DiversLens

Note: This is a repost from the Video Gear forum, as I believe it would be of great interest for photographers as well. I finally found the game-changer I'd been searching for. Just before my dive trip to Lembeh in October 2025, I purchased the Mid-Range Focus Optimizer 3 (MFO-3) from Divesea Indonesia. Their service was excellent—the lens was promptly delivered to the Dive Into Lembeh Resort, waiting for me upon arrival. The Problem with Traditional Macro For too long, I've been frustrated by the limitations of my standard macro setup (Nauticam-Sony FX3-Sony 90mm lens). The experience of missing a shot of a large subject, like a magnificent octopus, because it simply wouldn't fit in the frame was constantly disappointing. Even when shooting small, spectacular critters like nudibranchs or a blue-ring octopus, I often felt constrained by a lack of compositional variety. I needed more space, more context, and a different perspective. A New Name for a Revolutionary Lens While the Nauticam MFO-3 delivers incredible results, I believe its name—"Mid-Range Focus Optimizer 3"—is overly technical and confusing. The official descriptions, with their heavy emphasis on blackwater photography, do not adequately capture its true, versatile benefits. Honestly, if I hadn't taken the leap and tried it myself, I would never have understood its immense potential. If you ask me, this lens should be renamed the Wide Angle Macro Lens (WAML). Why WAML? Because it perfectly describes its function: it gives you the power to shoot with a wide-angle perspective while keeping your macro setup. While it won't offer full wide-angle capability, it tremendously expands your range of possible subjects and compositional opportunities. Beyond the Lenses I own several other Nauticam lenses, including the SMC-2, SMC-3, and MFO-1, but the MFO-3 quickly became the most-used lens on my Lembeh trip. It truly unlocks a new dimension in muck and macro diving photography. To show you exactly what this lens can do—and the incredible footage you can capture—I’ve put together a short video demonstration. A few print-screens from the video (with MFO-3 and without MFO-3) are posted below. WITH MFO-3: WITHOUT MFO-3: If you enjoyed the video, please SUBSCRIBE for more underwater adventures and hit the notification bell so you don't miss our next video! https://youtu.be/bi6gxZ-RvLM

I finally found the game-changer I'd been searching for. Just before my dive trip to Lembeh in October 2025, I purchased the Mid-Range Focus Optimizer 3 (MFO-3) from Divesea Indonesia. Their service was excellent—the lens was promptly delivered to the Dive Into Lembeh Resort, waiting for me upon arrival. The Problem with Traditional Macro For too long, I've been frustrated by the limitations of my standard macro setup (Nauticam-Sony FX3-Sony 90mm lens). The experience of missing a shot of a large subject, like a magnificent octopus, because it simply wouldn't fit in the frame was constantly disappointing. Even when shooting small, spectacular critters like nudibranchs or a blue-ring octopus, I often felt constrained by a lack of compositional variety. I needed more space, more context, and a different perspective. A New Name for a Revolutionary Lens While the Nauticam MFO-3 delivers incredible results, I believe its name—"Mid-Range Focus Optimizer 3"—is overly technical and confusing. The official descriptions, with their heavy emphasis on blackwater photography, do not adequately capture its true, versatile benefits. Honestly, if I hadn't taken the leap and tried it myself, I would never have understood its immense potential. If you ask me, this lens should be renamed the Wide Angle Macro Lens (WAML). Why WAML? Because it perfectly describes its function: it gives you the power to shoot with a wide-angle perspective while keeping your macro setup. While it won't offer full wide-angle capability, it tremendously expands your range of possible subjects and compositional opportunities. Beyond the Lenses I own several other Nauticam lenses, including the SMC-2, SMC-3, and MFO-1, but the MFO-3 quickly became the most-used lens on my Lembeh trip. It truly unlocks a new dimension in muck and macro diving photography. To show you exactly what this lens can do—and the incredible footage you can capture—I’ve put together a short video demonstration. A few print-screens from the video (with MFO-3 and without MFO-3) are posted below. WITH MFO-3: WITHOUT MFO-3: If you enjoyed the video, please SUBSCRIBE for more underwater adventures and hit the notification bell so you don't miss our next video!

Thank you for sharing. My micro slider will not help with this:).

Could you give a link to your video to show the final result?

I purchased an INON UW Tripod System and a NiSi Macro Focusing Rail (see photo). The build quality of the NiSi Rail looks good. I particularly appreciate the large diameter knob on the focusing rail and the 180-360 degree rotating head on the tripod. I already own an Ultralight tripod plate, which I plan to use with this setup. I'll be testing these items in Anilao in April-May and will share my experiences sometime in May or June.

Thank you for sharing these photos, Ar! These are nice tripods for a BBC crew! I am definitely not going to that level of stability and micro adjustments.

I agree: Noveflex is nice, but very expensive. I assume that the Fotopro or similar macro slider will do similar work. I will try. Also, I was not thinking about following the subject by moving the housing with the micro microslider. When I setup the housing at the right distance, I usually adjust focus using the Focus Ring.

Here is the link to the video. I am looking for a macro slider with an endless screw as well. Which one do you have? I found one from Fotopro.

Could you send me a private message with information about how much you want for it? I probably will be in the USA this summer. This will simplify shipping. Thank you.

I showed how the slider works in the video about modifications to Gates tripod. I do not have a video demonstrating how it works underwater. I just push or pull the housing, while holding a tripod in place. As I mentioned before, it was not very smooth. That is why I am looking for an improvement. Most of my macro and super macro clips shot in Alor, Anilao, Tulamben and Amed in the second half of 2023 and 2024 are shut with this setup. Here the link to the one of the latest videos:

Yes, I used in about 5 or 6 dive trips. My current macro slider, however, is not very smooth.

Thank you for your message insomniac. I am not planning to use all components of INON Tripod System.

Many thanks for your reply and sharing your experience, Tim. In my additional post above, I provided a bit more information about my experience with a standard tripod system.

Hi Ben, Thank you for your reply and links. I like you macro video and subscribed to your YouTube channel. Please see my post above with some more details.