All Activity

Yes If you are using it in one of the listed housings.

Thanks Phil! So if I'm using Apollo strobes, this trigger might be the better choice, am I right?😆

A few further comments: Re Sony 50 macro, I like it a lot! Especially behind a dome, where it gives excellent sharpness right across the frame, even at say, f5.6. And I'm not the only one. Alex Mustard has a very interesting clip on 'curved ports' which features this lens. I have good pics of fast moving pelagics with it. But others call it a dog... They are cheap, so suggest you get one, or buy a used one and flog it if you don't like it. It's my 'go to' lens with the dome, and I don't bother with flat ports for this lens, as they destroy the corners. Downside is 1:1 is very close to the dome. Re 20-70, an excellent choice for general photography, especially at the 70 end, but for the smaller stuff, the big 180 port required for the full zoom range gets in the way a bit (subject can move before you find it again in the VF). I have had good results with the now defunct very compact Nauticam 4" WA dome, but the zoom range is limited to 45-70. I haven't tried it with a flat port, but I would expect a similar zoom range, with poor corner sharpness. It has very fast AF, and I can get 1:2.7 mag with it. Re strobes, I use 2 x Inon S220 now, and used S2000 for many years before that. Reason is small size, and perfect for macro, although I use them for everything else as well. I wouldn't go back to a single strobe, unless solely shooting small fish in mid water. 2 x is always better... Unlike seemingly everyone else I come across, I use the shortest strobe arms that will do the job ( 1 x 20cm each side, with 2 x ball joints). Great for shooting in caves or crevices.

I specialize in shooting salmon underwater in Alaska where I live now having done it digitally for over 20 years. My very first digital underwater shoot was with a Nikon D1X that yielded the cover shot for a book published by the American Fisheries Society. (I am a fish scientist: an aquatic ecologist specializing in using stable isotope analysis) The technology has come a long way since. I used the Nikon D2X as my main camera for about the first 8 years. Both The D1 and D2 cameras were APSC or DX in Nikon-speak. From participation on Wetpixel I learned the DX limitations could be overcome by the full-frame Canons such as the 1Ds2 which I got and literally used alongside the D2x. I even shot a pic showing this which I tongue-in-cheek titled Nikon vs. Canon: https://www.salmonography.com/Salmonid-Topic/Photography-techniques/i-KS7Jjpz/A I considered the D2X a 400 ISO camera and the 1Ds2 a 1600 ISO camera. Today’s cameras can do much better but there remains this 2 stop ISO advantage due to a larger sensor. The D2X was Nikon’s flagship camera when I bought it so had the best tech available to Nikon at that time. The sub-flagship cameras typically had poorer performance and this still applies today. The “flagship” model changes frequently within each brand. I would say the Sony R6 is their flagship today although they may not agree. One aspect of comparing cameras is to look at the Photons to photons website. I took the opportunity to plot a few select cameras on it. See attachment. You can see the leap from the D1X and D2X to the D850 and now to the R6 - technology advancement continues to march forward! I would not spend a lot of money on older tech. Nikon is overdue with updating theirs. I have a Z9 but only use it for topside shooting. Its secret super power is that the cameras has NO shutter so is truly silent. I gather the Z8 does not too. This is great for wildlife photography. I gather the R6 still has a shutter in it. The Z92 will likely be too late for you. I am all too familiar with the need to spend grant money within a specific time - mostly being the federal fiscal year here in the US. As for housings, if the Nauticam model is too large you might want to look at the competition as they might be smaller (at least the controls and grips may not stick out as far). As you are in France you might want to consider one made in the EU. Service for one will be much easier. I have been using Seacam as my housing brand. They have an R6 housing development as does Subal and Isotta: https://www.backscatter.com/Seacam-Sony-a7R-VI-Underwater-Housing Scroll horizontally to see the various brands. If the Viz is good you will be able to do a lot with the 100mm macro. Basically any true macro lens (various manufacturers) will blow away the lens on your compact camera. I use the Nauticam wet lenses on my Nikon 105mm and 60mm lenses with Saga ports (Saga is located in Barcelona). Instead of the MFO-3 with its 1.5m limitation I bought the new Marelux 60 add-on that fits just like a Nauticam one. To shoot larger things here in AK (0.8m is similar to the subject width of many of my salmon shots showing a female with her mate just behind her). I use mostly fisheye lenses and to a more limited extent the 16-35 zooms at 16mm (both C and N). The 16mm lenses need more working distance so get used more late in the season when the air temps get below freezing ( glaciers upstream stop bleeding in silt). Many shots with these lenses are on my website (exif data avail at the tiny dot with the i on it), As for underwater strobes I VERY STRONGLY suggest you get the Retra Maxi. I was using mine just yesterday with my Nikon D4S shooting in continuous mode at 5 frames per second!!!!! Forget about recycling times. Already a lot has been written on the strobe on this site.

