Tino Dietsche

Hello everyone, I've designed another new part that might be helpful to others here. The tip of one of my Nauticam hand pumps for the vacuum system was broken and cracked. I didn't want to buy a new pump, so I removed the front part and redesigned it. It works with TPU95 and TPU90 for printing. Compatible with both old and new Nauticam vacuum valves. https://makerworld.com/de/models/2274007-tip-replacement-for-nauticam-hand-pump#profileId-2479239 Greetings from Switzerland, Tino

Some examples from freshwater... Sony A7CII, with Sony 28-60 and Nauticam WWL-1 Red Sea

Hi Sabine, Perhaps the video above will be of some help. I've been using the Sony system for many years and took a lot of photos with the Sony A7II and A7III series before switching to my current setup with the A7CII. (all in Nauticam housings) For a long time, I used the Sony FE 16-35 F4 behind a 180mm dome and was actually quite satisfied with it for my personal needs. With the decision to switch to the A7CII, I revisited the topic and, after some research, settled on the combination of the Sony FE 28-60mm and the Nauticam WWL-1, and I don't regret the decision. The 16-35 and the dome lens haven't been in the water since I got this combination. A Nauticam FCP solution would certainly be even better, but it's too heavy and, above all, too expensive for my purposes. I mainly shoot in freshwater. Greetings from Switzerland, Tino

Thanks for your feedback, Dave. It's really neat and tidy now, and the port is only larger where it's absolutely unobtrusive, so the case still sits nice and flat. The unit weighs around 190g with the buoyancy aids. I could probably reduce that a bit more, but so far the balance between stability and robustness is perfect. With the right material, the body could be filled even more, and I might even be able to get more than 500g of buoyancy. Tino

Another very exciting topic! Over the years, I've used various setups and have now settled on Carbonarm's strobe arms and their floats. I also used Nauticam float arms for a while, but I've since switched away from them. I'm very happy with the Carbonarm arms, and the floats are excellent and extremely robust. 4 Floating-Rings provide 500g of buoyancy Here you find the Floating-Rings https://carbonarm.com/en/homepage-piu-venduti/128-floating-ring-kit-500-g-0806808287137.html I also still have several old buoyancy aids from Mike-Dive in use, which I've had for ages. Unfortunately, Mike-Dive is no longer in business, and it would actually be cool to know exactly what kind of foam they were made of. For my Macro-Port, I was inspired by Dave Hicks and his port floats. Unlike him, however, I didn't print a solid body, but simply "wrapped" various old Mike-Dive buoyancy aids around my Macro-Port. With this design, I get about 500g of buoyancy at the front of the port, and nothing gets in the way. With a suitable foam, you could even get a bit more buoyancy. My Port-Float from the back with the Mike-Dive Floats inside and some Test-Foam. Carbonarm offers a sheet made of their material, but it's not cheap. We'd need to find out exactly what kind of foam the solid parts currently on the market are made of. Greetings from Switzerland, Tino

Hi, I have a question regarding the Nauticam 45° viewfinder NA-32203 and I’m unsure what it actually looks like in real use. According to my research, the viewfinder is compatible with my Nauticam NA-A7CII housing, but it may require an additional adapter. However, my research also indicates that these viewfinders are less optimal for cameras like my A7CII, and that the viewfinder image may not be fully sharp or may appear soft at the edges. My question is whether anyone can provide more detailed information about this. I’m currently using an underwater monitor, but the topic of viewfinders still interests me from time to time, and in my opinion, it takes several dives to really find out what would work best. Therefore, I’m grateful for any feedback. Tino

Hello everyone, I’m currently using the MFO-1 and MFO-3 with my Sony setup (A7CII and 90mm macro) and I’m really happy with both lenses! On my last dive I took my Weefine WFL05S with me again and shot a few super-macro images, but the handling with this lens isn’t really great and it requires quite a bit of patience—especially the autofocus struggles a lot despite using a focus light. For that reason, I’m considering switching to the SMC-3. In terms of magnification, it should be pretty much identical to the WFL05S. But what about the rest of the performance? Has anyone by any chance compared these two lenses before? The main area of use would be freshwater, especially for shooting shrimps and other tiny creatures in lakes. As an example, here’s a photo of my current setup shooting a skeleton shrimp of about 10 mm in length. Image minimally cropped. Thanks a lot for your feedback, Tino

Great design! It was a bit tight to install for me too, but I managed in the end. Thanks!

