bghazzal

First test in water today on the A7SIII with the Anker Nano powerbank - I opened the housing and turned on the powerbank 20 minutes before the dive. The first dive was 120 minutes, and the powerbank powered the camera for 90 minutes, after which it turned off (empty?) and the battery went to camera battery mode. I had 80% camera battery power left at the end of the dive. Now turning off the camera when not in use, I went for a second dive, 110 minutes, and camera battery was at 38% at the end of the second dive. This gives me an estimated runtime of 225 minutes for a new Sony NP-FZ100 battery, to which the Anker powerbank adds roughly 90 minutes, so a total of roughly 315 minutes (5 hours 15 minutes), being conservative (turning off the camera) when on the camera battery. I was shooting 4K video, 60fps to 120fps

Bienvenue à bord Hugo ! Si ton application fonctionne un peu mieux que google images, que j'essaye d'utiliser régulièrement pour des espèce au stade larvaire ou juvénile, ça sera très utile 😁

Thanks - an external battery is not an option unfortunately. On a positive note, I think the problem is partially solved. Looking into my camera settings, I had Auto Power Off set to 5 minutes (which could explain the Anker power bank's 5-minute cut-off time). I set it to 30 minutes and tested it. The camera battery was at 75%, but the power bank has now been active for over 90 minutes and shows no sign of turning off. The screen is off, so I don't know if the battery has charged to 100%, but I see the power bank's LED indicators draining, so I imagine the camera is being powered by the power bank. Exciting, as 1.5 hours is perfectly fine, even though it does mean leaving the camera on in the housing. The ideal situation would be for the power bank to turn on when the camera is turned on, but I don't think that's possible.

Hi Your monitor has twin mounting options on both the top and bottom of the monitor, meaning you can just mount a standard ball mount (with dual screws) top or bottom, and then just use a long clamp or a small arm (5") to position it wherever you want. I have a Weefine 5-HD pro with a dual mount point that I use with an NA-A1 housing (standard camera shape). I mounted the ball mount on top, and use a 5" arm, it's very flexible.

On a related note, I've tried the MFO1 on my Lumix LX10 compact. I bought the lens for use the A7SIII / 100mm macro, but since I haven't hopped onto the new rig yet, I thought I'd give it a spin on the LX10. The test was on a bonfire dive here in Okinawa last night. My first in-water impressions were that it really helped with focusing. I shoot video in MF with focus peaking, acquiring focus with back-button focus. The number of peaking points was often almost double what I usually have (which I imagine is linked to an increase in contrast), and focus acquisition felt snappier and easier. I shot the whole 95-minute dive with it, shooting 4K video from a 36 mm equivalent to 72 mm, usually in the 50 to 60 mm range. I just checked the footage, and those impressions are confirmed. Image quality (contrast, sharpness, colours) is improved a lot compared to the naked flat port, much more than I had expected. Focusing is indeed faster too. I have some sequences of fast-moving larval fish where manual autofocus acquisition/reacquisition just snaps like it never has on the LX10. It feels like an autofocus upgrade on a camera where AF performance is dismal. Really impressed, and kind of regretting that I didn't get this months ago instead of in the last week of using the LX10 rig! It wasn't designed for this, but yes, the MFO1 does work very well on a 1-inch sensor compact! screen capture of a raw clip from last night, larval long-arm octopus (Lumix LX10 + MFO1, 4K 30fps)

For what it’s worth, I just did some quick and dirty land tests with the Sony 100mm macro and the MFO1 (Sony A7SIII, uncropped 4K video mode, not stills). These are rough measurements taken from the front element of the glass to the subject. 100mm minimum focus distance without MFO1: 80 mm 100mm minimum focus distance with MFO1: 40 mm 100mm maximum focus distance without MFO1: infinity 100mm maximum focus distance with MFO1: 230 mm (quite restrictive) AF acquisition does seem slightly snappier within the MFO1's 40–230 mm focus range. I need to use it properly to confirm, but I'd just note that in my tracking video AF tests on the A7SIII with the 100mm, the lens performs better without the focus limiter (snappier) - but this carries the risk of having a much longer range to hunt on. By restricting the range, the MFO1 seems to act like an optical limiter, restricting the AF's hunting range, which on first impressions means it makes it more practical to use the 100mm without lens limiter on (and you can always flip it off for longer shots beyond the MFO1 range).

