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Anyone aware of the new (?) Fotocore GTM flash? https://fotocore.com/products/gtm-strobe?VariantsId=10039 does not suppoert TTL Mode: 7 modes Guide number: 24 Flash tube: Circular flash tube Power: 120Ws Connection: Optical cable Illumination: 160°-110°(Reduction Ring) Battery pack: FOTOCORE battery (2 x 18650 lithium batteries) Battery pack power: 25.2 wh Flash Capacity: 800 flashes at full power, 5000 flashes at 1st mode Recycle time: 0.1s-1s Flash speed: continuous Unlimited flash sync with 10flashs/sec from first to third mode Power indicator: LCD displaying Color temperature: 5000K Waterproof Depth: 100m Focus/target light: 5W/ 500 lumens (center focus) Dimensions: 118*75mm Weight (on land): 815g without battery

I can understand the problem, but I see the difficulties more with night dives than with drift dives. I have an attachment similar to Dave Hicks', but it is no longer available new. I have now ordered one from Mares which I hope will work just as well. The advantage is that it can be used as a hand strap as well as for attaching to the BCD and with the stainless steel cable inside it should be strong enough. https://www.tradeinn.com/diveinn/de/mares-lanyard-stainless-steel-spiral-verlangerung/11461/p

Just FYI: Housing A6700 with acrylic dome: 2,4kg Housing A7IV with WACP-C: 5,2kg both including lanyard. 10-20/4 performed extremely well. I put zooming in on C3, zooming out on C2 and removed the zoom gear. If someone is interested in the Nauticam zoom gear for 10-20 - we'll never use it again.

And here a last one: you can see on the side of the whale, beginning at his mouth, a small structure like a line. That’s a tentacle from a deep-sea-squid. The rest of the squid is in his stomach.

Here another two. Sadly we saw two injured whales: One with broken mandible (here, sleeping with the other) and one with heavy injuries on his tail - both from fishermen nets.

We are just on our way back from Dominika, after 10 days of sperm whales with Franco Banfi - and I wanted to share the experiences. Foreword: We were already on Mo’orea with humpback whales, which was quite good - and had tried to go swimming in Mexico with all kinds of whales, which was a total failure. Accordingly, we were nervous and excited this time, especially whether our decision to make 10 full days would be right. This time the journey first led us over the USA, from Miami it goes directly to Dominika. Spectacular approach over the island, those with weak nerves should choose a place in the aisle. In any case, I was able to count the teeth of the workers and clearly see if the cigarette in his mouth was burning or out. The first two days were dedicated to birdwatching and nature, „Dr. Bird“ was funny and the animals were nice, but you have to adjust to „Birdwatching“ mentally (Yoga or weed might help) To the whales: pickup at 7:30, then take the taxi to the boat and then off. Boat is currently a Bertram 35, so big enough for everything. Captain Jerry (maximum praise!) listens again and again with an underwater microphone where the whales are and has an extremely impressive hit rate, even in storms and waves. When the whale is spotted, the boat goes there and the guests are told „get ready“ - „go, go, go!!“ in the direction where the whales are heading to. You have to swim a few meters to position yourself, but then stay or start swimming only to accompany the whale a little. All the whalewatchers coordinate to let only one group into the water at a time. With us it was a maximum of 3 guests + guide, with patient whales up to 6 people on the whale - still uncomplicated, and we did not have the feeling of disturbing the whales. To convey a comprehensible idea: we were in the water between 4x and 10x per day. While on the boat without having direct communication to the captain you can tell from the engine noise what status is: - Engine off: „Look out“ or captain holds the microphone in the water - Idle: „Search for whale“ - Slow: „Re-Positioning“ - Half throttle: „I think there’s one in front“ - Full throttle: „There he (she) is!“ The weather was everything between calm and sunny and a lot of wind and rain showers. In bad weather, the encounters were better and the water was clearer. In good weather, at least for us, the visibility tended to be worse. The encounters were fantastic. From single, playful fellows to families with small whale babies to medium-sized groups (with us max. 5 whales) up to two sleeping whales all included. Franco and Sabrina would have liked to have larger groups, but you can’t choose. And despite the rough conditions, we didn’t have a day without whales. Nice is that you are in a group of enthusiasts who get involved in the long tour, the other guests had 2000+ dives and knew how to take pictures. For us, the trip was worth every minute and every €. We’re going with Franco and Sabrina again. Two final remarks: In the next group, Doug Allan was there, which ennobles Franco. And: if you want to buy a camera for such a trip: A6700 with 10-20 and 6“ acrylport is a clear recommendation - small, light, wonderful quality and amazingly well stabilized video. In combination with the 70-350 and the Tamron 17-70/2.8 a smart and complete travel combo.

https://www.mooreadarkwaters.com

We had 2 very good experiences in Mo‘orea. One was the photographer Joaqin Fregoni who provided night snorkeling, somehow interesting conditions but perfect guide. The other was blue water diving, located in Manva Beach resort who had the best interactions with the whales, which I highly recommend (we tried 3 different providers). Reserve a spot because they usually are fully booked. For Fakarava we already saw all the reviews and I think we know what to expect.

