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I use MFO-3 wit Sony 100mm GM on A7R5 (I am a little bit late to the party). It is a great extension of capability with o.k. IQ (MFO-3 sits an a single flip mount, can easily be switched in and out). If someone is out for the ultimate IQ, the Sony 20-70mm f/4 G lens behind Zen 170 domeport is still better for intemediate focal length, but who, except puristic professionals who are out for just this single shot, would be willing to lug lens, extension and domeport arounf half of the world for this seldom used focal lengths? Since I have MFO-3, the DP170-N120 stays at home. Sony 20-70mm f/4 and Tamron 50-300mm I take with me, but for over the water; I think I need soon a second body, A7R5 is sitting all the time in the Nauticam housing and over the water photography is rudimentary)... Wolfgang

I didn't have my big rig when I did the snorkle tour in Tonga, so no first hand recommendations. But, you'll be swimming flat out just to keep up with the whales. Be careful bringing too much additional drag with you, as it'll end up slowing you down and make you miss a bunch of photos. Like @Dave_Hicks suggested something with a zoom where you can easily adjust to the rapidly changing distances/angles will be super helpful. Finally, the whales are there to eat, and there's a ton of plankton in the water. Be prepared for logs of cloudy water.

Potentially not the most useful, but has anyone made a focus ring for the Sony 100mm f2.8 GM macro lens? I imagine I'll nearly exclusively use auto focus but if there's a ring that's easy to print it'll be kind of nice to have the option.

Do keep in mind that I only shoot video - AF on the 50mm AF might be workeable for stills, but not really for video, unless shooting manual on static subjects. Video AF is a different beast altogether. Super slow AF aquisition is a no-go, even with backbutton focus for "manual AF", as you need it to snap back into focus as quickly as possible.

I picked up pair of these few days ago in Japan. Dirt cheap compared to Europe. Uwcamerastore lists them for €1149 and backscatter $1199. I paid 230k Yen for 2 (about €1200). Seems pretty solid testing in hotel room, mikomoto diving was cancelled due to the typhoon.

Urgh, how frustrating. Using 613 fibre, clean knife-cut fibre ends, centring the cable/bush is about all you can do. As Chris posted, I think we’ve been here before with the YS strobes. Annoying.

I don’t think this is just an OM issue. I don't recall anyone on Waterpixels saying tracking underwater worked well on their camera. My gear gets its first runout next month. Fingers crossed. I’m going to be gutted if the OM AF isn’t at least as good as the venerable D500! But I think that unlikely. Will report back……

Well it does. But depends a bit on the skill of the photographer I suppose. But don't take my word - check out Alex Mustard's clip on "Curved Ports". He is quite a fan of the Sony 50 macro - especially behind a dome - as am I.

Mickey is a fantastic teacher. The amount I progressed over 3 sessions with him blew me away. He literally opened up a whole new world to me.

I've now been using the MFO-3 with the Sony 100mm macro on the A7SIII for video, and it works great. I was warned that it could cause issues with the lens stabilisation when shooting video, so I turned OSS off on the 100mm and haven't seen any weirdness in the footage. Haven't tried it with OSS on, if anyone has a chance to do it without losing a dive, would love to know. It's a fantastic tool, mainly because, as others have pointed out, Sony doesn't have a solid 50/60mm macro lens with workable AF. It's also a great option for people like me who primarily shoot macro and supermacro with a default 90mm or 100mm lens, but occasionally want access to a more medium field of view, rather than use a wider lens and use diopters for occasional macro. Combined with a snappy lens like the Sony 100mm, video AF works great, even on an ageing system like the A7SIII, and image quality is excellent. I'm using primarily in blackwater like situations (shore-based bonfire dives), and it's much more practical than the 100mm, basically the ideal baseline fov. Reduced minimum focus distance is also very nice! The main downside so far is the overall length. The 100mm port + MFO-3 combination becomes something of a canon-like contraption... That's probably less of an issue for stills with powerful strobe lighting, but for our weaker video lights it means longer, more outstretched arms to get the light where it's needed. And this outstretched lighting position is an issue when a BW subject decides to come close to the glass, which is fine focus wise but requires serious light repositioning... The other downside is protecting that large front element. The Nauticam rubber cap seems to have been designed to get lost underwater, and is just not practical as is. I have my MFO-3 mounted on a triple flip and currently keep a large neoprene pouch over it. I think there have also been a few 3D-printed caps with lanyards floating around. cheers

I would definitely recommend going with 60mm at least initially. I have the 90mm macro for land use but don't take it UW. The 60mm macro goes to 1:1, but remember it's 1:1 on a m43 sensor, so it is the same framing as 2x on a full frame or film camera. I don't use diopters with it. It's quite adequate for shooting 10mm long nudis and Sydney pygmy pipehorses. The 90mm does 2x natively which 4x equivalent and covers a frame 8mm across. I don't know how good your critter spotting is, but I can't find anything that small locally - it's small and also camouflaged mostly, so really hard to find. and in some surge and you are soon swearing into your regulator even at 1x.