Really not sure how it is now, with the current political situation and conflict. In the past you you to either sail or drive up to Ranong (easy drive up the highway from Khao Lak, past Takua Pa) hand in your passport for immigration processing, hop on the boat and off you go. Ranong was famous for local joints with super cheap beer, which helped kill time while waiting for the immigration process to be over. Diving-wise it can be great, but you can also get very low viz over at Black Rock, Burma Banks etc Some trips combine the Surin islands (Richelieu) with Myanmar. The maritime border is nearby, when you're at Richelieu Rock you actually see islands that belong to Myanmar just a little up north.

The one I use doesn't have a trickle down mode unfortunately, and it's the only one which fits in the housing. I ran a test this morning, plugging in the powerbank and turning on the camera but not using it. Powerbank stayed on for about 20 minutes charging the camera (which went into sleep mode) before shutting down. I first saw the battery LEDs were off but the camera charging LED was still on - and when I activated the camera it was still charging. However I came back 15 minutes later and the this time the camera charging LED was off, and the camera was running on normal camera battery, powerbank completely off. I didn't check levels but I'm guessing battery level had reached 100%, so nothing was happening and the powerbank shut off completely. I ran other tests, basically camera on or off it's impossible to get past the 15 minute mark. It will work fine while diving, it's just that I like to pull the vaccum early before diving, so this limits the application quite a bit. I'm really curious about the keep alive devices and might try one. Ideally I would need a battery pack which only turns on as the camera is turned on and pulling energy, just not sure how practical this is.

No worries, glad it helps. And yes, it slipped my mind, but Smiling Seahorse is definitely photo-centric! They're also spearheading blackwater diving in the area and do trips up to Myanmar. The Deep Andaman Queen is also a great operator. Steve has been doing this for a long time in the area and is really good (and they also go all the way to Myanmar on some longer trips) These are both great recommendations. I'm not familiar with Vela, however.

As an update, the Anker power bank solution has an Achilles' heel: auto power-off. When a device is off or drawing very little current, the power bank turns off and needs to be restarted by pressing a button. Other than turning it on before diving (= opening the housing) or leaving the camera on all the time, even when transiting to the dive site (= defeating the purpose of extending battery life), I don't see a practical solution.

I've worked on the Andaman Sea (liveaboard and day trips) for a few seasons until 2020, and crowds will indeed be difficult to avoid. The area is popular, and the number of local (Thai) divers increased after the pandemic travel bans. You should base yourself in Khao Lak, where 4/5-day liveaboards depart from nearby Thap Lamu Pier, and there are also day trips, hop-on hop-off platforms, etc., reaching both the Similan and Surin national parks. Richelieu Rock (in the Surins Islands NP) is great, but yes, it will be one of the most crowded sites. I've had up to 14 liveaboards on site. Liveaboard four-dives-a-day schedules mean that it's difficult to space out dives by more than 20 minutes, so it gets crowded. I also worked on a speedboat that went to Richelieu from Khao Lak (or more precisely Ban Nam Khem, further north) four times a week. At the time, the two operators offering this were Big Blue and Wetzone. We did managed to dive the site during liveaboard lunch breaks and sometimes had the site to ourselves, but reaching it can be tricky in December with the wind. Big Blue is run, on the Japanese side, by a photographer, Takeshi Omura, but the operation is split between a Japanese side and a rest-of-the-world side, and the photo action is concentrated on the Japanese-speaking section. The other two highlights in the area are Koh Tachai (Pinnacle) and Koh Bon, in the Similans Islands NP. Similans island sites themselves can be nice (sites like 3 Trees and Elephant Head Rock for the topography for instance), but it's more hit or miss, with the three clear highlights being Bon, Tachai, and Richelieu. The area doesn't have amazing biodiversity (compared to places like Indonesia, for instance), but fish density is amazing, and that's one of the highlights, along with the occasional whale shark and giant oceanic manta ray etc. I can't really give recommendations now as my info is outdated, but look into operators like the Phinisi/Junk, Big Blue (which has a new liveaboard, the Blue Dolphin, and has resumed day trips if I'm not mistaken), Wetzone, Seabees, etc. I will say that there were, in my times, operators to avoid, so choose wisely. I'm sure others will have more recent recommendations.

