Chris Ross

Read the fine print closely for the ikelite housing you are thinking of, the choice of ports is sometimes limited for example the only way to use zoom on a number of the compact models is with a 6"dome which has the zoom control on the dome extension. So on these housings you can't use zoom with an 8"dome for example and there is no 4"dome option. This applies to the Canon R7 for example. On housing options have a look also at Isotta. many of their mirrorless housings are very compact. Spreadsheets are certainly the way to go pick a lens from each category and see what options there are to house it in each brand. Also look over the classifieds her and on WP to see if there are any ports on offer.

$5000 is not a lot in UW terms, depending somewhat upon which housing you want. I think the first suggestion is start with your subject and work backwards to the camera and finally the housing. The thing to remember is that costs and size scale with sensor format, you can generally use smaller domes with m43 and APS-C. The thing with APS_C is you often end up using fullframe sized and priced lenses, while m43 lenses are mostly significantly smaller and also cheaper. On Macro the Olympus 60mm macro is $399 while the Sony 90mm is $998 and Canon EF/RF 100mm around the same price. (New $USD price at BHPhoto) For wide angle an Olympus 8mm fisheye is $899 while a Canon 8-15 is $1249. In rectilinear the Canon APS-C offerings are a little slim with a 10-18 offered while you can get an 8-25 which is more versatile (16-28mm vs 16-50mm full frame equivalent). Uniquely m43 allows you to use the Canon 8-15 on an adapter which is a full frame fisheye to approximately a 28mm full frame field of view on horizontal axis with superb image quality. Not available at all on full full frame, though the tokina can do similar on APS_C. For travel I can fit my Olympus EM-1mkII system in a carry on size backpack with Zen 170mm dome, 100mm fisheye dome, macro port and two INON strobes, along with fisheye, macro and rectilinear wide lens, spare batteries and bits and pieces at a reasonable weight point. I would suggest scoping out a few system and entering them in a spreadsheet with new costs initially and consider that a used system probably goes for 50% or a little less than purchased new. Then start looking at what second hand cameras go for on Ebay for example. Here's a post showing an olympus 60mm macro next to a Canon EF 100 macro: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4595033 The Canon lens gets double the effective magnification due to crop factor compared to full frame. Canon no longer make the 60mm APS_C macro, the only real option for Sony is the 90mm macro which is a big lens and arguably a bit too long focal length on APS-C. The size and weight of lenses does add up. On Canon you would be using an adapter unless you use the 100mm RF macro lens.

Welcome Balazs, good to have you here.

Well I think the first thing I would do is reply to customer service and tell them in this case it's not more convenient and it's been 4 months already and I'm still without a lamp and by the way I expect the warranty to be extended as I've been without the product for so long already.

Warranty is only as good as the implementation and co-operation of the various cogs in the supply chain. I'm sure this is not the first time such issues have happened. I'm quite sure it will vary from country to country, but here is Australia warranty is the legal responsibility of the importer who brings it into the country, so for example if you buy a grey market item by direct import, you are the importer and responsible for warranty, however if buy a grey market item from a store in Australia - they are responsible. If warranty is to be legislated it makes sense that the legislation will place responsibility upon an in country entity where there is a chance at least that the rules may be enforced. These days in Australia, a lot of things UW based are not in stock and ordered in, the difference here being that the equipment comes in within a week of order assuming of course the supplier has it. Often a good approach is to post about your woes on the companies Facebook page rather than through private email if things are dragging on. You are in that situation because of the policies of SUPE and there may or may not be good reasons behind it. I suspect part of it could be to avoid having to pay import charges? Australia has good setup for warranty returns so that repaired or replacement items can be sent back without charging duty again. Indonesia may be different of course.

You could always ask them - my understanding is that the o-ring is laid in place and then pushed in all around- perhaps it's tool to push it in, they do say to install the acrylic? Pushing out the dome I am guessing would be different. I would think though that you might want to secure a replacement o-ring first if you go that way - I imagine it would be easy to damage pushing the dome out?? Is there no recourse with the people who shipped the dome to you?

Some nice shots there, some similar subjects to what we get in Sydney. As far as critique goes, I would suggest adjusting the black and white points in to meet the edge of the histogram, it gives the images a little more punch.

I'm aware of that issue, I have a Metabones adapter already and it has already been ground down which allows me to attach it to the camera. 5 minutes with a dremel style tool and touch is up with a black permanent marker.

Whatever you are doing in the way of a custom white balance or shooting a grey card for later reference it is important to have the neutral object photographed in the same light as the subject and if you are using a strobe or a video light it needs to be at the same distance. So for a TG-6 a small grey/white card you can photograph is probably better than fins as you can easily shoot it from much closer.

I had a look at that ad as I'm thinking of going that way eventually and your asking price is already more than the price of a new one in Australia by $120, looks like the asking prices for Nauticam gear in the UK are particularly steep!

Perhaps they will replace it with an adapter setup for the smart adapter rather than the speedbooster??

