Johan

This photo was taken with the A6300 + 90mm macro + SMC-1. Some cropping, but so sharp! Maybe try without the flip adapter, just screwing the smc-1 on the flat port, and see what you can get. Easier than creating a new custom extension.

That's not quite the combination you are after, but I used to shoot the Sony 6000/6300 with the 90mm macro in an Ikelite housing, with the flat ports 5516.50 and extension 5516.70, and the SMC-1 with a 67 adapter. Not with a flip adapter, I was screwing/unscrewing it as needed, which was a hassle, but then the SMC-1 was closer to the port. The combination worked flawlessy, and I got super sharp images out of it. I don't have the gear anymore, but I remember that the front element of the lens was very close to the glass element of the flat port... maybe about 2-3mm? And the distance from the lens to the SMC-1 was then maybe 1 cm? I changed after that to a Seacam housing, but found the SMC-1 more frustrating to use because the 90mm lens was farther back from the flat port and gave a much narrower focusing range. And it became less frustrating after switching to the 100mm macro, which is comparatively closer to the flat port.

You may be interested in this pool test, if you haven't seen it already: https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/2612-sony-100-mm-macro/page/6/#comment-21021 After 9 months of use - the 100mm is a fantastic lens. But I seldom add the 1.4xTC and never the 2.0xTC, the focal length and reach is too long for regular macro subjects. I would recommend getting the double adapter and the SMC-3.

As others have said, I have set a button to toggle between the EVF and LCD, and you need to disable the autoswitch which is normally useful on land. In addition I have also set a button to disable the display at all, in an attempt to conserve some battery - this was a fairly useful trick on the A6xxxx, and is faster and less error-prone than the global power switch. But to be honest, on the A! I haven't seen that much battery savings with that trick and can comfortably keep the camera running for 3 dives with the EVF set to 30 fps. Higher fps = higher battery usage. Update to the latest firmware as well, the most recent versions seem to have improved overheating and battery consumption compared to the first versions.

They already have a 10mm full-frame MF fisheye - https://7artisans.store/products/10mm-f-2-8-ii-ultra-wide-angle-full-frame-fisheye-lens-for-e-l-r-z-1 The projection is stereographic, 185 diagonal, 15cm, f2.8-16, 602g. This new lens is 15cm f2.5-16 so the design seems to have been slightly updated, but I expect it to be a full-frame lens.

I tend to stick to the viewfinder, even when shooting wide-angle (I'm not using an external monitor), and when reviewing pictures. But I do need to switch back to the main screen to change some settings, as it shows more information. One key setting - on the A1, I can select the EVF fps. I don't recall the exact fps on top of my head but it could be 60 / 120 / 240fps. While the highest setting is the nicest and smoothest... it also uses a LOT more battery. I'm typically reverting down to the lowest setting when diving, and can get 2 to 3 dives depending on bottom time and how many shots I took.

That's a great project and I would love to beta-test it. Tagging species is very tedious - I do have a few folders where I did that to the best of my abilities (and that best is not going to be anywhere near as thorough as Tom!).

I shoot with the A1 and upgraded from the 90mm to 100mm macro (shiny new gadget, woooh). I'll be one to say that the 90mm is fine, generally, yes it focus hunts occasionally but not that much on the A1. I used to shoot the 90mm on an A6000 (which didn't even have phase focusing) and the A1 is just night and day. The 100mm is better but it's not like it instantly focuses either. I also probably prefer the 90mm focal length. Definitely upgrade to the latest firmware of the A1, version 4+. They have added new focusing range areas, and the XS is very useful. I've been happy shooting in AF-C, XS tracking, center focus point, and using focusing+recomposing. A wider focusing area makes it harder to focus on a specific feature. A focus light is useful. There's definitely more hunting without it.

I've been using the AO cooler 36 for 10 years now. I love having it on day trips - the camera goes in there, as well as the spare tupperware box, mask, computer, towel, wet clothes, etc. It's very convenient. It's much easier to carry everything to a boat. It helps dampen vibrations as well on long boat rides. The zippers have been salted out for a while and don't close anymore. It folds but is quite thick so it takes a fair bit of luggage space. I have used it as a rinse tank in some hotels/resorts that weren't setup for it, or on 3-dives trip with a longer lunch break. But I find it rather unnecessary on a liveaboard, usually I don't even bring it. Just use the communal rinse camera tanks, cameras don't need to stay in the water much. It's hard to keep a soft-shell bag as your own rinse tank on the dive deck, it takes space in a usually crammed area, and freshwater is usually limited. And it's not very convenient or respectful to keep it in the bathroom, moving a wet camera back-and-forth across the dry area of the boat.

Sorry that you're facing this on location. Having suffered from 5 failed Sea&Sea YS-D2/D3 strobes at various times, my best advice is to get another brand when you're back home... Not very helpful for the problem at hand, I know, for which Chris gave great advice. In my case I suspect that Eneloop Pros were also too powerful for these strobes, and regular white Eneloop were preferable, with at one point a deficient set of batteries that also damaged a strobe. So if you have access to white Eneloops, use that for your remaining strobe. And in my case, when the strobes were fried, I could either manually trigger them but only at full power, or could only see a weak preflash but not the actual flash. So, when you use the optical cable between your working strobe and the dodgy strobe, are you able to adjust the flash power on the dodgy strobe? If so, that should be good news.

