humu9679

@Klaus @bghazzal I think you'd lose distance focusing, and I don't think anyone is making extension tubes that communicate all the AF instructions, etc, but it's possible. You can reverse the lens, but same problem.

One hopes that we will only occasionally shoot a really crap photo, but if you only get one frame, and you want to save it - this is pretty good. Frames we would otherwise throw out, such as this photo below, will be salvageable.

I have the Macro Port 45 and zoom gear. Oh, and you can use the Port 45 with the WWL-1 if you ever decide to go there. Here are photos showing an A6000 housing, port 45, flip diopter holder, CMC-1; and a camera body with the 16-50 and zoom gear.

You can use the N85 port 45 with the older 16-50 kit lens, then add the 30mm extension to use the Zeiss 50 macro. That's my plan. The old and new 16-50mm lenses don't have great reputations optically, but I think they do the job at the price point they sell for.

@bghazzal The specs and capabilities of the A6700 are great, but it seems you are having to resort to chewing gum and gaffer tape to make this work.

@coweyman This not an "air" lens but a dome which corrects the wide angle perspective underwater: https://www.ikelite.com/products/dc1-6-inch-dome-for-olympus-tough-tg-5-tg-4-tg-3?_pos=2&_fid=8c3e30f03&_ss=c

@coweyman You probably want to use Ikelite's wide lens and port: https://www.ikelite.com/products/dome-port-for-olympus-fcon-t02-lens-and-adapter-kit?pr_prod_strat=pinned&pr_rec_id=72cff6f69&pr_rec_pid=3943133118533&pr_ref_pid=3925976088645&pr_seq=uniform There may be other combinations that may work. If you had an Olympus or Seafrogs housing there are wet lens options from Backscatter, Kraken, Inon. If you don't want to shoot fisheye, you might attach an "air" lens, which basically restores the wide view that a flat port takes away underwater. Backscatter has one. I find the air lens is a good addition to the basic Olympus kit because it allows you to shoot macro without removing the lens. You might look around for Ikelite options. Regards, Craig

Saw that. Very sad news.

@cashmorephoto Aloha brah! I'm based on Oahu, too. I'd hold on to the TG-7 and GoPro - sometimes those things come in handy! Regards, Craig

@gozturkeri Welcome to Waterpixels! If you're new to photography, you've certainly Gone Big with your first step out the door! Phil Rudin, a Marelux ambassador and general font of knowledge, is on the forum if you have thoroughly researched Marelux and can't find the answer.

@JWNZ Welcome Waterpixels James!

Looks like it can use Affinity software. I haven't tried using that in years.

Holy shit!

I'm using Sony in a Nauticam housing, and to me, there are a few choices. You can still use your Tokina 10-17mm with an APS-c body with a 140mm dome. There are other primes / zooms you can use with larger domes. Then there's the WWL, Inon, Kraken, et al wet lenses, and in a league of their own, the WACP-1, 2 and C (which has fewer APS-c options). If I had extra dollars, I might go the WACP route, but I'm happy with the portability of the wet lenses. You can travel with one port, the WWL and close up lenses.

I have the original WWL-1, and it works fine with the USD $45 replaceable float collar. Same glass. Much cheaper.

@Wags Welcome! You’ll find some newer people, too. There’s also been some discussion about the Action 4 of late.

Thanks @PeterN That was great!

I think weighing the whole rig in with a luggage scale in a tub or pool is the way to go. My preference is to be slightly negative, and not tipping upwards or down. Then, I add buoyancy offsets, say with Stix floats (jumbo are +181g each; large are +96g), or buoyancy arms.

Logical. I didn't think it through.

@bghazzal The minimum focusing distance for the following lenses: Sony FE 50mm f1.8: 45 cm. Sony FE 50mm f2.8 macro: 16 cm. Zeiss Touit 50mm f2.8 macro: 15 cm. Sony 90mm macro: 28 cm. Typically measured from the film/sensor plane.

Ben - Just remember 50mm is a 75mm FF equivalent on Sony APS-c (1.6x on Canons) which is a bit looser than your 98.2mm on 1" sensor. For the way you are shooting then, it should be fine for 10-20 cm creatures, and okay for smaller creatures - as long as you can get within working distance and light the things. I have not had the Zeiss 50mm in hand, so its focusing speed and manual focusing feel are best guesses, though it's always nice to have a well-regarded opinion to read. It does seem to be the leading alternative to the Sony 90mm for APS-c. There are several manual focus lenses out there, but I really want an autofocus lens as I don't generally shoot only dedicated macro. I do agree a flip diopter holder is very nice to use, and won't make your kit too front heavy, unlike the 90 macro, for which I use ring floats around the port. The CMC-2 is much more forgiving but provides less magnification than the 1. You can try stacking as you know. I have the Inon 165, which I've stacked but it doesn't render things as nicely as the CMC lenses. Best, Craig

That CMC-2 magnification on the chart appears wrong. Agreed.

As a fellow video novice, here are things I noticed on the nudibranch short: cool subject; solid lighting; okay music. Didn't like the movement of the camera. And vertical framing seems like forcing an object into an unnatural frame. We naturally take in the world horizontally, and verticals come from an inability to turn the camera horizontally 😉

@bghazzal If you're doing exclusively macro, I think a dedicated macro is the way to go (maybe Zeiss Touit 50mm - 75mm FF equivalent), plus a CMC-2 (easier to work with) and CMC-1 (more magnification) - or equivalents. The 16-50mm would give more flexibility if you use a wet wide lens and close up lenses, but it's very pedestrian for close focusing on its own, unlike the FF 20-70mm or Olympus' 12-40/45 lenses. The 90 macro on APS-c is a 135mm FF equivalent - a bit unwieldy and tight with its narrow angle of view - probably not good for BW. I have a FF A7c and a 90 macro. Had and sold the Sony 50 macro. Looking to try a Zeiss Touit 50 macro on an APS-c body in the future. Probably the A6700. I traveled with the FF Sony 50 macro, which worked okay with the A7c in terms of locking on and tracking for general photos. The combo did not work well for me with BW. I was autofocusing, locking and tracking - but the photographer - or the combo - was too slow. Manual focusing with both the Sony and Zeiss may be a chore with their relatively long throws (turn, turn, turn). I've seen pretty good FF 90 macro BW, but I haven't tried BW with that combo. You'd think, living in Hawaii, I would have more opportunities to do BW, but my time in the water is limited by personal circumstances.