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Here are ideas using some locline arms and/joby style legs. This is something I tested with a borrowed camera, before finally going for the quadripod solution, as it was much more convenient. As you can see, I combined my Joby Gorillapod on a central mount, combined with locline flexarms: Here's a similar example I found online: but for a lightweight actioncam setup this is probably overkill. cheers b

Great, thank you Wags, this a very nice example of what the camera is capable of doing with a little CC, impressive and more balanced than previous clips I'd seen, though there is a green hue. Is the water green in your locale? Also would you mind trying a clip with flat/native white balance when you have the chance? Just one 10 second clip would be fine, to compare what re-white balancing in post would give compared to WB at 5500K. cheers ben

Couldn't agree more. Wonders how others feel about this, did it put them off a little or actually challenge them to be part of the "elite" divers capable of braving Mikomoto currents? On the "DIY" aspect, I think most of Europe is like this - France certainly is, so is the UK, and most if not all of the historical CMAS-BSAC-club diving base of dive operations. This actually extends to (W)RSTC affiliated operations in the area as well, either because most if not all dive operations are both, because of local regulations and also, more importantly, simply because the diving context requires it - there is less manpower because it's more expensive, and also conditions in general (diving from RIBs/dinghies, cold water, etc...). Beyond historical concerns, I think the situation is similar in North-America (Canada and US as well) - so Japan is not really an exception, but more in line with typical dive operations found in the Global North, especially in local dive ops as opposed to resorts / liveaboard cruises welcoming visiting tourists. Shameless plug, but I'd actually wrote a little about this here https://bluejapan.org/diving/organisation/ and here https://bluejapan.org/diving/practicalities/ The resort (I've heard the term "cocktail diving" as well) and liveaboard scene is mostly found in Global South countries - which also happen to concentrate the largest dive-tourism industries - Egypt and Mexico where it all started, South-East Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand), Maldives, Central America, Micronesia and the South-Pacific... I may be wrong, but I'd imagine places like Australia would offer a mixed experience, with local diving being autonomous, whereas tourism oriented resorts and liveaboards would also offer the hand-off, turnkey experience, as would other places around catering mostly to fly-in divers. Anyway, I have no real problem with this and actually think it's better for divers in general to be in charge of their equipment (and I also hate people touching my stuff, even in a recreational context), and yet have somewhat mixed feelings about the message being sent here. I do feel what might be something of a superiority complex or ill-placed elistism, which sits a little oddly with what is likely a real passion for this complex and fascinating environment, as well as very understandable safety concerns (surfacing in a shipping lane in rough seas 😅...). I definitely agree with safety-first, clear operating procedures and rules instaured to make the experience safer, but the doc does bring up concerns/questions about the way this all seems to be implemented. Yet not having dived there myself, I can only go with what I read, see and feel, which is worth what it is... Personally, as much as I'd love to see schooling hammerheads and actually do love current diving, be it drifting or more stationary / hooked (like the Filipino guide featured in the doc, I've worked in currenty places like Palau, Maldives, and Komodo for instance - the latter having - by far - the most complex and potentially dangerous current I encountered), I'm not sure I would be able to enjoy diving in such conditions. Here's some additional food for thought: a Mikomoto Hammer 2023 dive briefing clip (fasten your seatbelts 😉) and - while I'm not really a fan of the format - an local incident discussion by Discovery Divers Tokyo: https://youtu.be/roOSko4DKrA

As mentioned, if you go with flex arms (locline) you can connect them to your tray with ball mounts and clamps, but also with an M6 thread mount, a 1/4" thread mount or coldshoe mount for instance. This would allow you to connect 2 or 3 flex arms to your tray in multiple ways Have a look at the options here https://www.flex-arm.com/en/components/34-flexible-arms-components Looking at the picture of your rig, you could add triple clamps (especially open ones) to the ball end you have at the end of the tray, add something to where the handles are, add a perpendicular 5" ball arm and also work with the main central mounting point for example

how about two 5" ball arms perpendicular to your tray? Some images from a legacy WeP thread, where I was asking about attachine a tripod to a pesky Nauticam flexitray and got great help for others: My screwed-on solution ended up being more simple, but here's a YouTube tutorial for a slightly more elaborate one: Here's a similar approach (copyright Davide) Otherwise in the prêt-à-shooter readymade section, you have these kinds of solutions (but where's the fun in that 😁) https://www.bgningoem.com

