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I know, not explicitly photography related, but thought I'd give this a shot. Found a decent dive computer in Galapagos recently. If anyone knows anyone who may have lost one, DM me with some details on where it was lost and computer details. Jim

I will have a look at the IATA rules tomorrow, but if it said on the ticket that there was a different allowance on the return leg then...

Have been in similar situations many times and will be again in a few months. Since my base is in Scandinavia, it means shifting a lot of planes to get to somewhere. Going to Indonesia ie, as I will be soon, means a combination of airlines with different rules. So doing research is key and what I have figured out, is that Batik Air allow free dive dive equipment one their Indonesian flights. On a normal economy ticket –– you can bring 15 kgs on top of normal 20 kgs checked in, so 35 kgs without paying extra. Must be packed separately tho... Then 7 kgs carry on. And personal item. So the Thai International to Jakarta from Stockholm will actually be the bottle neck, not the domestic Indo, with one 23 kgs check in and 7 kgs carry on plus personal item. Luckily I have my whole family with me this time, so we'll have one 23 kgs check-in with dive equipment that later will be a "free" bag on Batik with dive equipment for two, then three 23 kgs of clothes, dive and photo equipment as included in our total of 80 kgs checked. 7x4 kgs carry on of photo equipment and stuff. And personal item. This is the idea, anyway.

Great!! That's what I was waiting for. Very curious about the infinity focus because the GR140 with third party front mask doesn't have infinity focus.

Absolutely - all through JAL / Japan Airlines, in Japan, booked direct. The ticket was booked on JAL, codeshared on Malaysian, so JAL on Narita to KL, KL to Male on Malaysian, return Male to KL on Malaysian, KL to Narita on JAL. The ticket did reflect the changes in the luggage rules on the Male return leg, but we figured the main carrier rule would apply and we wouldn't end up with a lower allowance than what we started with, especially since the photographer who booked the flight has high-flyer status on JAL, so we didn't look into it any further. We contacted JAL and apparently the main carrier rule doesn't always apply, so you can end up, like us, with a smaller luggage allowance on the return flight than on the outbound leg, even when booking on a single airline... I've had this happen to me once for a Denpasar-Labuan Bajo, as the return leg was operated by Lion's Wings Air rather than Lion Air, but the excess luggage charge was IDR 10,000 per kilo or something, which was mostly waived after a smiley chat in Bahasa at the counter, aduh... And we're talking about Lion Air in Indonesia, not a national carrier like Japan Airlines... Not the same thing at Male, when dealing with Malaysian Airlines personnel at check-in...

All seems a bit odd. Were the return legs booked on the same PNR as the outbound legs to Male?

I'd say the group is dominated by lots of experienced, long-time underwater photographers - who've a positive experience of previous generation Nauticam optics, and have perhaps been burned by some of the older generations from other brands not performing as well as claimed.

As a sidenote, I flew to the Maldives in March/April accompanying a Japanese photographer. It was a return flight on JAL from Tokyo to Male and back, with a stopover in KL, codeshared with Malaysia Airlines. Turned out the return flight had different baggage rules despite being booked in Japan through JAL (and the extra allowance given by his JAL member status). We managed to wiggle our way out of it just before boarding after hours of back and forth in Male, but we were looking at a USD $1,500 luggage fee for our camera/dive gear, just because the ticket home had different rules. Again, the flight was bought in Japan, directly through JAL... never seen this before, other than on a return flight from Bali to Labuan Bajo (switch from Lion to Wings rules) years ago, but this was on a totally, totally different financial scale... Hellish... Lesson learned: double-check return ticket allowance, even with major companies like Japan Airlines... At least they didn't give us any issues with cabin luggage 😆

Overwhelmingly Nauticam. I see one Kraken diopter, a subsee but very few (none?) AOI lenses. Interesting, because their Pro range is stellar. Price vs. notoriety, perhaps?

If anyone in Australia is interested in this two-piece option, I have tracked some down in Australia - https://travellershome.com.au/product/granite-gear-2pc-wheeled-duffle-backpack-set-70l-red/ - only the red available right at the moment, but black and midnight blue will be in stock again at the end of October or early November. Heaps of padded dividers, etc etc on Aliexpress so will fit out the main compartment with those and store the camera gear in there, 17" laptop plus loose stuff etc in the zip off small backpack.

I would add the Sigma 24 and Sigma 17, but frankly, the Sony 16-25 makes these redundant. However if you fancy a prime, those Sigmas are great. Another goody is the Zeiss Batis 40mm CF with a suitable dome, but that is surely a niche lens. I bought and sold the Laowa 10mm, because I couldn't get decent corners with either the Nauticam 140 or 8.5" domes, and wasn't prepared to go larger. So that one is not recommended for casual users who care about IQ.

Yeah, despite the numbers, there is a surprising lack of variety?

Is that a collection of workshop paticipants' lenses, or does the resort have that inventory for rentals?