Ajay

Thanks for the video, gives a good idea of Malpelo, diving and above. I like that you left the beeping of the computer telling to to ascend towards the end 🙂; if my computer was programmable, I'd have this beep replaced by the *knock* *knock* It's time to go (from Pink Floyd's Bring the boys back home) on a loop..

Thanks @Davide DB. I haven't studied optics - so this is a naive question.. Is it the case that one can stick any macro/close-focus lens in front of any of these small cameras and expect it to perform (optically) more or less the same? Or is there also some lens design required? I can imagine that if the lens can be used interchangeably, then it should be easy to design (and share) and print adapters. Kind regards Ajay

Just a brief note about the three (currently) popular choices for action cameras in this category, namely, GoPro Hero 12, Insta360 Ace Pro, and the DJI Action 4. All of these have a closest focus distance in air of ~0.4m (so, perhaps 0.6m underwater). Of these, Backscatter has a clip-on wet macro lens for only the GoPro among these; it brings the closes focus distance to 15~20cm inch. It's possible similar solutions for other action cams exist or will arrive soon. I hope to report more on the GoPro with the macro attachment (and without) in a month or so - planning to spend 3 days in Anilao in Easter. Kind regards Ajay

Thanks for the comments! To answer @Davide DB - I was hoping that the WF074 and it's nominal 8000 lumen would give me enough light to illuminate and put some color into things at a distance of 3m or less. I felt that this is enough for schools of fish, like batfish, jacks, and anything closer, like fish+coral scene, for videos. @Nikolausz - the idea to consider SF 7000 (WF081) is a good one! WF074 has 8000 lumen spread over 120 deg, and WF081 has 7000 lumen over 100 deg (so, probably similar illuminance). I am wondering how the effect will be if I just print a simple plastic cone to get some snoot effect, regardless of whether the lamp front is flat or dome. Kind regards Ajay

I have shot images (and mostly macro) for many years, but am considering to venture into making videos. On my previous trip, I immediately felt that a smaller video light (2500 lumen) just wasn't enough. When looking for a more powerful one, I am finding this light, the Weefine 074 a bit interesting: it can provide I think, around 8000 lumen for videos, and on top of that, with a fiber optic cable attached, if also acts as a strobe - a weak one, but nevertheless it can suffice for me as a second strobe. This makes my gear compact and light: camera, one strobe, one video light that can also act as second strobe. I would love to get some opinions: (a) If you have experience with the WF074 (b) Any obvious flaws in my planned setup (still learning how to make passable videos). Kind regards, Ajay

Adding to this list, the insta360 Ace Pro. Returning from a recent trip to Maldives, my wife (and lifelong dive buddy) reported that she found the Sony Nex7 in Nauticam too bulky and old, and that she would prefer diving with a GoPro instead.. As I gave this matter some consideration, I found this recent video comparing the Insta360 Ace Pro with the GoPro12. Would also appreciate more inputs from folks here.. Kind regards Ajay

Yes indeed - need an additional flight to get to Fuvamulah from Male. If one has sufficient time, I think the ideal way is to do a liveaboard trip in Maldives (for example, several boats offer a "best of Maldives" itinerary, which I quite like) followed by a few days in Fuvamulah. Kind regards Ajay

Hi folks, We spent five days diving in Fuvamulah this Jan. Went mainly for tiger shark dives - and we saw plenty of them. There were other sharks in the area, including a sand tiger, and a thresher, and a school of hammerheads (which I missed). Although it is mainly a big fish dive Island, it's definitely worth a revisit, I think. It was pretty much the first time that I was trying out my relatively new gear (Sony A7 IV in a Nauticam housing); and I tend to do much more macro - so switching to wide angle was a bit of a challenge. On top of that, I spent almost half, or more dives trying video. Learning curves were all steep, so the photos and videos are not so great. I also tried the WWL-1B on one day, and I like it: although I do feel there are soft corners, but I think with more trials, I should be able to improve.. Here is a teaser image. The trip report and photos are here. The video is here. Comments, criticism, and advise are all welcome. Kind regards, Ajay

The title of this thread should be your signature line. @Davide DB - genius 😀

Two of my favorites were from a trip to Lambeh, both are birthing events. The first one is a coconut octopus in a jam jar, squeezing loads of baby octopuses (octopii?) into the night sea. The second, baby cuttlefish getting ready to face the world.. Kind regards, Ajay

I used (for the first time) a Sony A7 IV with the 28-60 in standard port on a trip to Malapascua earlier this year. I don't have the CMC, but did use a Subsee +10 wet lens for macro. Felt that some macro images were slightly soft, but maybe as I gain experience, will learn the right combination of aperture and strobe.. You can see my images from the trip here: http://iez152.ieda.ust.hk/MALAPASCUA_APR23/MALAPASCUA_APR23.html I did not use the WWL-1 B on the thresher sharks, but I will try it on (I hope) tiger and hammerheads in my planned trip to Maldives in early/mid Jan - will post images after. Cheers, Ajay

.. and lust scales with time :-). So an alternative approach is to buy a subset of what you want (e.g. macro/normal only setup) but in a way that you can add other elements later without sacrificing something you already bought (e.g. decide first whether in the long run you'd prefer common port with wet lens or multiple lenses and ports for each). Kind regards Ajay.

Thanks Rich, found it, and it works just as I was expecting. Great!

Hi, Appreciate the effort to put up this site, hope it thrives as a continuation of wetpixel, which has been an inspiration for me for almost two decades. Couple of questions/thoughts: In the use profile, I was expecting to find a place to store photo/video/diving gear, and possibly a link to personal website. Maybe I missed this part? Kind regards Ajay