Sergio

Thank you @TimG. Well, I guess I'll make a start here then;-) Country: Phillippines Location: Anilao Dive Operator: Anilao Photo Academy URLs: https://www.anilaophotoacademy.net/, https://www.facebook.com/anilaophotoacademy/ I went there 2 years ago to do my first underwater photography class with Tim Ho, which was great and can only be recommended. They are set up to cater to us underwater photographers and both Rina and Wayne (the Jonses 😜) are both top-notch photographers. Anilao is mainly known for its rich macro environment, but few know that there is quite a bit of wide-angle to be done there too - well less the big pelagic fish unless you include some of those divers into your shot 😜. One of the things I tried 2 years ago was blackwater diving which I wanted to try but didn't know whether I'd like it or not - well suffice to say that I got hooked and after trying it went out every evening. I usually get a dive guide for myself, but actually wouldn't have an issue sharing one as well as there aren't any fun divers on any of the dives you'd do. The accommodation is basic, but clean and has lots of space to deal with your camera gear in the room. There is also a dedicated camera close to the dining area and every guest gets their spot. They have everything you need to set up your gear and are very generous to lend you some gear for the time you are there if something breaks or doesn't work as well or if you just want to try something out. The guides I had have been very knowledgeable not just in spotting interesting critters but also critters so they can be photographed. Some of them take photos as well and will correct your position or help you with getting a better vantage point. I went back there last year and will go back there in May as my first stop - I like it that much. The cost to dive (you typically pay for room and food as well as your day dives) is very reasonable. I can only speak very highly of them, as all the staff are super friendly and Rina is the best - top efficient, manages the place as I haven't seen in many places. I can only recommend this place.

Not sure if I am the only one, but thought to bring this up as it might be valuable for many as well. I oftentimes spend a lot of time trying to find a good dive operator to go with which is both safe but also caters to photographers. I'd rather pay for my guide than be in a fun dive group and annoy my dive buddies or be annoyed by being constantly chased away from taking a picture to keep up. So I was thinking it might be helpful if all of us would share our experiences with dive operators in certain destinations that cater for photographers (no need to mention the other ones). it would be great if this could be somewhat structured, e.g. having some sort of list of countries and within each country location where we could add those dive operators. I know there is already something similar about dive trips here but it's a bit of a hodge-podge of topics in it and as it will grow will get a bit difficult to find things. Might be that this is just me thinking it would be helpful, so that's why I thought to post here.

I subscribed as well and agree with Kamaros. I had some troubles initially as well, as I signed up from my iphone and it was done using Wix (had to install that one first) which was installed not showing my email address (they use some generic apple.com email). When signing up, I had to give my email address but it used that funky apple.com email address which was sent to the registration. It took me a while to understand what was going on. Also, initially, the videos were all scrambled around but I think this was probably a temporary glitch as Alex mentioned above. So far enjoying those videos from Alex a lot - btw, a big thank you to Alex for sharing so much of his knowledge with this community. Not many photographers take the time and do this! So bottom line, signing up to the class and accessing should work well now.

just in case anyone might have thought about the same thing as I did to maybe use a sony lense on a Nikon Z body, here's a link to Nauticam's answer to that - spoiler alert: not recommended;-) use of sony lens on nikon z body

will answer my own question here as I did receive an answer from Nauticam. This is their answer. Will also post in the FCP related branch s

I am getting new gear and one of the things I will go for is the new water optics from Nauticam. Now, I will be going with a Z8 and the natural way to use those water optics is the use of z 24-50. Today, I stumbled over an article saying how well Sony lenses were working on Z cameras using the latest megadap converter. So, now I wondering whether using this combo over the native 24-50 lens might be the better way forward. Any insight, knowledge, wisdom and experience is most welcome.😇

Good point thank you. I have been using a very old one and not from nauticam. I never really paid attention or was thinking about the viewable space it would cover and wanted to be sure to buy the right one.🙃

Thank you all. I ordered the 0.8:1. Now waiting for my new gear to arrive 😉

Thank you Chris

I would really appreciate your advice for the following question I have. I made the plunge and got myself a new camera (z8) and am now getting a nauticam housing along with it. One thing I’m hesitant about is which viewfinder to choose. I read that one might not be able to see the status bar well with the 1:1 but would get larger view of the cameras evf. The 0.8:1 doesn’t have this problem but shows you less of the picture. I also have the option to buy an older viewfinder (part no 32205) for a good price (never used) which I guess would have the same view as the newer 1:1 ? I am not sure how much of an issue it really is to go either way but would hate to spend all this money and not see my settings, ie having to dial in blindly or having to look at my back display to adjust my settings. Having said this, there might e options with the z8 to display those elements temporarily within the image if the viewfinder but haven’t found such an option.

Wow, that’s quite the price tag they put on that thing. For some reason I thought I had read a post from Alex mustard that it was about as heavy as a big dome, so about 2.5-3kg but it seems heavier.

First of all thanks to those that created this site. I was a reader of wetpixel before and was bummed when it went off line. So, cudos to you guys starting a new community which I’m sure will quickly grow! I really only started getting more serious with underwater photography from last year on, using a D200, so still tons to learn and this site will be one of my go-to places. sergio