Sokrates

It can of course be some GM glass and cost a fortune. Maybe Sony wants one because everyone else has their own 8-15. The Laowa one is probably more further down with development, as it was already shown hands on in the spring at Beijing. Laowa also has been pretty good with pricing. Just hoping this will release this autumn as Weibo/WeChat rumors suggest.

Writing a small follow up on my Mikomoto trip. Initially planned for early autumn, but it changed into early August. I had booked Wed, Thu, Fri and Sat diving last week, and about 2 weeks before the diving the typhoon Dolphin hit Okinawa (hope you are ok @bghazzal ) started to form on the weather models. In the end diving was cancelled Monday-Thursday in Mikomoto. Friday came and diving resumed with 4 meter swell and about the same in visibility. 0 hammerheads to be seen. It can only get better i thought. In a way it did, visibility was 5m instead of 4 Saturday, and saw one hammerhead for about 7 seconds pretty far away. So in the end, i had picked the worst days of high season to go to Mikomoto as Sunday and today Instagram has been full of videos of huge schools and sharks at hands length. Diving and boat logistics are not big camera friendly. Entry and exit is really fast paced and boat is very cramped. You have to jump with camera. I guess thats why 38 out of 40 had a action cam and me and my friend had big rigs (and Saturday also met @jjmochi with a big camera, hopefully you got some good shots). I will probably try my luck again next year. So if you need to know when a typhoon is hitting Japan, just ask when im going.

I mainly got these as my old D-pros we on their last leg. Other had some element loose inside but still worked. Couldnt justify myself buying Retra Maxis at that price (with video light)with the amount of diving i do. I do want a video light integrated and was hoping the UW-Technics would have released but doesnt look like they are coming out anytime soon (Same thing as Retras, price). So took these as cheap-ish temporary option due to taxfree and cheap Yen. Im sure these will run me few good years. I took few comparison shots with friends z-330. Feels little bit more lightweight than Inon. But very comparable to them. Controls are bit weird, as expected from a Japanese brand, but workable. My complaints would be single o-ring design and slightly plasticky feel of control knobs. Maybe a 3d print helps. I have Scubalamp D-pro's at home and ill add pictures from them next week. I bought them at Mic21 Shinjuku, you can see prices from their website and just use Google Translate extension. If you go, remember to take passport with you for taxfree, the Visit Japan QR code doesnt work at half of the places i shopped at.

I picked up pair of these few days ago in Japan. Dirt cheap compared to Europe. Uwcamerastore lists them for €1149 and backscatter $1199. I paid 230k Yen for 2 (about €1200). Seems pretty solid testing in hotel room, mikomoto diving was cancelled due to the typhoon.

Sure hope this 7artisans actual release would make Laowa to release theirs soon. Wishlist is of course that its almost exactly like old Tokina 🤣

So they are basically saying to use ATA carnet. Thanks but no thanks. Individual cant even get ATA carnet in Finland, only registered companies.

https://interceptor121.com/2024/01/06/methods-to-determine-the-appropriate-dome-port-for-a-wide-angle-lens-in-an-underwater-housing/ Might be some help there? DYI forum has some more info buried inside threads like this https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/3672-3d-printed-curved-glass-macro-port-nikon-60mm-n120/page/2/

Maybe something is happening... Post by a dive operator in Cozumel: Nothing official from customs and nothing about the root of all, Cabo. But maybe something is happening...

There was a thread on Blackwater Cozumel page on Facebook started week ago by Robert Stansfield (not sure if he is on this board). it is quite lengthy now, over 100 responses (some pure Facebook quality). Reading the thread, looks like the "taxation" has spread even more, people posting about being hit "taxes" on dive computers ect. There was also mention about director of customs being fired, but if i understood correctly, its Cozumel, not Mexico-wide director. Maybe theres light at the end of the tunnel, for Cabo aswell. But not having my hopes up too high. -edit Looks like there has been alot of talk on Scubaboard and other Facebook grps about this in the past weeks.

Remember that you can save quite alot on Nauticam N120 and N100 extensions if you comfortable printing them yourself. Also alot of zoom rings can be printed and this shouldnt require any courage like extensions.

