jlaity

Yes, more/bigger cards would be a good investment. I'm hoping to upgrade my system soon, maybe I'll save some budget for more storage. But I can usually find someone at the resort who will copy files for me, then I can split up the two drives in my luggage home. I usually don't do too much more editing at home, either. Mostly color balance, I trust my home monitor more than the iPad for some reason.

I've been using Lightroom on an iPad Pro (M1 processor) for my last few trips. I thought I'd write up how this works, and discuss some of the benefits and disadvantages. I start with a hub and external drive for the iPad Pro. It uses USB-C so there are a bunch of choices out there. Some are designed to stick to the iPad, but it seems you can use any inexpensive hub. I found one with USB-C charging port, SD card reader, and USB for an external drive. I have a few SSD drives, one I made with an M.2 drive in an enclosure the size of a pack of gum. I also have an Apple Pencil, which you want for this type of setup, and Apple's case with a built-in keyboard. When I'm ready to download my photos, I plug the SD card into the hub and copy the images to my drive using the iOS Files app. Then I open Lightroom and import those files. At home I rename files before importing but I haven't found a auto-renamer on the iPad (like A Better Finder Rename.) So instead I work on the images without renaming, then rename them on the desktop version of Lightroom when I get home. For Lightroom import, you can theoretically select all then "skip duplicates." But if you have a few hundred files+ in there, this can take a while. I usually select the ones I want to import to save time, though this can be a bit tedious. Using Lightroom on the iPad is fun with the Apple Pencil. I can do anything I need to do from the desktop version, there might be a few differences but it seems really close. Plus you get to scribble on the screen to delete backscatter or whatever. The app will automatically import your camera profiles if they're in the desktop version. Flagging and tagging images goes quickly. There's even Photoshop for iPad if you want to do heavier editing, though I never do this on trips. If I need to share an image during the trip for a slideshow or something, I prefer to use Apple Airdrop when possible. If you have good internet, Lightroom will upload your images to the cloud automatically. That's your backup copy and how you get the images into Lightroom desktop. At the end of your trip, upload the images if they haven't already. Open Lightroom on your home computer (I use Classic), then watch the little cloud icon on the top right corner. Once you have a green check there, all of your images have been downloaded (you can set where they go in Lightroom Preferences.) I have a folder called "Synced" on my photos drive with these images. They will have all of the edits and metadata you added on the iPad version. You can then sort this folder how you like, by date or flagged or whatever, then copy the images IN LIGHTROOM to a different folder if you have a folder system for images. Advantages (from a laptop system:) It's very small and light, saving on your baggage allowance. Though the latest Macbook Air may have finally caught up. Working with the Apple Pencil is very nice for backscatter removal, brush tool, and other fine adjustments. The iOS version doesn't count against your licenses, so if you're already using Lightroom on two computers you can still use the iOS version. Compact to carry around the boat or resort if you want to show someone an image. Easier to watch movies on iPad on long plane flights than a laptop that gets launched into your ribcage when the seat in front of you reclines. Disadvantages: Copying or importing files can be a bit tedious since you can't "lasso" or shift-click a big list of files. You can select one with the Pencil and drag down, and it selects every image as it scrolls. But if you have hundreds of images to select this can take a while. I often need to do this once to select images to copy from SD to the hard drive, then again in Lightroom to import. You can't easily back up your hard drive. If you have good internet where you are, then Lightroom automatically uploads your images to their cloud. But if you want to copy all of your RAM files to another drive for backup, it's best to ask someone with a laptop to do that for you. iOS doesn't seem to be very good at file operations. Even copying one image from one drive to another can take around 60 seconds. If the iPad fell into the sea, would I build this setup all over again? Maybe not, for the two reasons listed above. But it's not annoying enough to switch, and I still enjoy editing with the Pencil like a Wacom. Let me know if you have any questions about the setup.

I usually go through my photos and flag the ones I like. Once I'm done with that, I sort by "unflagged," select all, and hit X to flag as rejected. Then go to the Photo menu and select "Delete Rejected Photos" and select "From Disk" at the prompt. Maybe new flavor Lightroom is different because everything is stored on their cloud. Not sure if theres a "Delete selected from cloud." I prefer Classic flavor Lightroom because I like multiple copies/backups of my raw files. But I also use Lightroom for iPad, which uploads everything to the cloud.

You’ve spoken about changing autofocus modes for different subjects or situations. I’d love to hear a geeky episode about that, general concepts rather than camera-specific.

