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Guide numbers can be quite misleading, A lot depends on how the light is distributed in the beam. Quite a few strobe tests have been posted on here in the last couple of years, it's probably about the best comparison you could find. Assume you've looked at the pinned strobe comparison table in this forum, the spreadsheet linked has larger images.

I dabbled in UW photography. I was never happy with my wide angle photos. Too difficult to get good w/a composure with the animal life. UW macro photography was easier. UW macro video is tough w/o a tripod. The timing/synchronizing is part of the editing process. Deciding the type of clip, clip length and when/where to place it in the timeline to tell the story and match the audio. The amount of effort I put into the editing is mostly determined by the quality, variety and quantity of clips I have. Some dive trips do not generate enough good footage to put together a thought out synchronized video. I have done plenty of videos with a pleasant song and just threw in the clips I enjoy the editing process and find UW video more satisfying than UW photography. What setup do you have ? Gopro is very good given it's size, but I was never satisfied with it's low light or white balance. Not sure how much the latest versions have improved.

In my case, I currently use 2 S&S D3 Duo with zero problems. And was using before two D2 also with no problems at all. Planning to update the D3 for the new ones YS-D130R this year.

I’m just starting photography/videogrphy after several years of GoPro use. I’m familiar with Han Zimmer. The timing seemed synchronized, so I was wondering if it was an app/service that was a custom composition. Very nice.

Thanks for the kind words Evan. I have a Sony A1 and Tamron 24-70 2.8 lens. I use both for topside photography portraits, headshots and weddings. UW housing is a Nauticam with dome port and lights are Big Blue. I used to shoot a lot of UW video in the past but got away from it for a while. I was using Adobe Premiere. But now, I did not feel like paying for Premiere so I am trying out the free version of Davinci Resolve. Music is Hans Zimmer. Very well known and famous movie soundtrack composer. Do you shoot photo or video ?

The photo of fan coral I don't see a lot of difference between the two. Is it just me?

Ron, This is a great video! Watched a couple times. Not only great video, but nicely put together and a great soundtrack. I'd be interested in learning more about what you shot and your post processing including music selection. Thanks! Evan

You're welcome!

Thanks for sharing your experiences, I have seen a lot of issues with the Sea&Sea strobes, particularly the D1 and D2. The lack of service support is the key theme though that I am wary of. The AOI UIS P1 specifically were too heavy to appeal to me, if I was going up to that level I'd look at the Backscatter HF-1 and Marelux Apollo IIIs. I also wasn't clear on their equivalent power, when converted to a GN it was usually quoted as 22, sometimes 28. With Backscatter I considered the Atom which was definitely in the range of what I was looking for.l, albeit a bit less power.

And I can see the difference on my Eizo monitor, but not on my iPad. The MacBook kind of reveals the difference, but not as clearly as the Eizo. Thanks!

Well, best to try it and see what you think. My estimates suggest using the 35.5mm adapter with 140 dome and 50 macro would put the dome approx 11mm too far forward. You will likely lose a little close-up range. I have both adapters. I never tested this combo with the 35.5mm. The 25mm one was hideously expensive when i bought it, but seems to have come down significantly in price (unique for Nauticam!)

Sold

I started using the Zen 100mm port over a decade age with the Canon 8-15mm and later moved to the Nauticam 140mm port which if placed correctly gives better image quality in the outer parts of the frame. I to found the DP-100 port shade to be a pain to remove and reinstall underwater, in fact I just left if off completely and covered the glass with neoprene getting in and exiting. I had to do the same with the NA port. When I moved to Marelux I used the NA to MX 20mm port adapter and continued using my NA ports. When Marelux introduced their 140mm port with the bayonet sun-shade my NA-140 was the first port to go. I can now remove and reinstall easily, I put the cover over one arm and the shade over the other or clip it off on my BC. The biggest increase in IQ comes when using full frame cameras with the 140 v 100mm. An upside to the 140mm port you may not have considered is the ability to use other fisheye and rectilinear lenses with it as long as the extensions are correct.

Spent 10 days diving on the Arenui. Dove Raja 18yrs ago. Nice to see it looks just as good.

In case any Canon full-frame mirrorless photographers are interested: I tested a modified Commlite RF/EF adapter with the Canon RF 1.4x extender against the Canon RF/EF adapter with the Kenko 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 DGX extender on my R5 and the EF 8-15/4 fisheye lens, unfortunately so far only above water. My primary goal was to determine whether the overall image quality with the Canon extender (which I already owned) was better than with the (relatively old) Kenko, which I've been using for many years on Canon DSLR cameras and for the last three years on my R5 with the 8-15/4. I tested at both 15mm (180° diagonal) and 21mm focal lengths at f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16 and f/22. Generally speaking, the Canon RF 1.4x is significantly superior to the Kenko 1.4x in the corners at both focal lengths and all apertures. In the center of the image, there's hardly any difference (you can see something at larger apertures) - and I even examined all the images at 200% and 400% zoom to be able to make a truly precise comparison. Furthermore, the Kenko vignettes significantly more than the Canon and has a cooler color tone. Naturally, the difference in image quality will be less noticeable and significant behind a dome port! It's somewhat annoying that the Commlite doesn't display the aperture correctly (the camera only recognizes the aperture without the extender) and the focal length is also incorrectly displayed (15mm is recorded as 11mm and 21mm as 15mm in the EXIF data). The Kenko, like the Commlite, also displays the aperture incorrectly, but at least the focal length is correct. With the Commlite/Canon combination, you should also deactivate the in-camera IBIS, otherwise the sensor will wobble strangely. Since I also own the Canon RF 2x extender, I took the opportunity to test the combination with the 8-15/4 at 16mm and 30mm. Generally speaking, at 16mm, the corner performance is noticeably worse than with the 1.4x extender at 15mm. At 30mm, the overall image quality (including the corners) is surprisingly good – best at f/11. Therefore, if you expect to only shoot shy big fish and not wrecks or reef scapes, this combination could be a solution. Please note that these test results are only valid for above-water! I now need to find some zoom rings for use with both extenders. If anyone knows of alternatives to Nauticam (they don't sell one for the 2x extender - as far as I know - and the one for the 1,4x is incredibly expensiv), please feel free to comment here. Sorry that I can't provide any images from this test at the moment due to time constraints.

