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That would of course be another option, but it would take me a little more time to switch quickly. I'll probably start by training my little finger.😁

And how do you handle that in 'non-exclusive' situations? 😁 Have you ever assigned Eye AF to a specific button? It would be possible to assign it to the AF-On lever, but then you lose the option for regular servo AF, which isn't really an option for me. It's a shame, Canon doesn't allow more customizable button assignments on the R5 – it's improved on the R5 Mark II, though still not perfect. And yes, I've been using backbutton focus for about 15 years now.

No, I haven't read the Divemaster yet. Then I'd be interested to know if you use the eye AF and how you've assigned the buttons/levers on the Nauticam housing to use it effectively.

Because with a little modification, the Commlite allows the combination of the EF 8-15/4 with the RF extenders.

Ahhh, didn't know... 😁

Thanks! As I already wrote above, I had forgotten several times that I don't get the one-stop smaller aperture displayed and therefore accidentally stopped down by one stop too much.

Thanks Evan!

I just want to give a short feedback, although I believe I am the only one here in the forum with the Canon R5/Nauticam combination... I've now bought pretty much all the essential equipment I'll need in the near future. A super dome for split shots will certainly follow at some point, but it's not needed right now. At the beginning of June '26, I was able to gain some initial experience, but only so far with the following setup: Canon R5 in a Nauticam housing with Nauticam 140mm fisheye dome Canon EF 8-15/4 Fisheye with Canon RF 1.4 extender adapted with a Commlite EF/RF adapter and Saga zoom ring 2x HF-1 Backscatter strobes incl. 4500K flat diffusors, most of the time with homemade snoot I will soon be testing the Canon RF 100/2.8 macro lens (possibly in combination with the Nauticam SMC-1) with the OS-3 Backscatter snoot and/or homemade snoots. I might also test the Canon RF 2.0 extender on the Canon 8-15/4. Due to poor visibility and wide angle, it didn't make sense to test the TTL capabilities of the e-TURTLE 3 SMART TTL converter. This test will be carried out in July and I will report on it here. My experience was as follows: The Nauticam housing isn't really well-suited for Eye-AF (due to the lack of a lever – there is only a button – for the *-button). Virtually all Canon photographers assign Eye-AF and Spot-AF to the AF-On and *-button for quick switching between the two AF functions. I reluctantly assigned the function to the depth-of-field preview button (for which Nauticam provides a lever down on the right!) and can therefore operate it with my right little finger. However, pulling this lever and simultaneously releasing the shutter while wearing thick gloves isn't exactly easy. Eye-AF is mostly useless underwater, but it sometimes helps, especially with cuttlefish. The lens hood of the 140mm fisheye dome does not appear to be manufactured 100% symmetrically (or the camera is not optimally positioned in the housing), at least when zooming out I always see the lower right part of the lens hood first - minimal, but it is annoying and 'costs' some focal length. What experiences have other users of this dome in combination with zoom lenses? But perhaps I should ask this question in a separate thread. Following the instructions of @Dave_Hicks (many thanks for that!), I had an extension printed for the HF-1's power intensity knob, which was incredibly helpful. Nevertheless, I'd also like to have one for the mode dial, as switching between M and SC mode is very difficult with thick gloves. Why can't manufacturers put themselves in the shoes of cold-water underwater photographers??? As I've mentioned in another posting, the combination of the 8-15/4 lens and the Canon RF 1.4 extender is optically superior (especially in the corners) to the combination with the older Kenko 1.4 extender. The disadvantage with the Commlite adapter is that the EXIF data isn't displayed correctly, as the extender itself isn't apparently recognized. This isn't a major issue, but I had to be careful not to stop down too much out of habit, because I always had to add an extra stop of exposure - unfortunately, it has happened a few times anyway - I have to slowly get used to it. All in all, apart from the minor flaws I have described, the equipment functioned reliably. Underwater conditions in the Dutch North Sea were far from optimal due to very poor visibility (between 1-3m), and therefore I mostly shot with very low strobe power (mostly 1/16), usually with a snoot and higher ISO. Because of the annual cuttlefish mating, I always try to spend a few days diving there around this time of the year. Of course, in some of the images I had to extensively remove backscatter during post processing. 😉 Btw: with these images, it obviously makes no sense to show crops from the corners. I hope to be able to deliver that later this year. All images are uncropped. The following four pictures were taken on the first day, when visibility was still at its best, up to 3 meters. Therefore, all pictures were taken with two HF-1 strobes (left/right) and slightly more strobe power (if I remember correctly, up to a maximum of 1/4.). Moon Jellyfish F25 (forgot to open up the aperture 🤐) | 1/250sec. | ISO 400 | @17mm: Moon Jellyfish F22 | 1/250 sec. | ISO 400 | @ 20mm: Common Cuttlefish (very small, just about 20cm long) F18 | 1/25 sec. | ISO 640 | @ 21mm: Common Cuttlefish (very small, all of them just about 20cm long) F20 | 1/25 sec. | ISO 640 | @21mm: The next two pictures are from day 2. Visibility was significantly worse than on the first day (especially noticeable in the second picture) and therefore only possible with a snoot. Common Cuttlefish couple (snooted) F22 | 1/250sec. | ISO 400 | @21mm: Common Cuttlefish couple (snooted) F14 | 1/25 sec. | ISO 800 | @ 21mm: On day 3, visibility was initially quite good (1st picture), but was becoming significantly worse later. Common Shore Crab & Common Spider Crab F20 | 1/40 sec. | ISO 1000 | @21mm 2x HF-1 strobes (left/right): Common Cuttlefish lays eggs (snooted) F16 | 1/40 sec. | ISO 1000 | @21mm: Common Cuttlefish couple (snooted) F16 | 1/40 sec. | ISO 1000 | @21mm: Common Cuttlefish couple (snooted) F16 | 1/40 sec. | ISO 1000 | @21mm:

