OneYellowTang

I was looking at the Maxi's for an upcoming trip to Galapagos, but honestly, the HF-1's are likely going to be my answer. Having shot the HF-1's using my TLC arms and clamps I have not noticed the need to overly tighten them in the water. It might be the o-rings on your ball mounts(?) The TTL thing doesn't bother me at all - I never shoot TTL (although my daughter, shooting a Sony A7RV, used it extensively with a single HF-1 earlier this year with the new trigger - worked flawlessly, easily delivering really good TTL results). The ability to easily control an off camera Mini Flash was a great benefit shooting macro (and snooting).

Flying back to the US from Singapore after spending a week in Lembeh (Lembeh Resort). My son shot with 2 (Backscatter) Atom Flash strobes (I was shooting with my Retra Flash Pro Max strobes) - after a week of changing batteries, etc. I've warmed up to the idea that I might look at the Atom Flash strobes for macro work. Don't get me wrong, the Retras are great strobes, but dealing with two batteries (vs 8) has some significant appeal (even when considering the different chemistry). I've had Retras now going back 3 generations, and I still love their strobes. However, the Atom Flash feels solid, performed really well, and made wirelessly connecting to an (off camera) Mini Flash very easy (and easy to control). The good news is that my son heads back to college in the fall, so I can "borrow" his strobes for any trips later in the year. We'll see what Retra announces next as well. MY daughter shoots (w/a) with HF-1's, my son is now shooting (macro) with the Atom Flash - I feel like there's a message in here somewhere that I'm not picking up ;)

Battery life might be another big win here... My daughter shoots with the A7RV - battery life is "challenging" at times. We're also hoping for a similar increase in AF speed as we saw from the A7RIV ->A7RV. If so, then paired with the (somewhat) new 100mm macro lens we might have a winning combination for blackwater dives. In Lembeh at the moment, and the Nikon D850 with the 60mm lens (the combination my son is shooting with) is still unbeatable for blackwater. There are lots of workable solutions, but this is combination is both fast and error free. First night I shot the Z8 with the older 60mm lens (and the Nikon FTZ). Tomorrow I'm going to shoot the Z105 lens with the MFO-3. Hoping to get a feel for which combination is better specifically for blackwater shooting with the Z8.

@Dave_Hicks It might just be me ;) I religiously change the battery in my Z-8 after each morning of 2 dives. I can stretch i to 3, but at that point I might miss a few shots at the end of a dive. I also always change before going black water diving. With the various updates I have noticed the battery draw getting better, however not to the point I'm trying 4 dives on a single charge. With the ENL-15C battery my older D850 can shoot multiple days without concern (my son is shooting with this camera now).

Two corrections to your above statements; 1. I never need to "burp" my WACP 2. Traveling with a WWL is significantly easier than traveling with a medium or large dome.

I've been using the Marelux 4 wheel roller for the last year. It's depth and height match international dimensions, and it's just a touch wider, which is useful for packing housings with handles. Marelux 20-inch Luggage for Photography Equipment,Travel Gears

@Lasongo There are currently ~240 boats that have licenses to run whale shark tours in Isla Mujeres. Let's assume 1/2 of these don't go out because they aren't operating, etc. on the day I go out, that leaves ~120 boats I'm potentially sharing that small patch of ocean with. Even if we assume only 50% of these boats actually have customers on the day, that's still ~50 boats. As a diver, I'm also not a big fan of forced life jackets (instead of being able to rely on a wetsuit) and not being able to free dive down to take pictures. Sure, I can "linger" - but why even bother? There are better whaleshark experiences to be had much farther afield.

Yes - because sharing whale sharks with 100's of your "best friends" is an experience everyone is looking for ;) The Isla Mujeres whale shark "experience" is somewhat similar to the Oslob whale shark "experience." Neither is ideal for photography, with Isla Mujeres benefitting from more whale sharks most of the time.

@Vitaly My daughter has shot the 90mm on the A7III, the A7RIV, and now the A7RV. With each body upgrade the lens AF response has gotten a little better, but still not a "world class" macro lens for anyone who has shot with a Cannon or Nikon previously. The A1 helps quite a bit more, however the lens still hunts at times. The new Sony 100mm macro lens is significantly better in cutting down the hunting. Some of the best practices (with the 90mm) that people use include "pre-focusing" in a narrow range for your subject (focus on something a similar distance away, then focus on your subject); utilize back button focus; leverage the focus limiter switch; utilize the rocking back and forth focus method, and use a high-lumen focus light. With these techiques you can get the best out of this lens, which can provide tack sharp images (when it focuses on what you want to shoot). An MFO-1 does help a bit (by reducing the focus range). Others here will tell you the lens is "fine." If you use several of the techniques above the lens can be quite good. However, if you've shot a camera like a Nikon D500, D850, or any of the better Cannon bodies (along with the 105mm for Nikon or 100mm for Cannon macro lens) you notice the difference. The Sony 90mm just hunts more... The new Sony 100mm lens seems to be significantly better... we've tried it locally, taking it to Indonesia in May to give it the full test.

Cenderawasih Bay - far eastern edge of Indonesia.

@Dave_Hicks - rolling with your camera while also trying to hold your mask would be tough... What's the best practice here?

@umiami05 I leave for Galapagos at the beginning of November, and I have exactly the same questions ;) I have seen some still images of marine iguanas where the photographer definitely used strobes. They graze with their head slightly down, so lighting their face would be challenging using ambient light. I'm thinking about trying one strobe on those dives... although there is a lot of particulate in the water where they are.

