Adventurer

It‘s called M-HSS for a reason 😉 But you will find leaving the HSS power dial on full for most of your shots, I suppose.

Hi everybody, while well served at the super wide end with the Canon EF 8-15mm fisheye + Teleconverters (FCP at a more compact size and reasonable price) and having the currently best full frame Macro in the industry with the Canon RF100 USM; I was looking into a mid-range flex lens in the middle for that little kick of flexibility. I was even looking into buying an old SIGMA 17-70mm for EF mount, which had this amazing close focus an Macro ability in the DSLR era and was used by many shooters behind a dome. While researching options I stumbled across Canon‘s very own RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM that was launched + bundled together with the RF mount R6 cameras a while ago. Compared to it‘s much more expensive sister the RF 24-105mm USM which is not really attractive for underwater use it features dent sharpness and much less travel weight on land. So I bought myself one and also tested it heavily against the widely for UW shooters recommended RF 24-50mm STM shard by Canon. The winner is certainly the RF 24-105 STM which offers very decent close focusing distance and even some macro capability. You can use this behind very large 9 and 8 inch domes, but also it is a very interesting candidate for water contact optics. Behind my Ivanov Optic I can use it from 24-75mm or 32-85mm depending how I set up the extension rings. This might not be useful information for others,… as this underwater lens is simply not available for sale anymore,… but,… I think it has high potential for Canon RF underwater contact optics use, when you are willing to ditch the 24-27 zoom range and start using it at the 28mm focal length. With water contact optics, I am referring to the Nauticam lineup and the shortly available Marelux Aquista 100 and Marlux Aquista 120. The sharpness Sweet spot of that lens in land tests is at F8. I wonder why this baby has not made it into many manufacturers port charts. Hopefully we can bring this up on the radar of gear makers. PS: zoom gear of the RF15-30 STM fits also this lens 🫶✅ But to avoid people using the 24-27mm range or extruding the lens too far out, housing makers might want to produce a gear with Zoom-limiter to perfectly match their water contact optics best results.

The camera will have a full frame sensor it seems, but it's unclear if the 11-55mm will be a CN-E cinema lens or not.

I must admit that I used MARELUX Apollo III strobes with the UWT Retra dip switch position successfully in TTL and HSS before a converter appeared that had a dedicated Apollo protocol. You may want to get your hands on an Apollo S or Apollo III for that reason, maybe?

There is a rumor about a Canon RF 11-55mmgetting announced on 15th Sept 2025 for full frame cameras. This could be the flexible dream focal length range the EOS R shooters have been waiting for 🤩 Very exited to see the final product coming up and get the important specs such as MFD etc. Source: https://www.canonrumors.com/two-new-lenses-including-an-rf-85mm-f-1-4l-vcm-coming-september-9/

Hey you two. If you are looking into the optics made by SGC then I would not recommend the heavy weighted WFL01. Two friends of mine sold it again and went for the WFL-09s instead. It‘s less heavy underwater and delivers better optical quality then the WFL/KRL1.

Here is an update,… I ruled out the Canon RF16 Samyang RF 14mm and organized myself an Canon RF 24-50mm STM Canon RF 28mm STM Canon RF 24-105mm STM The 24-105 is the hot item here. Mainly due to it‘s minimum focusing distance on the 24mm end. Depending on the extension rings used, I can decide if I want to use it in a range of 32-85mm zoom range 24-72mm zoom range I have to take it out to the water and give it a walk in the field for real live shooting. Furthermore the 28MM prime ditches flexibility but seems to be dent sharp at F4 mixed with the water contact optic.

Is anybody out there using the Canon RF 28 MM F2.8 STM ? Especially with water contact optics it‘s supposed to give decent results. It‘s an ultra lightweight, affordable lens with superior sharpness. However it‘s not found in various manufacturer‘s port charts. I suppose it could be well-paired with WWL-1 or WWL-1B on full frame mirrorless similar to some sony FF prime combinations.

As far as I know, Marelux has Subal type4 adapters in their standard part lineup. I know, as I considered getting an old Subal dome at a very good price for my MX housing.

I'd like to counter the "we're only gonna die" trend-chart that that @shokwaav posted above with recent CIPA trends. Make sure not to confuse DSLM (which is state of the art) with DSLR (which is just a 2nd hand market today) sales numbers. The chart shows Interchangeable Lens DSC. So the influencing factor is more likely to be inflation, tariffs and increased labour + parts costs. Which basically accounts to all products sold and build.

Nice writeup Wolfgang, thanks for the report.

There is actually great opportunity for macro with the RX100 VII and it's massive zoom range. However I think you will need to pick the right housing for it, one that allows you to use a flat port with the whole zoom range. The fantasea housing never offered the whole zoom range. Both Isotta and Nauticam opted for a wide squared port, which is less ideal to get close and compact for macro. I think Marelux engineered something in that direction. So I'd be looking into that housing more closely. If you need wide angle you can use one of the conversion lenses that will require the 60mm focal length position, such as the MWL or WFL09s.

Dear Alex, thank you very much for this intensive and extensive insight in your strobe history and choices. My simple and short question however aimed at: Backscatter HF-1 being the strongest strobe you have shot so far (you have repeatedly claimed that). I would like to know, if in your perception, it's also stronger than the old subtronic alpha pro ? Of course this would be something very subjective, but also something we both could very well relate to. I especially recall that the subtronics produced decent quality of light without diffusers and were very strong. PS: I 100% agree with you about the lumilink. PPS: We also have to keep in mind that cooler color temp strobes always have a strength advantage over warm/high CRI designs, as the energy will be transformed more efficiently into lumen (from xenon) paired with the better penetration power cooler light will have in water. This also explains the strong power of the YS250s back in the old days. Today the HF-1 and Apollo III 2.0 leverage additional subjectively perceived strobe power from it, I guess.

Dear Alex, when flipping through the pages of your Underwater Photography Masterclass book and the image index at the end, I was reminded that you have shot the Subtronic Alpha Pro strobes for a very long period of your career and also collected some of your award winning shots with them. We have in common being a previous owner of that strobe. I recall that it was giving very good quality of light and also being very powerful. With all the strobes that have recently been connected to your camera, how would you compare them? .. to the ones I happen to also own, e. g.: Backscatter HF-1 Marelux Apollo III 2.0 ( ? ) feel free to expand the list. Would be curious to learn your subjetive impression, as you emphasized multiple times, that the HF-1 is the strongest you have shot so far, if I recall that correctly.

Tales from the YAFS* corner… (YAFS = Yet Another Fu…. erhm Fabulous Strobe) Sea&Sea announced working on the the YS-D130R: https://www.seaandsea.jp/product/strobe/ys-d130r.html The picture says HSS on it even though the text just heavily markets RC mode. And if uwtechnics Pavel is unlucky it‘s also going to air in October 😅😂 It’s unbelievable how the shrinking market of underwater photographers get‘s offered more choices on an almost quarterly level.