All Activity

I have the Kenko 1.4x Teleplus DG Pro 300. Bought it in 2011 originally to use with the Tokina 11-17fe.

FS: Nauticam NA-A2020 housing for Sony a7rIV or a9II ALL parts are in excellent condition, with a few signs of use, extremely well cared for, never leaked, no issues. Used for about 50 dives. Include items - #17427 Nauticam NA-A2020 housing - #25624 Nauticam M14 Vacuum Valve II - #37305 Nauticam N100 to N120 35.5mm Port Adaptor II Retail $5,620 asking US$3,400 include free shipping Worldwide but contact me first For more information, please contact me [email protected]

I originally used a double ender instead of the bolt snaps. But I visited the Reef store in Fort Lauderdale and saw those Nauticam shackle clamps and just had to have them and thus went to the dual bolt snaps. But, I have been considering going back to the single double ender. It is more comfortable to hold and slightly more compact and removes some clutter (the bolt snaps) from the camera while in use. The lanyard would seem redundant sometimes perhaps since I usually carry the rig by the bolt snaps/double ender. But, boat crews fixate on that lanyard, they instinctively know that is where to grab. And during safety/deco stops I will sometimes let the camera hang from the lanyard clipped to one pivot to my shoulder D ring and clipped back to the other pivot afterwards and of course the coil lanyard is still attached until hand off for two point security, the two points being my hand and the coil lanyard or the white lanyard and coil lanyard. Sounds complicated maybe but it is not in practice. A couple of years ago on the Spiegel my buddy assigned me was a relatively new diver and with camera, a bad combo. I agreed to dive with her and all was well until her fin strap broke near the end of the dive. And the current had gotten worse. She had her fin in one hand, her camera in the other and thus no way to hold the buoy line and got blown off. So, I let the current take me, zipped my camera rig up to my chest as described earlier, intercepted her and then took her broken fin in one hand and grabbed her now free hand and swam her back to the boats tag line. The point of this story being that sometimes it is nice to be able to rig for hands free and know your rig is not flopping about. And that is when the two bolt snaps come into play, each one goes to a chest D ring.

After reading how you secure your gear neatly some time ago, I have been doing the same: a double ender between the middle clamp lanyard holders and bungee loops on the strobe clamps that loop around the handle clamps. It is so much easier to carry the gear or slip it into a rinse tank or bag!

I have these lanyard holders on my ULCS clamps and have no problems with them. Did you install them between the clamp handle and the clamp, as in the picture? Ken actually recommended I install them between the spring and the clamp. This gets rid of all the problems you mentioned, except they do not stay in one fixed position - a small annoyance. Since I also clip them together with a double ender, I fit a split ring into the holes so I only use one double ender.

Thank you for this test! Which Kenko TC are you using? I have both the Teleplus Pro DC and the HD Pro. The 8-15 on the Z8 works only with the Pro DC and on the D500 only with the HD Pro (see here in the Forum: "Kenko Teleconverter and Nikon camera bodies"). I wonder if there is an IQ difference between these TCs, but I cannot check on the same camera, and I meanwhile sold the D500.

Hi Atus, Thank you so much, sounds like a great option. I plan to mount it on my Aquatica housing via the Aquatica-Sea&Sea adapter I have. The adapter works well with Sea&Sea ports, e.g., the 170AR I am using. My problem is now that DiverVison didn't answer my emails. Years ago, I ordered something without problems. Hope they are still operating.

That’s sweet @Dave_Hicks

If you have a big camera on top, doesn't the DPV want to roll over so that the camera is on the bottom and is there anything you can do to reduce? Having now spent a few hours in the water with the DPV I definitely still need more refinement before I add the camera. It's neutrally bouyant with the mount but still wants to sit handle facing the bottom if I'm not holding onto it, imagine the camera will make it worse.

The o-rings will be the same or close enough between different brands, this thread covers what size they are: https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/o-ring-size-for-ball-joint-aluminum-arms.581917/ you can get Buna-N or silicone models - some say the silicone is a bit grippier, from an engineering supply store they should be very cheap. This prompted me to fish out some spare o-rings from the drawer and replace them on my arms. I have INON arms that I use the most and popped on some Nauticam arm o-rings I had. Visually the Nauticam o-rings are a little smaller but still fit the INON arms and they grip noticeably tighter than the old INON were doing. I measure the Nauticam ones to be 16mm ID and 3.75mm cross section.