Thanks a lot Phil for your very insightful comment. Have you tried using the Sony FE 20–70 mm f/4 behind a flat port (as for the FE 28 – 60 mm F4-5.6), which would allow adding a CMC-2 (or possibly, a MFO-1 if useful) for very small fish? Nauticam port chart recommends a dome for the 20–70 mm f/4, but I'm wondering whether a flat-port setup could still work (considering I would certainly rarely shoot at 20 mm).

Like the triggers from UWT and Turtle the Marelux flash trigger is designed for the most current Marelux housings and Marelux line of strobes. This current version does not support the HSS function in the Apollo strobes. The trigger is fast enough to shoot at 20+ frames a second and it is a plug and play configurations.

The photos are with the Sony FE 20-70mm F /4. I now have a 180 port in house and will be testing the Sigma soon. The OM 12-45mm F/4 is a 1:4 lens so about the same as FF at 1:2.

Those were all shot with the 20-200mm behind a 180mm dome? I miss the ability of my m4/3 12-50mm as a generalist lens for photos of opportunity. Being able to find something similar for Sony FF is very appealing.

Recently i bought used ipad mini (A17) + Apple pencil... i want something more portable than a computer to take with me on liveaboard/Hollidays and do small color grade tasks.. Test it for couple days with davinci resolve free version....Aces transform ( GP-Tune transform) but the colors/algorithm numbers dont seem good enough for GP-LOG2 use... The xtremesuff developer told me to use DCTL i need the studio version for the iPad.. Decide to give it a go on davinci studio for ipad, and im able to use DCTL and full version of GP-TUNE transform, the diference is night and day... but the ipad version has some limitations that for my use case is not big deal. Did side by side color grade Ipad 8,3" vs Macbook pro 16" and they match, but sometimes is painful and frustrating to use the ipad to color grade, since theres a small learning curves, like cut full audio from the clip..... the job can be done, but for extreme details i will keep the computer.

That is one of the guides out of a fantastic serie. https://www.nhbs.com/2/series/seasearch-guides If you just want a simpler guide, more of an overview of common British species, this is a great one. https://www.nhbs.com/great-british-marine-animals-book

Hi Fred, I have been following your quest for useful insight and this is my take. Most fish are larger than 1cm and will fit into a 1:2 minimum focus distance frame. The 90-105mm macro lenses are most useful for images from the minimum 1:1/1.4:1 hangout to about 1:6 before you are putting to much water between the lens and subject, vis is a contributing factor in some cases. So while I wholeheartedly endorse the Sony FE 100mm as the best macro lens on the planet, (I have one with 1.4 & 2X tele converters) I believe you have a chance of a wider range of subjects with a zoom lens. The attached photos were taken with the Sony A7R V in Marelux housing with the Sony FE 20-70mm F/4 lens using a 180mm dome port. This lens has a 1:2.56 minimum magnification. The camera is 61MP so cropping is no problem for your use I would think. Marelux and Nauticam both support this lens with a zoom gears. Marelux uses an extension ring 50 and Nauticam uses the N100 to N120 35.5 port adapter II and extension ring 35 with the 180mm port. This is a $1200.00 Sony lens. With this lens you would really shoot at less than about F/8/F11. While I have been very happy with the Sony 20-70mm when I know I will be dealing with a verity of subjects sizes I have now found what I consider to be an even better mousetra, the Sigma 20-200mm F/3.6-6.3 DG a $900.00 lens. This is a lens that at this time is only supported by Marelux with a zoom gear. What makes this lens unique is that it focuses to 1:2 from 28 to 85mm behind the 180mm dome and can extend out to about 130 to 150mm before it quits focusing because it gets to near the dome glass. Additionally the Sigma will stop down to F/40 in the macro range. My guess is that I am older than you Fred and I have been using the Sony A7R VI, A1 II and A7C both II and R all with Marelux housings and dual Marelux Apollo S and Apollo Y TTL strobes. Like some other strobes in the market these include HHS which solves the /1/160th sync to a degree, TTL, and multi frames settings. If you decide to go with the A7C II/R I have a like new Marelux housing and very low milage A7C II and A7C R camera bodies for sale.

Sounds like you found your partner! The best results will come from equipment that you are familiar with - whether it’s is new or top-of-the-line does not matter if you can’t find the button for making a particular adjustment. I shoot a 12 year old m43 and it’s not the camera that limits my shots… As I mentioned, your « partner ». 😉 we keep those around for a while…

@Klaus For the strobe : my INON D200 (I also have 2 S2000) have a descent recycling time (1,5 sec). 20 GN is not a lot but it is usually enough for me. I read that popular strobes like Retra Pro Max II does not recycle faster. But I should investigate other brands. It is true that recycling time is limiting for me. This is why I have considered buying a powerful video light (like weefine solar pro) and test using burst mode photography, but fish seem to be very sensitive to such lights, so no sure this is a good option. Prehaps investigating a Backscatter Hybrid Flash HF-1 ? Sorry, my wording was imprecise. If you had a more powerful strobe, then it will not use all the capacity for the flash and you can get another shot very soon after that. The recycling could happen in the background, so to speak. I should thus have written … a stronger strobe with fast recycling … or so. And, as said before, in your situation you certainly want to rely on automatic TTL strobe exposure. The HF1 could be a good choice but I don’t own this strobe.

