Andrey Narchuk

I divide photo processing into two types: 1) Simple processing. The goal is to show the real situation. Includes color correction, suspension, etc. Takes from 1 to 10 minutes if the water was very muddy. 2) Art processing. In this case, I can process the photo for a very long time, selecting different transformation methods. It can take several days until I find the desired final image that is suitable for this particular photo. The result may be very different from the original.

This is a very difficult topic. The issues of feeding animals in nature photography have been discussed for decades. Due to the fact that there are significantly fewer underwater photographers, it started here later. At the same time, the very fact of protecting marine life is even more pressing. People far from the sea do not pay attention to what is happening under water. And now the question is not even that feeding in certain places changes the behavior of animals. The problem is that soon there may be no more of these animals left (and no fish either). Therefore, attracting attention (including through underwater photography) is now critically important. An example from personal experience: Philippines. When you dive in some places you are told that the use of gloves is not allowed as it can damage the corals. In my experience, one fishing boat that forgot to remove its anchor destroyed more coral than all the underwater photographers combined (for all time). Examples from history: On the one hand, tourism in the Red Sea causes a lot of damage to the reefs. On the other hand, in the south where there is no tourism, fishing with dynamite has destroyed almost everything. The Queen's Gardens remained almost shark-free until the advent of tourism. And there are many such examples. Of course, a strict violation of ethical standards during underwater photography is not acceptable. But things like feeding... especially if it goes hand in hand with learning and advocacy like in Fiji. This is the best option we have.

Last year I continued my attempts to collect underwater panoramas with marine animals. Steller sea lions from Moneron Island were happy to pose. The main problem is that they move very quickly. You have to do dozens and hundreds of takes so that you can stitch together several frames later. But the panorama better shows what is happening in the water. A large number of sea lions that surround you on all sides.

Hi! A'm glad to listen you again!)

I used the Sigma MС-11 with two Canon fisheye lenses 15mm and 8-15. Sony worked without problems in single photo mode. During continuous shooting, the focus was on the first frame in the series, but for fisheye this is usually not a problem. But there were indeed problems with the video. In fact, you first had to choose what to focus on, and then shoot the entire sequence with that focus. I used a 230mm sphere as a port. But I was lucky to buy it secondhand less then $800... p/s And I used an old 1.4 teleconverter (not Canon) with fisheye and everything worked fine. But I didn't really like the final picture. Perhaps I didn't select the extension ring correctly.

In my experience, fisheye 8-15 on Sony is not an ideal solution. Pay attention to the available ports for the N100 mount. The N100-120 adapter is not always convenient, as it provides additional distance. For example, because of it, I was not able to fully use several very short lenses (for example Tamron 20mm). Therefore, if you like to use fisheye in a small dome, then it is better to look towards other manufacturers. p/s The final difference in size between the Sony kit and the Nikon kit is not very big. Although Nautikam on Olympus with a small dome port looks very compact.

I used a homemade ND filter when I tried shooting fish portraits at a wide aperture (2.8 or even 1.8) for an art effect. In this case, the strobes also overexposed the object even at minimum power. An additional translucent spacer (any piece of white plastic) allows you to normalize the exposure. In this case, I see no reason to close the aperture to 10. When shooting in such conditions, I calmly opened the aperture to the maximum (2.8 old fisheye or 4 new fisheye). And the edges of the frame remain sharp when using a large sphere.

I've always had a very limited budget. And I either won cameras in competitions, or the manufacturer provided them to me (either for free or with significant discounts). When it came time to change my old Canon, I tried to negotiate with Canon. But it didn’t work out. At the same time, Sony was committed to cooperation. And in addition, I won a Sony camera with one lens. I wanted to smoothly switch to Sony optics. Temporarily using your old lenses through an adapter. The plan was quite workable, the costs were only for the box itself. But as I used it, I began to doubt it. For 3 years, Sony has not released a fisheye. The macro wasn't as good as I wanted. I started making a lot of videos. And I also didn’t really like the video on Sony (7R3). Therefore, when I had the opportunity to sell Sony, I did it. And with the money I received I bought a Canon R5 and box for it.

I agree that native lenses should work significantly better than "foreign" through an adapter. But this was not noticeable on older cameras. And it's clear that Sony has done a lot of work in terms of autofocus in the latest model. My situation was not a standard one. I won a Sony as a prize in a competition. And I planned to gradually switch to it. But in the end he returned back to Canon.

I can’t say about the latest Sony A7 RV model. But I used Sony 7R3 for 3 years in the Nauticam. And I wouldn't call it a good experience. I didn't understand policy of Nauticam with N100 mount. You are forced to use adapters for the N120 in many cases. I didn't like the speed of the 90mm macro. I compared it with a 100mm macro from Canon (via a Sigma adapter) and Canon on Sony worked faster in many cases. And the main problem for me is the lack of a fisheye lens on Sony (in most cases I prefer it to a wide-angle lens). The adapter allows you to use Canon fisheye. But it's not always perfect. And there are focusing issues in the video mode I used. I often shoot in difficult conditions and the problems become very noticeable. As a result, last year I sold Sony and bought a Canon R5.

Good day to you all! My name Andrey. And i started underwater photography about 20 years ago. My first trip to the Red Sea left me no choice. After a few months I was able to get an underwater box for my first camera, an Olympys. Then came Canon, Sony and then Canon again. Since then I have been shooting in every body of water I can get to. For about 10 years I have been doing underwater photography projects at the Far East: Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea, Sea of Japan. Last year we released a large album on Moneron Island. I hope this year we can get to the Commander Islands (again) and make a similar album there. You can see a little bit of my photos here: https://1x.com/narchuk