It sounds incredible good and I have to get closer to that. We already thought about going back to Mo‘orea and that would be a great combination. Thanks for sharing that!!

Another BIG upside: The window for the monitor is really large and makes it really easy to control frame and all the settings. Even from different angles, so less need of viewfinder. Beautiful alternative to FF. Looking forward to seeing other opinions or experiences.

It took a while but finally I got it! Thanks a lot!!

Doesn’t seem to work… ☹️

My wife extracted a photo aóut of the 4K/60 video. Not too bad.

Ah, good idea. The 10-20 is motor-zoom and the A6700 is highly customizable. I remember having thought about that but somehow inbetween forgot. I‘ll give it a try. The reflections inside the port are quite a mess. I am totally satisfied with IQ, but might be opting for another port because of these reflections. If someone is really interested in video I‘d recommend the A6700 anyway.

First impressions: Facts: - A6700 + 10-20/4 (1.600.- €) - Nauticam housing (ready to go with everything 3.100.- €) - - 6“ acrylic port N85 - - Zoom gear for 10-20 - - Vacuum Upside: - really lightweight, what a relief!! Another diver used a RX100 V with WWL-1 and that combo was heavier and weak balanced. My combination ist small, lightweight and well balanced. - AF and image quality as well as dynamic capabilities are all great and nearly (but not fully) on par with my A7 IV - Video stabilization is not as good as a GoPro but much better than my A7 IV - 4K/60 works smooth and fine - All buttons and controls are in reach, some of the controls are better to handle as the A7 IV-housing - Battery life is great (that was a no-go with the older A6xxx) Downside: - Due to the N85 port the lens has to be detached to put the camera in the housing - Port reflects on the inside when shooting against the sun. You can clearly read the letters and numbers on the front of the lens - Cheap and small port - edges far worse than with the A7 + WACP-C (which performs really well!) - Acrylic is prone to scratches Images and pictures to come in the next days I would buy it again

Hi Romik, I think (but might be wrong) you are comparing fisheye (WWL1) with rectilinear (16-35 PZ). That makes necessarily a huge difference in the corners. The advantage of the wetlenses is the wide coverage of angles of view (70-130°) with reasonable sharpness and (-C) relatively small size at the cost of a higher weight. No size fits all.

Thanks for the article. Did you personally ever try out the: "It can also be used as an external monitor for your d-SLR or Mirrorless camera." for the divefolk? I don't remember any direct experiences... but that would be interesting.

https://www.digitalkamera.de/Zubehör-Test/Sony_FE_24-50_mm_F2_8_G_im_Test/14107.aspx I'd like to add the review above that sounds quite promising and in the pictures you can see also the extension at certain zoom-levels. But as @Architeuthis Wolfgang said, it would probalbly not improve image quality under water in relation to the 28-60 but reduce zoom range. Maybe that's why no one used it so far under water.

Welcome here! Maybe you might have a look at the A6700-Thread?

Thanks for saving me money!

Still not been below the surface of one or the other oceans. But in preparation the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN | C came to my mind as a APSC-lens with internal focusing, very short minimal focus distance and acceptable sharpness. For the guys who understand German (or are able to use a translator): https://www.digitalkamera.de/Zubehör-Test/Sigma_18-50_mm_F2_8_DC_DN_Contemporary_im_Test/14331.aspx I'd exspect this lens behind the WWL-1B could deliver a Converted FOV 130-54. Currently I'll start with the wide angle 10-20 and dome but this could be an even better option for fisheye look.

I believe that when assessing the quality of light, you shouldn't focus so much on the technical specifications of the flash units, but rather think about what the light from the flash unit should actually achieve. You can use photography above the surface of the water as an easy guide. The subject should be illuminated and glow. This is possible with any flash tube, and also straight ahead from the front - you wouldn't even need flash arms. But our viewing habits expect the light to come from above, evenly from a large light source. This also means that we have smaller differences in brightness on the subject and can assess details better. This is easier with round flash tubes. Photography above water therefore also likes to use softboxes, which would be somewhat unwieldy in water. I'm so happy with my Pro Max! 🙂

Heading for 🇩🇲 on Jan 10th looking for Sperm whales. I will keep you updated.

Maybe that works with the A6700 too. I‘ll have a look tomorrow.

Hi Ben, I went into it because that was interesting for me. In fact, in video mode locking the AF-C field is done via touchscreen. But at least for me the issue seems not not be an issue... Usually I have the A6700 in stills-mode, AF-C, tracking field fixed middle. AF is superfast. Hitting on the "Video start" button usually starts with the focus distance from before. While taking video I am anyway not able to use joystick or similar to chose the subject. If focus is critical and difficult, I'd switch to manual focus. And you can select the stickyness of AF-tracking from 1 to 6... Or did I not get your point?