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First let me say congratulations on the new strobes and to the newish owner of Sea & Sea who I have known for over twenty years. Above you have stated that you discovered "limitations" with Marelux Apollo S strobes but did not articulate what those limitations are. If you are talking about specs. as opposed to cost/availability in your area I would be interested to know what specs you may take issue with. I would submit that regarding specs. the new $549.00 Apollo Y has specs equal to or better than YS-D3. Could you help me understand what is lacking in the Apollo line of strobes.

Metal credit cards? I'm impressed, Walt! I'm still on plastic......

I am counting underwear and toothbrushes vs floss and this guy is packed for an amphibious landing for ten!

I've been using an Insta360 X2 camera for a while. During a recent trip I had the same dilemma to either use a GoPro (with AOI) or the 360 degree camera on the top of my mirrorless housing. Comparing the footage from both camera I can conclude that The GoPro has still a way better quality. However, I can still use few seconds of Insta sequences as interesting perspectives, but not too long sequences, because some optical errors (stiching problems) will be obvious. Another good use is to leave the 360 degree camera on a "tripod" in shallow water. For usable footage you need lots of light for the Insta cameras. New models are probably better. I wouldn't use it as a main camera but it can be a very useful tool. I use ot on a ball-head like below to attach to my main camera: Some examples for the videos with Insta360 X2 you can find in my short movie about Bali: 1:44 - 2:10; 2:41

I'm selling a high-quality underwater spiral strobe cable for Sea&Sea strobes with an S6 connector. The cable has been used for fewer than 10 dives and is in very good condition. Insured shipping from Germany is possible upon reimbursement of costs. 50,- €

I'm lucky enough to go to Bali regularly, never had a single issue, but I know as Yorkie says above there are different rules around 'temporary imports'. Back there in May, I'll ask around, but certainly talking to other divers around Tulamben its never been raised before

That is very true TimG, provided you have the right credit score and willingness/funds to handle the membership fees. Most of my CC are made of metal, aluminum mostly, but not titanium. My income is not high enough to afford one yet.

Walt, I believe there are a couple of credit card companies who, for a minor fee, issue cards made of titanium. Would that help?

I have printed a camera tray with three ball mounts to use as a tripod with strobe arms. I will be testing it next week in Roatan, and if it works out, I will post it here.

Shoot me a message when you go down to Lake Phoenix, and I'll see if I can make it. I am between Richmond, VA and Charlottesville, VA. I haven't been down to Lake Phoenix in a while, so it is time for another trip there.

Hi Mike, Can I ask what set-up you have? Yes, absolutely you can shoot with it on your rig, but lighting and positioning are crucial to achieve the best footage. You would need to position it slightly ahead of the main lens to avoid obstructing the view. Mounting wise, you could use a small arm or a mini-dual ball head directly to the rig to hold it in place. Or if you are using the official selfie stick, position it so that the side stitch lines are parallel with the main camera lens to prevent your subjects being split by the stitch line. I saw a Nauticam 360 housing at the Go Diving Show at the weekend which I'm obsessed with. Good luck and hope this helps. Maria

Hi Rich, Since you mention Tokina 10-17mm: It will be optimal for R7, but not for R6, since this as an APS-C type lens. I remember reports from people using the Tokina with FF cameras (it seems this lens has an extraordinary large image circle), but this is probably not the IQ you are expecting for spending $$$$s dollars for the entire rig... For FF you may want the Canon EF 8-15mm fisheye (or the new RF version) but these lenses are nor as flexible as the Tokina on APS-C (or on MFT (with 0.71x speedbooster)), they offer just switching from circular fisheye to 180° diagonal fisheye and back... Wolfgang

Just looking now, no UK or Japanese Isotta dealers that i can see. If i bought Isotta in the UK with VAT its about 3500 Euros for housing only(they dont seem to have R7 anyway). Nauticam R6m2 in Japan would be about 3,600 euros with tax free so not really any practical difference when looking at those amounts. There do seem to be Tokina 10-17 second hand lenses in Japan (its not been made since 2022) which helps a little. Main issue is travel bulk. Im already paying hundreds of dollars excess on a standard trip with land camera, lenses, drone etc so adding a different body (and likely backup) isnt ideal. My logic being if i can use the same body for land and underwater it makes that and a spare easier logistically. Not ideal as the R6 is discontinued but the R6m2 isnt yet. IVe had ebay and other watch lists for 2nd hand R6 housings for over a year and they rarely, if ever come up. All the options here look sub optimal unfortunately. Made worse by the fact i cant find a DS161 Ikelite strobe battery anywhere at all. UK had none in stock, Japan has nothing, Malaysia has nothing that i can see. My ancient 70D is fine for stills but i really want 10bit and log video as thats the real bottleneck. Im using a GoPro currently as its actually better given the difference in the age of the tech.

Oh, the excess, excess baggage fees. I can detect the smell of a melting credit card all the way here.

He was a legend in Lembeh - probably not just Lembeh! - for how much gear he had. I was told he'd have 3/4 complete setups underwater and whatever he needed was shuttled to him by dive guides. Must have been nice! Beats having to finger out how to setup for a particular dive.....

I put my Insta360 X4 on a ball mount either on one of the arms of the housing or on the hot shoe, depending what I'm using on the day. Sometimes I will add a short ulcs arm when I put it on the arm so I can shoot from off to the side.

Saw that one too. Mr Doubilet sure knows how to travel in style.

I went to Bali 3 weeks ago and had no issues with customs or anything, other than the x-ray machine operator wondering what my MF-2's were on the return trip........they do have a bit of a gun shape to them I suppose 🙄 I think there is some wording around the $500 limit in the entry paperwork, but I think there was a footnote or something that said it didn't apply for "temporary" imports, i.e it's going back with you and not staying in Indonesia

Great to have you with us, Terry. A warm welcome to Waterpixels. Best wishes Tim

Like you, Beni, I’ve flown into Indo many times including Bali. Never had the slightest issue. Let’s hope, as you say, it was a one-off.

If Indonesia start this shit like Mexico some location will have less en less travellers. Lembeh is a good example of location where the count of resort will decrease very fast. I'll take no risk an go north to Philippines if I hear some other case.

On a related note, this post showed up on my social media feed today: "Has anyone else had problems bringing camera gear into Bali? I’ve done it dozens of times but last night they pulled me aside jn customs and told me I was only allowed one personal camera below $500! They eventually let me go, but I’m still unclear on the rules, on what was going on, or what to do next time." Let's hope this is a one-off attempt by a greedy agent and doesn't become a pattern in Indonesia as well...

Hey everyone! My name is Terry and I go by the username: WhoTippedMyCoW on instagram. I am an underwater photographer and shark diver based in Oahu Hawaii.

Im wondering if anyone has experience with an Insta360 (or similar) mounted to a regular camera rig. Like many I often dive with a GoPro mounted to the top of my housing - allows for a running video while I shoot. Was wondering about the practically of an Insta360 in a similar way? How high does the pole have to extend? Does it get in the way? What are the results like? Im less interested in having actual 360deg footage than the ability to selectively choose a a field of view or an angle in post. Or else to be able to see from a different angle myself, other divers, and the subject together in frame. Love to hear any experiences from those who've tried it? Cheers Mike

I saw that as well. No idea how it ended up in my feed, but I found it pretty hilarious when I'm trying to figure out how to get by with 10kg instead of the allowed 7kg in my carry on!