Maria Munn

Wow 😮

Hey @Kristin Thanks for replying and so great to hear that you got the Insta 360 Ace Pro 2 and love it too. Look forward to hearing about your adventures with it and seeing your images. Have a great week too :) Maria

Hi @Narced Diver I haven't used the Osmo but I've used both the Insta Ace Pro and Go Pros. What I loved about the Insta Ace Pro is the detail that it provides. For example when capturing jellyfish or rays of light, the Insta Ace Pro really delivers in terms of capturing contrast and definition so well, even in bright sunny conditions way above both iPhones and Go Pros. From everything I have seen, I would definitely go with an Ace Pro 2. I've been out doing some tests the past few days and be writing very soon about them all. Here is an image of an Atlantic Sea Nettle which I captured recently here in the UK using the Ace Pro. I haven't edited it, this is the image straight out of the camera. It really blew me away, as well as the footage that I've captured of jellyfish. Hope this helps a bit, good luck with the decision making, shout if you need more help and let us know how you get on. Have a lovely day. Maria

Hey Iz, A big welcome from me too. Wow, where in Indonesia are you? Much as I'm in love with our UK waters, I still miss it over there. Look forward to seeing your images. Have a great week :) Maria

Hey @Narced Diver Thanks for posting this, the New OSMO 360 looks very interesting and it will be great to see how it compares to the Go Pro Max 360 and the Insta 360 X5. As Davide said, it's hard to assess how good it is going to be until it's released, although I've read that the battery life may not be as good. I've just found this video online which may help a bit. Hope it does :) We shall see .... Maria www.oceanvisionsphotography.co.uk

Hey @RVBldr Love these images, they're beautiful. Absolutely loved Gods Pocket and diving around Vancouver and Alaska, the colours are amazing! Look forward to seeing more. Maria

Hi @Nemrod I’ve had course guests get in touch with me with their compact cameras using this method but the exposures aren’t always correct, or the subject is blurred. I’d always recommend choosing the correct ISO based on your subject choice to get the best results.

Hi again @RomiK It's totally understandable when something is new. I still enjoyed the clip. I'll have a think tomorrow to see if I can come up with something else before you head off to Indonesia. Thanks again for posting and sharing your thoughts. Maria

Hi @RomiK Many thanks for sharing this. I've just seen it on my phone just fine. It's always great to see other's experiences using these kinds of cameras. Can I ask were you using the PureVision Mode and how deep were you? These cameras are built more for Content Creators, so it's a whole different system to work with. I've seen some incredible images and footage with them, but they definitely need the right angle, the correct position and the right light. I've found the same as you in terms of focusing distance as well. Still loved seeing this though, thanks for posting. Maria

Thanks for the thanks Kristen, I’ll post more soon. Just shout if you need any help. Have a great rest of the weekend. Maria 😊

Hi All, Finally I've been sorting through my images captured with a Go Pro 12 last year to hopefully help inspire what can be achieved with an Action Cam with different add-on lenses. I was using a Telesin Dome for the selfie image whilst I was picking up plastics in Misool For the other wide angle scenes in Misool and Tropical Dorset, England, I used a Backscatter Sharp Wide Lens Pro/AOI UWL-03 For the close-up image of a Blenny I used a Backscatter 15+ MacroMate Mini with a MARES EOS 10 LRW video light set. I write for magazines and sell prints of my images shooting with this system and I really love using the wide-angle lens with action cameras for both photography and videography. I hope it helps. Maria

Hey @Kristin Welcome from me and it's lovely to hear that you're benefiting from the group. Ningaloo was an incredible dream of mine to see whale sharks, it's such a special place. Look forward to seeing more of your work. Have a great weekend! Maria "Passionate about Shooting with Smaller Kit" Olympus TG-6 with INON UWL H-100 Wide Angle Lens and a Backscatter Mini-Flash 2 Strobe iPhone 16 Pro Max with DiveVolk Housing/Previous SeaLife Sport Diver Housing Go Pro Hero 12/Insta 360 Ace Pro with MARES EOS 10lrw Video Lights

Just thought I'd add onto this thread :) I was shooting with the Insta 360 Ace Pro recently (plus my iPhone 13 Pro Max and Go Pro 12) and loved the detail that it produced on this Atlantic Sea Nettle without any need for editing. It also worked really well for my above and below shots here in the UK, producing lush colours using the Vivid Mode to enhance the forest greenery we have here in Dorset and blue skies (yes, we do have them here in the UK occasionally :) ) I'm really looking forward to using Insta 360's equipment much more. Maria

Hey @Nando Diver Thanks for sharing this. I have the UWL-03 lens and absolutely loved using it with my Go Pro 12, I'm so happy that there is a way to attach it to the DiveVolk system as a glass alternative is definitely going to be better than DiveVolk's standard wide-angle lens. Hope you're having a great weekend. Maria