Hey Gary! Looks like there's a chance we could bump into each other at Blue Ribbon. I haven't been back this year, but stay there occasionally - will give a shout next time I do.

If space or weight is a constraint I wouldn't bother with macro on this trip. You're going for pelagic actions in the channels, or for mantas at cleaning stations, not for critter hunting. Strong currents, 4 or 6:1 divers per group, dives are usually quite deep (25m, not 5/10m), and coral is in pretty bad shape overall. Definitely bring the strobes. You'd probably do 1 or 2 night dives and these will be needed. You can also use them for CFWA.

Let us know what their recommendation is - I'm also curious about this setup. Though I'd rather go for a native lens... alas, no choice.

Out of the 2, I found Buceo to be nicer - better location, larger bungalows, and definitely more of a holiday feeling due to the space and location. Buceo's location is also great for Secret Bay though that's not a big differentiator. CBR has comfier rooms and very nice staff. Mike wasn't around when I was there. They have a nice classroom. Both are very well run dive operations. The food got old very quickly at CBR. To me this was, by far, the major downside of the resort. They tried to make it nice (soup, starter, mains, dessert etc), but it was just bland and uninspiring and I doubt I'll return because of that. Buceo had more options though you don't travel there specifically for the food either. Neither are great for vegetarians (I'm not but my partner is). Buceo was a bit more expensive, if my memory serves well.

Seacam updated their port chart, and they recommend the PVL65 extension for the 100mm macro. I can confirm that a 60mm would not work. By email, Harald also recommended the PVL65+20 for the TC1.4, and PVL65+30 for the TC2.0 combos. Given what I already had, I ended up using the PVLs 45+20 for the 100mm, 45+40 for the 100mm+1.4, and 40+35+20 for 100mm+2.0. Stacking 3 extensions isn't optimal, but it works. Now for the test - I had a chance to go to the pool and play with everything. My aim wasn't pixel peeping, but to get a feel for this new gear, confirm that everything works, and see approx what magnification level I can get. Gear: A1, Seacam housing, MIP80 with extensions as above, no strobe, SMC-1. Lighting was inconsistent due to clouds so I did what I could. Some editing to try to get a consistent look across photos. All pictures use the same settings for texture (0) clarity (+10) dehaze (0) sharpening (40) and noise reduction (L15 C50). All pictures uncropped, exported at 1920px. I'm hoping the pictures show up in order. For pictures 2-9 I aimed to achieve the maximum magnification I could. Picture 1: Subject is 10cm long and has 2 rhinophores (elephantophores?) and a snout (snoot?) which is about 3-4mm. Picture 2: 90mm, 1/160, f/10, ISO 3200 Picture 3: 90mm + SMC1, 1/160, f/10, ISO 3200 Picture 4: 100mm, 1/125, f/10, ISO 1600 (inadvertently used different settings) Picture 5: 100mm + SMC1, 1/160, f/10, ISO 3200 Picture 6: 100mm + 1.4x TC, 1/160, f/10, ISO 3200 Picture 7: 100mm + 1.4x TC + SMC1, 1/160, f/10, ISO 3200 Picture 8: 100mm + 2.0x TC, 1/160, f/10, ISO 3200 Picture 9: 100mm + 2.0x TC + SMC1, 1/250, f/10, ISO 6400 (had to use faster shutter speed and bump up the iso) My perspective: this lens is going to be very fun to shoot. It is definitely faster to focus than the 90mm macro. The 100mm is slightly bigger, unfortunately it makes it tricky to take both the camera+lens out of the housing in one go, it's better to unscrew the lens first through the housing front. A battery change on a boat is a riskier operation. I love that we can natively achieve 1.4 magnification without having to add the SMC1, while keeping a greater working distance than the 90+SMC1. I also love that I can still add the SMC-1 to get an even higher magnification, whether used just with the 100mm, or with the TCs as well. Adding the 1.4x TC gives a 140mm lens, which can achieve about the same magnification as 100mm+SMC1 but is much more comfortable to handle. The 1.4x TC is light and adds weight towards the center of the camera whereas the SMC1 is heavy and off balance (I'm aware the SMC3 helps with that). And adding the SMC-1 on top of it really expands the range to super super macro Adding the 2.0xTC gives a 200mm lens. Magnification is great but the 200mm seems really inconvenient underwater, to get the whole elephant in the frame I had to move back more than I wanted, and I can see this would be both harder to frame subjects, and to position strobes. Adding the SMC-1 gives an even higher magnification as well, but the working distance was very small and getting the shot was really hard - despite perfect conditions with static subject and photographer. I can't imagine this working too well underwater. With the TCs, the minimum aperture also increases from f/22 to f/31 or f/45 so that may occasionally be useful as well. So the 100mm + 1.4x TC + SMC-1 will be coming with me to Lembeh, 90mm will enjoy its retirement. I'll keep the 2.0 TC for specific targets on local dives, like Shaun the Sheep