Christian K

Yup NA6III does not ”look back” and is very compact as a result. So from a packing/travel perspective the new generation Nikon Nauticams are very competitive. Don’t know about the Sony/Canon situation…

A fellow Swede go tomorrow. Trick he say is, if you go from far away, fly to Mexico City and then domestic to CSL. I’m boycotting until this is dealt with in a trustworthy way. There are so many other places.

You need to be at the other end of the process you describe. That is the sane and logical choice. But if you let sanity in, you probably wouldn’t be doing UW-photography in the first place… 🙂

I go solo when possible. I also make it a challenge to incorporate divers or snorkelers in my images.

This is a very impressive project. I mean, really impressive.

Wow.

Coming from DX and went to a Nikon Z last year. Shoot almost only WA of various types and shapes, my workhorses were the Tokina 10-17, a Sigma 10-20 and Nikons 10,5 FE in Hugyfot housings behind domes of different sizes. Went to Nauticam much due to them being inventive with water corrected optics. The wwl-c and 24-50 is a great set-up and it’s very capable. Much better than any rectilinear zoom in a domeport that I have seen. Much sharper all-over. Nimble and easy to handle. The best for travel. I’m not sure how difficult it is or what the end results would be if you adapt the wwl-c to other housings, so can’t help you there. Previous poster seem to have done a great job with an Aquatica housing. Myself would not be able to pull that off—ymmv. Being in Sweden (?) you should really reach out to and have a chat with Magnus Lundgren @Underwater Exposure in Malmö, he has a ton of experience with various set-ups, wet optics (shoot Sony atm) and is very friendly. Hej från Stockholm ✋🏻

I’ll be in Hulhumale late March, so will see what the situation is then.

Latest "reports" (more like rumors) from Shark Tank in Hulhumale are that there are no sharks anymore, only rays due to lots of disturbance from work and construction in the harbor. Will get back in a couple of months and give my impressions. I'm there anyway so might as well give it a try. I understand this dive, in case there are sharks, are quite different from the Fav tiger dive. Deeper and with lower visibility, so not really as suitable for shooting. Well, well...

There are fewer sharks in the oceans now than in 2011, so it’s not like the conservation work is done and we can sit back. It’s an uphill battle. Shark diving helps a lot. Of course it has to be done in a responsible way. Also note the difference in feeding and baiting. Feeding … I don’t know if that is such a good idea. Looked quickly but can’t see those studies really say anything about modyfying or altering the behavior in individuals. Basically they conclude: Sharks go were they think the food is. (bullsharks went to shallower depths) and big congregations of sharks can cause ”social” issues (many sharks in one spot can cause them to fight with each other). Consequences of feeding/baiting over time in the same spot. Perhaps detrimental to a group of individuals? Perhaps immoral? But it’s not really altering or modifying shark behavior inmo. They are opportunistic by nature and still have that behavior intact. Now with all that said. All shark diving aren’t equal. There are very bad examples out there.

Inme it is a common misconception in popular and mainstrean media that the sharks behaviour is ”altered” or ”modified”. The truth is that it’s very difficult to alter the behavior of an animal who has been perfected through longer time than any animals on earth. What we do when we use fish scraps or plastic bottles is exploiting their natural behavior. Dangerous? It depends, but it is more dangerous than when there’s no baksheesh.

Spectacular series of shots tho 🙂 Most sharks will n e v e r come close enough for photos w/o something to attract them, which might be fine. An acquaintance diver lost a rig in a similar fashion to a tiger shark in the Aldabra atoll some 20 years ago. Think it made the tv news in his home country (Netherlands) .

Was there with extended family and we had a very good time. Good for snorkeling to. No mantas there but eagle rays and sharks on the house reef. Was a few years ago tho, 2019.

For a family with mixed abilities and non-divers. Been there, done that. Not a trek. Maldives. You can see sharks, rays and turtles etc. on quite a few house reefs. Mantas have cleaning stations and can be found reasonably reliable. Less expensive resorts with good house reefs inme Ellaidho in north Ari and Filitheyo in North Nilhando. Bon Chance.