Craine

Went to see some Lemon sharks off of Jupiter this weekend. I've only edited a handful of photos, but I think they've turned out pretty well so far. Would love to hear what others think. Gear list: Sony a6400 Samyang 12mm f/2 AF TRT Electronics s-TURTLE Smart SeaFrogs/Salted Line A6xxx housing with 8" acrylic dome 2x Inon D200 Type 2 strobes All images were taken at 1/160, f/8, ISO400. Edited for light and color in Lightroom CC.

I picked up an S-Turtle Smart (v1) secondhand on ScubaBoard about a month ago and used it for the first time on some dives at BHB over the holidays. It worked very well and was much better on the battery of my Sony a6400 than the built in flash ever was. Overall I would recommend the TRT. Initial setup was pretty fiddly as a Mac user, but once I had it set configuration was simple. I'm running macOS 14.2.1, and while I had the S-Turtle app installed through the App Store, it took some hunting and trial/error to find the correct FTDI driver package and get it installed, as the instructions on TRT's website are a bit confusing. Maybe I ought to do a writeup somewhere.

I think this is the lens Phil is referring to: https://fstoppers.com/gear/venus-optics-debuts-their-first-full-frame-autofocus-lens-10mm-f28-zero-654283 SonyAddict had a couple articles on it stating the official announcement date was Dec 29, 2023, but I don't see it listed on their shop yet, nor can I find an actual press release. That being said, the specs look impressive. Autofocus, 130 degree FoV, and an MFD of .12m. Physical dimensions have it at 70.8mm long, but it's using a 77mm filter so probably not going to fit within an N85 or a DLM port. I'll be really curious to see what domes it ends up fitting behind for each housing manufacturer. I've seen very good reviews of recent lenses from the "newer" lens manufacturers like Laowa, Viltrox, etc. Laowa in particular is known for their extensive lineup of macro lenses. Like Phil said, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll turn or more of them into an AF lens.

Yep, that's one of them, thank you. And after re-reading through it, and looking at used prices for the Canon 60mm and a metabones adapter, I might go that route instead of the Zeiss. If my math is right (which is questionable at times), the Canon plus Metabones adapter gives 86mm of working distance at MFD. [70mm lens length + 44mm flange distance == 114mm total length. 200mm MFD leaves 86mm working distance.] Take away some distance for the port, and it still leaves a decent amount of working distance for lighting and/or wet diopters. Now I'll just have to figure out if that combo will fit behind my existing port, or if I'd need to buy a new one (prior to me buying a whole new housing, but that's another story altogether).

Thanks @Chris Ross. I've seen that article before, and it's honestly one of the reasons I asked the question here. If the 50mm Sony struggles on the A1, I have concerns about how well it would perform with my older, much less advanced a6400. But admittedly I don't know this for sure, so I'm hoping for first-hand knowledge from users of the older Sony APS-C bodies.

Right... as I said in my OP, I am interested in APS-C macro lenses because I don't shoot macro on my FF topside. That is why I was asking about the Zeiss, since it's short(er) focal length, internal focusing, and is an APS-C lens.

Hi all, It's time for me to upgrade to a proper macro lens for my Sony a6400. Unfortunately there's a bit of a dearth of native E-mount macro lenses, and especially for APS-C, and doubly especially ones that are suitable for going behind a port in a housing (i.e. are internally focusing). The list of internal focusing, native E-mount macro lenses is the following: Sigma 105mm F/2.8 DG DN Macro | A Sony FE 90mm F/2.8 Macro G Zeiss Touit Makro Planar T* 50mm F/2.8 Sony E 30mm F/3.5 Macro My two primary concerns with choosing a lens are 1) autofocus performance, and 2) working distance/FoV. While I see lots of very positive reviews of the Sony 90mm Macro, I am hesitant to grab it for underwater use, mostly based on focal length. 90mm is pretty long on an APS-C system, and I won't be bringing my FF camera underwater any time soon (unless some housing manufacturer wants to start sponsoring all my gear…), so there's not really a benefit to me getting this for "future-proofing" (and I'm not a macro photographer topside). Same goes for the Sigma. That leaves the Zeiss 50mm and the Sony 30mm. I've read somewhere (maybe on WetPixel?) that @Phil Rudin's go to for a while was the Zeiss Touit 50mm Makro. I'd be interested to hear his and anyone else's experience using this lens on a Sony crop sensor camera. Was the autofocus quick or did it hunt a lot? Did you find the 50mm focal length fit for purpose? Am I overblowing concerns on how a 90mm lens on a crop sensor will be? I'm entirely fine with subjective opinions on how you felt this lens worked for your situation. Thanks all!

Two photos stand out for me for 2023. The first photo is my first ever seahorse, which I found on an early morning dive at the Blue Heron Bridge, in Riviera Beach, FL. The second photo was on a drift dive on Breakers Reef. While not the most technically great shot, I use it as the background for my phone, so I must like it well enough. Sony a6400 with Sony 28-70mm in a SeaFrogs Salted Line A6XXX housing with a flat port, 2x Inon D200 strobes. 1/160 sec, f/5.6, 28mm FL Sony a6400 with Samyang 12mm in a SeaFrogs Salted Line A6XXX housing and 8 in acrylic dome, 2x Inon D200 strobes. 1/160 sec, f/8.0

Hey everyone. I’m Craine (same name over on wetpixel), based out of Largo, FL. Glad to be here now.