Proteus

Thanks to Chris R. for the info about wet lens optics, I was afraid this was going to be the issue. If anybody has tried anything else and had it work I would appreciate your thoughts. Also thanks to Chris H. for the Sea Frogs idea. I might have gone this route if I'd known from the beginning though, otherwise, I really like the Nauticam housing. I might end up giving the 50mm/Kenko idea a try as I already have the Kenko and wouldn't mind having the 50mm lens. If it fits I guess it would no worse than jumping in with other fixed focal length rigs that I've owned. It is really nice, though, to be able to re-plan under water. Does anyone know if the limitation on wet lenses is a physics thing, or just a matter of no one making such a thing? From an uneducated perspective it seems as though it's just that no one is asking. Gary

Been looking and reading ... might the Kraken KRL-05S be what I want, or is the reduction in focusing range going to be a problem? Seems as though that would become the issue. All the wet lenses I see suppose that one is trying to magnify for macro purposes, where I am just looking to increase the effective lens magnification. Gary

Yes, you're correct that I need to stand back. A Jawfish (especially one with babies) will not let you get very close. Even the "brave" ones would like you to stay a few feet away. I really like the Nauticam R50 housing, but it comes with a non-removable / changeable flat front port. The fixed port includes a bayonet mounting and can also (with an accessory) accommodate screw mount wet lenses, but any such addition must be a wet lens because there is no way to add anything to the interior of the housing. So it seems that a wet teleconverter is what I want. Does anybody have a wet optic that they would suggest? Gary

Over the years I've messed around with almost everything in UW photo gear but I've never needed to learn about increasing optical zoom in a lens. To be clear, in the past I've purchased and used (for example) a 105mm lens if I needed to "reach" a remote subject. I don't have that option now because I am using a Canon R50 in the Nauticam housing. I'm really happy with the rig, but it has it's limitations. As sold by Nauticam the ONLY internal lens option is the 18-45mm (effective 27-67mm) lens. To this you can add the WWL-1B for wide angle and CMC macro lenses and I have both. This, however, is not doing what I need. I like to do fish portraits and, as an example, I recently tried to shoot a Jawfish with babies. As you might expect I had to stay back some and I just didn't have the optical reach I needed at the effective 67mm. If I had 100mm, or so, I would have done well. With what I had I tried digital zoom in post processing and the results were barely OK. So I'm wondering about wet diopters and such. I'd like to add an optical zoom of about 2X, and I think that's what wet diopters do. Given that I've never used one I'm just not sure what I want, or if this is the right approach. Also, since close focus is not an issue for this case I don't care if things like this change. My subjects will be 12-24 inches away from the glass. I'd appreciate any advice the community can give and, any wet lens products you might suggest. Gary

The equipment has been sold.

If anyone is interested in used gear, I have my Nauticam A7RV housing up for sale in the classified section of the forum. The housing is in like new condition so, if you want a "current catalog" item at a somewhat more tolerable price you might consider this approach. I also have other ports, extensions, and gears I've not posted yet. I've decided to down-size, hence the selling. Gary

I used an Ikelite housing deeper than rated and had problems. I don't remember for sure, but I think it was the housing for the Nikon D300. I was on a dive to the Carrie Lee off Grand Cayman and found that I couldn't turn the camera on at depth. My normal use is to leave the camera off until I reach depth and then I turn it on. The was a depth of about 230 feet (can't remember exactly) and the case distorted such that the Ikelite ON/OFF knob could not twist the Nikon power knob. The case did not leak and I never got to try the buttons as I couldn't power the camera. Some time later I changed to an aluminum housing and have not looked back. Gary