As a side note - if you want to make do with less weight, keep in mind that a 4 leg setup (quadripod) will be more stable than a tripod, allowing for lighter setup. I use aluminium ball arms for my quadripod, which have the added advantage of having quite a bit of weight themselves, which helps, be it in a tripod or quadripod setup - these guys here: Otherwise a quick-and-dirty weighted monopod option for action cams would be as follows: Source So for your rig this would translate to adding a ball mount beneath it, then keeping the extra weight in a pocket for instance, easy to handle, but not the most flexible. Lastly, when I was playing with GoPro and closeup lenses, I fitted a Joby Gorillapod tripod - they come in different weight options and are quite handy, with lots of options, including for 3kg, 1kg rigs on land... I think I had a 1kg one, but the 500g Actioncam Gorillapod is fine for underwater use, this here: https://joby.com/global/gorillapod-500-action-jb01516-bww/ Keep in mind that these are not specifically designed for UW use / saltwater, so make sure to rinse well - they will wear down, but do work for a whie Another more option along the same lines, as suggested above, would be to design your own with flexarm / locline type arms, which would be more durable - a locline based quadripod (or tripod) with ball-ends could be flexible, light to carry and yet stable enough to hold an action-cam rig, and also offer plenty of options to attach to your rig:

Here's a review of the series: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/nov/20/our-oceans-review-barack-obama-nature-show-netflix Here's a little snippet on wildlife documentary narration by former POTUS 😁 For the most part, Obama acquits himself well in his new role. His voice, which has always been steady and soothing, was made for this. (Can you imagine any other high-level US politician pulling it off? Would narration sustain George W Bush’s attention? Would Joe Biden’s narration sustain ours? Does Trump know what a fish is?) This doesn’t mean that Obama is the new David Attenborough, of course. Attenborough is a career naturalist who almost single-handedly created the genre of wildlife television. Barack Obama is here to emote about dolphins. He isn’t helped by the script, which sometimes seems to underestimate the intelligence of its audience. It’s too folksy, describing the clownfish as “the world’s most famous fish”, presumably because there is a film franchise that stars the species. During a sequence about cuttlefish, Obama growls: “Don’t make him angry; you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.” At one point, he namechecks Murder on the Dancefloor. At another, he uses the word “fishnado”. Attenborough would never.

Here's a 30 minute promotional documentary shot by Kirin Sekito on Mikomoto Hammers, one of the four dive operations currently running trips to Mikomoto. Mikomoto is an islet 10km south-east of Japan's Izu Peninsula - an area with complex topography and under the powerful influence of the Kuroshio current - which is now famous for its resident scalloped hammerhead schools and other exciting encounters in strong currents. The documentary highlights the specifics of the area and also of the operation's diving style (dive time limited to 35 minutes max, for example 🙂) cheers ben

Great thank you both - working distances seem similar as to what I measured on the compact at my default 50mm equivalent at f/11 90mm-infinity with no diopter 30-210mm with the +6, 5/glass-90mm with the +12.5 5/glass-60mm with the CMC-1, which was too tight (so I used the +12.5 instead) The Zeiss 50mm + CMC-2 at 30-130mm seems like a good option, even though magnification is unclear, along with the +6. I guess now we could also throw the MFO-1 to the mix, need to look into it. Is there a way to get working distance info for the bare 50mm prime lens in the Nauticam port system?

Thank Craig, this is food for thought. I'm building the whole kit from the ground up, so it will be macro only at first (which is fine as this is what I’m focusing on at the moment anyway), expanding to cover wide angle as well at a later stage 🤞 I now think a Zeiss Touit 50mm - combined with diopters on a flip holder as Davide was suggesting - is really the way to go for now. I already have the CMC-1 and also have the Inon UCL-165 +6 or an AOI +12.5 as weaker to slightly weaker options - might go for CMC-2 later on, but the AOI UCL-09 is similar and a nice lens to work with. The one thing I’m a little worried about is the range the 50mm on its own would give me on APS-C, especially for BW type scenarios, where it would also be nice to be able to shoot larger subjects like salps or squid, typically in the 10/20cm range. But based on sensor calculation equivalents, unless I'm reading it all wrong, I think it should be fine. For such larger subjects I’m shooting removing diopters and shooting at a 36mm equivalent on a 1” sensor at f/11, which is equivalent to 98.2mm at f/30 on FF. Which is, in turn, equivalent to 60.5mm on APS-C, so actually tighter than the native 50mm lens, if I'm not mistaken. Meaning the 50mm should allow me to film larger subjects in the 10/20cm range while also having enough magnification work in the 1cm to 5mm range with diopters.