Using 'Screen/viewfinder display (3) -> screen' has the following effects: If I switch the Nauticam housing to viewfinder mode, I can't activate 'display off'. If I switch the Nauticam housing to LCD mode, I can activate 'display off', but the viewfinder switches off after a few seconds in any case, even if I have my eye on the viewfinder. The camera doesn't seem to detect the eye on the viewfinder in this mode. Therefore: if I want to use 'display off', it makes the most sense for me to activate Auto2 and then switch the housing to LCD so that the 'display off' function can be activated.

Thanks for looking into this issue! Since my Nauticam housing unfortunately doesn't have a button for the display illumination, I have to use a different button – which doesn't make any difference in principle. What I've discovered is that the small optical sensor directly below the viewfinder is responsible for automatic detection. If this sensor is covered (in viewfinder mode!), 'display off' doesn't work. I've found a workaround, albeit a bit cumbersome: If I set the screen/viewfinder display to Auto2 and then switch the lever on the Nauticam housing to LCD, I can activate 'display off' because the optical sensor below the viewfinder seems to be deactivated.

I'll have to try to replicate that tomorrow (it's already quite late here in Germany 😴), but I'm just realizing that my nauticam case doesn't have a button for the display backlight.😐

Hello JayceeB, I use the LCD/VF switch on top of my Nauticam housing to switch between the viewfinder and the display – this is very convenient because I don't have to go into the camera menu or assign a shortcut button. However, I practically never use the display anyway... My 'problem' is that I can't assign the 'display off' function to any button, as the R5 seems to detect that something is near the viewfinder. Perhaps you could try assigning the 'display off' function to a button on your camera. I'm very curious to see if that might work for you.

Exactly! Yes, that seems to be the case, I just tested it. It works with the R5II, by the way.

Hi Davide, thanks for your reply! I already tested that: There are four different viewfinder/display options on the R5, but unfortunately 'display off' doesn't work with any of them.

