TimG

12 hours ago, Nemrod said:

There is a single screw through the middle of the ball mount that goes into a sturdy thread in the strobe case. There is a plastic gasket to isolate (for corrosion) and an anti-rotation pin. Very solid mounting.

The mount is very solid. Oskar told me once you cannot over-tighten them either. Not that I’ve tried!

Hi Alessio!

A warm welcome to Waterpixels. Great to have you with us. I hope you get the info you need. Lots of experts here who I’m sure will be helpful.

Best wishes

Tim

This is what ChatGPT says:

they are quite different accessories for the TG-series cameras such as the TG-7.

FD-1 Flash Diffuser LG-1 LED Light Guide

Light source Built-in flash Built-in LED

Light Short, powerful flash Continuous light

Macro stills Better Good, but less powerful

Video Not useful as continuous light Excellent

Underwater Yes Not useful underwater

Working distance About 2–30 cm About 1–10 cm

Light control Two flash levels No separate control

Best for Underwater/macro photography Macro/video and very close subjects

OM System specifically describes the FD-1 as a flash diffuser that gives softer, more even illumination and lists it as compatible with the TG-7, TG-6, TG-5 and TG-4.

For your underwater photography

I’d choose the FD-1 without hesitation.

The important advantage is that it uses the TG’s flash, rather than the relatively weak LED. That gives you enough light for faster shutter speeds and lower ISO, which is particularly useful for underwater macro where you want to freeze subject movement. OM System also specifically confirms that the FD-1 can be used underwater.

The LG-1 is really more of a macro/video light guide. It takes the camera’s LED and distributes it around the lens. It’s particularly useful when you need to see the lighting continuously while composing video.

So, if you’re using a TG-7 for underwater stills, get the FD-1.

Hey Tim!

Welcome to Waterpixels. Very good to have you with us. We hope you enjoy the forum

Best wishes from another Tim

Tim

4 hours ago, Nir Friedman said:

In any event I will go with a stripped down housing (no arms or strobes). I am used to shooting with 45deg view finder, my worry it might be a bit heavy, but easier than composing on back LCD in a sunny environment.

Shooting around or up towards the surface with a 45-degree finder can be a little tricky (it's what I had on my system) as aiming at the right place is a little deceiving. But, like many things, it's just practice.

20 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Says a UK diver. Are you missing out on all the great local diving in your neck of the woods? :)

Ha! Been there, done it, sold the dry suit. It’s diving the tropics for me!

1 hour ago, Troporobo said:

I don’t think I could feel a half press with gloves.

Ooooh, gloves!!! That's what it's all about! Yeah, well, good luck guys. If you need gloves, the water is too cold 😜

I had to look up what back button focus meant! 😝

15 minutes ago, Architeuthis said:

In my view (from someone who was owning Olympus MFT and is now using Sony FF), the difference in size and weight exists, but depends to a great extend on the type of lenses

Sure. I can only compare what I'm seeing now on M43 (essentially the OM 60mm and the Panasonic 8mm FE) with what I have used on Nikon APS-C or FF: the Nikkor 60mm, 105mm, 16-35mm, DX 12-24mm, DX 10-24mm, DX 10.5, Sigma 15mm and Tokina 10-17mm Other than arguably the Sigma, Tokina and Nikkor DX 10.5 are all hugely bigger. I couldn't believe the size of the Panasonic 8mm when I opened the box. I've seen bigger cotton reels. The OM 60mm is minuscule compared to the Nikkor 105mm.

But totally accept your point that it depends on which and whose lenses. I was assuming (yeah, dangerous I know) that if you're thinking of a Nikon Z5 chances are you're going to use (some) Nikkor lenses. I thought it worth bearing those lens sizes in mind. On pre-M43 travel I could not fit Nikkor lenses with the housing, strobes etc into my Pelican 1510 roller box. It now looks as though everything will fit in: housing, strobes, ports, lenses.....

