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I’ve found some slightly thicker garden irrigation pipe which can squeeze over the end of the L-shaped plug to make a complete cover Looks robust but time will tell

Hi folks, price drop to $1900 for the pair.

The clue is in the name. Rinse. Not soak. My usual strategy is to train the crew to put my camera straight into the basket beneath my spot on the kitting up bench. That gets it well out of the way from places it could fall from or get sloshed and knocked or otherwise be mistreated by other divers and their kit. Then once all divers are recovered and I am de-kitted and the general melee is over, I give it a few minutes rinse while twiddling knobs and pushing buttons. I never leave a camera unattended in a rinse tank for any period of time. I have seen many more (other photographer's) cameras leak in the rinse tank than I have seen leak underwater.

Maybe don't leave your camera in a rinse tank overnight. A rinse tank is the highest risk spot on a boat for a camera. Between flooding (lack of water pressure sealing the orings) and damage from other gear and divers, this is a big risk for zero gain.

Selling 1 or 2 brand new Fotocore GTM strobes from Scubalamp (SUPE video lights manufacturer) Asking 348 US$ for one, 678 US$ for pair | OR best price I bought them for testing only. Never used in salt water. These are compact, very solid aluminum strobes that work great for wide angle, macro, and blackwater. Fast recycle, strong burst performance, huge battery capacity, very wide beam without the reduction ring, and a front bayonet for accessories. They also have a ring flash tube, central focus light, and spherical front glass. A very nice fit for compact systems like TG-5 / TG-6 / TG-7 and similar setups. Why I like them: very fast and consistent recycle !!! really compact and robust enough battery for up to 3-4 dives excellent wide coverage for fisheye-style shooting blackwater useful reduction ring no paying extra for TTL features most people do not need Key specs: 120 Ws, GN 24 7 power levels 160° beam / 110° with reduction ring 0.1–1 sec recycle up to 10 flashes/sec on lower power levels 5000K 100 m rated 500 lm focus light uses 2x 18650 cells no TTL / no S-TTL In my view, these are a very fair-priced alternative to INON Z-240 / Z-330 or Sea & Sea YS-D1 / D2 / D3 if you want a compact, reliable, fast-shooting strobe without the usual overpriced extras. Shipping worldwide from the Philippines: EMS or DHL or FedEx Economy International shipping to USA around $44 (1 pcs) or $65 (2 pcs) = NO BATTERY POLICY https://phlpost.gov.ph/phlpost-rates-2025/ Payment: PayPal or Bank Transfer

All new users must make three posts to gain access to create new topics in all forums. Therefore, the "Start new topic" blue button is almost always missing. However, it should also be removed from the UI of thread https://waterpixels.net/forums/forum/33-critter-identification/ The button "Start new topic" is present in this thread (... but does not allow you to create a new topic and returns an error)

Welcome aboard Andrey, good to have you here.

I went from Z240 to a set of Retra pure strobes, which are about maybe a stop and a bit below the Pro-maxII strobes, If I recall the maxi was ahead of the Pro-MaxII by a near a stop. My strobes are certainly brighter than the Z-240s by maybe 0.7-1 stop and Z330 are probably as bright or a little brighter than my Pure strobes. The Maxi is 1.5- 1.7 stops fatter again, so comfortably faster than the Z330. I've only used up to half power with them so far, while I was half a stop below full power withe Z240 a lot of the time. As far as light quality goes the Retra Maxi seems close to the ProMaxII (and my Pures) which is comfortably better than the Inon Z-240 for me. The Z330 I think is on par with the Z240 for light quality. The thing I did find is that with the reduction rings, with reasonable strobe positioning there is a lot less backscatter - instantly noticeable, both shooting in Lembeh and around Sydney in the temperate waters where particulates are a constant problem.

I think the community would appreciate an online service for embedding copyright information into uploaded photos or videos. This can be done in two ways – if you're interested, please contact me and I'll explain how...

Long-time diver and underwater photographer originally from Russia, living in the Philippines since 2018. I shoot mostly underwater stills and some video, with a strong interest in macro, wide angle, lighting, and the technical side of underwater imaging systems. I’ve spent a lot of time in the water over the years and still enjoy learning, testing gear, and refining technique. Looking forward to reading, sharing, and learning from the experience here. Glad to join Waterpixels!

