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Quite interesting for Sony users! Tokina paved the way decades ago, the Canon follow and the rest is history!

After using Insta360 X6 for the past two weeks in Maldives (read it as in poor visibility and light :-) I can say with confidence that problem of capturing 360 videos underwater has been solved :-). Heck I would add to it that the problem of taking an action camera underwater has been solved. Throw out your GoPros and DJIs, get X6 and call it a day :-). It is that good. For now I will let footage speak for itself. Both videos filmed in I-log. Turtle video has their LUT applied to it and is near the surface. The manta video has been exported in I-log and conformed in Davinci HDR pipeline using their I-log conversion. No color correction afterwards. The depth of camera was about 12m. !! Both clips delivered for HDR so unless you have HDR monitor on your PC or laptop use your newer phone to watch and judge. !!

I read this as a native solution for creation of VR180 2D underwater content. Much more compact than adapted Canon 8-15. With the absence of 8k60 on any Sony camera this is a moot point though. And without TC its use case is kind of limited I think. Especially for those such as myself who must travel to dive. So I dunno. 🤷‍♂️

PM sent... (I was out last week too, 9 days scubadiving in Kornati Islands 😊... returned just Yesterday )

Fingers are crossed! My copper mine shares have jumped 29% today so not long now!

With OM-1 mk1 and Nauticam trigger I can reach 1/400 easily with no banding, banding starts at 1/500.

I think that will work just fine.

A big welcome from Tasmania!

Many many thanks once again! Looking at an image of the back of a HF-1, it looks like it has three power settings below 1/8th - a . then 1/16th and then another . - if the . between 1/16th and 1/8th will happily chugg along at 10fps for a while and will sufficiently light a small 1:1 macro subject then one of my problems is solved!

Queue the discussions around ports. Zen 100mm, n100-n85+n85 140mm dome, 35.5+n120 140mm dome. Lots of new and exciting work for everyone.

Thanks Chris. They look nice, but we need to know if they are uncropped, aperture, and ext / adap / dome used. Plus advice on shade or no shade helps those of us who like to protect the dome...!

I came across a post from Brett Lobwein on Instagram, with a bunch of pics taken around Sydney: https://www.instagram.com/brett.lobwein/p/DdDCCiNjz1V/ small pics because they are on Instagram but should be of interest.

I've only got the 30 mm extension, unfortunately – hopefully someone will be able to start some proper pool testing in the near future!

Many thanks Simon. I downloaded a couple of the dolphin shots. Nice, but a bit soft in the corners. I'm guessing adding a short extension (10mm?) would help, but might introduce vignetting with the shade on (at 14mm). My guess based on what appears to be the Metabones V length of c. 26mm. Or maybe extra 5mm is enough, in which case you could go 25mm adapter + 15mm ext... If you feel like trying either of these, that would be great...

Thanks! And yes, correct. I've added three dolphin photos as .dng files to the Dropbox folder above so you can verify there's no vignetting: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/n3h4zkyvnq0ngs2tjsw4l/AI88gajXJDUTGs0uuk7IwPw?rlkey=pf2farxnrnxgkvnqthktfffa0&dl=0 Just don't judge those images on lens sharpness etc; mistakes are likely on me...

Result: 1/8th power is pretty stable at 10fps with only slight shifting left (darker) of the histograms over a 15-20 shot sequence. One click higher shows significant shifting darker.

The size is nice, I'm sure the AF will be very good as a native lens, lack of a compatible TC is less nice. Would need to be significantly sharper than the upcoming Laowa AF 8-15 to draw me to what will be basically a 14mm prime in my use.

There have only been a few studies to look at this question and the results were essentially that strobes did not disturb the creatures whereas video lights did. The study I am thinking of involved seahorses, known for being sensitive and shy. Handling, prodding, spending excessive time on a critter, even proximity alone, are likely to affect creatures as much as a quick photo. But, hang out on top of them and pester them, anyone would be annoyed. With or without a camera and strobes. From the test and in use, I have never seen a strobe that can go from so little to so much with the twist of the dial of the Retra Maxi. It is the most and possibly the least.

Simon, Just to confirm, you are saying your test rig is: No vignetting with Nauticam 140 dome plus shade, and 35.5mm N100-N120 adapter, no extension ring? Thanks for your excellent summary.

It is a great test to have access to even if not looking for a new strobe, and it looks clear Backscatter see the long term commercial benefit of a good reputation as a retailer offering sound advice, rather than promoting a specific product they have made. The Z330 ii also comes out well and it is great they tested a discontinued, yet popular strobe. It is useful to see the beam width compared to newer strobes which helps visualise how to position them for different types of shot. When I got the Z330's I found they were a bit more sensitive than I was used to in where they point, potentially brightening zones of wide scenes not completely evenly. I assume this helps reduce backscatter versus very wide beams that maybe are more forgiving in which direction they point. I don't see it as a problem but rather something to take into consideration during use... the same thing applying to the S220. The weight, size and reliability of the Inon's for me have been the deciding factor. This does raise the point about diversity ... the reason we have plenty of choice is because people have different priorities. So, it is great their test does not to recommend a single product. I do have a concern though about the new super-bright strobes (and modern very bright snoot lights) and how much that disturbs the wildlife. It seems safest to use as much light as you need, rather than as much light as you can carry.

I will see if i can try that soon. Currently diving at Gods Pocket through Friday. Maybe I can knock it out tonight after diving is done. I brought both the Maxi's and HF-1 strobes, today i rigged the HF-1s to try out a new float design.

More convinced than ever that everybody needs a pair of the little Inon S220 strobes. Almost as bright as the new D130 in the center and notice the beam is wider in the horizontal axis than the D130. Clearly an elliptical beam, but that is per Inon design.

It may work with the Megadap 21 on Nikon full frame as a fixed 14mm FE and/or zoom on Nikon DX. Not sure it would be preferable over the Nikon 8-15 with FTZ, though. In any case, nice to see additional lenses of potential underwater interest.

No. They are phisically not compatible. I collected another BS. I was too excited about all these fisheye lenses suddenly on the market. I better stay in the video forum 😇

Would it actually fit on M43?