31 minutes ago, CCRphoto said:

The lugging around aspect appears to come down to port sizes

Not entirely. Lens sizes are significantly different. M43 lenses are tiny. Nikkor FF lenses are not. Compare the OM 60mm with the rough Nikkor equivalent, a 105mm…….. Moving to M43 the size and weight of the lenses is, for me, the biggest difference.

55 minutes ago, CCRphoto said:

A question about the Retra Maxis - what are the options for offcamera/remote firing? (doesn't need to be TTL)

I believe all the current generation Retras have the same off-housing remote possibilities: you can run a long fibre optic cable (the most reliable and inexpensive); or you can set it up so that the Retra sensor can "see" a light trigger fired by the camera (more tricky); or use a light sensitive wireless sensor such as the Anglerfish plugged into a Retra which is very sensitive to a strobe being fired nearby and would trigger the Retra.

1 hour ago, CCRphoto said:

That is the other side of what I need to look at - I don't think that anyone ever said that deciding on a system was easy unfortunately!

Very true! It'a huge investment in both cash and emotional energy.

4 minutes ago, Chris Ross said:

it'll be more expensive for the housing, plus the N120 ports and extension rings will be pricey and your are back to needing big ports for rectilinear wide angle shooting. Price out all the components to see what you are up for.

Totally agree with Chris. A Z5ii, nice though it is, is taking you back to an FF system with all that means for port and lens sizes, costs and moving the gear.

I mulled over housing a Z6iii but it came down to the same thing. Taking FF underwater is a much more expensive and travel-unfriendly proposition for any potential gain.

On 7/12/2026 at 7:00 AM, Sokrates said:

im sure you cant go wrong with them either.

Late to this party, but as Sokrates says, I too don't think you can wrong with either. I used a UWT for donkeys' years with Subal/D500 and it was completely reliable. Both are well supported by very helpful people (UWT - Pavel; Turtle - Balazs) who are contributors on Waterpixels.

7 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

The need for the monitor is mainly due to my neck - I can only tilt my head back about 25 degrees, and so doing things like shooting macro on the bottom just isn't possible as I just wouldn't be able to

Would a 45-degree finder not work for you? They are brilliant for macro and much smaller than a monitor. Although that said, the Nauticam one is surprisingly large!

I've not dived in Tonga but have dived a couple of times with whale sharks. As @akarnani wisely points out, you are going to be either swimming flat out or hovering close to where they might stop to feed. In either case, keep the gear as minimal as possible. I'd suggest not taking strobes. If it's a flat out fast swim, they are a nuisance and a drag; if the whales are feeding that implies very turbid water, and the backscatter from strobes would spoil the image.

As @Dave_Hicks suggests, I too would go with an FE. FE zoom if doable. Definitely a small dome. Whales are big (!) and if you do get the chance to get reasonably close, possible when feeding, you definitely want the FE. Even if you can't get close, being able to get a diver in the image as well as the whale gives a sense of scale.

Just keep it simple. I get rid of the strobes but maybe keep a Stix-loaded arm or two for reasonably neutral buoyancy. I usually set up for Manual exposure, 400 ISO, reasonable depth of field, as fast a shutter as I can get away with, then take a few test shots once in the water to tweak the settings. Maybe use burst mode - say 3-5 shots a second; then get ready to swim like you're being chased by a great white...... Great fun. And exhausting. Enjoy!!!!

Urgh, how frustrating. Using 613 fibre, clean knife-cut fibre ends, centring the cable/bush is about all you can do. As Chris posted, I think we’ve been here before with the YS strobes. Annoying.

6 hours ago, ACHiPo said:

found focus tracking unusable underwater.

I don’t think this is just an OM issue. I don't recall anyone on Waterpixels saying tracking underwater worked well on their camera.

