John E

It is a great test to have access to even if not looking for a new strobe, and it looks clear Backscatter see the long term commercial benefit of a good reputation as a retailer offering sound advice, rather than promoting a specific product they have made. The Z330 ii also comes out well and it is great they tested a discontinued, yet popular strobe. It is useful to see the beam width compared to newer strobes which helps visualise how to position them for different types of shot. When I got the Z330's I found they were a bit more sensitive than I was used to in where they point, potentially brightening zones of wide scenes not completely evenly. I assume this helps reduce backscatter versus very wide beams that maybe are more forgiving in which direction they point. I don't see it as a problem but rather something to take into consideration during use... the same thing applying to the S220. The weight, size and reliability of the Inon's for me have been the deciding factor. This does raise the point about diversity ... the reason we have plenty of choice is because people have different priorities. So, it is great their test does not to recommend a single product. I do have a concern though about the new super-bright strobes (and modern very bright snoot lights) and how much that disturbs the wildlife. It seems safest to use as much light as you need, rather than as much light as you can carry.

It could be sulking but maybe a tiny difference in the o ring thickness, such as between metric and imperial can be an issue ... I had an Isotta OM-D EM 1 mark ii housing and used an Inon 45 degree veiwfinder.... worked great. Then I bought an Isotta Sony A7Rv housing and when I used the same viewfinder it had a couple of drops leak in past the viewfinder o ring. No harm done, but I thought there must be a fault with the round hole machined in the rear clear window on the Isotta housing. I happened to be visiting near south Lake Garda so I visited the Isotta factory with my housing. They tested the housing and Inon viewfinder together and identified the problem. The housing was perfect but the o ring on the viewfinder from new-to-me was actually not the correct size. It was original and in good condition but I had bought it from an on-line retailer. Somehow it was very slightly the wrong thickness (too thin) but the correct diameter. This was a small enough tolerance to work fine in one housing and not the other. Isotta also have Inon viewfinders as an option for their housings and very kindly tested and put a new correct o ring on the Inon part and re-tested. Despite the hassle and time, and the housing itself being perfect, and the Inon viewfinder not being bought through them or one of their dealers, they did not charge me anything. An added bonus was a really interesting tour of their small artisan factory. Lovely people with great products. Many hundreds of dives later it is still working perfectly.

Note that at least in Australia the Nauticam Z5ii housing is about AU$2000 less than the Z6iii housing. It is even a couple hundred AU$ less than the small A7Cii housing. The attraction of the kit less that works with the smaller, cheaper WWL-1C rather than the WWL-1B is an advantage. The housing is about $1000 more than the Nauticam OM1ii housing but the Nikon Z5ii camera costs about AU$800 less than the OM1ii.

OM System/ Olympus is really great if you want a true fisheye and intend to use the excellent 60mm macro and are not much interested in video. If a zoomable fisheye, or 90mm macro is the goal it looses some advantage, such as size. It could be argued that lens options for a Nauticam wet lens or conversion ports are better with other brands, as is mixed photo/video capability Things to consider... You mentioned supermacro ... the newer Sony 100mm and Canon RF 100mm macro lenses go to 1.4x magnification and high resolution cameras like the Sony A7rV are good for cropping images for extra magnification. Yes the OM 90mm can go to 2x but I can't see a difference between this and the Sony A7rv cropped to smaller size frame. The OM System cameras are great for in camera features like focus stacking but I haven't seen anything to suggest that works well underwater. If compactness is important the Nikon full frame looks a good option for the smaller WWL-1C and the Nikon Z5ii + 24-50mm lens in a Nauticam housing looks interesting. As has been mentioned, options for good small APS-C specific macro lenses are limited, (not such a big deal if you are satisfied with wet close-up lenses). The image below shows the minor size difference is between Sony A7Rv/A7v, Nikon Z5ii, Canon APS-C R7, and micro four thirds OM 1 ii if you have the same focal length, but also the small size if the Olympus 60mm macro. I would say for underwater use there is not a major difference in image quality or even real world autofocus use between most of these cameras except if you want low ambient light which favours the bigger sensor. I suggest choice is more dependent upon (i) what is available used (ii) if you want a fisheye or are are happy with 130 degrees for wide angle (iii) how serious you are about macro. From left to right: Sony A7Rv+90mm, Nikon Z5ii+105mm, Canon R7+100mm, OM1+90mm, OM1+60mm

Note that, according to Ikelite, the menu item for accessories should not be set to FCON-02 if it is being used because it will stop a flash from firing.

It looks to be a neat solution. I like the try-it-and-see approach for zoom fisheye lenses combined with teleconverters noting that if the fisheye lens can focus close enough to the dome then it is advantageous for CFWA to have the extension as short as possible irrespective of vignetting.

