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What are you camera are coming from? Sony is not in the only player on the field, or necessarily the best one.

A very good point, John. The conditions were "ideal": daylight, in the harbour, calm, rescue boats nearby. It would have been totally different on a dive site. At night it would have been a disaster. One other thing on reflection: the boat safety briefing included a good explanation of the sundeck-roof mounted liferafts. They were the standard type in drum-like, white-painted metal containers. In the event of the boat sinking, the rafts would release, inflate etc..... But In a fire? We estimated it would take 4 of us to lift one of the containers off its mounts and throw it into the sea - with flames all around.

Flying back to the US from Singapore after spending a week in Lembeh (Lembeh Resort). My son shot with 2 (Backscatter) Atom Flash strobes (I was shooting with my Retra Flash Pro Max strobes) - after a week of changing batteries, etc. I've warmed up to the idea that I might look at the Atom Flash strobes for macro work. Don't get me wrong, the Retras are great strobes, but dealing with two batteries (vs 8) has some significant appeal (even when considering the different chemistry). I've had Retras now going back 3 generations, and I still love their strobes. However, the Atom Flash feels solid, performed really well, and made wirelessly connecting to an (off camera) Mini Flash very easy (and easy to control). The good news is that my son heads back to college in the fall, so I can "borrow" his strobes for any trips later in the year. We'll see what Retra announces next as well. MY daughter shoots (w/a) with HF-1's, my son is now shooting (macro) with the Atom Flash - I feel like there's a message in here somewhere that I'm not picking up ;)

Hi Terri! Great to have you with us. A warm welcome to Waterpixels. If you're looking for specific advice on the Sony system, by all means search our site or post a question in the relevant forum. I'm sure you'll get lots of help. Best wishes

Wow. Thank you for posting this!

It seems like this could be a great thing for blackwater on a 30mm M43?

Hi all. I have been diving for about 40 yrs. Do technical, cave and muck diving. I am after advice about moving to a Sony Full frame mirrorless set up I dive a lot of the Pacific as well as caves in Europe and US

Terrifying, thanks for the vivid retelling and cautionary tale. It would be great to keep the data from the trip but better to keep the family safe.

At least we have Alex and Matt and the Underwater Photography Show to get an underwater camera fix 😀. As soon as my wife hears that intro music she gets up and leaves the room, "if you are going to listen to that again, I am going to go read a book!" I keep trying to explain to her there is more than one episode, ha.

Thanks for sharing the account and reminding about not being complacent about alarms and not worrying about possessions. Great that the operator did well in handling it. Lucky it was not in the middle of the night or out at sea in windy conditions.

I use a little printed memory card wallet to store 10 numbered SD Cards. I put a big 500gb CFExpress card in my camera as primary and a 128 or 64gb SD Card as secondary. I swap in a new SD Card at the end of each day and download from that. The SD Cards act as a backup should the camera or laptop be lost. Many modern cameras have two slots, so this should be easy to do for most people. It would be smart to leave this in a dry-bag/go-bag on the deck or camera station of a liveaboard. I think I'll add this to my liveaboard routine!

What a terrible experience, Tim. Thank you for sharing your story--it is one to learn from and live by. We were on the Philippines Siren last month, and during the very solid safety briefing, the CD offered to put passports in her jump bag, which stayed at the bridge, which on that boat is at the muster station. We didn't take her up on it, but should've done--and will if offered again. In fact, I might suggest it if the crew doesn't. Thinking about the loss of belongings, it occurred to me that on our next LOB--in July, as it happens--I hope to rotate one of the memory cards out of the camera every day or two, and keep it in my jump bag with passports, cash, meds, etc. The photographs are less than insignificant in the grand scheme, but having them might take on new meaning under the circumstances.

I recently (yesterday) put the original DSLR 45 degree viewfinder on my A7RIII and it definitely goes through more battery. But I prefer using it so far after just one wide angle dive. The older viewfinder doesn't show the edges where the settings are that well unless I adjust my angle of view. But for now it was worth getting the older unit at a major discount to see if it's what I want to use. I'm sure macro will be a different challenge.

