Posts posted by TimG
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Definitely wide-angle for the day dives. I’ve pretty much given up on daytime macro in the R/S. Macro makes good sense though for the night dives and, yep, not something too demanding in terms of “finding “ the subject in the viewfinder. So 60mm on FF.
As CCRphoto says, it’ll be starting to get a bit nippy. Wrap up warm, Mike 😜
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1 hour ago, Christian K said: You might want the bigger dome with a wide rectilinear like the 16-35, unless only the center of the image needs to be sharp, which tbh in many cases is usable. Nauticam recommends the 230 mm glass-dome.
Yeah, that was my thinking too. My experience with 16-35 rectilinear lenses (in my case the Nikkor 16-35), is that a 230 domeport is pretty much essential unless you are happy with squishy sides and corners. Even then and stopped down to say, f11, perfection is not guaranteed.
You can avoid the problem of course by having non-important edges - blue water for example- where blurring has no impact. But once you start shooting reefs, the edges do tend to show up and is, in my view, one of the drawbacks of FF sensors. (But I think we have sailed around this buoy often enough)
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Hi Mike
Some excellent learning points!
Yep, group dives are pretty hopeless for taking "good" pics. If you go back to Indonesia and you want to photo macro, I'd recommend the Lembeh Straits. Not only amazing (weird!) diving, buy most operations run a two guests-to-one dive guide system. So spending time taking images is relatively easy. And yes, you definitely need a guide but, believe me, that's good!
Wide-angle shots with a group is, errr, challenging to get all the flailing, inelegant legs out the way. Take a buddy (preferably with good legs) and a guide.
Sounds as though the Salted housing buttons may have been subject to the water pressure at 30m and just kissing the camera buttons sufficiently to cause unexcited activations. Expensive though they are, that's one reason why the aluminium housings (Subal, Nauticam, Isotta etc) are so good. And so expensive! Yes, by and large, you get what you pay for.
Sounds as though you had fun though - which is a large part of what its about......
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Hi Brett
A warm welcome to Waterpixels Great to have you with us. We hope you enjoy the forum
Best wishes.
Tim
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Hi Leslie
I've just switched to an OM-1ii with a 60mm Zuiko lens but, like you, have not yet got it in the water.
Just in case you've not found this already......
Messing around topside, as you do, I noticed one issue which would be a pain underwater especially shooting in Manual: it seemed to me that the default setting was that the EVF/screen would lighten or darken depending on the ISO/aperture or shutter speed. Set to Manual mode, with a shutter speed of, say, 1/200 and an f stop of, say, f11, the EVF/screen was pitch black and impossible to see the subject.
I want into MENU > ⚙ GEAR page 3 > LV Mode and set "S-OVF" ("Simulated Optical ViewFinder"). This avoids the problem.
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7 minutes ago, Christian K said: For aps-c, a tokina 10-17 still rules wa zooming inmo, if you can find one.
Totally agree. Horrible topside but underwater, superb! Add a 1.4TC and even more flexibility.
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1 hour ago, ACHiPo said: I ended up getting several plastic bins. I’m gaining on it—the camera, lenses, and housing are all in bins. Now to get the diving detritus stored.
Funny that, my partner keeps talking about bins and my equipment. Perhaps she means for storing it? I'm not sure.
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On 8/29/2026 at 4:40 AM, tiger said: TimG I agree . I love the images I made with a Nikon D200 and D300. It is all about some skill and experience with your tool after all. I was wondering what you thought of the D800 ? Was it a camera you fell in love with at the time?
Yeah, I really liked it. It was a pleasure to use and I got some terrific images from it. But..... I did find having to use a large domeport (230mm) for wide-angle images an utter pain for travelling. My partner found it an even bigger pain!
I used the D800 for about 4 years but decided the travel issues were getting just too much - and switched to a D500. This got me back to a 100mm dome (just tiny in comparison) and a Tokina 10-17mm lens. This was a brilliant setup and I missed nothing from the D800.
