Dave_Hicks

This Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dolpheini) was one of about five GPO's we saw out in the open during four days of diving in Barkley Sound with Rendezvous Dive Adventures. Conditions were perfect deep on the reef, and our group found many GPO's hunting and resting on the rocky topology of Barkley Sound. A Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dolpheini) strikes a pose on a colorful part of the reef surrounded by Giant Plumose Anemones (Metridium farcimen). Nikon Z8 w/8-15mm Fisheye lens + 1.4TC, f9@1/20s iso320, Pair of Retra Maxi strobes with 4500k filters

Very slick! About those original knobs. I shared with Retra the feedback about salt constantly forming around the knobs even after an overnight soak. That hollow cavity and tight fitting to the base means they just can't be rinsed out. I designed the replacement knobs to eliminate the cavity and provide a slightly bigger gap at the bottom to allow for drainage. The mode switch gets a different shape to make it easy to distinguish with gloves on.

I have a much more basic carry handle setup that has served me well. Paracord, mini bolt-snap, little D-ring, 1/2 inch tubing. About $10. Attached to the top of the ULCS arm. Zip tied a big oring at the bottom of the arm to stow it while diving.

That's a great set! Thanks for sharing.

After a current-heavy trip to Galapagos about a dozen years ago I came home with super floppy arms. I had cranked them down hard so many times in the current the o-rings were shot. Fresh o-rings made a word of difference. Then I ended up selling all of my ULCS clamps and bought all new ones for good measure. The old ones were still in good shape, but I cleaned them up and sold them for about half the cost of new ones. They were well over 10 years old. Sometimes it's just good to start fresh.

Huh? Which 8-15 is sharper than the other 8-15? With the Nauticam 140mm dome setup, 10mm is too far back already. The vignette is at 11 or lower. I was thinking about modifying the zoom ring to disallow it from going back any further than where it clips. It should just take some specific alignment to make it work.

Conclusion: To my eye the quality off all of these images is quite good. Even at fairly low shutter speed of 1/20th second an mid-range apertures of f9 the images are quite sharp and the corners look acceptable. The 8-15 + 1.4 outperforms the WWL-C setup in the corners by a small margin. I don't see any significant negatives to adding the 1.4tc to the 8-15. However, on occasion you will likely miss-zoom at the 11-12mm range and slightly clip the frame. A minor crop will take care of this.

There have been a number of posts recently discussing the merits of an 8-15mm lens with a teleconverter. The 8-15mm fisheye lenses are great performers, but can feel limiting because they are either 8mm (circular) or 15mm (wide fisheye). If you are dealing with CFWA or a Wide subject just a bit out of reach like Sharks, then a bit more reach might be welcome. A 1.4x Teleconverter delivers just that sort of solution. With the 1.4tc the 8-15 fills the frame without clipping right between 11 and 12mm. This opens up a useful range from 11-15mm or the magnified equivalent of 16 - 21mm. I just completed a trip to the Pacific side of Vancouver Island in an area called Barkley Sound. There is a quaint dive lodge out there called Rendevzous Dive Adventures that runs a very nice operation. I mostly shot the Nikon 8-15mm AF-S lens with 1.4tc (kenko) under a Nauticam 140mm dome. I used my 3d printed 40mm port extension that continues to perform perfectly after about total 25 dives. I did a couple of dives with the WWL-C / 25-50mm combo and tried to take some comparison shots. Below are two similar images taken with both combos. The photos are uncropped and very lightly edited. Nikon 8-15mm with 1.4TC, @12mm, f10@1/25s iso400, Pair of Retra Maxi strobes with 4500k filters WWL-C with z24-50mm, @24mm, f14@1/50s iso400, Pair of Retra Maxi strobes with 4500k filters And a comparison image of the 8-15mm + 1.4tc @ 15mm. Nikon 8-15mm with 1.4TC, @15mm, f8@1/30s iso500, Pair of Retra Maxi strobes with 4500k filters This image needed a BSXT pass as there was a lot of fuzz stirred up by multiple divers nearby.

New product promotional image for the TPU Dome Port Covers: Turns out that the Giant Pacific Octopus is a fan of these too! A GPO climbed on my camera and tried to steal my dome cover. Sneaky little sucker almost tore it off and made a quick getaway! It also managed to turn the zoom knob and made the lens (Nikon 8-15 w/1.4tc) vignette a bit. :)

The truth is that 3d fabrication is iterative. Even with perfect measurements you get things too tight, too loose, half a millimeter out of alignment, etc. Different materials will expand or contact so even if you get the right dimension and you have to adjust it anyway. I have made zoom gears from measurements a few times. Once i got it right the first time, another required three or four iterations to get the right fit. So it's not worth the headache.