I've pointed to them on the reef and received only shoulder shrugs in response, even signalled I'm now pointing to the eye and it didn't help.

Polishing inside the dome can be fraught with difficulties as even if you can reach randomising your strokes may prove difficult and each grade would need to move beyond the area you worked with previous grade. It should be possible to pop out the dome element they are usually sealed with o-rings and it may be easier to work on? Replacement elements are not super expensive, for example and 8.5"dome port replacement element is 240 euro compared to 725 for a new dome at this site: https://fotografit.eu/products/28-nauticam-ports-n120/5241-85-acrylic-dome-replacement-with-o-ring/ Many years ago I bought the copper hill kit, which consisted of plastic paddles and a pack of Pec-Pads. You should be fine provided you have kept you Pec-Pads in a dust tight bag - NOT sitting out on you office bench, the only concern is having grit hitch a ride. The kit I had recommended 2 drops of fluid. For your streaks I think 3-4 drops should not be a problem.

Welcome onboard,

welcome onboard!

Really nice video, well done. I must agree though being familiar with where certain critters hang out is a big help, many of them are extremely site faithful.

In Australia we call them anglerfish, seems more appropriate for a fish that uses a lure to catch other fish. The Red Fingered Anglerfish is endemic to the coast around Sydney and also reported form Jervis Bay to the south, they are maddeningly hard to find with amazing camouflage. They come in 3 colour morphs, orange, grey and white with white being quite uncommon. Here's a white on from a dive on the weekend. You can see the red fingers on the pectoral fin on the RHS of frame.

The MWL requires to stop down to f16 to be at it's best on full frame, I'm not sure if this is required with the smaller sensors and I have seen no reports of people using it on m43 to confirm if this is needed or not. F16 of course is well into diffraction on a m43 and needs powerful strobes to provide enough light. It is the smallest and most compact option but it's heavy As for the WWL, I don't believe either variety is usable on a flip holder they are big pieces of gear and even with flotation collars have some weight UW. In theory you can remove them while UW, but in practice you probably don't want to, I know that at least one person responded to a similar query saying they didn't think it was a problem, but it's a big piece, 150mm diameter and apart from the original WWL-1 they don't have a lanyard attachment point. You could remove the lens and place it on a bayonet on a flash arm - but it's a big lump and will limit your ability to position the arm. It's also too big for many pockets. The next issue is mounting the WWL - presumably you have the dedicated Nauticam 12-50 port, this will require the dedicated M77 to bayonet adapter and presumably as this introduces extra spacing the port charts tells you that the WWL-C field of view is only 110° as you need to zoom into 15mm to remove the vignette. With only 110° field you might as well use something like an INON UWL-H100. The other thing to consider is that while it is not a fisheye, it is also not a rectilinear view so has significant barrel distortion. I really feel you are probably best to try a different lens to use with a WWL perhaps a Panasonic 12-32 with a WWL-C? The MWL in theory is a good option but has not been that popular with full frame and I have not heard of anyone using it on m43, there is probably a reason for that.

The dust loupe and brush products are certainly useful but won't help with streaking, that is due to oils getting on the sensor surface, which is a different problem. I think what is needed is repeated swabs until eventually it picks up whatever substance is on the surface, more fluid will certainly help a little as the fluid mixes with the contaminant, some is absorbed but the rest stays with the fluid on the surface and the fluid evaporates leaving the contaminant behind. . Eventually it is mopped up. Just don't want to flood the sensor when you are doing so maybe just a drop or two more. Since using Olympus though, the problems with dust seem non existent, the sensor cleaning cycles seem to work really well.

I agree order yourself a pack of Pec_pads, They come in a big pack, just keep the open pack inside a clean zip lock to keep contaminants away. I think there's a lot of myth and legend around sensor ceaning, yes its delicate but the need for single use clean room grade swabs at multiple $$$ each is debatable. Probably the most important thing is a compatible fluid. Then be sure to wrap the PEc-pad on tight so it's not sticking out everywhere so you can swipe without brushing up against internals bits, this can transfer fibres and may also end up with traces of oils.

The setup is fairly similar and works just as well, the new housing buttons seem to feel more positive somehow when operating them and the finish on the housing is different, sort of satin finish seems somewhat water repellent. The AF is pretty good probably a bit of a step up in snappiness. I'm finding the tracking not quite as good as on the EM-1 II, I contacted OM system support and they tried to replicate and it seems like I might need to put mine in for a look as their camera didn't do the same, it seems to jump to a slightly closer object when tracking in macro. Really only noticeable when shooting at reasonable magnification.

Re-posting to see if changes impact image quality. Looks like an improvement but still not as vibrant as viewing on Photoshop.

Welcome Sandra, good to have you here.

Greetings John, good to have you here, your setup in Vanuatu sounds great.

The forum software seems to have sucked the life out of the image, the image as displayed in the gallery look better. https://waterpixels.net/gallery/image/126-miamira_flavicostata_3jpg/?context=new