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I’ve found it much easier to be snorkeling. Strobes a bit down to light up and even out exposre. I guess the design of the housing also comes into play. Never had any real issues with my old Hugyfot housings, have yet to try with my new Naticam set-up.

@JB_Cazajous ”I really struggle to keep it above water. Even with the added equipment I explained earlier, my camera still sinks.” Yep, exactly! Even with scuba it can be the same problem. Housings with all their attachments are very heavy out of the water. Floating it on a partially inflated BCD solved the problem.

Thanks @Mathieu Cornillon for taking the time to draw this magnificent plan 😍 To be honest, when I'm diving, with my tank and BCD, I don't really have any trouble taking split shots. My real problem is when I want to take split shots while snorkeling. With the weight of the housing, strobes, etc... I really struggle to keep it above water. Even with the added equipment I explained earlier, my camera still sinks. I guess it should be easier without any strobes, but when the ambiant light is too low, I need them Perhaps placing the housing on my inflated BCD, as @TimG suggested, would be a good idea. I'll test it soon...

That's an amazing achievement 🙌 Huge well done to everyone who's contributed! Maria

I've wondered if the BluRov hemispherical dome ports could be used to make a fisheye port. They are cheap enough and very robust.

Has anyone built their own dome port? I've used an 8" dome but was looking to test a ~17" dome for split shots on my Nauticam N120 DSLR housing. I looked at purchasing a dome port of this size and the Matty SMith ones look awsome but they are $2k+ which is way out of my budget. I've read a number of posts and watched videos online but didn't find anything on this forum. I've read the "Barry Guimbellot designs DIY small dome port for CFWA" and it looks like there might be more info on wetpixels but I didn't get my account approved before it went down so I cannot access those forums.

Hi @Klaus "Spray and pray" that made me giggle 😂 My mode with a compact is "hit and hope" mode for splits. It's really so hard to judge when the water is moving, you really need flat conditions to judge it. Here's my effort with my Olympus TG-6 and INON UWL-100 wide angle lens. It's not edited. Good luck with the journey, it's all about patience and practice.

Sea & Sea 77mm Internal Correction Lens has been Sold.

The brilliant Go Diving Show hits Coventy this weekend - is anyone going? With talks by Nur Tucker from the British Society of Underwater Photographers, Jenny Stock, Nicolas Fazah, Marcus Rose and Martin Maple, Raf Jah, Dan Abbott on underwater photography and many more incredible speakers aside, plus the Underwater Photographer of the Year talk and display, I'm really looking forward to it. Go Diving ShowUK Dive Show | #GODiving | Go Diving Show | ANZ - UK - USAWhat is the GO DIVING SHOW? Would be great to meet up if anyone's there tomorrow? Maria

Congrats @Underwater with Art ! Thanks for sharing. We look forward to hearing how it continues to hold up over the longer haul and, if needed, how the service aspect is handled. Enjoy! chip

I had a problem 3 weeks ago when I made the checkin in Zurich with Singapore Air. It was the first time he asked that I put by backpack to see the weight.... 15 KG... ( less than normal, the I didn't have the dome then for Lembeh ;) ) Normaly it is 18 kgs...... Big discussion... but finally it was ok. It is harder and harder to travel.... We had enough weight available with 2 x 30 kgs + 2 x10 extra as frequent flyers... and with 3 laggage we had "only" 55 kgs.... --> 25 kgs available ... but I was not acceptable to put my R5 housing in the laggage.

My absolute pro tip: Don’t travel with a dedicated camera backpack. Use a regular backpack instead, for example an Eastpak. I’ve been using one for years. You won’t attract attention, and no one has ever asked about the weight. I carry my R5 housing, two strobes, the camera itself, several lenses, and diopters in it without any issues.

I’ve been using the nitecore BB blower for the past 4 years. Very happy with it as I do not need to wait for stuff to dry and you can really force out water from all the crevices.

