CCRphoto

Many thanks - helps heaps - and I like the way that you keep the fibreoptic cable attached to the arms! Must be nice to be able to dive in waters where the sharks aren't trying to eat you!

When you next have your camera rig with the Maxis assembled could you please post a photo?

Interesting! It looks like you have 3D printing all squared away too!

Nice! A bigger bag looks like it would be a good way to carry an assembled rig to a local diving site too! Anyone in Australia wanting one of the bags in @Troporobo 's post - half price at Woolies this week - https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/310586

I'm pretty sold on the Maxis - they are locked in on my spreadsheets!

Pretty much - avoid distortion, generally don't need a really wide rectlinier lens for archaeological work (unless you find an underwater city or something like that!). It looks like I can use the Nikkor 24-50 with a 180mm dome port or some quite short flat ports.

A not super-wide rectlinier lens is best - everything has been there for 2000 years so I can get as close as I want - I'm certainly not going to scare the subject away.

Qantas has recently started flying to Samoa and the airfare prices are quite reasonable - just wondering if anyone has dived there as I have a friend who has just started diving who is looking for easy diving destinations.

The Retra's better buoyancy characteristics probably mean that they take up less space in luggage overall than HF-1's + floats

Yes there is that aspect I suppose!

OK that's interesting - likely housing choices will be Nauticam or the red one (whose name completely escapes me), but I will certainly be checking that it has the facilities for HDMI output to a monitor.

I've really got to get my head around wet optics - that and digital seems to be two massive changes that I need to get used to after 30 years on the sidelines - note I said Sidelines not the Sin Bin!

For the next few years the only place I am likely to be shooting wide angle in bright sunshine is the Red Sea, but that is going to be archaeological photography at 62 metres - should be OK. If everyone in the general region would kindly stop lobbing missiles at each other that would help enormously - I've given up on plans for the Red Sea this year - flying Melbourne-Singapore-London Heathrow-Cairo just to get to the Red Sea is too much for me.

I guess when flying from UK/Europe it is a consideration as you have the low cost carriers etc like EasyJet, unfortunately in Australia we aren't that lucky, but I am fortunate that I have decent membersip levels with Qantas (OneWorld) and Emirates so the minimum checked baggage allowance I get is 56kg, +10kg carryon. For most routes however my checked baggage allowance is 69kg and sometimes up to 96kg.

I am expecting to be selective with packing - will I take a 105mm macro and port to the Red Sea? Probably not. Will I take a big fisheye and dome port to Tulamben or Amed? Probably not.