Thanks all. To be clear, I'm looking for ways to streamline the workload because I dive with the camera every second day, while still keeping everything healthy. Leaving the port on works, as does not lubricating the main O-ring after each diving day, which will save time compared to what I do with the clamshell. Removing the flip is a constraint, unless Nauticam's design is easier than AOI's (the AOI requires a special plastic tool to screw in the centre piece). I guess I'll have to find a balance, like removing it once a week or so. I'm familiar with ultrasonic cleaners as I used them for regulator servicing when I worked in diving. They're great, but at the moment I've been doing fine with what I have on hand for manual cleaning. I'll consider getting one in the long term. I'm curious. I know this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find a definitive answer. Is Nauticam's lubricant for grey silicone O-rings a PFPE/PTFE grease like Tribolube or Christolube?

Thanks. I'll ease up on the housing o-ring. On the flip, yes, this seems to be important. I just checked and, as I feared, the AOI double flip has now fused to the LX10 M67 port... The AOI tightening/removal tool is a plastic ring with lugs that engage with indentations on the flip. There's no way it's going to budge now, and forcing it will just break the tool. Lesson learned: remove flips regularly... I'll definitely make sure to do that with the Nauticam triple flip, which is definitely not cheap.

Thanks. I really don't plan on messing with the port o-ring unless I'm changing ports. I'll probably just check and clean it once a month or so. Good to know about the main o-ring. The NA-A1 housing o-ring is roughly four times the size of the NA-LX10 clamshell o-ring, which makes it much easier to inspect visually. Yes, port watermarks are annoying. On my LX10 they just won't come off, even with a light rub using a cerium oxide paste. But they're not visible in the footage when the port is wet, so I just try not to think about them. I'd like to avoid them on the new port, though, so I'll keep making sure no water is left to dry on it (even if it doesn't seemed to have fully avoided their appearance in my case). But yes, rinsing with demineralised water is really a hassle that I'd prefer to avoid if possible!

Thanks. On the Nauticam clamshell, with a thin o-ring, I just prefer cleaning it after a diving day. I had an unexplained flood (lost vacuum 45 minutes into a shallow dive, despite having pulled the vacuum 2 hours earlier) on the third dive after getting the housing in 2020, which made me a little paranoid about o-ring maintenance with the clamshell system. The o-ring side of things has been good since, so almost 6 years. The only time I don't remove and check it is when changing batteries between dives, which is a risk I try to avoid. But now, with a non-clamshell housing and a bigger o-ring, I plan on loosening up on this routine. I've been using the white Nauticam lube for the grey o-rings, as I haven't found a clear confirmation about non-branded substitutes. I guess it's PTFE-based like grease for reg parts, but when in doubt... I use very little anyway, so those little Nauticam tubes go a long way. So you don't really remove ports? Reading Nauticam documentation, they recommends port removal and o-ring maintenance after each diving day, but I can't say I've ever met someone who does this if they're diving the same port... Interesting that you lube strobe o-rings more often than I do. I don't have strobes but video lights, and these don't get as much attention. I re-lube them with silicone when things get a little grippy, and clean and re-lube them maybe once a month (standard silicone grease). Same goes for my dive lights, with no issues. When I do work on them, if the o-rings can be removed easily (Kraken video lights, Backscatter...), I remove them for cleaning and lubrication, but the tighter ones (dive lights) just get lightly wiped and lubed in place. I do have four battery packs for the lights, but one gets much more use than the others now. I have two new Sony batteries for the new rig, but I'll also be using an Anker power bank to power the camera (I have two of those, which I plan on rotating). Any opinion on flip holders? Can they get badly stuck on a port if not removed regularly or does soaking generally avoid that?