wydeangle

Tim, Not sure what you meant by distortion. The problem I experienced with the old battery was that the rusted magnet areas swelled and got thick enough to prevent the charger from making contact - in other words, the rust bumps pushed the charger away from the battery contacts. After I scraped enough of the rust bumps away, contact was made and the charger did its job. That was when I started worrying about water getting into the battery. There may be another seal under the magnets to prevent water from getting to the lithium but I didn't want to chance it, so the replacement battery seemed the way to go. So far it looks like it will work fine, Tom

OK - the new Orcatorch B90 battery arrived: It looks identical to the 4+ year old original and seems to be charging OK using the original charger. It will accompany us to Bonaire next month where I hope it will perform as the original did. The original will be disposed of using the local hazardous waste facility. All's well that (I hope!) ends well. Tom PS: Still not going to buy anything else from Orcatorch - education is never free...

All, I haven't received the new battery yet, so can't comment on whether the rear magnetic charging attachment has changed. I'll post again after it arrives. Still not sure the rust can't penetrate the original battery housing. Rust spots seem to be a bit of a risk, so a new battery should overcome that. Tom

I have an Orcatorch D910V video light. It has worked fine for several years but when I took it out to charge for a dive trip in March the magnetically attached charger wouldn't stick. Looking closely it became apparent there were several rust hills forming that held the charger too far away for it to stick on. Here's what it looks like now: The three gold colored spots are the rust hills. The three smaller silver spots are the charger contacts. After scraping away the worst of the rust I got it to charge and took it on the dive trip where it worked fine as usual. The light has been rinsed regularly in fresh water after (most) dives. It is also possible the rust came from the inside of the coating on the back of the light. Then I started worrying that water could get into the battery this way - through one of the three rust holes - it could easily catch fire. Lithium batteries can be dangerous! When I mentioned this to Orcatorch, they said to stop using the light - not a very satisfactory answer to this problem. After contacting Orcatorch about this problem and finding the light was out of warranty they offered a new light at a 15% discount. I won't accept that offer as I have another light plus that's not a very generous offer, but it bugged me to the point of researching this problem on the internet. I discovered I could buy a new battery for $105, about 1/3 the cost of a new light - so I did. When I asked Orcatorch why they didn't suggest the new battery to begin with, they did not reply - so I asked again a few days later - still no reply. So I have a usable light once again and will dispose of the old battery properly, but the Orcatorch customer support was galling enough that I won't be a customer again after being "helped" that way. Sorry, Rant off, Tom

Here's an example of the use autofocus from 5 years ago using an AX700 Sony: It's in 4K so view it that way if you can. No lights - no post processing. Tom

Any ID for this critter yet?

We have a friend who's still using a Canon G15 in a Canon WD-DC48 housing. And creating stunning photos with it! She'd like to find an Inon M67 lens adapter base for her Canon WP DC48. If anyone has one to sell, please let me know. Thank you, Tom

Swift, Ask Mickey Charteris, the photo/video pro at Cocoview. If you don't have his direct email, here it is: [email protected] Tom

Just had a scam experience from Note the "s". I tried to order a band for a Uwatec wrist dive computer using Paypal. Next thing that happens is I get a "confirmation" for a daily deduction from my Paypal account for my order amount plus US$5. Of course, I immediately went to Paypal and canceled the transaction. At least I'm hoping I did 😉 Beware that web site! Tom

In the film "Chasing Coral" a camera was developed to take time lapse pictures of coral bleaching. Here's a screen capture of one of the cameras: Maybe one like that could be used for capturing other events, maybe with a proximity or motion sensor incorporated? Tom

Interesting... The board seems to ignore this posting and wants me to post again in the Intro section. So maybe it'll pick this one up? Tom

Not sure this is the correct place for this, but here goes anyway... Paul Humann passed away Monday February 5, 2024 at the age of 86. What a contributor to our passion! Here's the announcement from REEF: https://www.reef.org/remembering-paul-humann

Here's another way to look at how the oceans have been changing: https://www.reef.org/database-reports This database has been growing for 30+ years and is approaching 300,000 surveys. REEF has been responsible for this humongous (technical term) use of volunteer citizen scientists. It's probable that a lot of those here have contributed. If you haven't yet, please do! Go to the REEF.org site and find out how to sign up. Tom

Lorenzo, What a unique question 😃 I have both ports. Sorry to say though I have no idea whether the lenses are interchangeable - if indeed that is your question - but I do know a sure way to find out: send an e-mail to Gates. I'm sure they will tell you what you need to know. Let me guess there may be a problem if the lenses can be swapped. If you look at the illustration you provided above, the dome port clearly moves the lens farther away from the camera lens than either of the other two ports. I'd guess that even if you could put the SP34A lens on the GP34A port, some vignetting may occur with the SP34A lens if the camera is zoomed full wide. Gates does say the lenses are field replaceable so maybe you could try it? Hope this helps, Tom

Old (!) Wetpixel member. Longtime diver. Too many other interests...