My gear gets its first runout next month. Fingers crossed. I’m going to be gutted if the OM AF isn’t at least as good as the venerable D500! But I think that unlikely. Will report back……

3 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Your comments about autofocus are interesting, unfortunately I live in a part of the world where there isn't a camera store of any sort - not a whole lot else such as a dive store either! Kind of have to do a lot of research on the internet for most things and then order them online - you get used to it, and become good at swearing too! I might throw this to @TimG for his thoughts on the OM-1 MkII's autofocus?

Sorry but I can’t yet offer a sensible comment on the AF underwater. Mine hasn’t got wet yet. Chris is The Man though - longtime M43 user.

2 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Do the lenses from the various companies making M4/3 cameras all share the mount? (or did you have to get an adaptor for the Panasonic 8mm Fisheye?).

I don't know about "all" the lenses but the Panasonic 8mm is the same mount as the Olympus 60mm and fits on the OM-1 without an adaptor.

Without the housing brackets the Nauticam is 230mm wide. The 307mm must refer to the housing plus handles. I can see that for travelling that disconnecting the handles will be very helpful. And it's quick and easy to do.

Hi CCRphoto

I've just gone down a similar path myself and the criteria you outline are pretty common ones. A good number of members - especially we, errr, more aging ones, are looking to "downsize" and have less gear to carry.

I gave up on FF camera bodies (Nikon D800) in 2017 as having to lug a 230mm domeport - or some sort of big glass wetlens - was becoming a pain. I settled on the D500 APS-C system which, generally, allowed for slightly smaller bits of gear. I lost all that recently so had to rebuild from scratch.

I'm not at all persuaded by the marketing charms of needing FF and high megapixel camera bodies for underwater. I sell lots of images and no-one has ever grumbled that they are not produced by a FF camera. I reckon 20MB is plenty unless you want massive prints or are shooting purely commercial imagery. Topside is different (no ports!!).

Listening to folks here, I came to the conclusion that the OM System plus Nauticam was the way to go. The OM System is compact and light-weight but still has 20+MB sensor. Nauticam has become, perhaps, the system most used by people who want aluminium housings, providing good support and innovative products which are continually developed.

I've now acquired a housing, 45-degree viewfinder, arms and clamps, N85 WA and macro ports, an OM-1ii camera body, and Panasonic 8mm FE and Olympus 60mm macro lenses. The housing is smaller, slightly, than the (Subal) D500 housing, the camera and lenses significantly smaller than FF or APS-C (almost like back to the OM-1 and OM-2 days of the 1970s). But put the whole package together, add two Retra strobes, and weight and volume wise, they are not that much different to my APS-C system. But then maybe I just need to give up trying to pack everything into a heavy Pelican 1510 case!

Fibre optic initiation: yep, a definite must. I don't use TTL either but do want HSS. That rules out the Nauticam trigger. But both Turtle and UWT have compact triggers which do the trick nicely. Both are quality products with very good support. I can recommend either.

Familiarity of controls: well if you've never stepped into digital, there is a big difference in the ability to customise controls. Effectively the camera body is a mini computer which you can customise to your heart's content. I doubt I scrape 10% of what they can truly do. I set mine to Manual exposure, AF in one form or another, shoot RAW, Auto WB and very rarely, burst shots (without strobes for, eg dolphins). The OM will let you set up a number of, effectively, customised setting folders so you can switch easily between one setup and another. Think one set of settings for macro, one for WA controlled by the flick of a switch. But there is sure a learning curve - even switching from Nikon to OM! But the basic "photo references" remain, eg, ISO, Shutter speed, Aperture etc. And, the most important thing, composition - which is what it is truly all about - is not digital! That hasn't changed at all.

Hope this helps a bit! Good luck with it. They are not easy decisions for sure.

I often wonder about reflections in shallower water? Is that an issue?

The Tokina 10-17 reborn!

.... can a Pom wish you a warm welcome? If I don't whinge about something?

1 hour ago, CCRphoto said:

For some reason we didn't bother about safety briefings about life jackets or life rafts etc back then...😄

Eeee, you were lucky. We had to build the boat first, cut the wood, carve dive cylinders out of tree trunks. Eeee, they were the days.....