I think we're more strict regarding sharpness than the marketing people of these companies. I use AOI UWL-03 wide lens with GoPro 12 and something like 4-6 cm was advertised as I remember. I haven't done any scientific experiments but my footage with Xmas worm filmed approximately that distance was not sharp.

Today 7Artisans has announced on its Facebook site that the AF 10mm F/2.5 MAX fisheye will be released on August 27/GMT+8 for $449.00USD. The post does not indicate if the lens will only be sold on the & artisans site or if it will be in online stores like B&H Photo.

I'm glad that Sony's model naming conventions are pretty logical to someone... The A7 V is a hybrid camera, but the A7R VI is a high end stills camera - surely it would make more sense to give the high end stills cameras their own number line like A3 VI instead of mixing them in with the A7 hybrids and hoping that everyone somehow figures out that an A7 without the R is a hybrid and with an R is a stills camera with nearly twice the MP? Gen Z must be totally confused as they usually have absolutely no knowledge of Roman numerals! At the moment I am waiting to be approved to join a A forum so as I can ask a couple of really indepth questions.

This trigger was officially released for months https://www.marelux.co/products/ttl-flash-trigger?VariantsId=10121, but I can hardly find any useful review for it, especially the comparison with other competitors like UWT or Turtle. Anyone can share some real experience on this?

Thanks @Davide DB and @Architeuthis . Yes I have seen the D850 set up (with nauticam) : it is too big for me, mostly because of the housing. I have also seen the A7CII + 28-60 set up (with nauticam) : it is perfect. I think I could even tolerate a slightly bigger housing. I have never seen the housing of A7R5/6, it seems to be in between that of D850 and A7CII. On the paper, the A7CR seems the ideal camera for me, especially if the 1/160 sync is not an issue (I had read that some poeple complained about this but I do not remember if this was based on real experience or not). My only remaining concern is that it has been released in 2023. Psychologically, it is difficult for me to put such an amount of money for something that might soon be replaced. But I have a grant to buy this equipment, I cannot wait to spend it. And if this is currently the best option...

Here is the assortment of different camera types that Sony offers, it seems pretty logical to me: #1.: Entry-level model class, very capable and universal: A7 Five generations exist at present, from original to mark 5 (A7V) #2.: Highest resolution and IQ, totally photocentric, not so good for video and fast action/sports: A7R At present in its sixth generation (A7RVI, which made a leap towards video and action, but still not the best for this purpose) #3.: High end allround model, high IQ for photo, fast action (e.g. birding) and good for video: A1 At present in its second generation (A1II) #4.: Specialized model series for fast action/sports: A9 Currently in its third generation, A9III, that has even global shutter (=zero rolling shutter and no limit to flash sync. speed) #5.: Compact series: A7C and A7CR Providing similar features as #1 (A7CII) and #2 (A7CR) in a compact camera body In addition they offer different types of camera bodies that are designed for videographers...

"The only purpose of the dives is to photograph fish, and to capture them. Usually I take a picture, and then I try to catch the photographed fish (with chemicals and handnets - then my camera, attached to me, floats above my shoulder - it needs positive buoyancy). I am diving in NE Atlantic and Medit. Viz can be good, or much lower than 2m... " In this case (catching the fish after the photo, that is just intended for documentation) a hughe setup, providing the best IQ, may not be ideal (but it could work in case there is a colleague to help out (e.g. holding the hughe setup while catching the fish and holding the catching gear (and the already caugth fish) while making the photo)?). A compact setup (e.g. A7CR/Sony 28-60mm/CMC-1) with a single, TTL operated, compact flash is probably better suited to do the job. Flash mounted close to the housing (suboptimal lightening, but compact). A7CR certainly fulfils the requirement of better AF and (much) more resolution compared to most cameras and certainly compared to an old compact camera as the G5 is... There are comprimizes with very small and also the large fish, but one can crop for the small fishes... On special occasions, one could even deviate from the universal concept and mount Sony 100mm macro/SMC-3 (on flip) for small fish or a water contact optics (e.g. WWL-1) for large ones, in order to get better IQ?

Do you dive with your colleague? Have you ever handled hisl D850 kit underwater? Except for the housing, the ports are the same for any FF kit on the market.

Omino Bianco: blowing out your highlights straight out of the box, no strobes required 😉

Their whole lineup is so all over the place that their cheapest 24MP camera is three times the price of a Z5ii - but it is designed for Pro sports photography. They have four less expensive full frame cameras - one of which is the A7V at 33MP, and the other three cheaper cameras are all 61MP cameras - there just seems to be no logical progression to their lineup at all!

Ok, over here the Sony is roughly twice the price of a z5ii. Not really on top of the Sony line-up. They might or might not have something similar to the z5ii?