Bump

Selling my Nauticam housing for the Sony A7RV. I've tried to include everything that comes with a new unit, including the carrying case (never used), allen wrenches, and exterior (shipping box). This unit also has the UWTechnics strobe control fitted (and the port plug - if you do not want to use the device). The unit is also fitted with the Nauticam vacuum button / port. The unit is in truly excellent condition and is about as close as you can get to "new" in a used unit. It has less than 100 dives and is about three years old. It has never been flooded or seen any amount of water inside. The unit holds vacuum as it should. I have really tried to care for the exterior of the unit - the paint is in great condition and does not have the water stain / foggy appearance you often see on used Nauticam gear. New this would be $5200 (housing) + $260 (vacuum valve) + $494 (UWTechnics flash control) ==> $5954, plus whatever tax you'd pay ASKING ===> $4000, buyer pays shipping from Raleigh NC, USA Please feel free to check my reputation on this site, I've sold other (expensive) things on both WaterPixels and WetPixels before this. Message me to finalize the deal, PayPal payments preferred. Willing to ship to Europe if needed. Gary

Very interested in the carnet idea and am looking forward to how it goes. I'd hate to take Mexico off the list, but given the stories I'm really worried. Gary

I've been wanting to down size for a while and decided to go with the R50 about a month back. I bought the "Pro" housing package from BlueWater Photo and was really happy with the transaction. I've not been diving with the unit yet, but I am really pleased with the housing / package. That said, I have a few nit picky comments. First, yes you can implement back button autofocus, BUT only as a reprogram on the "*" button (which is * / magnify button on the housing). I don't see where Canon provided the alternative on the other buttons (although there is a lot of other remapping available on the other buttons). I too found the trigger to have no "feel" to it and, if you reprogram the * / magnify you can't reach the reprogrammed button and trigger at the same time. My solution is to remove the add-on trigger. Once removed you can comfortably hold the back focus and click the shutter release. Removing the add-on trigger eliminates the soggy feel it gives and, with the reprogrammed button gives the desired function. Another weird issue is the functionality of the housing AF/MF button. Yes, pressing it lets you switch from AF to MF, but there is no way to MF once you do this!! Nauticam did not externalize the manual focus ring on the lens. The knob labeled as Zoom/Focus is really just a zoom knob. I wrote Nauticam about this and they mentioned that the user manual will someday be corrected. Of course, all their other housings allow the alternatives based on one's gear selection, but no such option exists for this rig. As noted above, the AF/MF button has an extensive set of Canon alternative functions so I guess I'll eventually find something I want for the button. The housing flash ON/OFF works beautifully and it's a nice feature. I was always wishing for an easy way to do this on my A7RV and never found it. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has a way to get to an effective 100mm (full frame) lens. The existing is effectively 76mm. For fish portraits I'd like a bit more telephoto. I already have the CMC-2, so I'm OK for getting in very close but, of course, you pay a DOF penalty when the CMC and similar are used. Overall, seems like a nice alternative if you can manage the limitations. Gary

Oscar, just an FYI. I placed an order for a Maxi on 1/15. I received an email saying delivery was to be in May (which is OK by me). I DID, however, receive a credit card charge for the full amount. This shows as fully due on my AMEX card on this month's closing. Not unhappy, but not what you wrote, either. Am I reading this wrong? Gary

And a thanks to Chip as well. Chip was easy to deal with and paid immediately once we had a deal. I hope all my sales go this smoothly.

The viewfinder is SOLD. Thanks to all who looked and especially to those who wrote me. Gary

For sale is one of the new Nauticam viewfinders, Nauticam P/N 32214. This has been used about two times and the condition is what you would expect from something that has barely been in the water, which is to say it's like new. I'm just not using it and I think it's foolish to tie up the money with something that is just gathering dust. Check Nauticam's site if you need to, but in short this is one of the "new" style units that incorporate the 0.8:1 field of view. This is what you need for the larger viewfinders such as found on the Sony A7RV. I think these are hard to find used (I looked without success for a long time), so I'd jump on this if you want one of these. The unit lists at $1845 on Nauticam's site and to that you would typically add VAT or US sales tax. My asking price is $1500 and the buyer pays shipping. I'm in the US and will ship UPS/FedEx within the US, but parcel post will ship most anywhere for pretty cheap and I'm willing to ship most anywhere. Gary