bghazzal

Hi, I'm on Okinawa main island and yes, early November should be fine though the northern winds might start blowing, difficult to predict in the current situation. Water should still be somewhere between 28° and 25°C. Viz should be getting better with less plankton in the water, and typhoon season is over. Local diving is divided between shore dives (and yes there are easy dives, even if the wind has picked up, like Gorilla Chop, and otherwise the Seawall dives, the East coast for macro) and boat dives (wave/wind dependent). Best coral will be in the Keramas (boat), but it's the end of the season, so you might end up doing local boat dives like Manza, Nakijin, Minna, etc... Zamami I'm less familiar with as I shore dive here. Quite a few shore entries are tricky, and with only one day of diving the weather might not cooperate. cheers! ben

Very interesting subject - but pricing-wise, are they competitive? Their website lists the Sony A6700 at $2423 USD (love the $3, guess it must be an automatic conversion) https://www.seafrogs.com/products_details/Sea_Frogs_Aluminum_Alloy_Underwater_Housing_For_Sony_a6700.html where as the Nauticam NA6700 is at $2300 or so (edit - this is the price in JPY, I guess the low yen is favourable - it's more in the $3000 range apparently) https://www.nauticam.com/products/na-a6700-housing-for-sony-a6700-camera and maybe the the Seafrog comes with the port and dome like on the pic?

Hi Kristin, with a $1500 USD budget, the main options i would see would be: an action cam rig (GoPro, DJI) with the wide angle lens or - erhm, a mobile phone in a housing. Why not stay with the TG for stills, macro stills and macro video and stick a gopro or similar on top (with the wide angle accessory lens) for wide angle video? Compact, cheap and best of both worlds, since she'd still keep the current rig. Or: a second-hand compact rig, which would allow her to do video, stills and macro / wide angle on the same dive. Canon G7, Sony RX100Va or above for instance. The issue is that compacts are really bricks in the water and need a lot of floats to be neutral and balanced in the water for video, which effectively kills off the compact-form factor... But other than that they are great, and indeed way better than a TG for video. I shoot on a Lumix LX10 compact and happy with it (you can see clips shot on it here) despite have given up on the compact form long ago, and missing features I would need (extended battery life, HDMI screen connectivity, 4K 60fps...) - my " compact" rig weighs over 10kg on land, to give you an idea... A more recent compact like the Canon V1 would be great, would set you back more than $1500, and micro four-thirds rigs (GH5) are not really compact either.

Hello all, I'd be interested in buying a 67mm double flip holder, ideally an AOI double-flip or a Marelux (Nauticam will probably be out of my current price range) I've ruled out the Saga double flip because of design issues (no locking mechanism). If anyone has one to sell and ok with shipping to Japan (Okinawa), please get in touch. Cheers! Ben

I use a Apex Cargo pocket WTX large model, mounted on the side, over my BC pocket Closes with a zipper, has 2 attachments inside onto which I mounted rings. I then clip neoprene lens pouches inside (similar to the one Davide posted) - Fits 2 or 3 diopters.

Hello again Dan - we've already exchanged by FB pm on Okinawa so I won't be much more help as i dive independently, but I think @shokwaav 's been diving with local operators (39ers?) quite a bit if I'm not mistaken! I've just returned for two days diving Ie island, and the coral was really super healthy (but fished out, unfortunately). Ie, then Nakijin have had the best coral coverage on main island so far. cheers ben

Hi Dan and welcome onboard! Ben

Regarding the Saga dual flip, it would be great to confirm if mounted diopters are flush to the port like on the Nauticam flip, or if there is a little gap as some users have reported. Seemed to be linked to the mounting design IIRC

Hi Kristin and thanks for sharing this. I think the graded version is on the right track, but I also see two technical problems in the footage itself: - the white balance on the SOOC camera footage is a little off - basically it is too warm on the artificially-lit part, and this is causing issues in the grading because of the strong contrast with the ambient lit background (which has a major colour cast). The foreground looks better on the graded version because you fixed the white-balance by removing the warm cast - but there shouldn't be a warm cast to begin with. And this de-warming of the foreground in the graded version, by cooling the image, has increased the colour cast in the ambient light lit background... - you're only using one light, meaning the foreground is a little underlit or rather not lit evenly, creating something of a hotspot to the left of the image. A second light would help light it more evenly, and then you could focus on grading to the artificially lit area. The main solutions in my opinion would be to choose to shoot in a full artificial light dominant scenario, but then you need a second light, and importantly to get the correct white-balance on the lights. The other solution, since this seems quite shallow, would actually be to shoot without the light (ideally with a good filter), after locking the white balance (say to 5600K). You could then rebalance the white-balance point of the image in Resolve and would get more even results between foreground and background I think.

I was guiding so these clips are composed of sneaky 10 second shot mostly shot on an old GoPro7 😄 If you can do the bumpheads, definitely go. It's an incredible experience, very moving. Palau's topography/currents turn it into some sort of redlight district for fish, there's a lot of visible courting and spawning going on! ❤️ The bumpheads congregate on an easy shallow and rather protected site (Grassland/Sandy Paradise), and shoot up from about 30/40m depth below right up to the surface, and can range from hundreds to thousands. You go to the site, guides swim out on snorkel to watch the aggregation and how it builds up, and when it starts to happen (the fish change colour and start chasing), everyone gets in the water and follow the fish aggregation, hovering in the shallows. The males are chasing a females up to the surface where they spawn, and completely focused on what they're doing. It's still quite dark and fast so strobe placement is important, and after a bit the water really gets cloudy with the spawning fireworks, but once you understand how it works you can get quite close. So the idea would be to try and capture the firework run to the surface, and some wider shots. It's not easy photography, but the show itself is incredible. Also before the action starts, the males actually compete by bumping their bony humps like buffalo horns, but this is very deep so you just hear the sound. The occasional bullshark or (oceanic) blacktip cruises by, but the bumpheads are not easy preys so you don't really get that much hunting action, unlike with the snapper spawning. cheers b