I recorded an interview with Peter for the UWP Show.

Sometime in the early 80s I did a marine fire fighting course. Mock-up of a ship, two decks and two compartments on each deck. A small wood fire in one of the lower compartments. Using breathing apparatus and fireman’s suit we had to go in and search for a ‘body’. Couldn’t see a hand in front of your face and the deck was too hot to stand still on. We all ended up with minor burns even with all the kit. Without the BA sets you would have zero chance of getting out.

Update... Got to play with my new MFO3 on a recent trip to Maldives. What a FUN way to get a fish "portrait" lens! And what a NEW headache = trying to photo male anthias with full fin extension in water column with nice bokeh or blue backgrounds! LOL And, I discovered that the single flip Nauticam holder I own that I thought had become "one" with a Nauticam 87 port actually was easily removed - DOH! Well - Now all geared up for bayonet OR single flip AND headed to that online ordering for a Nauticam dual flip! I really can see where having both an SMC1 and an MFO3 on in Lembeh would be advantageous.

That whole setup was sold back in January.

Hi @hellhole , You nailed it! Yes, the SMC and CMC significantly reduces both the working distance and depth of the actual focus window. In short, they allow you to fill the frame with a tiny nudibranch or similar by requiring the user to be incredibly close to the subject. Hence the term “Super Macro.” With that said, because the depth of the focal plane is so narrow, the slightest micro movement is the difference between an incredibly sharp awe-inspiring image and an out-of-focus miss. This is especially true with the SMC-2 on the 100 or 90, as an example. Add a TC and its an exponential level of difficulty. I know someone that has truly mastered macro and now uses the new 100, TC, and SMC-2. His work is outstanding! He also devoted countless dives over many years honing his skills to use such a precise setup. His suggestion is to master the macro lens. Then add a TC or SMC and master that. Lastly, experiment with them combined. Incremental steps reduces frustration, builds on experience, and delivers positive results. Hope this helps! Chip

Hello I am trying to understand ... What is the difference between using wet lens option with the 100mm... Vs using 1.4x /2x on the lens. F stop to me.. matter less.. as I want to shoot at high f stop anyway. Does the working distance change if I use wet lens vs using 1.4x/2x?

As all have said, very glad you are safe. That still must have been traumatic. I appreciate the description of the process and the warnings. As a hospital-based physician, I have heard hundreds of fire alarms in my career. None have been real and serious, and I have become complacent. I cannot imagine the consequences of a major fire.

First off, I am glad Tim and everyone else escaped. There must be an enormous temptation to "just nip inside" for passport, wallet and $X,000 of camera system. Every time I hear of a boat fire or sinking on a reef, I am shocked by how often I realise I have dived from the boat concerned. Is that a statistical thing, or just a bit of sub-conscious psychology and my mind kidding me? Same for how often we hear of boat fires, reef sinking and capsizes. Has the frequency increased, or is it just better reporting now we have the internet? I did a tour of a boatyard in Egypt where Red Sea dive boats of all sizes are built and repaired. Most are constructed of wood frames and planks, covered with thin sheets of ply and an epoxy based paint to achieve that polished hull look. By contrast, in 'pure' GRP construction the hull is usually moulded as one or more panels, then joined and strengthened with ply or composite frames. I would guess that there are many hybrid variations, especially once repairs are taken into account. The inside fit with both constructions will be predominantly wood. I doubt if there is much difference in flammability, toxicity or unstoppable progress once a fire gets established in the basic structure.

I tend to stick to the viewfinder, even when shooting wide-angle (I'm not using an external monitor), and when reviewing pictures. But I do need to switch back to the main screen to change some settings, as it shows more information. One key setting - on the A1, I can select the EVF fps. I don't recall the exact fps on top of my head but it could be 60 / 120 / 240fps. While the highest setting is the nicest and smoothest... it also uses a LOT more battery. I'm typically reverting down to the lowest setting when diving, and can get 2 to 3 dives depending on bottom time and how many shots I took.