Since the 16-35 f2.8 GM mark ii has a minimum focus distance of 22cm compared to the 28cm of the mark i, my understanding is that is more flexible with dome diameter. I agree that the lighter acrylic dome is worth considering, especially for snorkelling with whales. It is personal preference, but I like this system when climbing in and out of small boats, although I have a Sony A7Rv in an Isotta housing with Canon 8-15mm plus 1.4x teleconverter and the Sony 20-70mm which both fit the same 60mm extension and 8 inch dome.

Not an easy decision but if you want better macro capability the Isotta looks good. For wide angle, Isotta have ports that work with Nauticam wet lenses so for wide angle the kit lens and WWL-1C should be a good option. I can't see the 16-50mm Z50ii kit lens on their port chart but expect that is because the housing is new and they haven't updated the chart. Or, if you are happy with the width of the 12-24 then that takes a 26 +50mm extension. From the Isotta website the Sealux adapter looks like it adds around 10mm(?) with a corresponding adjustment in port extension length needed. The 26mm then can also be used with the 110mm macro port which covers the Af-S 60 and 105mm with FTZ adapters. For fisheye, I see Chris mentioned it already ... the problem with the Tokina 10-17 with the FTZ adapter is it is only manual focus. The option of the Nikon 8-15 fisheye looks expensive if you are on a budget, but there may be other non-native solutions. A while ago I nearly bought a Nauticam + Nikon Z50. I may be wrong but that didn't seem a popular solution and it is interesting that Nauticam went for the fixed port on the Z50ii. As Nemrod said, more targeted at the evolution of the compact camera market, with advantages and some limitations. The Nauticam Z50ii housing is now lighter and much cheaper than their Z50 housing. Something else ...If you use a 45 degree viewfinder for macro the Nauticam Z50ii just has a compact type over the LCD, whereas the Isotta can use an Inon viewfinder (the Nauticam Z50 could work with viewfinders). It would be interesting to cost out the options ....

Thanks for the article Don. I had to laugh about your comment about bunny ears. This is my wife diving on the Liberty this April with our guide Duro. Cat ears rather than bunny ears, but she has well over 6000 dives and has a commercial dive ticket. She lost that cat-ear hood and now has a pufferfish one. We also saw a diver with a minion hood with yellow fins and accessories along with a huge Nauticam rig with WACP. This was an early morning dive and you can see it's already quite busy but this was just at the end of a long dive. When we arrived we were about the first there. No bumphead parrotfish though. We stayed and dived with Villa Markisa which was great.

eocean-eu - the blackwater footage in your Cosmogonie video is fantastic!

Thanks for sharing the account and reminding about not being complacent about alarms and not worrying about possessions. Great that the operator did well in handling it. Lucky it was not in the middle of the night or out at sea in windy conditions.

Hi Lou, With your question about reflection due to the housing colour, I have not noticed it happening. Also, the red does become dull quite quickly underwater just due to light absorption.

I had an Isotta Olympus OM-D EM 1ii housing and loved it. I replaced it with an Isotta Sony A7RV and also love it. I have also had an Isotta GoPro and TG housing. I was near southern Lake Garda by chance in late 2024 so visited their factory. Lovely family-owned artisan manufacturing company which, for me, adds to my enjoyment using their products. The quality is great. The housings are compact and they have a unique door system with double o rings. Also, double o rings on the ports and I think also on the buttons and knobs. The ergonomics on the models I have had are great (I use back button focus). They are more simple inside than some other housings which I think is an advantage. They have port adapters giving options for the Nauticam dry lenses if you want to use them. (But my favourite lens is the adapted Canon 8-15 with teleconverter or on it's own.) Since a couple of years ago they do have ports with the correct front 67mm threads for use with the Nauticam bayonet fitting (e.g. WWL-1B). The only negative I know off is that since they are quite a small company they tend to be slower than Nauticam or Ikelite to bring out new housings for the latest models, or less common cameras.

My wife and I dived for 12 days with Fish and Fins last year. We actually went for a week and extended it. We stayed some time at Palau Central and sometime in an amazing luxury tent at Carolines (looking out over the sea). At the airport on the way home we also met a couple who had stayed in Koror then for some days on Peleliu with some diving there, but they had local knowledge from previous visits. Our whole trip was great. I agree with the comments above...great advice from bghazzal. The kayaking/snorkelling is also great with unique coral communities in places like Nikko Bay and Risong Bay. Some dive centres hire out kayaks and Paddling Palau specialise.... A great option for the last day before flying or a day off in the middle of diving.

Hi Atus, Which mount did you get? I don't understand the Sea and Sea mounts (DX and NX) and which one suits Isotta. Thanks John