If this helps, I've worked in Palau and pelagics will be mostly roughly 1.5m grey reef sharks passing by close when you're hooked-in (Blue Corner, Siaes Corner), some barracudas or jacks and turtles on the plateau, and otherwise mantas passing over your head at German Channel (which can be seen at the cleaning stations or feeding in the shallows, which is spectacular, but means swimming against the current). The grey reef sharks are always there and will get close if there's current. I have some clips here which can maybe give you an idea of what to prepare for (the bumphead / snapper spawning are on specific full/new moon related mornings only). Hope this helps! cheers ben

Legendary RED Color Science, Built-In The new ZR features a full-frame sensor for excellent depth of field and video quality and supports internal recording up to 12-bit RAW 6K/60p. This is the first camera to use the new 12-bit R3D NE RAW codec, a new RAW format which REDCODE RAW users will find familiar. By leveraging its broad 15+ stop dynamic range, it achieves well-balanced image quality from highlights to shadows. Support for Log3G10 and the REDWideGamutRGB gamut reproduces exposure standards and colors consistent with RED color science, with true RED color tonality, skin tone integrity and tonal roll-off – similar to the output of RED’s cinema cameras such as the V-RAPTOR [X] and KOMODO-X. Two base ISO sensitivities are available, ISO 800 and ISO 64005, allowing users to choose the best option for a particular scene or situation such as bright daylight or low-light interior scenes. However, just like REDCODE RAW, ISO in R3D NE files is fully adjustable in post for maximum flexibility. Furthermore, users also have the option to shoot in N-RAW, ProRes RAW, and other formats to best suit their production and workflow. The camera also features a new view assist function which allows the user to store and select from up to ten LUTs in the camera. This will let the filmmaker preview the effect of the color grade in real time using the monitor. Three types of LUT data (17-point, 33-point, 65-point6) can be loaded into the camera. RED’s Creative LUT Kit is available for free via the RED website here. The ZR features a new Cinematic video mode, a user preset for those who want to easily enjoy the RED cinematic look with a faster workflow in less data-intensive non-RAW formats. Cinematic mode automatically adjusts the shutter angle to 180 degrees, changes the frame rate to 24 fps, and applies the RED Cine Bias Picture Control for gorgeous yet simple cinematic color. What’s more, nine RED-curated cinematic Picture Controls based on RED creative LUTs will be available for free download via Nikon Imaging Cloud, expanding possibilities for more diverse imaging expression. Additional Features of the Nikon ZR Super lightweight with small footprint at just 1.19 lb. (body only). A short 16mm flange focal distance (the shortest among full-frame cameras) offers greater flexibility in the lenses that can be used, allowing filmmakers to make the most of their existing lens assets. Slow-motion presets: Instant access to 4K/119.88p12 and Full HD/239.76p cinematic motion, as well as user modes for 4x and 5x slow-mo. Price and Availability The new Nikon ZR Cinema Camera will be available in late October 2025 for a suggested retail price of $2,199.95* for the body only. Additional kit configurations include: the body with the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 lens for $2,749.95*, with the NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 for $2,849.95*, or with the NIKKOR Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3 for $2,499.95*. https://www.nikonusa.com/press-room/zr

Thanks for sharing that Eric - I find older footage fascinating, both as a time capsule showing diving areas in a fast evolving context, and also from a technical point of view. You have really great shots there. Beyond the technical restriction on actual image definition, it's still very good, and kudos on the macro (really reaching the limits of that diopter!) and the mandarin fish sequence, which are generally a nightmare to shoot! What were you shooting on at the time? cheers ben

Welcome onboard Doug. I'm also piling up unedited footage, hopefully saving it for those long winter days! Cheers Ben

On a related note, to follow-up on your comments on grading GP-LOG vs. Go Pro Standard/Natural, I gave one of your clips a spin. I don't use Resolve as my laptop is too old to get fluid playback on it - even with proxy files - but Final Cut Pro X, which integrates better. But results would be the same I think. The discussion was unrelated to the article but I was curious as I will one day upgrade my action cam to a 10-bit camera, and wanted to see how log worked. To cut to the chase, I find Go Pro logr to work better for grading. So, first i imported your GoPro Log clip and non-log clip as is. I then quickly graded the log clip as is: Ok results I think. whereas the standard/natural color clip, ungraded and SOOC was like this, which is quite a different base to work with, obviously.... But since we're dealing with a log profile, normally it has to be converted, so i got the official GoPro12 log conversion lut for that here https://community.gopro.com/s/article/10-Bit-Log-Encoding?language=en_US There's probably a GoPro 13 log conversion lut, but doubt it will make much of a difference. and tried quickly grading again, just to see. The conversion really gave me more workroom, with the footage coming alive. Quickly graded results were as such for the converted log clip (saturation is a little high, to show what we have to work with) vs the following quickly graded results for your standard / natural clip, which still has that odd burned-in contrast issue visible in the SOOC file. In conclusion, if I had to choose, I would definitely work with the converted LOG file, as it has more leg room and less strange issues for grading, and also makes it easier to deal with the slightly overexposed section of your footage. Hope this helps. cheers