Thanks for all the advice, this is really useful. I would love to know your opinion on the following - as stated, I've recently started shooting small planktonic critters (so small, 10- 5cm for the largest to 0.5mm range) in blackwater/bonfire type settings, which I most likely will be concentrating on in the future. On the 1" compact I currently shoot with, I have a zoom lens , and I'm working mostly with my 36-72mm equivalent lens at zoomed in to 50mm equivalent, combined with a +6 diopter - this is my default shooting mode and works well in most BW-type situations (at f/11, I get a working distance of min: 30mm max: 210mm with this setup) Now this is all on a 1" sensor, so a crop factor of 2.7. I zoom out to 36mm for larger subjects (eventually removing the diopter for bigger ones like squids). I sometimes shoot with a stronger diopter (+12.5, in this clip for instance) also in zoomed to 50mm equivalent, but rarely go beyond 60mm equivalent with either diopters as it's very difficult to handle (shake and in-camera spotting/framing issues) Now switching to Sony ASP-C will be a completely different game of course,. Looking at the macro options mentioned above a 50mm like the Zeiss (plus diopters on a flip-mount) should give me required magnification with good image quality. However, I'm a little concerned about flexibility, and wondering if in this type of scenario it might not be better to go with a zoom lens, like a 16-50mm, which has been suggested. Keep in mind that this is for video, so as much as I love pixel-peeping, it's a little different with moving pictures. Two things I'm concerned about with a zoom lens is: 1. having to work in the telephoto range more often than not (which will increase shake and increase distortion) 2. autofocus performance, which might be slower than with a prime? Any thoughts on this, 50mm prime vs. 16-50mm zoom for bw-type video on an ASP-C sensor? thanks!

Here's a related thread on the infamous photogear tax. I wouldn't be surprised if they started applying it to scuba gear more regularly as well (has happened before, as well as for golf clubs and other equipment)

Agree - more than visitors, action would need come from diving operators and dive-tourism stakeholders first. If dive operations - both Mexican and foreign-owned - in Mexico's main dive-tourism areas, primarily the States of Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur, worked together on a joint petition addressed both to their State's local government and also, bringing the issue up on a national level (to the Mexican Secretary of Tourism / Secretaría de Turismo) this could carry some weight. Such a petition would need to stress how the current application of taxation on tourist imaging equipment is damaging their respective businesses and also the image of Mexico as a flourishing dive-tourism destination (and is thus detrimental to the tourism-based economy in their area), and should aim for an offical amendment to current regulations (ie. a tax exemption for camera equipment to be used by tourists during their visit for amateur purposes, equipment which will not be staying in the country), and/or to the way regulations are applied on the ground by customs personel. If dive operators in Cozumel, Tulum and Playa del Carmen, as well as La Paz, Cabo Pulmo and Cabo San Lucas and Bahia Magdalena petitioned their local governmental authorities and nation while also submitting a joint petition on national level, this might have more luck in acheiving something. But I imagine local politics, rivalries and strife (along with general indifference on their part? 😅) might make this more complex than it sounds in reality. Ruthless application of tax regulations (and this is not just for camera equipment) has been getting worse across the country recently, but the camera import levies issue has been going on for years...

As a sidenote, if you want to try it "on the cheap", just buy a pair of the strongest cheap reading glasses you can find (usually +3 or +4), remove the arms and replace with a strap. My vision is dropping fast as well, but I've been using this system for 2 years for shooting macro to supermacro video, and it's fine. What I really like about this system is that the readers can be moved up or down (I usually have them low when I'm spotting, and covering the field of vision when I'm shooting), and removed as well (I just fit them on the mask at depth). And it's super cheap as well. Just make sure you have a clip on the reader's strap so you can clip them to something when not in use. This is what my current kit of DIY readers look like: There's also a thread on the subject here cheers

Underwater image-maker getting ready to cross Mexican customs with his camera gear... 😁