As someone who lived in Bangkok for a few years, you can definitely have fun in a family-friendy way as long as you avoid Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy, and Patpong 1+2 at night. The city is very diverse - the people are friendly (as long as you are respectful of their culture), and food is excellent. Koh Tao has the better diving, but Koh Samui has the better resorts, etc. Ironically, some of the better diving available from Koh Samui is taking the boat to Koh Tao. One way to get away from the crowds in Koh Samui is to rent out the entire boat and guide. You'll be able to dive your schedule, get away from any others divers, etc. This sounds expensive (and it can be), but if you ask the dive shops for a private boat and guide you might find a deal (although June is starting to become more popular with Europeans traveling to Thailand.

How many are in your group? If it's completely freelance, then you are potentially on the hook for not just the guide, but the boat and the boat crew as well. If you've got a group of 4-6 this can be economical, if it's just 1-2 of you, it could end up being a little more expensive (per dive). One of the reasons why I only dive at Anilao resorts that have their own full time boats & guides.

There is very little to nothing in northern China. You can dive near Dalian, but they have absolutely pillaged the near shore animal life in this area. In the south you can dive Hainan island (somewhat akin to the "Hawaii of China") but you will be diving with lots of other divers, and the average diver is much more likely to be on the reef than cruising over the top of it. This is changing slowly, but there are now more artificial reefs in Hainan than healthy natural reefs left because of this. Go see the Great Wall from Beijing (I was there again about two months ago) - still a very good experience. For your time in the south, if you really want to get wet, after having experienced Hainan, I would recommend traveling to HK, and trying the diving there. It's not excellent, but it's not horrible either. And you will be able to find experienced dive shops that will show you some of unique diving available.

The Iranian islands near the Straits used to have excellent coral coverage (according to scientific expedition literature from last century). It's almost all been destroyed due to dock building and other infrastructure. The Oman side is supposed to be better, although viz isn't what you get in The Red Sea.

@TimG I was in Lembeh when David was there (or more correctly, our boat did Nudi Falls when he was set up there shooting the iconic Nat Geo Nudi story). We were both staying at the old Kungkungan Bay Resort. I had dinner at his table one evening - definitely some great great stories. Actually the most interesting person a the table was his Nat Geo "gear guy." Back then he traveled with a Nat Geo technician who handled all the gear, fixed things that broke, and managed traveling with all that stuff. I have no idea how he's managing it now... I remember thinking after the dinner that the Nat Geo technician had a great job - all the travel, all the gear, none of the artistic pressure to "get the shot."

@Adventurer Glad you like your Marelux Apollo III's so much. I think we're past the point where you're convincing anyone of your position - rather just starting to sound a bit pedantic. I will give you this - Marelux makes a world-leading product that no one is talking about. Their rollerboard carryon will fit a housing (with handles on), 2 strobes, a port, a viewfinder, and several other odds and ends. It's international sized - however it's a touch wider that virtually anything else you can find on the market. It fits my Nauticam housing and retra strobes really well - I travel with it everywhere...(including this week in Misool). 6 shooters here, no Apollo's, a few Retras, some Inons, etc.

I should have also mentioned - you can stay on a shallower part of almost all the dive sites in Anilao and work on your technique, etc. Just let your guide know a head of time... I've done this quite a few times... as long as you stay somewhat near the boat your group will reunite with you eventually ;)

The Europeans solved this problem a long time ago - they just book ~3 week+ vacations ;) Seriously - I dived with a guy from Gernany years ago in Sangalaki. We were there for ~9 days and didn't want to miss a dive (ever). He was there for 22 dive days, and started with 1-2 dives a day for the first few days... he did the first couple of days without his camera - just getting used to the diving. There were a couple of days where he wanted to take a nap after lunch, missing a dive, etc. Definitely a much more laid back approach ;)

@JohnD Having been to both (albeit 5x to Crystal Blue, and 1x to Buceo) I prefer Crystal Blue. Buceo is a larger (more spread out) resort with a little more on "flat" land, however if the reason you're diving Anilao is to shoot, then Crystal Blue runs a slightly better operation (starting with the camera room)., and then there is only one Mike Bartick, so Crystal Blue has that going for it as well. The house reef in front of Crystal Bliue is significantly better (other dive resorts dive it by boat regularly), and the dive operation runs very well. The food can be a bit repetitive, but you won't go hungry. The house reef discussion is an interesting one - when you're diving 3x by boat during the day, and then adding in either a night dive or blackwater dive, it's hard to squeeze in a house reef dive as well. I wouldn't miss a blackwater dive for diving the house reef (for example).

Which is why a liveaboard in Palau does offer some advantages. It's not like Komodo, where you can get to a site early in the morning, but it does save up to 90 min a day of boat rides (because the liveaboard sit "inside" ~10 min away from some of the best dives). @bghazzal - having done Palau land-based multiple times (and liveaboard-based multiple times) everything you said it true, however the advantages of a liveaboard are the (much) shorter boat rides to the sites, and the opportunity to dive sites you can't by land (like down in Angaur,even farther south than Peleliu - on the rare occasions that it's flat calm).

I think you're looking at this a bit backwards. For those moving to the Sony A7 series, you move to FF. It's not that you "need" FF. And... there are many (many) u/w amateur photographers using a Nikon D850. I still contend one of the best pairings for blackwater dives is a D850 and the Nikon 60mm lens. This is not a "pro" (only) set up, just a very solid set up to get good images while diving blackwater.