Yup it an R7 and that might be the best compromise option i suspect even if doing it every shot may get very annoying rapidly. I like glancing at the screen to see or change all my settings without looking through an EVF and just using it to frame the shot. The Canon setup appears to just be "big screen, small screen" with no difference in what each displays when the face detect sensor is triggered. (on land i can configure both to show different things). First dives in 2 days time and i know its a much overdue and substantial update but also know its going to be a frustrating nightmare getting buttons, workarounds and changes into my head vs years of DSLR muscle memory.

Thanks for that. I hadnt considered putting the rope on the strobe arms to stop it flopping. Not sure if i tries it not to just pull the clamps off though (?). Changing O-rings is needed if i can source them (arms are different brands) and i suspect my 15 year old clamps arent great. I have to tighten to the point i need a large screwdriver to lever them open and it still flops. Any suggestions as to which are length combo to use for WA/10mm fisheye on APS-C (180 FOV or so)? Both long arms? Long and short each side ? Overriding factor is the massive, heavy (and for me, underpowered) Ikelites need to be supported. Video lights are fairly lightweight.

I also lost a shackle from a Nauticam MP clamp and I'm considering if I want to do a different attachment. Perhaps a large split ring or soft connection of some sort.

I sometimes use this configuration for fisheye and the Laowa 10/12mm F/2.8 rectilinear lenses.

No, not once in over twenty years. If having the loops on the outer arms bothers one then put them on the inside, the method works either way. With all of the stuff folks have hanging on their cameras like optical and electric sync cables those little loops provide little issue compared. And because they are 1/8 bungee if they were to ever get entangled my shears would make quicker work of them than the heavy electric cables on those Ikelite strobes!

This one is a bit spookier: Kraken and Ghost DiverNikon Z8 w/8-15mm Fisheye lens + 1.4TC, f9@1/25s iso500, Pair of Retra Maxi strobes with 4500k filters

Great photo Dave, kind of spooky. I like the fantastic combination of colours.

Looks great! I’ll keep that in mind I just bought the clamps with shackle so I ordered the shackle and have made my own lanyard etc but good back up plan if the shackle doesn’t work out

Have you had any instances with the bungee loops at the end of your arms presenting any sort of entanglement issues during the dive?

The gap that is added is very small. However, I did make a suggestion as to how to deal with the void in the OE knobs filled with water by drilling a 1/8 or #30 hole to allow blowing the water out. I am confident that the tiny gap of my new "blue" knobs will not cause any more likelihood of breaking a shaft. I did not mean to start a what if scenario as I have never heard of a broken Retra strobe shaft. It is just that I was somewhat miffed by their being plastic, I would have thought them to be stainless steel. If the shaft were to break it would be where the shaft tapers down and is then relieved for the set screw to insert. That is where the turning force is applied and if the shaft were to snap off there the knob would fall off in your hand or Davy Jone's Locker. I am not really worried about it. I have been using for several years a rechargeable electric blower. It worked great and dries all the water off and out of controls without the high pressure compressed air of a nozzle on a scuba tank. Recently I got a corded blower to reduce battery count that really gets the job done and can probably serve as a hair drier 😆 because it even gets very slightly warm due to compression.

I wonder if the tight base is to prevent breaking off the plastic shaft?

Great stuff @Muellema !

This Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dolpheini) was one of about five GPO's we saw out in the open during four days of diving in Barkley Sound with Rendezvous Dive Adventures. Conditions were perfect deep on the reef, and our group found many GPO's hunting and resting on the rocky topology of Barkley Sound. A Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dolpheini) strikes a pose on a colorful part of the reef surrounded by Giant Plumose Anemones (Metridium farcimen). Nikon Z8 w/8-15mm Fisheye lens + 1.4TC, f9@1/20s iso320, Pair of Retra Maxi strobes with 4500k filters

I only have the NA-A6000 housing left + Nauticam 16-70mm gear left. All else was SOLD.

Very slick! About those original knobs. I shared with Retra the feedback about salt constantly forming around the knobs even after an overnight soak. That hollow cavity and tight fitting to the base means they just can't be rinsed out. I designed the replacement knobs to eliminate the cavity and provide a slightly bigger gap at the bottom to allow for drainage. The mode switch gets a different shape to make it easy to distinguish with gloves on.