Nikolausz

I usually use my action camera on the top of my mirrorless housing, but time to time I use action camera alone. As soon as you add lights it's recommended to use a tray and floating arms. It makes the handling and moving the camera without small handshakes, which results better footage. Here, you can see my maxed out GoPro set up.

Thanks everybody for the recommendations. We booked the Turtle dive centre-homestay. I will write a short trip report next year when we're back.

Best

Marcell

Thanks for the input. We have narrowed down our selection to Yenkoranu, Warahnus and Turtle dive centre-homestays.

Has anybody experience with those?

We have an upcoming boat trip in 2026 January to Raja Ampat north area (From Sorong). We would like to spend a week before this trip on KRi island.

Do you have any recommendations for dive base and accommodation? We would prefer relaxed diving with many photo/video options, so a good house reef is preferred.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions

Marcell

In Europe the electrical frequency is 50 Hz and the broadcast frame rate is adjusted to 25 fps to avoid interference. So 25 fps is still somehow relevant if you want to contribute to a TV production. However, if you produce YT content it's irrelevant in my opinion.

4 hours ago, Fabian said:

Hi both, thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it!

So in conclusion, AcePro2 with the Isotta housing, the I could use the AOI lens in the shallows (found an adapter for that one) below 60m, for the deep stuff it would be just the camera. Technically clearly preferred.

Unfortunately, that brings the cost up quite a bit, as the Isotta housing is about triple the price of the Seafrogs.

Or, I skip the technical diving part and stick to a cheaper housing for the AcePro2 🤔

As an alternative, you may check the T-housing (with adapter, you can also use AOI lens with it)

https://panoceanphoto.com/t-housing-insta360-acepro-1-2-unterwassergehaeuse

It's cheaper than the Isotta.

Very interesting topic with great discussion. However, the most important message from the OP was the following:

"After all those dives and countless shots from this weekend, it really comes down to being in the right place at the right time. No matter which camera you choose, if you’re closer, steady, and nail your angle and exposure, you’ll walk away with an amazing image. It’s recommended to prioritize positioning, timing, and stability—these elements often contribute more to a standout underwater image than the choice of camera, especially when viewing on a 4K display."

So the environmental conditions and better technique are more important than spending huge amount of money for minor quality improvement, which might be difficult to observe in real life situation.

On 7/6/2025 at 11:32 AM, Narced Diver said:

thank you for your reply, but for what i understand the osmo 360 will have 1' sensor combined between the two, i really hope that the rumours that you mentioned reveal to be real 😃

I'm sure that it will have two 1" sensor. By the way INSTA360 has also a 1 inch edition version but it has not became too popular and there is no affordable underwater housing available for it. The image quality of the X5 is similar, if not better, so there are not so many underwater videos with the one inch version. It will be most probably a fixed focus camera, so I suspect not so good close focus abilities. Price will be interesting. Competition is good.

Sony should upgrade the 50mm macro first including IF and faster AF mechanism.

I liked it a lot!

33 minutes ago, hedonist222 said:

I wonder if one would need a dome with this lens?

Yes

I Have recently read a Facebook post by Roger Munns, a professional videographer currently working on a NatGeo project. He uses the following gear (it's not a hybrid system but one developed for specific video tasks):

"I shot the bulk of the sequence using my Red DSMC2 Gemini in a @nauticamhousings LT housing. Key to getting into the tiny hairy frogfish’s world was the Nauticam EMWL scope lens which gives a wonderful bugs-eye view.

For the predation shots I used a Phantom Veo and Keldan lights to capture strikes at between 500-1000 frames per second. One feature of this camera is that you have to review the footage underwater, then save the shot to the memory card or delete it. Very quickly the guides assisting us caught on to this and we would have underwater viewings with everyone huddled round the monitor to see if we had got the shot."

So it's (RED) also not a full-frame camera but one uses a Super35mm sensor (similar to aps-c) and only with manual focus.

On aps-c Sony cameras I would choose the 30mm macro lens over this Tamron so-called macro (rather good close up)

Nice, but I still would prefer an add-on lens that would convert my 30mm macro into a 50mm macro (without decreasing or even increasing the minimum focus distance)

In this fun project I tried to show another perspective of the anemone fish. I used the material filmed last year December in Tulamben, Bali.

When macro is your main focus and video is also important I tend to agree that FF is not the way to go despite the "infinity budget". The best underwater macro videos in the recent years are produced, in my opinion (which is shared by many juries of international competitions), by Alfred Schaschl. You can see his work here:

https://www.youtube.com/@alfredsch.5440

Fredi uses Panasonic GH5 II camera, so a 4/3 crop sensor. I found APS-C is a good compromise for both macro and wide angle, and I'm locked into the Sony system, so if I would have a big budget I would probably upgrade my A6400 to FX30 and not FX3. Unfortunately the 50-60 mm macro range is not well covered with modern macro lenses in Sony environment, but for video, I think the available lenses are OK. Fast AF for macro video is not really needed. You will film on a tripod anyway (macro), and when my subject is in focus I usually switch to MF, just to avoid the the AF is distracted by something else in the background.

15 hours ago, Sokrates said:

Laowa released 8-15mm f/2.8 FF Zoom Fisheye 10 minutes ago (Sony FE, Nikon Z, Canon RF) -> exited -> No AF -> :(

Same reactions here

I would be happier with a good working 60mm macro lens. Underwater it's a very much a niche lens.

GoPro cameras are US products but probably they're manufactured in Asia. I'm curious about the price change in the future.

It looks promising. We need more alternative underwater housing manufacturers especially in the more affordable sections

Sounds really good, thanks for the information.

Now I have the proper dimensions (98x58x6.5mm)  but it's not really a popular size. After some extensive search I still haven't found a proper one. There are few similar sized ones but they are either thicker or taller.

As an alternative solution I'm thinking to add the NAUTICAM M16 USB-C BULKHEAD WITH USB-C CONNECTOR.

7 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

This is difficult, the batteries used are the type of product that appears for a few months and fade away and are replaced by higher capacity ones or slightly different.  Also some of them go to sleep and don't wake until until you unplug/replug them.  This thread talks about the battery for the A6500  hopefully its the same as the A6400 and has sone dead links, it's on the old wetpixel forum:

 

https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/59443-nauticam-battery-pack-problem-a6500/

 

If you search, start off looking for 2000- 2500 mAhr models.  Finding the required short cable with correct plugs may also be a challenge?

 

to start you off this link is to the pack described, not in stock but click on find similar to browse, unfortunately dimensions are not provided, might be a  challenge getting one to Europe though?

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ultra-Slim-Ultra-Portable-Ultra-Safe-2500mAh-Wallet-Pocket-Power-Card-Bank-ONE-for-All-External-Mini-Battery-Most-Smart-Phone-Digital-Devices-White-L/217372674

Great information, many thanks

I've recently bought a used Nauticam housing for my Sony A6400. However, it was sold without the battery extension (it was not possible to send oversee or was sold separately).

So now I'm looking for a replacement battery. Can somebody send me the dimensions and specifications of this battery and share a photo of it.

Maybe I can find some similar product online

Many thanks in advance

Marcell

I'm looking for a Nauticam N85 Macro port (#36135) for my sony 30mm macro lens. So if you have one not used and just collecting dust, please contact me.

Cheers

Marcell