I'm wondering about how the video lights are on the Maxi and haven't seen it discussed much. From the layout, it seems they would not have an even light pattern at all. I assume they are not Keldan quality but are they really just dive lights or are they usable for video? Love to hear impression's of those who got them with the 6k video lights.

@ChipBPhoto Thanks Chip, good info. I find that ability to remove the shade while on the dive an upside, but the actual lock of the dome onto the shade needs some engineering. They have the o-ring that prevents the shade from backing off, but in cold water, that o-ring is a non-starter. I see it as more of a hedge against bumping the dome inadvertently. I have some nice pics with the DP-100, but also looking to the future with a higher-res camera.

I have the a7riv, 50mm macro, the 35.5 adapter and the Nauticam 140mm fisheye dome port. Is there a significant gain in corner sharpness by using the really expensive 25mm N100 to N120 adapter or is it marginal? But I have to admit that just by looking through the dome port on the lens, one can see that the alignment is better with 10mm less extension.

Will do. Like you, I'd prefer a native lens option, but here we are.

Hi @RVBldr The DP-100 became the mainstay of crop sensor photographers with the Tokina 10-17. In my experience, the DP-100 also produces quality images with the 8-15 when paired with the appropriate FF body. Having a shade that is removable and replaceable shade during the dive is a bonus as is the extremely small size. For the Sony a7C (24MP FF) or even the a7C II (33MP FF), most will typically find the image quality to be solid, especially considering the shade and size aspects. With that said, ultra high MP cameras, such as the a1, a7CR, a7rV, etc. typically benefit from the higher quality produced with a slightly larger 140 dome. There is a Nauticam version that has a removable shade, which I own. The decision to dive with or without the shade must be done pre-dive due to the 9 tiny screws that must be removed to remove the shade. While the flexibility is not as great, the quality difference makes this the right choice. Another important consideration is if you will want to add a teleconverter to the 8-15 for a little extra reach. If so, this basically eliminates the DP-100 due to the quite noticeable "smearing" or distortion around the image edges with FF cameras. This does not occur with the 140 dome. I frequently dive with a 1.4x TC and notice no image quality difference whether with or without the TC. Hope this helps, chip

My personal experience with strobe service is extremely bad with Sea&Sea (Europe; located in Netherlands), time span was approx. 2-4 years ago: I had four total losses (YS-D2) and it was not possible to contact them or get any response from them, nether by telephone nor by EMail. The service is(was?) practically non existing... Completely different situation with Backscatter (just now): Two HF-1 had their electrodes corroded. Very fast response, quick and kind handling (although at present there are problems in sending items between US and Europe and the repaired flashes are, at present, delayed in the customs; this is, however, not Backscatters fault)... Wolfgang

I did not test for FF, but made comparisons between Nauticam 140mm and Zen DP100 for MFT (the tread is in the old forum). If existing, the differences were minor. Maybe for FF there is some improvement with 140mm domeport. More important for sharpness in the corners is probably the correct extension and stopping down,.. A clear advantage of the 140mm dome is, that one can put the lens together with the hood into the domport, while with DP100 one has to remove the hood. I believe this can improve IQ substantially, as this minimizes the stray light from the flashes falling into the optics (together with the hood on the domeport)... Wolfgang

There have been some threads discussing this, I recall there is a quality uplift, but don't recall how dramatic.

Update: I took advantage of the US holiday to peruse Facebook Marketplace and found an older Eizo 27” monitor for $100 15 minutes away from me. It is a CX271–about 12 years old, but 99% aRGB and seemingly in great operational shape. I got my SpyderX tonight and calibrated it without issue. The thing is a beast at 28 lbs for a 27” monitor. Playing with big boy toys!😎 Now to use it to look at this thread with the different gamut pics as I don’t see any difference with my iPad! Thanks for all the advice! I’ve learned a lot!

No strobes or arms sticking out. I did attach a single 12 inch arm with jumbo stix floats as a crossbar over the top of the housing to make it near neutral. Nauticam Z8 with 140mm dome and 8-15mm. I think a 1.4tc would be an improvement over what i did. Shooting 15mm & near 180degs was great for point blank whales and baitballs, but some more reach would have help for 75% of the subjects. I did very little duck diving and was annoyed by the one over-eager dude on our trip who did. I had to "remove" him from a bunch of photos he didn't ruin out right.