Hi, I've been using the Sony A7CII since March 2024 and have photographed a little over 80 dives with it since then. Before that, I used Sony A7II and A7III series cameras, as well as RX100 models. With the A7CII, I also changed my wide-angle setup and now use the 28-60mm lens in combination with a Nauticam WWL-1. Previously, I used the 16-35mm f/4 with a 180mm dome port. The combination of the 26-60mm and the WWL-1 works perfectly for me and is much easier to transport than the setup with the large dome. I use the 28-60mm almost exclusively for underwater photography. Of course, the 28-60mm can also be used for macro photography to a certain extent if combined with a suitable close-up lens. I've only tried this myself with a Weefine WFL05S so far, but I wasn't really happy with it. If I'm going to do macro, I want proper macro, and for that I use the tried-and-tested Sony FE 90mm F2.8, sometimes supplemented with the Nauticam MFO-1. (I should do a test with the 28-60mm with the MFO-1 to see if that would be a viable combination.) If I were currently considering buying a setup, I'd probably go for the new 100mm macro if I had the money. If you don't want to spend that much, now's a great time to get the 90mm, as there are plenty of good used ones available. I would advise against using the same lens as on land for wide-angle photography. As I said, the 28-60mm is so light that it doesn't add any weight when traveling, regardless of whether you're also bringing another wide-angle lens for land-based photography. If I were you, I'd advise against using the same lens for wide-angle shots as you do on land. I got my underwater housing from Nauticam. If I didn't already have ports and an underwater setup with interchangeable lenses, I would definitely take a look at the AOI housing for the A7CII / A7CR. I've handled the housing twice already, and I think the price-performance ratio of the package is absolutely fantastic, especially since it includes so many accessories like a flash trigger, vacuum valve, etc. With that in mind, best of luck with your decision! Tino

That would be great! I don't have an MFO-3 myself yet, but I'd like to print it for a colleague. Tino

Thank you so much for the file! I printed it out right away!

I've had my two AOI UIS-P1 strobes since the end of August and have used them on 23 dives. 12 of those were in the red sea, the rest in freshwater. So far, I have absolutely nothing negative to report about the flashes and would buy them again.

Hello everyone, I’m bringing up this older post again — hope you don’t mind. In the meantime, I’ve changed the mount for my dive computer and now have it positioned directly above my underwater monitor — right where my gaze naturally falls during a dive, especially when I’m taking photos. I’m curious to see if any new and interesting ideas on this topic have come up since then, even though not everyone understands why one wouldn’t wear their dive computer in the traditional way on the arm. Personally, my latest setup has proven to work perfectly for me. The necessary parts are available on Makerworld for the EON Core. Tino

I'd already had the idea of using the Divevolk housing. However, according to my research, the membrane used for the display isn't entirely problem-free. Because of the membrane, a vacuum valve isn't possible either. Concerns about the housing still being watertight are certainly justified; Divevolk housings aren't built to a high standard in certain respects, and an M16 hole is quite a nuisance. If you could get a used Divevolk housing for very little money, you could certainly give it a try. The USB-C cable connection can be easily implemented using empty Weefine connectors. Using a smartphone in a case without any control doesn't make sense in my opinion. As you mentioned, you'd have to turn it on before diving, and if the app crashes, you can't do anything. Battery consumption is also an issue, of course, as the automatic shutdown function would have to be disabled. A 4-way controller for controlling the smartphone in a case would be the simplest solution, but I haven't found a suitable, compact solution yet. I have a solution with a mouse controller, but I'll have to design and print a test case to see if it's still compact enough.