Hope this is not too basic a question for this very technical thread - it’s been an interesting read and thank you for the time and effort many of you have put into testing these strobes. I’ve had a couple of Inon Z330’s since 2017 and one of them has started to flicker (red power on light) when I touch the power switch. So thinking it might be a good excuse to upgrade to the Retra Maxis. I have never really felt the need to shoot at high FPS in the past, but as a simple comparison between the Inon and the Retra, will these be a noticeable upgrade in terms of quality of light, power (obviously), usability, anything else? I have a couple of smaller Kraken strobes for macro, but if I’m going to buy some new ones for wide angle, I’d prefer to pay a bit more for something that will last and hopefully make a difference. I would appreciate any thoughts. Cheers, Paul

A lot of good thoughts. I don’t think there is one right answer, as usually. It depends. Just came from a Emperor liveaboard in the Maldives and it had a big dedicated tank for cameras. Nothing but cameras could go into it. I had no worries leaving my Nauticam rig in it over night. I’ve been on boats that had no good options, mostly day boats, then I have made sure they supply a big enough bucket or fresh water to fill up a cooler bag (brought by me). I don’t like to just ”dunk” the camera and then let it dry with all the salt. Did I say that in 25 years or so I’ve yet never flooded a camera? 🤣 Touch wood. My advice would be to reach out to the organizers, if possible the cruise director, and ask about what amenities and routines the have for guys with big equipment…

Okay yeah, I see what you mean about the corners. I’ll probably go for the WWL-1B—thanks for the examples!

Here some examples with the 16-35mm F4 behind the 180mm Dome

Good Morning, Sometimes I also shoot video with my C II; the crop doesn't really bother me. The 33 megapixels are actually always enough for me. Sure, there might be situations where you’d wish for more—or where more cropping flexibility would be cool—but in the end, you have to ask yourself: what are you actually doing with the images? Printing is no problem at all with 33 megapixels, and if we're being honest, most photos never end up in high resolution anyway, especially on social media channels where, in my opinion, you can't see the difference regardless. The photos in the post were taken with the WWL-1 / 28-60, except for the one of the skeleton shrimp. The corner sharpness with the 180mm dome and the 16-35mm isn't exactly ideal. However, I’d be happy to send you a few more samples if you'd like. One thing that really shouldn't be underestimated when it comes to housings is the weight—and the price! Best, Tino

Yeah, the 1.1 kg is definitely a factor I can’t ignore. And underwater, ergonomics don’t matter quite as much—as long as the housing sits well in my hands (which a Nauticam always does ☺️). I think I’m leaning towards the NA-A7CII setup, with the idea of maybe adding a CR later if the 33 MP aren’t enough for me. Thanks, everyone!

Rolling shutter may be the problem in A7R5 video. I personally never saw any distructing distortion of subjects in my, very few, A7R5 videos. Others can commend the video issue certainly better...

Then I suggest you also go for it underwater. I'm the opposite - I prefer A7CR over A7RV for topside and underwater. I ran them side by side in Nauticam housings for a couple of years, and ended up selling the housing for the A7RV. Body + housing is 1.1kg heavier.

Hi Tino, Thanks for your reply—very interesting, and beautiful photos! Do you also shoot video with the CII? If so, does the crop in 4K 60p bother you? And are the 33 MP of the CII always enough for you, or do you sometimes consider getting a CR as well? Were the photos taken with the WWL-1 or with the 16–35 and a 180 mm dome? How sharp were the corners with the 16–35? Thanks for the offer to test it, but my Lake Thun unfortunately isn’t exactly around the corner. I’d be happy to reach out if I’m ever in the area! @Chris Unfortunately, I don’t have a housing for the SIII…

Welcome! You might find yourself bumping up against the limitations of the Salted housing in the long term, but good news is that Sea Frogs now produces an aluminum housing for that camera which is compatible with Marelux and with an adapter I believe Nauticam ports. -Grant

That's good to know! I'm heading there with Underwater Tribe in July.

Brilliant idea vacuum packing! I have a food sealer. Of course I won't be able to vac it on the way home?

I don't have any specific recommendations, though I recall some posts around the Laowa 10mm, which while it is a very sharp lens has some perspective issues with very close objects looking un-naturally large. There's lots of posts on this lens throughout the forum with sample images and videos.

If you already have a housing for the A7SIII, then I believe you can fit the Sony A1 (version 1 ) in the same housing - not all housings but some they both fit with some minor limitations. You could potentially save buying a new housing at the cost of buying a more expensive body perhaps. This post discusses it a bit: If it's Nauticam they sell a conversion kit: https://www.nauticam.com/products/conversion-kit-to-convert-na-%CE%B11-for-use-with-sony-a7siii-camera

In Ningaloo, you can't scuba dive with whale sharks, they are snorkeling trips. I've seen some really bad examples of the crowds at some sites just totally swamping the sharks, here's just one example: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTk69lrgBQH/ I certainly wouldn't want to participate in something like this.