Whiskeyjack

Pictures in order: Camera with adapter, lens, and zoom gear Picture of where the camera tray and the adapter didn't fit together Part of the camera tray I had to file/grind down Camera in the housing with the zoom mechanism and 20mm extension Housing with the dome installed as well Hopefully that is useful to someone ^_^

I've been using it for a year or two already ^_^ Except for the filing of the metabones adapter and the corner of the camera tray to get everything to assemble it is very straightforward. I'll assemble it and post a picture when I get some time.

I believe so, it's this one I'm using: https://www.metabones.com/products/details/mb_ef-m43-bt2

happy to help. I'd drop them an email, they always responded to me pretty quickly and should get you sorted with exactly what you need.

Yep, no problem. As mentioned above it requires a part that was not listed on their site at the time, but they were very responsive via email. I have the following setup. This was recommended to me directly by Isotta when I inquired about this setup via email. Camera: EM5 Mk III -> metabones adapter -> Canon 8-15mm (note I had to file the metabones adapter a bit for the housing tray to screw onto the bottom of the camera with it installed, pic included). Housing/port: EM5 Mk III housing -> 40mm extension + gear ( SKU 2548) -> zoom ring (SKU 3546 not on website when I ordered it, but it looks like it is now on there) -> 20mm extension (SKU 0174) -> 4.5" glass dome (SKU 1429)

I shoot an EM5 MK III in an Isotta housing and have the adapted Canon 8-15mm. Could give you the exact parts needed, there was one part I had to contact Isotta for, they do not list it on their site. It focuses down to (or at least very close to) the glass. Here's some shots of small subjects from Tubbataha back in 2022.

I have a pair of first generation Sea&Sea YS-D3 Lightning strobes. I know people don't generally like them but I've never really had any issues, though I don't use TTL at all. I don't like the light as much as the Retra strobes I have seen/borrowed, but I got them for a good deal locally here. I also mostly shoot macro here in PH so use my Backscatter strobes more often just because they are easier to maneuver and I like the snoot. If I go on a big wide angle trip I may sell these and upgrade to Retras or maybe the new Marelux strobes if they get good reviews.

I use the Turtle Manual trigger with my Sea and Sea DS3 strobes. Can't speak to TTL obviously (I always shoot manual anyway), but it works great with HSS on my MF-2 strobe and I'm overall happy with it. I put a sticky velcro strip on it to stick it to the inside of my housing when the camera is not inside.

I've got an EM5 III currently, anyone with a similar generation have any opinions on how much better the AF of the OM1 is? Probably not worth the upgrade, especially since I mostly shoot macro?

I just put my Teric around one of my floats (I have a float horizontally across the top of my housing). The band is just long enough. This puts it right in front of my face and not rotated 90 degrees like it would be on one of my strobe arms.

Great article! Cool to see stuff from the Anilao guys, I div frequently with Jonathan Venn, and know Ram and Gutsy as well, they are definitely experts in blackwater/bonfire diving.

I use one of these as a focus light. It's pretty good overall, the red light is nice during night dives for skittish critters. My only complaint is that if you turn it off, when it's turned back on it doesn't remember the last mode/brightness it was set to. For example I use it on low power in the flood mode as a focus light. If I turn it off, when I turn it back on, it resets to 100% power in spot mode, requiring a long press to switch to flood mode, then 2 more presses to get to 25% power. I also use it as a focus light during blackwater dives, along with an Inon LF800-N 5 Degree I hold in my left hand for spotting things. I think this is ideal so I don't need to constantly change the Kraken from spot to flood and swing my entire camera rig around when looking for subjects.

Yep, they were pointed down and a bit outward.

The lines we used were Keldan lights (maybe 18k? Very bright) spaced out 5-8meters on the line, with the deepest at 27m/90ft. My partner shoots video on a Panasonic GH5. She kept her (much dimmer) macro-focused video lights on the whole dive and swam in circles around the line just like me and the other photographer did until there was an interesting subject to film. The photographers also generally have a constant focus light on, and additionally I have a narrow beam torch I hold in my hand to spot subjects as it cuts through the black much better than my wide-beam focus light mounted on my housing.

I've done it two ways, either the line hanging from the boat if there is a small or no current, or like @RichN mentioned with the light line attached to a large freediving float, and the boat follows along. This was in Indonesia and the Philippines. In neither case were any divers tethered. Just don't get out of site of the lights chasing a cool subject ^_^

Not sure if it's my absolute of the year, but here's a nudi shot from a day trip to Anilao I am rather pleased with.

I like the new changes on the V6! Probably won't upgrade from the V5 I have now as it works fine, but if I ever need to replace it glad to see continued improvements.

Been living in Manila for 8 years now. A lot of diving in Anilao of course as it's only 2-3 hours away, but also around the Philippines and some in Indonesia as well ^_^