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Hi Chris, I already found out that the Sony TC doesn’t fit into the MC11. So I actually changed my mind and decided to go without TC. My current perspective is to use the MC11 and the 140 dome from Nauticam.

As I have some more weeks until we head for our next trip, I‘ll definitely will do exactly that: putting lens, TC and MC11 in the housing and take some measurements. In fact I am quite sure not using the circular fisheye-end of the lens very often and therefore the 1,4 TC could be the best compromise. @Architeuthis I owned the 2,0 TC but sold it due to the weak optical performance…

Hi Wolfgang, hey, that’s helpful! 2 ½ weeks sounds great! Wish you the very best! The MC11 is at half the price of the Metabones and available on site here. That’s what makes me think about it. It’s also less bulky but if it doesn’t fit with the TC… So I am REALLY looking forward to your experiences!

Hi Chris, hi Adventurer, I feel almost uncomfortable stepping into this very technical discussion 😁. I have a practical question: while my WACP-C is on its way to Honkong for being repaired, I've had some silly ideas and have been able to buy a Canon 8-15 at a very reasonable price. I already own a 1.4TC from Sony and am now thinking of putting together an alternative setup for my A7IV in Nauticam - just in case I don't get my WACP-C back in time. Can I ask for your advice? Does the MC11 from Sigma fit the 1.4TC from Sony? Based on your comments above, the 140mm dome port seems to make the most sense? How much extension? Best Martin

Seacam doesn’t help? Nadia is selling one, I met her in Dominica. I think it‘s a reasonable price. https://www.facebook.com/share/12GQn7Nk3qn/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Ooooooo! YAFS has to be added to the abbreviation list!

So great! Being mostly alone with the whales. They are so interactive, great! Thanks to Franco and Sabrina

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.