Dave_Hicks

Novus 1 and a very clean microfiber cloth should clean it on the inside.

Check it all. Carry on the batteries and camera body & lenses.

You should spec out an ideal system for you X-T3 and the prices you found. Perhaps there will be some ideas for substitutions or improvement.

You made some beautiful and unique images! Very inspiring. I have a buddy that is really into manual focus prime lenses, Lensbaby 56 & 28mm. I was able to design and 3d print a set of focus gears for his lenses in a Nauticam housing. It's made using his lenses a lot more practical. You are still restricted to a pre-set aperture, but at least you have some freedom with focus. I had made a bunch of zoom gears for my Nauticam setup, so I had a good starting point. Some of these lenses "telescope" as you turn the zoom ring, so gear needs to be multi-part to allow for the motion. Nauticam Focus Ring for Lensbaby Velvet 56mm lens by AwkwardSwine - Thingiverse

See if your local library has one or if there is a maker space in the area.

Can you print a copy of the part for your strobe?

You can use the Nauticam trigger but it won't do TTL or HSS. You can to rapid fire at 30fps depending to power setting with the stock trigger. However, in the Nauticam Sony housings they don't provide a trigger like they do with the Nikon model. I don't know why that is.

I know some folks have been waiting for the Sony TTL / HSS flash trigger from Backscatter for their line of strobes. I just today got an email announcing availability for this set of new triggers. It looks like they have configurations for Nauticam and non-nauticam housings, and both sony and olympus options. Backscatter Smart Control Optical TTL Flash Trigger Review & Setup Guide - Underwater Photography - Backscatter

Welcome from Seattle! Get that drysuit are start diving locally! We have a very active local dive community and some of the best diving in the US with 0-2 hours driving range. Head up to BC and you'll find some of the World's best diving. If you ever want to give some local diving a try, let me know and I'll join you for a dive or two. Cheers, Dave

Agreed, I prefer a slightly negative rig. I don't want it floating in my face or trying to escape to the surface.

Sounds like he had the choice of which direction to go and was able to go back and retrieve the extra camera. That is not the case with many dive sites. You go where the current takes you, and even if you can go backwards, you might not find your camera in 5 feet of visibility. As I said, you can have a lot of freedom in calm clear waters. That is not what all scuba diving looks like. Even then you are one out-of-air or buoyancy emergency in your dive group from losing your camera.

I would have lost at least 3-4 camera rigs over the years if I didn't have a lanyard clipped on to my camera all the time. That's just in-water rescue assists with other divers where I needed both hands and all my focus. I do a lot of diving in high current scenarios where you start or end the dive holding on or pulling yourself on an anchor line which is a hell of a lot easier with both hands. And I don't know how you deploy a DSMB while holding on to a camera. Unless you are only doing very casual diving in calm seas and clear water, I think you need to have a lanyard.

I have read somewhere that AOI is the manufacturing partner behind Backscatter's strobe products. I can't recall the source of the quote, but it looks like it's true from the comparison.

That's Great! Love the orange TPU.

Power can be used in 200 big flash dumps or 1,000 smaller ones. There is a power knob that goes all the way down to 1/32 power. A powerful strobe like the HF-1 is fantastic in the Pacific Northwest (where I dive) no mater your subject. Battery life of the HF-1 is fantastic, and the powerful video/spotting light will come in very handy.

Feel free to do what makes sense to you. Mixing strobe brands and models is done all the time for lots of reasons. I have often combined a small Strobe (MF-1) with a snoot and a bigger strobe like the Inon 330 or HF-1. Years ago i combined the Ikelite DS-51 and DS-125. Balanced lighting is not all that and using varied power levels can assist in creating more dynamic and interesting photos. Allowing some shadows and texture into an image is a goal for some and using the second strobe as low power fill in a different position is a good way to do it. Example: This one was shot with a Backscatter MF-2 snoot above the subject pointing down and an HF-1 on low fill from the left and back pointing slightly inwards. Nikon Z8 w/Nikkor 105mm lens, +10 diopter, f18@1/200s iso125 Backscatter MF-2 strobe & snoot + BS HF-1 strobe Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker I shot last week:

Strobes not included, or a mistake in the item list?

You can do that no problem. If you are using TTL you need to make sure your flash trigger will support the HF-1 in the same modes as the ys-d2.

You'll be very happy with the Z8! Let me know when you buy a 24-50z lens and I'll send you one of my 3D printed Zoom Gears for the cost of postage, saving you a bundle. I'll even toss in an 8-15 gear if you need one of those too.

I made a designed an add-on fix for the Inon 330 "bastard button". It was actually the inspiration that prompted me to buy my first 3D Printer! Inon 330 UW Strobe - Button Lock by AwkwardSwine - Thingiverse

I am at once intrigued by the possibility of entering competitions and put off to an even greater degree. I can echo the sentiment of Caolla above, but it goes beyond that for me. I take pictures for fun, to share, and to challenge myself to learn and explore wildlife photography. Once you start entered pictures into contests, it becomes about competition, status, and seeking the approval of others. It starts to feel too much like work, and I'm retired. I don't want to compete like that anymore and risk sucking all of the joy out of the process based on the inscrutable judgement of others. Been there and done that.

Those carabineer clips are the worst. They can be difficult to remove from a d-ring quickly. Suggest you get bolt-snaps instead. I do a lot of high current diving including the places you mention and i have a big camera rig as well. I have found a single reinforced coiled lanyard to work very well. (A closed loop of bungie cord attached inside the coils ) Clip it off short when not holding, with the camera attached by the right side handle. Bolt snap clips it to your right BC shoulder d-ring.

They can use a nikon 8-15mm FE with their Z6 and a small dome. It is not as cheap however.

No, it won't work. Not supported by FTZ as it's an old "screw lens".

This is one of the super-powers of the Mirrorless cameras. You take a shot, and it appears in the eyepiece. No need to move at all, lose your subject, recompose, etc. This is super useful for macro and super macro shots. Combine it with a 45deg viewfinder and you can't beat it. I never use the LCD screen back at all. As a result, the Z8 battery life is amazing. Four dives and 1000 images are no problem.