Dave_Hicks

To each their own. How much attention to security, privacy, and concern about liability do you think goes into a hobby project? <Nada, zip, nil>

I agree. AI Masking is simply automation of a tedious task, what you do with the masked pixels is up to the user. Tools that procedurally add or remove pixels, such as object removal, automated backscatter removal, even spot healing are all altering pixels. This sort of automation can be AI or heuristic-algorithm based. I don't think all of this is inherently bad or should be rejected out of hand. However for contests and competitions, I do not think it should be allowed at all.

You have previously objected to even AI masking, as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Lightroom also does locally executed AI masking. Photoshop can use a local model for high end generative object removal as well. I think we will find that going forward AI powered software will be the norm and non-ai based tools will be legacy or niche options. Pay close attention to terms of service and privacy protection policies. Your concerns are not unique and business/ corporate customers, which is where the money is, also care about their IP being protected. So these policies have teeth and should not be dismissed out of paranoia. For sure there are dodgy actors that may play fast and loose with data privacy. Personally, i would put my trust in major software vendors like Adobe, Microsoft, and Apple before tiny vibe-coded software products like the ones you called out. They have a lot more to lose if they violate terms and conditions. But read the terms and conditions first!

RapidRaw's webpage extolls it's AI based features, including AI Subject masking, object removal, and more.

Snooting is the worst case scenario for a strobes battery life. You have a spotting light on most of the time and usually need fairly high strobe power levels. You will definitely need all the battery power you can get. Don't leave home without the boosters. The Retra Maxi is a lot better for Snooting since it has a lot more battery power and it's lighter in the water than the AA powered Retra's. This helps counter the added weight of the LSD.

Personally, I am not enamored of the totally black background shots. But I do like to snoot macro shots much of the time. I tend to have a second strobe on low power to provide some subtle background texture. You can still sperate the subject adequately, but you don't get that spotlight effect you see in so many snooted images. Here are a couple from a few days ago as examples. First one is wide aperture, low iso. Second is mid-aperture, higher iso. Both were shot on a dive with terrible visibility (2-3 meters) and lots of suspended particulate. No backscatter removal tools were used. Nikon Z8 w/Nikkor 60mm lens, Curved Port, f5.6@1/200s iso64 Backscatter Atom strobe & snoot + BS MF-2 Nikon Z8 w/Nikkor 60mm lens, Curved Port, f9@1/200s iso160 Backscatter Atom strobe & snoot + BS MF-2

I now have the iTurtle Smart 3 Manual (non-TTL) trigger on my Nikon Z8 camera. I've been using it for months and it's been perfect. Super long battery life. I only charged it once after about 50 dives and I don't think it needed it. As you mention, the max sync speed on the Z8 is 1/200s. However, I have also been able to successfully shoot 1/250s on the Backscatter HF-1, MF-2, and Retra Maxi. No clipping or black stripes in the photos. I tested both lower power levels and Full power, they all work. I did have to change the Z8 setting- e1: Flash Sync Speed setting to [1/250 s (Auto FP)] to allow you to set the shutter to 1/250. Investing in an iTurtle3 trigger seems to be a viable way to overcome one of the biggest shortcomings of the Nikon Z8, upgrading sync speed from 1/200 to 1/250.

Very nice! I looked up some old posts and it works great!

This is incorrect.

The WWL-C setup is very good, but not for this use case. You will ultimately want a fisheye wide option as well, so go ahead and get the Nikon 8-15 and a 140mm dome with it.

How might one go about acquiring one on the adapted Nikonos setups?

The WWL-C is not a good lens to use for snorkeling. While bubbles clear quickly just a few meters underwater when diving, you will likely experience issues when snorkeling. For whale encounters you often need to dive in and shoot fast, so it is not practical to remove the port underwater to clear bubbles. Go with a conventional dry port. I did a similar trip with my Z8 and shot the 8-15mm fisheye and 140mm dome. I got great shots. I would suggest adding a 1.4 or even 2.0 teleconverter to provide just a little more range.

I didn't buy pink, but this did result in me buying a bunch of colored knobs. And fresh o-rings.

Coatings are not good for much if the dome is unusable due to mineral staining. Go ahead and do the polishing job.

And get yourself a supply of distilled water for soaking your camera. That hard well water is depositing minerals like calcium which is causing the spots on your glass.