The account was created a year ago, but it was john7984 or something like that. Maybe someone registered 100 accounts back then. But didn’t even attempt to get the post count up with lame replies like “100%” and “wow.”

I got contacted by a probable scammer on their classifieds. My WTB post was answered through PM by a brand new member with few specifics. If the site is a ghost ship, then there’s even less protection and moderation than usual. (Not that there’s typically any protection on private party online sales…)

Sample pic with the setup

The prettiest snoot light with focused beam to make your nudibranchs look like movie stars. This Retra LSD has the mounting for Inon Z-240 but Z-330 also fits. Other mounts are available for different strobes, and the four standard inserts are included. Only light local use, so it’s still in great shape. $320 shipped in USA, or pick up in Los Angeles area.

That looks great, thanks for the preview. Are you using the 5T close-up lens with magnifiers like this one, or only one at a time?

I recently reorganized by subject rather than by dive trip, except for a few recent big trips. Based on the pics that people usually want to see -- sharks, sea lions, turtles., etc. https://photo.jefflaity.com Smugmug has some interesting gallery website examples on their homepage. I liked this example: https://www.christianpondella.com/ You can publish directly to a Smugmug site from Lightroom with their plug-in.

I heard back from Marelux sales department that Nauticam (and Inon, etc?) eyepieces are not supported. Also Nauticam ports are supported with a 20mm extension, but that makes it incompatible with a fisheye lens. Since I would need to replace 3k+ of glass, I guess I’ll keep saving and searching.

I like a lanyard when I’m in deep water (oil rig or black water.) But I’ve seen a camera (and other gear) get dropped near a boat several times, leading to a search and recovery dive after that.

Upgrading to R5mkII or R5C? I’m interested in your old housing. Thanks.

I assume it’s the camera on the left in the top photo? Do you have three lanyards? I always hold my (large SLR) camera rig while diving unless there’s an emergency. The lanyard is just there in case it gets dropped. I’ve never dropped a camera but I’ve dropped a light at the oil rigs. Watched it spiral down to the briny deep for minutes.

I’m considering a Marelux housing for Canon R5 but I’m finding very little online as far as reviews. Does anyone gave experience with these, especially coming from Nauticam? The housing design seems to be inspired by Nauticam, putting it kindly. How difficult is it to adapt Nauti ports to work with the 20mm extension/adaptor? Do the Nauti viewfinders work? How is the optical strobe trigger? Thanks.

Really like Crystal Blue in Anilao, great guides and camera room. Mike usually has gear to try out, and he runs the Black Water group on Facebook in addition to writing the definitive book on it. Some pics from my last trip there: https://photo.jefflaity.com/Anilao-Philippines-2019

Photos from our recent trip: https://photo.jefflaity.com/Komodo-Indonesia-2024 Enjoy

Nice stuff. I like the abstract eels.

Here is the ebook: https://paulnicklen.com/product/photographing-wild/

Book I rediscovered recently, “Photographing Wild” by Paul Nicklen. Alex Mustard’s book is heavy on technique, where Nicklen and Skerry talk about approaching wildlife and how to get better behavior shots. I’ve learned from all of them but I’d love to find more like “Wild.”

Is the only difference between bonfire and black water whether you can see the bottom? To me, “bonfire dive” is when they put lights on the bottom to attract life, like the manta dive in Kona, Hawaii. It’s in around 60 feet of water with lights on the bottom to attract plankton to feed the mantas. All black water dives have lights on a line, for a location reference and safety as much as to attract critters.

Did you bend the battery compartment pins out? The ones on the cap. Also try not tightening the cap so tightly, or cleaning the pins. The pins on the inside are gold-plated, but the ones on the cap are made of tin or something. Also, smacking the strobe around the battery compartment often wakes them up, on the Z-220, 240, and 330. Or maybe listen to the guys recommending Sea and Sea since Inon seems to be on their way out of business…

They seem to sharpen the corners a bit. It helped with my WACP envy. A tiny bit.

I’ve always shot black water with 5D4 and 100mm macro (EF 100mm non-L). Tougher to find the subject but a better shot when I do, I think. Saving to upgrade to R5 and the new RF 100mm, mostly for better AF on black water dives. We just finished a Komodo trip and I did 9 or 10 black water dives.

I’m surprised there isn’t more discussion about the Sea and Sea corrector lens. I have one for the EF 17-40L and corner sharpness was noticeably improved. Not WACP wow but better IMO. They only make two sizes, maybe too big for RF lenses?