I took a few minutes to draw 2 schematics to explain my previous post, hope it makes it clearer. I already tried this technique once (cf. above), but I think I'll try it again. I think my suggestion applies to split-shots done with scuba-diving equipments on (at the beginning or end of a dive), and NOT to the snorkeling use-case you're talking about JB, but I wanted to add my 2 cents :)

OK, thanks. Look forward to your AF update on the Tamron in due course. Regarding sharpness right across the frame with the Sony 100, I can't give you a clear answer, even though I went back to the original uncropped raws just now. My priority was the AF, and I assumed the sharpness question would fall into place. But because the AF target jumped away from what I intended, my sharpness reference point (always an eye, if there is one) is no longer accurate. So I have to look for what appears to be the sharpest point in the image and compare that with the far corners. And even then, perhaps the AF had not been properly acquired, so there may be no useful comparison. Best I can say at the moment is 'OK' into the corners (i.e. better than a flat port), but overall sharpness doesn't jump out like it does with the Sony 50 and 140 dome. I hope that changes if I get the AF sorted! At least I got some keepers, which is more than I can say I got with the 90 macro and MFO-1. I have just acquired a Nauticam 37122 4" WA port (as per Alex Mustard 'curved port' video quoted on another thread). I struggled a bit developing specs for it (Nauticam didn't bother to answer my query about the radius), but have firmed up on an estimate of 110mm outside dome radius, which makes sense as it would be the same as the 180 dome and possibly the 8.5" dome. But applying this radius to the port length suggests that Alex using a 16mm extension with that port and 50 macro means it is still quite a long way mis-aligned (my estimates suggest 45mm extension for the 50 macro with this port). Although he also said a longer extension was better for optimal sharpness, without saying how long! Anyway I have ordered 30 and 40 extensions which I think should cover the 50, 100 and also part of the 20-70 range (from about 40-70), using the 37122. OK, the 20-70 isn't macro, but it does a remarkable job with AF and close-up, so is good for moving fish. I will test everything AF with the 100 before giving up, as the combo would suit me perfectly if I can get it to perform.

Dropping the price to $700.

Thanks for watching. I’ve only had it in the water a few times now but so far I’m quite happy with the ergonomics. I adjusted the handles so that I was comfortable with the positions of the shutter and back AF button and I’ve had no issues with it. Still working on getting good buoyancy with it as it’s a little buoyant with my camera/lens combo and 230mm dome port. As for the precision of the interface it is bang on. All buttons work as they should and I have not had any issues with it. The functions are all super smooth and work just as they are supposed to. Cheers.

I picked up a Wolfbox MF200 several months ago to replace my dependance on 'Canned Air'. I tried another blower previous to this one, but found it too slow to get up to full power. The MF200 is quick to accelerate to full power and is very powerful. Aside from removing housing water and dust, I also use it for blowing up camping air mattresses, starting charcoal BBQ's, etc.

@dentrock Mine is the latest version with VXD. However, I only tested it briefly with a few domes using AF-S on my A7RII in my home test pool. I was only testing for sharpness. I was not testing autofocus performance. I have not shot it behind a dome for real world photos yet. I'll likely start doing that in the coming months, but I'm not necessarily a hard core AF-C user. I could try an AF-C test in my test pool, but since we have different cameras (with different AF settings), I'm afraid my results wouldn't necessarily apply to your setup. In summary, I would not recommend that you make the switch based on my positive report since I was only looking at sharpness, not AF-C performance. By the way, ignoring the AF-C issues for a moment, I'm curious if the Sony 100mm behind a dome gave you edge to edge sharpness if you did manage to get a shot in focus?

I don't recommend transporting a housing on flights with the camera installed. It is a risk to bend, fold, and mangle the alignment of the tray and controls. Depressed buttons can damage the camera body. I usually put my well padded viewfinder and optical cables inside the housing when packed. I travel with the housing loaded by car but not if the housing in in a suitcase or roller bag.

Anyone carrying their housing directly with them fully setup? I wonder if it could be a good approach?

Thanks! Maybe in a few weeks. I am in Raja Ampat for another couple weeks.

Isaac, Just to confirm your thoughts on the Tamron 90 macro with your dome: have you noticed any negative results with AF, in particular AFC? And is it the latest version with VXD focus motor? I'm determined to keep testing the Sony 100 with a dome and AFC, but if I can't get it to perform as well (or better) than the Sony 50 macro with dome, passing the Sony 100 to my wife for spiders and getting a Tamron for underwater might be an option. Thanks

Thanks to Grantmac and the discussion on this topic, I bought the Wolfbox. For years I was using a Rocket hand pump which I thought worked great. The Wolfbox is so much better! Thanks everyone!

That can work, but I found to dry a housing off thoroughly it took about half a scuba tank using the blower nozzle the resort had on site.