The AF with the 60mm macro is pretty decent on the OM-1. I previously shot the EM-1 MkII and prior to that the EM-5 MkII. The EM-1 MkII was a significant step up over the Em-5 mkII and the OM-1 a slight step up again. The EM-10 is a base model and I understand the AF is not as good. The 60mm AF works really well is you are close in, it can hunt if you suddenly decide to shoot a bigger subject a meter away, particularly if contrast is low with average vis or there are particulates. But it does snap on quickly if the focus distance is similar. I have it set up to use back button AF, controlling AF with my thumb, make sit easier to control AF. The 60mm is a bit long in focal length - 120mm FF equivalent so you may find yourself backing off more than you would like. Several solutions - one is to use the Panasonic 45mm, the other is the MFO3.

I have Retra pures - a model that was recently discontinued, slightly lower power, but it's enough with m43. You tend to shoot wider apertures because the depth of field is wider, so flash power is lower. If you get Retras - get the reduction rings! First thing I noticed after first dive was way less backscatter. It's not immune to backscatter and you still need to position strobes properly , but way less than the Z240s. You also mentioned rectilinears, basically you are stuck with a bigger dome with them otherwise the corners go off, I have used the 12-40 in the Zen 170mm dome around Sydney and it works well, if a 24mm equivalent lens is wide enough for you. One problem with Nauticam and the n85 ports is that some rectilinear lenses are too big to go through the port when you fit the camera/lens and you have to fit the body, then the lens from the front, then the port. The Port on Isotta is a B102, significantly bigger and it avoids this problem They also have a 6"port which will be smaller and probably OK with something like the 8-25 lens.

So it's confirmed... that's really not great news for UW applications, especially for wide-angle.

I went to Roatan 3 or 4 times in the early 2000's, always to CoCoView. It is a great place to rack up the dive count with at least 4 dives a day. I always had fun but the terrain of most dive sites is a bit similar everywhere. I am glad to hear the coral is recovering and it's still a good destination.

Thanks so much @ACHiPo and @Adrian Gresores for sharing your experience! I am super excited to go in a few months. It sounds like a terrific island and marine life to photo. Congrats, Evan, on your success with the new rig! It sounds like you came home with some nice "keepers" for sure. Our group is looking to do a workshop with Mickey. We are mostly experienced uw photogs, but I never turn down an opportunity to learn from a pro, especially someone familiar with the local life and spots. Thanks again to you both! chip

@TimG @Chris Ross definitely interested in information on the OM-1 II autofocus. I'm just wrapping up two weeks in Lembeh with my E-M10 IV with a 60 mm macro, and while I got some good to great shots, the AF continuous single point focus speed and accuracy was frustrating at times. I'm hoping the OM-1 is a significant step up, but one person was shooting the OM-1 for the first time and didn't see much improvement underwater compared to her EM-1 (not sure which model, but it is over 10 years old), and found focus tracking unusable underwater.

My wife and I were there last month. Absolutely gorgeous. Yes, there is some dead coral like all over the Caribbean, but lots on new coral growing everywhere. And so many sponges. Plenty of animal life. Our second time there and it won't be the last. If you want a nice, quiet boutique hotel with a great dive shop and restaurant on site in West Bay, I highly recommend Naboo.

@ChipBPhoto Chip, I loved CocoView. I was there for two weeks in April. Water was warm enough I dove in rash guard and/or trunks and a tee, although some folks dove in wetsuits or Sharkskin. Their dive operation is first rate--incredible organization and very well run. Diving was great as well. I've heard from others that Roatan is not as good as it used to be. While that may be true, I still found a lot of stuff to photograph and really enjoyed my time at "Scuba Camp' (a nickname that pretty accurately describes the experience--definitely not bougie!)m. I ended up diving 3x/day which was a good balance of diving, processing, and recovery/rest time for me. I wanted a place that would allow quite a bit of repetitive diving so I could study and learn critter behavior. I also wanted access to some great photography training as it was my innaugural outing with my underwater camera. Finally I wanted someplace that was safe, clean, with good food. CocoView Resort checked all the boxes. I was just learning photography, so shot mostly with my 14-42 Olympus micro 4/3 kit lens. I did shoot some macro with the help of Mickey Charteris, and there are certainly many suitable macro subjects. I did not shoot CFWA as I didn't have the proper lens/dome, although there were sites that could be pretty good for CFWA although some mediocre vis. days made macro or 12-42 shooting a good choice. If it was easier to get to for me, I could see going there 1-2 times a year. Unfortunately even though it's not as far as the Pacific, the two 3-5 hour flights with layover makes for a pretty tiring travel night even when riding up front. Evan

Thank you so much. For me is more than enough to spend 4 days diving.