As you may have read in other posts I've made, I no longer see the point in having FF unless you have some specific reason for it. Having lost all my D500 gear, I've now gone for M43 in the rebuild.
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2 hours ago, reubencahn said: My left brain is telling me the OM-1 in Nauticam is the way to go. My right brain is lusting after the D500/Subal.
Oh, I hear ya!!!!
Interesting to read of your Subal experience. They serviced a 45-degree viewfinder for me after I scratched the viewing glass a few months ago. That was quite quick. But, yeah, not sure I'd want to invest in a new system. Such a pity. They have been superb housing.
Will post for sure on how it goes.
As for the Nauticam, 45-degree viewfinder. Mercy, it is LARGE compared to the very neat Subal one. Easy to install/remove though, has a diopter adjustment which is nice.
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I love the idea and it was something I asked Retra about a few years ago. They thought then that variable apertures tended to jam after a time and the slide masks were simpler and reliable.
In practice, like @Dave_Hicks I only use probably 2-3 sizes of openings and have just the two round-shapped Retra slide masks in carabiners in a BCD pouch.
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Hi Reuben
Have to say I agonised. The decision to move to OM and Nauticam was for multiple small reasons which seemed to make the case. I usually only traveled with the Subal housing plus a Nikkor 60mm macro and Tokina 10-17 plus the relevant ports (100mm for the Tokina), Retra strobes and LSD. Even then I was finding the weight and bulk a bit of a pain.
When I lost all my gear I thought it time for a rethink. Was it wise to buy a second hand D500? I had contacted Subal about a housing and got no reply. And much though I loved the housings, I couldn’t help but feel Subal were fading away. Nauticam is everywhere in terms of product support, quality, second hand desirability etc. Then there didn’t seem to be a D500-like Nikon body available. I didn’t want to go FF for the weight issues. Several members on Waterpixels talked about the merits of M43 and the OM-1.
Those factors persuaded me to switch. There were probably more thoughts in the back of my mind.
Not yet got the new system in the water. Soon! But first topside impressions are good. Lenses for underwater use are mind-boggling small and light compared to
Nikkor. The Nauticam housing feels good, fits together nicely and I really like the integrated vacuum system and USB bulkhead charging/downloading capability. Port mounting is a little easier than Subal. Push and lock rather than push hard, twist and maybe lock.
The housing feels good to handle, perhaps not quite as refined as the Subal. I really liked the size, feel and placement of Subal’s shutter and aperture control wheels. The Nauticam’s are a little smaller and, at the moment, my Subal muscle memory doesn’t find them so easily. Practice eh? Over 25 years of Subal practice.
The OM-1ii is similar in size to the Z6 series. It seems hugely capable. AF seems excellent topside. Massive learning curve from Nikon. But one step at a time. Image quality? Waterpixelers, whose views I trust, tell me I won’t tell the difference. I bought a topside lens with the aim of slowly switching entirely to OM. Again, steep learning curve. I got the 12-100 which is similar to the Nikkor 24-200 which is/was my go to travel lens. It’s very similar in size. But other long tele/zooms in the OM range are significantly smaller and lighter than Nikkor equivalents.
Everything other than strobe arms now fits in a 1510 Pelican case. Yeah, it’s still heavy! So no real weight saving but it is compact and my second cabin bag will be much lighter.
Sorry, this is rather a long reply now. I can tell you more when back from my trip. But so far looks good and I thought it might be helpful to explain the context for my decisions.
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30 minutes ago, Nikolausz said: Yes, but
We are gear-heads and we like to discuss technological details of various equipment used underwater. Especially when "vs" is used in the title we can expect a long discussion. Even if the conclusion is that there are more important aspects of photography/ videography than incremental improvements of the hardware it's still fun to discuss it.
Fair point. We're all here to learn, share and have fun with something we love. Enjoy!!!!!
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New member from CZ
in Member Introductions
Hi hon05
A warm welcome to Waterpixels. Great to have you with us. We hope you enjoy the forum and find all the help you need. Post away!
Best wishes