Hi Kristin, Sadly the Air Lens won't work with Action Cameras. I was using a Backscatter/AOI wide-angle lens as well as a Backscatter Macro MinMate +15 with my Go Pro 12 last year and absolutely loved the creativity that it gave me whilst testing it in Raja Ampat last year. I'm attaching an image taking with it whilst in Misool and a close-up image taken in the just as Sunny UK. Another option that you can use with the Insta 360 Ace Pro and Ace Pro 2 aside from AOI is the INON UFL-G140 SD Underwater Semi-Fisheye Conversion Lens. You can see the difference between them on UW Camera Store's Link here:- https://www.uwcamerastore.com/inon-ufl-g140-sd-underwater-semi-fisheye-conversion-lens Hope this helps and let us know if you need any more help or advice. :) . Good luck and look forward to hearing how you get on. Maria

Thanks for sharing these David, lovely shots and really nice to see some Red Sea Wreck images again. I loved diving there. Maria

Hey @johnvila Thanks for the thanks and really loved hearing your story. Congrats on the TG7 set-ups for your guests to use, fabulous to hear that you rate them! I've just changed back to my Olympus TG6 after using a DiveVolk and Action Cam set-ups for the past few months. Can you believe that it seemed BIG! :) Look forward to seeing your images on here. Have a great day! Maria

Hi @Reefy I have been to Ginnie Springs in Florida and experienced tannic water conditions there if that helps you. I wasn't expecting to see it at all, it really is phenomenal to photograph. I was using a Sealife SportDiver Housing for my iPhone 13 Pro Max at the time. I didn't use any filters, and was using natural light. I used a wide open aperture and used my EV Minus setting (or a faster shutter speed if using manual) to capture the reflection at the surface. If you are diving deeper, then lights will really help to add more dramatic colour to the overall scene for sure and create beautiful silhouettes. Check out Dive Wells Photography on Facebook who has captured incredible images at Tulum in Mexico. He used 2 x 30,000 Big Blue Lights Martin Broen is another incredible underwater photographer who has captured this phenomenon. He has also used Big Blue Lights. Hope this helps, I'm attaching what I achieved which I hope helps. Good luck with the journey and look forward to hearing how you get on. Maria

Hola @FOTOSUB Bienvenido al grupo, yo vivia en Majorca! Te deseo mucho exito con tu fotografia 😊 Maria

Thanks so much for sharing this. Love the images. Well done! I’ve been a fan of Weefine’s Ring Light for a long time, it’s a fabulous piece-of-kit for macro image lovers. Great to hear that it’s worked well for you too! Look forward to seeing more images 😊

There's so many possibilities, it all depends on the results that you like. The DJI Osmo Action 5 has cooler colours and the Insta 360 Ace Pro 2 performs better in lower light conditions and gives a broader colour range. It's a tough one to call, they're all good in their own way. Good luck with the decision making.

Hi Phillip, Thanks for the lovely words. I hate saying this but I honestly think Smartphones and action cams have shaken up the underwater photography world and created a hugely positive ripple of change in underwater imagery, especially amongst the younger generation. There's something about videos that captivate so many. I personally love the Tough range and have rarely shot using full Manual Control. I'll never forget Daniel Norwood, one of my course guests, now on the Editorial Team for DivePhotoGuide winning the British Society of Underwater Photographer's Best Beginner competition with a semi-manual compact, like the Olympus Tough range, and beating the runner-up with a d-SLR by 27 points. He could achieve black backgrounds, snoot shots and of course wide-angle too. What do I think? I think that the Olympus Tough range has taken giant strides in the compact market to be the real leader, particularly with its macro capabilities. It's almost impossible to equal or beat at the moment for size, affordability and results. Plus more people are starting out with a Mirrorless System now like Sony's A7 range. Who knows what will happen in the future, I'm just going to grab each day as it comes with a large zest for learning and creating. Happy Shooting! Maria

You are welcome @MrPhilipps I absolutely love AOI's wet lens. The sharpness when I used it with my Go Pro Hero 12 last year in Raja was amazing! You are right to check the reviews, there are quite a few but all point to the Insta 360 Ace Pro 2 producing better colours due to it's Leica lens, AI chip and ability to use Vivid plus it's own PureVision software. I've been out playing with the previous Insta 360 Ace Pro and it definitely handles sunbursts much better than my Go Pro does and the colours are more vibrant. It also captured the jellyfish with far more detail giving me a really pleasing image. I also loved the ability to use the Clarity Zoom to get great quality close-up footage makes it a great winner. Just bear in mind that file sizes are huge compared to Go Pro! Matthias Lebo uploaded a great video yesterday to his You Tube channel to demonstrate how good it is. Have you seen it? If it's true that you can now attach AOI's lens to it, that's the winner for sure. It all depends on your end goals. I'm attaching some images taken the past couple of days with it. I loved the richer greens it produces for my split-level shots here in the UK, plus the richer blue sky. The video was lush in colour too. Hope this helps and good luck with the decision making.

Absolutely brilliant and beautifully captured @ScubaBC . Loved diving in BC, the colours and the creatures are incredible. I hope it's okay to show at my studio to show visitors how beautiful these creatures are. Have a great weekend and look forward to seeing more of your work. Maria Ocean Visions Photography Living life on the small side with a Go Pro, Olympus TG and Smartphone in a Sealife/DiveVolk Housing

Thanks @Nando Diver This is really useful and am sure will be a big help to everyone.