoot? In what environments? Regarding the Easydive housing if you search here on the forum you will see that there are practically zero results. Ask yourself a question and give yourself an answer 😉 In the father of all forums, WetPixel, there are a couple of interesting threads that summarize the pros and cons of these housings but if you do not have an old account it is not possible to read them, nor to sign up. It is abandoned to itself. https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/63744-anyone-with-experience-with-easydive-leo3-wi-housing/ https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/66750-easydive-leo-3-wi/ Personally, even if it is an Italian housing, it never convinced me for vvfide o. At your fingertips you only have the most important functions but when I checked you couldn't have the Back button focus function. Out of the water is heavy and it is inevitably bulky: it's the prrice to pay for being able to load a Sony A6500 or a nikon Z8. The display could be very far from the back and you could not mount a commercial external hdmi monitor wirhout a pricy hdmi-sdi converter because by default they foresee a SDI bulkhead only. Very odd. Regarding their lights... They are really well made but I have never seen one around except in Italy. Here too, is there a reason for this? What do I need adjustable color temperature for? The color temperature needs to be around 5500K full stop. They have the advantage of having adjustable light intensity via a dial and not through the damned buttons. The shape is particular but in water they weigh 400 grams. What if I want to make them neutral independently of the float arms? Good luck.

I would also suggest reviewing airlines baggage policies - Air Niugini I believe offers 15kg excess baggage for divers if you fly into PNG with them. You can fly Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong - POM with them. Not the most reliable service unfortunately but they will get you there I have been advised by people who have dived there a lot.. They also fly POM-NAD direct every other day, so you could fly into POM via SIN/HKG/NAR and then head on to Fiji. It's pretty easy access for me to POM from Sydney, but not the way you want to do it if arriving from Europe. Alternatives to Air Niugini heading south are basically just Qantas who flies into Brisbane and Sydney. You could always do some temperate water diving in Sydney as well.

The mount is very solid. Oskar told me once you cannot over-tighten them either. Not that I’ve tried!

Excellent review @Dave_Hicks ! Very fair and well written. Terrific images as well! Hope this is just the first of many more to come.

Hi Tim, Yes, impressive but video is not mine but from Kolari, a well known company famous for oplf filters and various camera services. Ciao

SOLD

It's close to the smallest, the backscatter MF-3 is slightly smaller in diameter but longer. The MF-3 is popular for snooting, it is less powerful with a narrower beam than the S220. INON has a reputation for being reliable, the Backscatter strobes less so, but the newer models seem much improved. S&S YS-01 is similar size, reliability - I've seen a few complaints on the forum. The AOI UCS Q1 is also similar size. You could happily upgrade to a RX series or even m43 with the INON. The others perhaps, certainly you could continue with the MF-3 for snooting up to full frame but not for wide angle.

Thank you! https://www.inon.jp/customer/discontinued/strobe/strobe/s2000/top.html Is this the absolute smallest (by volume) underwater strobe that can be used with the TG-7 without housing (with a generic fiber optic base glued to the body)? Or there are smaller options?

I guess this makes the question much simpler. And AI skipped this detail.

A lot of snorkelers using the Weefine ring light, it's a pretty handy thing.

It can of course be some GM glass and cost a fortune. Maybe Sony wants one because everyone else has their own 8-15. The Laowa one is probably more further down with development, as it was already shown hands on in the spring at Beijing. Laowa also has been pretty good with pricing. Just hoping this will release this autumn as Weibo/WeChat rumors suggest.

Welcome onboard Paul, good to have you here.

I would be happy to pay (within reason!) for a heavier carryon. Unfortunately Fiji Airways won’t allow it, full stop.