Liveaboard sinking This happened few days ago. Daytrip boat caught fire Yesterday These are starting to get quite frequent, unfortunately.

Looks like boys got the episode up.

Since you are looking at the 26601, i assume you want TTL and the works instead of the manual 26350. I have Turtle for Sony and and im happy with it. Theres plenty of UW-Technics user on the board also, and im sure you cant go wrong with them either.

Regarding TC, they are not needed. Its about your preference what kind reach you need for you lens. For the Dome, i think you old dome will work just fine, all Zen domes (100/170/230) are listed on the port chart for the 8-15. Extensions might be bit trial and error to find the perfect one. Theres info in this thread. Also few other threads also found on the forum. I guess that 20 or 30 extension is enough without TC. But as the Canon 8-15 with Metabones is not officially supported by Nauticam, you have to rely on other users who have this for info. So your setup would look something like this Housing->N100/N120 adapter->N120 extension->Dome OR Housing->N100 extension->N100/N120 adapter->Dome

From what i can see, the AOI housing is custom made to fit only the AOI HSC-03 trigger that is supplied with the housing. You can see the very tight fit here, leaving no space for any other trigger. Other thing is that the housing has custom pins that connect the trigger to the LED's baked in the housing. And these you dont find in any other trigger. But AOI does say that it supports Sony TTL, so i think it should work. And Backscatter strobes are made by AOI.

Would be interesting to know if the dryer was actually marine certified (more expensive) than just normal off the shelf fitted on the boat. I would imagine that dryer is pretty much running 24/7.

Some more tests on it https://www.seacam.com/en/opp-test/ Includes also a huge 900mb pdf link to test images.

Good choice. Now you dont have to second guess about the camera. Theres a good chance you can use the old camera to some extent, fingers crossed. Just dont force it when trying. But to be in the situation where you would need the old body, something really catastrophic would have already happened. For lenses, you could just forget the 16-35 as the 8-15 covers very well, specially with the TC. And have the 140mm dome which would be better for your Polynesia. Or if want to go with big dome route cheaply, get the 8" acrylic dome. They go for €400 used and brand spankers isnt too much either (compared to 230mm glass). And in all seriousness, im still going to suggest Nikonos RS13 for the long term😉 Unless the upcoming Laowa 8-15 AF is really really really good.

Zoom gear designer mentioned here Also its suggested that 30mm is enough extension same thread few replies in

Yes. https://www.metabones.com/products/details/mb-ef-e-bt5 I think the Mark IV works also but im not 100%. The Sony native Laowa 8-15 is also coming "in near future", if you have some time to wait (and believe it will be good).

Yes, the info found on it is bit limited. But apparently it was pretty good lens optically and looks like it was bloody expensive aswell. Thats one reason i figured maybe try something with it, rather than just toss it. Obviously im hoping it turns out to be the next big thing for Sony 🤣 (wishful thinking) Too bad i sold my 28-60 with WACP when went for RS13 only setup. I guess next step would be designing and printing the adapter and buying a lens. Maybe this is one more "forever" project on the list. If anyone would have any suggestions what to do with the lens, would be grateful.

So.. I found a real old Gates housing listed for 100EUR. I figured ill just buy it because the pictures showed it had a dome attached (pictures were bad) and my initial thoughts were to buy the Gates-Nauticam adapter, or possibly design and print one myself. So i went to pick everything up today, and the housing weights a ton, cant figure out what camera its for as it just says Gates. Old one surely as it has viewfinder for eyepiece. Could be just pre-digital even? Anyway i would have been happy with the dome (ended up being 140mm acrylic SP44), but the seller then said that i can take the other lens also. Hold on, there was another lens? So there was also a Gates SWP44, in great condition. And this got me thinking more, can it be adapted and used with 28-60 on Sony kinda like as WACP? Or is it just expensive piece of glass that has no use anymore?

Just need to order the old Kraken bulkhead. New one is perma attached like Nauticam and its M24 only. Looks like the isotta housing has three M16 holes. New and old Kraken side by side (old on left)

Just checking, are there any news on these?