I wonder if a phone based 3d scanner could make a good enough model of a port to make a "blank" to design the float around...

Redesign. The contours of every port are different, location of screw holes, etc. However the Cad model of these floats is very simple. 95% of the work was figuring out how to get a strong watertight print that won't leak or implode. I've done that work and shared it out. I can easily make more, but need hands on with the port to measure, do a draft print or two to check fit, then a final print.

EVF 100% of the time. It is a huge win of the mirrorless designs. At least on Nikon, the EVF has two modes Enhanced view - basically night vision that boosts the exposure of what you SEE (default) Effect of Settings - WYSIWYG for cameras. Shows the effect of shutter and ISO on ambient lights. Amazing for wide angle natural light and exposing for the background water. After taking a shot the Preview is in the EVF, not the screen. Shoot Review You don't need to move your head, rig, or disturb the subject or environment to look at the screen These two things alone make the Mirrorless upgrade worth the cost. Add a 45deg viewfinder and it's perfection.

Replace the orings on your arms so they don't flop around. Put the carry lanyard at the top of the first arm segments so you can carry it all without anything flopping over.

Super spiff! You need to bedazzle those rings! Glad to hear they worked well for you on your trip. 😀

What lens is that used for?

BTW - The port float rings were designed to accommodate the Nauticam dual flip adapter and have sufficient clearance. It is pretty much the main reason I made these.

I will get some n100 designs created before long. So many Sony Shooters around these parts. 😀

Sure, lets meet for a dive and I can borrow some parts afterwards. You'll get in a dive and should have that itch scratched for a few days at least! Any time, I am free most of the week.

Macro Port Buoyancy Float for Nauticam n120https://makerworld.com/en/models/2784346-macro-port-buoyancy-float-for-nauticam-n120#profileId-3094935 Add clean, professional looking buoyancy to your Nauticam housing with these waterproof, pressure resistant buoyancy float rings. Up to 355g of buoyancy! (12.5 ounces) Models for:Port 60 (60mm AF-S) / +235g buoyancy Port 87 (105mm AF-S or z105mm) / +350g buoyancy Port 60+20mm extension (z105mm) / +280g buoyancy Underwater camera housings are quite heavy and tend to be negative in the water, requiring the addition of buoyancy floats to get the rig near neutral in the water. Typically, this is done with high density foam floats on the strobe arms. Another option is a float collar on the ring. I found these to be really ugly, and non-professional looking and figured I could try to make something better. As a fun an interesting experiment I decided to try and create a cleaner solution by 3D printing a custom fitted hollow float ring that snugs up to the contours of my Nauticam n120 macro ports. A float ring on the port has the added benefit of better balancing the entire rig, especially if you are using heavy glass diopters on the macro port. After a great deal of experimentation, advice from others, and testing I have developed a very good solution that is extremely durable and functional. With several hundred dives completed without any leaks or failures on dives up to 120 feet (40 meters) of depth, I am pleased to share the models with others that would like to make their own. I first posted about this project over a year ago. After hundreds of dives and some minor iteration changes, I am confident enough with this design to share it freely for others. It's printed in ABS or ASA and requires no additional sealants or treatments to be completely watertight and pressure resistant to 40 meters. These float rings are fantastic in the water. The provide a clean, professional look, added buoyancy, but also better balance of the whole rig when using heavy glass diopters up front.

Do you use the EVF exclusively, or do you use the back screen? And do you have the camera in Airplane Mode? I also rotate between 3 batteries to reduce wear. I only use the EVF, which I suspect uses less power than the rear screen. And no need for wifi/bluetooth underwater. Even shooting some video for a few minutes across dives, I've still only run down the Z8 to zero once in about 300 dives with it to date. I was stretching it out on a 4-dive day and had several rapid action encounters were I really racked up the shutter count.

Those strobes need some bumpers and more Blue Accents to match the floats!

No issues with heat. Only about 1cm of the heat sink is covered. I have had no problems with the HF-1 strobes using the bumpers and reduction rings.

Thanks for asking! I hope these work out for you as well as they have for me! Yes, PETG is the best material for this model. PETG-CF would likely be fine. It's actually not as strong, but it tends to print a bit nicer cosmetically. Use TPU 95 or 90 for the rubber gasket parts.

I have 3 Inon 330 strobes and two of them died due to this exact problem with the main power switch. I got one repaired when they were still in support, but the other died sometime later after support was ended. You can contact Inon, but I don't think they will fix them anymore.