Lewis88

I picked up a rubber nozzle blower/tire inflator combo that attaches to a low pressure hose BCD connection. One less battery to charge and finding a tank to connect to on a trip is never an issue.

This picture is showing using the built in flash. Since your R8 doen't have a built in flash, there's no DS-TTL or S-TTL capability, because there's no flash to mimic. And the seafrogs trigger is manual only, no TTL. You could consider a TRT electronics TTL trigger, or a UWT trigger.

D3's will work properly in TTL or manual mode with the pop up flash. No trigger required. No training or setup required.

Ah this is good to know. The way their site is written, it seems like TTL requires a trigger. Shame about manual mode not working properly though. Would make them a no-go for me.

Another consideration is that from Marelux's info, you can only do TTL with a compatible trigger. Whereas Sea & Sea will do TTL from the built in flash. EDIT: Apparently they can do TTL from the built in flash. But no manual mode.

From what I understand, there were a lot of issues with the D2 when it came out, which was mostly resolved with the D2j release. All I can say is I've been diving S&S strobes for 20+ years, starting with YS-25a's, then a pair of YS-110a's for many years, and now with D3's for the last few years. I personally have never had any issues, following normal maintenance, o-ring inspection and lubrication, and storage practices.

This is interesting. it looks like a direct knockoff of Nauticam on many of the features.

I shoot an A6100, in a Nauticam A6400 housing, with the Tokina 10-17 or Zeiss Touit 50mm macro. I use a pair of YS-D3's and they're excellent. The snoot is great for macro, and they're plenty powerful for WA, especially with the dome diffusers. You can also get them for $500 a piece from divervision in japan. Sea&Sea YS-D3 DUO Strobe – DiverVision Underwater Photo Equipment

This is a Bluewater issue. They are known for showing in-stock, and not actually having it. Not surprised they're having issues actually getting what you ordered. I would order with Reef or Backscatter, and you can call them to confirm stock.

The Zeiss 50mm lens is very usable on the newer A6xxx bodies. It's almost instant on my A6100. You also can adapt the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye APS-C lens, so you're not locked to a FF fisheye.

Divervision should hopefully be able to ship to you in France as well. They're a great vendor and I've used them multiple times. Regarding S&S reliability, I can only personally say I've had no issues over years with their strobes over multiple generations (YS-25, YS-110a, and YS-D3). My dad has also dove a pair of YS-D2j's for years without issues. But others will likely tell you they're nothing but problems. 🤷‍♂️

I shoot Sony APS-C. I upgraded from a Canon S95, and now I have an A6100 in a Nauticam A6400 housing. Compared to my dad's Olympus MFT Nauticam setup, it's a wash on weight and size. They're very similar once you add handles/trays/arms/etc. Full frame wasn't worth it for me, as the lenses are more expensive and heavier. I personally did not like the Salted Line housing at all. Some people love them, but for me it had Finicky camera placement, very floaty and bulky, control squeeze at depth, and just seemed extremely cheap and not trustworthy. Hence I went with Nauticam. For strobes, consider picking up some YS-D3's from divervision for $499 a piece.

I'm guessing using the YS-D2 setting on UW technics will work pretty well for the 110a's. But I noticed limitations with my 110a's when I stepped up to mirrorless from compact and really noticed the additional power from the D3's when I upgraded.

I shoot an A6100 in an Nauticam A6400 housing. The cameras are dimensionally identical. For WA I shoot the Tokina 10-17, with the Zen DP100 mini dome. For Macro, I shoot the Zeiss Touit 50mm macro with a +7 flip diopter. For Strobes, I started with Dual 110a's, and now have D3 Mk2's. I absolutely love the setup. It's small with the mini dome, and has zero focus issues with the Tokina lens. The Zeiss lens is very fast as well (as long as it's been software updated). Battery life can be touchy, but I added the Nauticam USB-c bulkhead, and have a USB-C to mini usb adapter cable, and charge between dives from a power bank.

At 42 seconds, one of the dolphins just grows longer and longer for no reason. But it's scary that it's so hard to tell except for little things here and there.