TimG

Yeah, as David suggests, rig a hard lead dive weight underneath the tray. A little trial and error to determine how much weight you need, but once you’ve done that, it’s a simple, easy solution.

Doncha just love those national stereotypes…… roast beef, anyone?

Fingers crossed for you....... keep us posted.

Thanks. Yep, those are the guys we've ordered from before. A good service.

Yes, but what has that got to do with it, eh? Have a great time! Where in Indo are you going? If it's anywhere near Triton Bay, could you look out for my torch. You know what it looks like.

Wise. I’ve got no diving planned till next year. Dammit.

Hmmmm, might be worth seeing if a comparison on the Nauticam website is any help. They have recommendations for the 15-30 albeit with an 8” dome. There are some members who are techno wizzes when it comes to the data on that schematic. One of them may well chip-in. I’m afraid they mean precious little to me. Sorry!

Sea lions ate three cables in a single weekend?! Fabulous! Thats a classic line right there, Dave. Right up there with Freddie Star ate my hamster. Totally agree with you on the merits of straight vs coiled.

But you’re not using a 16-35, right? But a 15-30? Why not ask SF what they recommend? It’s not necessarily going to be the same. I don’t think the MFD is relevant. It’s how the lens is positioned in the dome which is key. This is determined by the size of the dome and the length of the extension ring.

You’ve got a SeaFrogs Canon R8 housing? I was trying to see what SF recommend as a port and EXR for your lens but they don’t seem to list an R8 housing.

LOL! Naah, blame the coils! You're right, they're not so easy to deal with, get caught where you don't want them to get caught - and their stretchability ain't worth it. Actually, although I have never tried it, presumably if you heat a coiled fibre optic cable in hottish water, then stretch it out and clip each end onto something stretched whilst it cools...... wouldn't you then get a fairly straight cable??

Hi Tino I had the Inon 2xx series for years: 220s then the various iterations of the 240s. I switched to Retras in 2020 and really like them for the build quality, colour, evenness of lighting and the ease of using the various accessories. And like the Inon, they use AA batteries. Yeah, they are expensive but I think after several hundred dives with them without the slightest problem, well worth the money.

Darn, I bought the same one only a few weeks ago having lost mine in Raja.

Hi KPV I'll leave it to others more technically qualified than me to advise on lens positioning. I just goo with what the housing/port manufacturer recommends. Some thoughts though: wide-angle lenses on an FF camera are notoriously hard to get sharp edges. The camera is effectively trying to focus on a curve and the depth of field is usually insufficient even if stopped down to say f16. This is especially the case with a relatively small dome port. The bigger the domeport the better the chance of even-ish focussing and sharpness but even with a 230 domeport, folks can have problems. Over/Unders: yep, stop down the aperture and focus the camera at a mid-point. It's very hard to get both elements sharp if, especially, the topside element is distant. Hyper focal distances and virtual images are interesting subjects if you are into technical details. But, frankly, knowing what they are and how to calculate them won't make much difference to taking images. Composition and lighting is what it's all about.

A well-placed reliable source with good access.

I'm told it's the result of Olympus giving up on underwater housings thus freeing up their out-sourced manufacturer to produce items, including strobes, for other suppliers....

No, not necessarily. The Retra bayonet works so well that it's easy to add or remove accessories during the dive and clip them to a BCD. But, as I said, I very rarely take the snoot off if I take it with me for a macro dive. I tend to use a snoot for most macro shots. I was in Sint Maarten a few weeks ago and did around 30 dives all using a snoot from a fairly small boat. No problem. Like many of these things, it's a question of gaining familiarity then confidence. And explaining to the boat crew. I did transport my system and keep it between dives in a Cinebag Grouper bag which holds it all fairly well and keeps it neat and tidy.

No, hunting isn’t an issue. It’s finding the subject in the viewfinder! And refinding it if you check a shot on the back screen. It can be surprisingly tricky! As Dave says, the 60mm is the more natural macro lens for a D500 but you can do some cool images with the 105. It just takes patience. I was using just a 105 for a long time having switched from a D800 based system to D500 but then decided to get a 60 too. I tend to use the 60 now perhaps more than the 105,- some of which is due to the travel weight of a 105 and port.

👍🏼 have fun with it, Geoff. The 105mm is a superb lens. It just needs a bit of patience on a D500.

Hi Geoff I’ve got a D500 and use both the 60mm and 105mm. I've used a 45-degree viewfinder on my Subal housing for many years. I find the 105mm allows you to stand back a little more from the subject which can help with lighting and critter scare. However it can be difficult to actually find the critter in the viewfinder and it's easy to lose the subject's location when checking on the LED screen after taking the shot. The 60mm is much easier in terms of getting and keeping the critter in the viewfinder but, of course, you need to get a lot closer with the potential lighting and scaring issues. My rule of thumb tends to be that if I know exactly what small macro creature I’m planning to shoot (eg shrimps or arrowcrabs) I’ll probably go with the 105mm. But if I’m not sure and just plan to look for macro images, I tend to use the 60mm as it's just easier to use. The 4 attached images were shot with the two lenses. The first two are 105mm and the second two 60mm.

I was cautioned by someone in the industry to be wary of mechanical snoot beam adjusters. The view was that, at some stage, they will jam through salt build-up.

Hi John Sounds like some fun times ahead - excellent! I’ve been using the Retra LSD with a Retra strobe (currently Pro Max) for some years and love the combination. I reckon about a 90%-95% aiming success rate. Yes, it is quite bulky topside but once in the water I find it highly manoeuvrable and easy to position. In practice I never remove it during a dive and concentrate on macro subjects usually snoot-light. If I don’t want a snoot lighting then I use the non-snooted, right-hand strobe. The Retra has the standard Retra loop which you can use to clip it off. I added an extra one at the sharp end using a bit of paracord and a small shackle so that there are two clip-off points. But, as I say, I hardly ever remove the snoot underwater. Yes, use just one snoot - two would likely drive most folks to insanity - with the snoot on your left hand. On the right hand I usually have my second Retra PM fitted with the macro rings. I’ve never used the Backscatter so can’t help with that but if you already have the Retra strobes, to me adding the LSD is a no-brainer.

Great to have you with us, Canuck-Surfer! A warm welcome to Waterpixels.