Dave_Hicks

It never hurts to carry a spare strobe with you. These days a bring two Inon 330s and a Backscatter MF-2/Snoot along. I nearly always use the MF-2/Snoot when shooting macro with a single 330 for fill light. But if one of my big strobes dies, I can always use the MF-2 for Wide Angle as the fill or spotlight role. If you dive a lot, I suggest investing in a 3rd strobe for redundancy.

I won't have the lens in hand until Sunday, so I'll make a gear next week. I have a good design template but need to get the precise measurements and try a couple of material options. I will post the design on Thingiverse once I've tested it out. I dive a couple times a week, so it won't be long.

Welcome from a fellow Seattle diver! Looking at your website I see lots of great images, but I am not seeing any Pacific Northwest photos! What's that about? You live in one of the best diving regions in the world. I'd love to meet you on the beach here in Seatle anytime you get the urge. Cheers, Dave

I use the first one. It's very well made and works exactly as expected. I use it on a Nauticam housing with the KRL-09 and SubSea diopters.

Try Reef Photo in Florida. I have used them for many years. Purchases and service for Nauticam. They are very responsive. They also don't charge sales tax for Washington State.

That is vignetteing. The port is too long or diopter-gap too big. The field of view is getting clipped. This is what happened with my 60mm & SubSea+5 when i accidentally used it with the longer 105mm port.

Thanks for details. I just bought a WWL-C to shoot on a Z8. I hope to give it a spin in a week or two.

I think you should discuss this chart with Bluewater. This looks like an error at best, and poor advice at worst.

Well, I accidentally shot the 60mm yesterday in the Port 87 intended for a 105mm and the KRL looked like crap behind that port. When first got the KRL-09 port I tried it with a 105mm + Port 87 in the pool and it looked very bad, worse that was happened yesterday.

I looked at the Kraken website and it does not show anything like that I could find. It mentioned 60mm or 30mm on m4/3.

This port is designed to work with a 60mm lens. Anything other than that and you would expected diminished results. Period. Interestingly enough, I went diving yesterday and used my 60mm + KRL-09 combo. But I screwed up and had my 105mm port installed! Opps!! I took a few shots with the KRL-09 and they were not horrible, but also not anywhere near a sharp as I get with the proper port installed. Below is a 100% crop and the image is fuzzy, even after some Lightroom tweaks. It just doesn't work well outside the design parameters.

Do you know the brand of TPU that you have used? I'd like to compare to my brand, which I don't really think of as being all that firm. I am about to design and print my first gear in the next week once I get a newly ordered lens. The Nauticam equivalent is a two-piece design. With a hard plastic gear and a flexible sleeve. Cut o-rings sit in grooves for some grip between lens, sleeve, and gear. (see below) I thought I might use a similar two-piece design, but with a TPU based sleeve. However, if the whole thing were TPU that might be a cleaner solution. Any thoughts? [Nauticam screenshot]

FYI - It is possible to replace the battery of a Sola light. If you don't mind buying an AliExpress battery pack and doing a bit of soldering. I replaced my sola battery after it wore out and used it for a year or two more. At which point I dropped it from a great height and cracked open the body. ~dead~

Why would you want to block your view this way? I look over my camera all the time when lining up a shot, checking snoot lighting, etc. Maybe mount it instead on one of those unused offset balls?

Can't help with most of that gear, but I just ordered a WWL-C today. I plan to design and print my own Zoom Gear for the 24-50 zoom lens. I would be happy to send you a copy if you decide to go that route. Happy Hunting!

I don't have this problem using the KRL-09 with a Nauticam D850 with 60mm 2.8G lens. I use a Nauticam dual flip and typically mount a diopter and the kraken. * Do you have the "new" 60mm 2.8G or the older 60 2.8D lens? The older lens may not work well as the lens elements move when they focus. * Can you try screwing the Kraken on our port directly and bypass the flip adapter? I have lots of photos with this lens on Instagram, usually mentioning the setup in the comments.

I made 3d print design of a modular set of float blocks that fit over ULCS arms. They work but are not better than high density foam blocks which I already have. They are more buoyant, but they also weigh more than foam out of water. It was really more of an experiment in making a water tight print, but not good enough that I use them.

If you take really meticulous care of a housing, it may take many years before you need service. However if it is bad ugly shape and controls are sticking, misaligned, or leaking you should send it in. DIY is an option but i bet you don't have a way to pressure test it. If we are talking about a $4-5k housing, spend the money and do it right. If its your uncles old D70 housing, give it a try!

The entire connector part is TPU Rubber already (the black parts). No o-ring necessary, it would be redundant. The TPU tip does have an o-ring like donut bulge in it BTW. You'll see when you blow it up in the slicer.

Picture please

Please back up your claim with data. If there is a crop issue with Nikon Z mount with any of these optics, I would very much like to know of issues that conflict with my data. I just got a Nikon Z8 and plan to get either a WWL-C or WACP-C to go with it. BTW - The Nauticam Port charts are not up to date in all cases. They are missing a lot of Z mount data. So they are not the definitive oracle on this topic. I've read several hands on reviews and talks to friends who wrote some of the reviews as additional sources of information.

Pretty aggressive response! But it turns out you are also incorrect with some of your facts. You can use every single one of these optics on the Nikon Z-mount mirrorless cameras like the Z9, Z8, Z7, etc as well as Sony E-mount. (WWL-C if not the 1b, but basically the same thing) You can use all but the WWL on the Nikon F mount DSLRs like the D850, 800, etc.

Just a dose of reality. Unless you have a proven design to print from, just getting the measurements is only the start of the process. Expect to spend some hours in CAD working on the model, pick your print materials, print it, watch for it to get FUBARed in the process. Then you get a complete print and notice that it's off by a millimeter or two, fix the design, reprint, avoid printer fubar, test it again. Repeat until perfect. Not to say you can't do this. I'm looking forward to the day I need a new gear and have a reason to design and print one. However, it takes a good amount of skill and experience to do this, and I would not embark on it without the help of someone who has been 3d printing for a while and has some (5-10?) hours to burn. (or use this as an excuse to learn a major new hobby!)

I was actually going to suggest this. I have a set of sealed ziplock bags and a USB powered vacuum designed for 3d print spools. It is cheap, has about 20 bags, desiccant, and is fully reusable. It would fit all but your long wildlife lenses. Certainly all UW lenses. About $20: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9MKSRJ1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I had a sola for years, and after a while it became a problem to keep the charge contacts clean enough to work. They also don't have user serviceable / swappable batteries. If it runs out of power between dives, it's done. After some time, the battery won't hold a charge anymore and needs to be returned for service. It's usually best to invest in a light that has a field replaceable battery so you can carry two.