Because power consumption has always been a concern with mirrorless cameras, I've assigned the 'AF point' button (top right) to the 'Display Off' function for topside shots on my Canon R5 for years. For some reason, however, I can't activate this function in my Nauticam housing. And it's only this function that's affected! If I assign the button to, for example, 'drive mode', I can activate that with the 'AF point' button - and this applies to all other buttons as well: 'Display Off' can't be activated. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

He closed his shop several years ago, but since I know him very well personally, I can still get materials from him. I can ask if he might also sell to third parties.

Which dome are you using with the 24-105? Is the IQ overall better than EF 8-15/4 (center and edges)? I could not detect any difference in autofocus behavior between the Canon EF/RF adapter and the Commlite. Did you also test a 1.4 extender? So far, I've only been able to compare the extenders over water: In the center of the image, there's virtually no difference in image quality between the Canon RF 1.4 and 2.0 (zoomed to 200%), but at the edges, the 2.0 is noticeably worse. And my old Kenko 1,4 Teleplus Pro 300 DGX performed significantly worse than my Canon RF extenders in all situations, especially visible at the edges. What I noticed: with the combination of Commlite + Canon RF Ext., you should switch off the IBIS in the camera, otherwise there are strange, disturbing shake corrections in the viewfinder.

Interesting! How am I supposed to understand this sentence? Does the fisheye lens without any extender (adapted to the camera only with the Commlite) have less IQ than the fisheye lens with the Kenko 2.0x PRO TC? But you also have to adapt that one to a Canon DSLM with some adapter...

Yes, I've had the strobes for a few weeks now, but I've only been able to do one test a few days ago in the pool. In a week, I'll be diving in the North Sea for a few days and will then have more information. However, the dives will certainly take place in very poor visibility and I obviously won't be able to test the actual flash power then (as I would in backlighting and clear water in a coral reef).

For many years, I've used various floatings of different sizes and shapes on different strobes and strobe arms from a German manufacturer who started the production at my request. I find it very inconvenient to compensate the entire downforce using only floating arms, as I want to be able to quickly and easily reposition the strobes with minimal friction on the last clamp, without them tipping downwards due to gravity. Incidentally, the floatings have no negative impact on the heat sinks.

Thanks a lot for your help, Dave!

Hi Dave, I was just about to send you a PM about this, but I assume your inbox is full. So here are my questions: Since I don't have a 3D printer myself, I'd like to have a friend print the reduction rings and the base for the HF-1 backscatter that you designed. He's now asking which material to use. You wrote that it should only be printed in PETG. Is that correct? There's also PETG CF, which is supposedly even more temperature-resistant. By the way: I think it's great that you share your designs! They're very practical and money saving. Best regards, Wahrmut

Do you see a difference after editing the image in Lightroom and then converting it to sRGB? Or do you make a proof in Lightroom (--> sRGB)? Lightroom always develops in Pro Photo RGB, which is a much larger color space than Adobe RGB. Blue water generally looks somewhat "sick" in sRGB because important cyan components are missing - assuming a wide gamut display is used. Of your images, I find the first one a lot of and the third one a bit too magenta-heavy; the others look relatively 'realistic' - without knowing the exact situation. DCI-P3 also lacks a potentially important cyan range compared to Adobe RGB, but your monitors can only display 95% of that range anyway, and probably a maximum of 90% of Adobe RGB. My starting point for image development in Lightroom is always the camera's default profile - okay, it works better sometimes and worse at other times. Personally, I find the HSL sliders in Lightroom in combination with the white balance tool extremely powerful and I don't feel like I'm missing anything when I want to influence the color of the blue water. However, after converting from Adobe RGB to sRGB, I regularly feel like throwing up. No, it's exactly the other way around: a strobe with 4800K is significantly warmer than one with 6500K - I know it's confusing. May I ask if the image was uploaded in Adobe RGB? To me, it doesn't look like sRGB.

Like Thales said: FE = F (ish) E (ye)

And for me, who very frequently uses an extender in combination with the 8-15/4, the new FE is actually not an option.