Yeah, all good here, thanks - Okinawa's really built for typhoons, with most places having a fortress-like concrete based brutalist architectural design. Typhoon 13 / Dolphin was supposed to be a strong one, so we really bunkered up, but it just turned out to be very long (3 days) and strange. The north of main island (Nago) was hit harder, apparently, but we just had strong winds, no power cuts, which is the main issue here. I still see unusual swell from the window as I type this today. Just one note: typhoons started early (June), and the direction is a little unusual. There's also a strong El Niño on top of the usual climate breakdown, so everything is combining to give us extreme weather for the next couple of years, and probably a few monster typhoons. Typhoon season is typically June to October in Japan (especially Okinawa, Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu's Pacific coast, where Mikomoto is), with late-season typhoons being stronger than earlier ones, so plan accordingly. Current typhoon situation this morning (it's like a pinball machine) :

The locked position is sufficient to hold the MFO3, CMC1 and MFO1 in this position underwater. I enter the water with the lenses in this position as well. It's the same design as on standard single and dual Nauticam flips, and I don't think users are having issues with the lenses flapping around, unless the flip gets old perhaps.

Hey there I’m Paul Wildman. Based in Canada. My main focus is underwater cinematography but also shoot photography. Still have lots to learn on the photography side. I’ve been shooting video underwater now for over 20 years.

Are the diaphragm blades easy to push in, or do they provide solid mechanical protection against everyday bumps and pressure? (I’m looking for something that offers protection similar to a classic lens cap.) https://explore.omsystem.com/c/en/lb-t01-lens-barrier Or use this instead? OM SYSTEMBuy CLA-T01 Converter Adapter From OM SYSTEMBuy OM SYSTEM | Olympus CLA-T01 Converter Adapter online now. Find our range of quality Tough Accessories online now. Easy returns. Free shipping on orders +$100.

I very much suspect neither of these is rated for UW use, it doesn't mention a thing about using them UW. The first one has LEDs the second features light pipes to take the flash light to the ring around the lens. I would also guess that the strobe light is quite weak after being piped in and spread around the ring on the second model. They state the first model can compromise the waterproof seals A lot of people dive with TG-7s around my dive sites and many of them now have the Weefine or Kraken ring lights. They have a model with a 3000 lumen burst triggered by your strobe. Working with that could prove tricky on the TG-7 as the camera doesn't know what the ring light is going to do, but should be manageable. The link below shows one model, the others are listed on the side bar. https://underwater.com.au/shop/kraken-ring-light-3000-v2-new-version-sale.html?srsltid=AfmBOopsV7rWxEW0QCi4Dqop191F2xrX9GQxMxLnpuUMIBHD-_zhgStD I've seen some shots produced with these lights and they look pretty nice as long as you are in quite close. I'm not sure exactly which model they are using.

Impressive! And brave. Did you have inside information on how to do this (how did you know to pull off the leather)? Did you reassemble and have a working camera when you were done? (Nice, and wise, to have a video to guide the reassembly steps!) Tim

May I ask how strong the lock is? The Saga adapter also has a lock, but it's too weak to hold, for example, the SMC1/SMC2 in a vertical position underwater.

There is a single screw through the middle of the ball mount that goes into a sturdy thread in the strobe case. There is a plastic gasket to isolate (for corrosion) and an anti-rotation pin. Very solid mounting.

When I went there was +40m vis and still only saw two hammers distant, talking with experienced divers it's very dependent on the tides. I previously dove with action cam, was planning full rig this time.

If you mean the ball mount on the Maxi, it's a 5mm hex nut through the ball. I hadn't really looked at it previously. It comes attached as far as I know.

How are the ball mounts held on?

Great, glad you liked the review! You've already bought some Maxi's, so hopefully some other readers will use this to help with their buying decisions. Your next step might be to buy some 12 and 16 inch arm segments. These can really help you get more value and flexibility from your strobes. Counter intuitively, one benefit of long arms that I take advantage frequently is effective inward lighting. For CFWA situations this is my go to move. You can get the strobes far enough away to avoid flare and glow, but you are able to get dramatic lighting without backscatter even in really poor clarity water conditions. (ask me how I know!) Long arms also enable better coverage for really large reef scenes, particularly when shooting vertical.