TimG

Subjectively, yes. Bear in mid that I have never used these OM camera or lenses before and, despite very helpful pre-match advice, I was not entirely sure what settings were available or which to use. The OM-1ii is capable of all sorts of tech bells and whistles way beyond (for me) a 2017 D500. I just tried to keep it simple. Not surprisingly the Panasonic 8mm was fine. No problem at all. Easy to focus. The Zuiko 60mm was more problematic and very prone to hunting in turbid water - much more so, I thought, than the D500/Nikkor 60mm. I've never used any kind of focus tracking on my old system and continued to use C-AF for focussing. Subject Detection was set to Off. I did miss a lot of shots initially. Switching to the 0.19-0.4m setting helped a bit. Yes, I started on 0.19m to infinity. Trying to catch a subject swimming in mid-water was something I could do easily with the D500/60mm. Not so with the settings I was using with the OM/60mm. The AF could be distracted by stuff in the water with AF/ Release combined on the shutter release control. Separating out AF and Release will be something I try next time set up on its own Custom group. So, say, C1 for AF/Release combined; C2 for AF/Release separated out to different controls. The other features I want to try out is reducing the C-AF Auto Sensitivity. The Default is 0 but, I read -2 should help distractions. But then, I'm assuming, so should separating out focussing and release buttons. So, bottom line, subjectively, the D500 with a Nikkor 60mm was easier and seemed more reliable for focussing. But, as I say, very early days and it was an accumulation of using the OM for 19 dives as compared to almost a 1000 with the D500. The OM-1ii is clearly highly capable, flexible and customisable. It will take time to fine-tune and get the best of it. As I wrote, I came away happy I was not frustrated to death with a new system. But I did miss shots I would have taken with the D500 so it is a work in progress.

It was still appreciated!

Yep, it’s exactly that, Dave. The spotting light is indeed on most of the time. And a small mask aperture calls for a lot of power. If you’re reading, Oskar, one thing I’d love to see on the Retras is an indicator that the spotting light is indeed on. I often forget to turn it off and it’s not always visible against the reef. I sometimes check by just putting my hand in front of the snoot. But an indicator light would be terrific.

Hi Greg Were delighted to have you on board. A warm welcome to Waterpixels. We hope you really enjoy the forum. Best wishes

Interesting. Could be just habit from my D500 days! I do find though that using the Retra LSD snoot I turn the strobes power up a fair bit. A 100 images sounds about what I’d do over 3 dives. I’ll try going Boosterless on my next trip and see how it goes.

Let us know what you need, Jurgen.....

Totally agree, Larry. You were a brilliant guest! So sad that KBR has gone. I heard Mark died.

Really good points from Kristin. Shooting up you can sometimes isolate a critter against a neutral and uncluttered background. Sometimes! Nice pics, Kristin.

Hi Jurgen! Great to have you with us. A warm welcome to Waterpixels. We hope you really enjoy the forum. Best wishes

Larry Jackson! You old rascal. So good to see your name. I hope you’re in top form. A very warm welcome to Waterpixels, mate!

Yep, totally possible with a snoot. Then as @Grantmac sets out, low ISO, high shutter speed to cut out ambient light - and whatever macro aperture setting you need. A snoot is the way to go: great fun, massively frustrating to start with - but sheer brilliance when you get it bang-on. There's an article about snooting in the, err Articles section. Hang on a minute! I wrote it.....