Troporobo

I would be happy to pay (within reason!) for a heavier carryon. Unfortunately Fiji Airways won’t allow it, full stop.

Where I am currently based in Fiji, all my trips involve a flight on an ATR turboprop with a strict 7kg weight limit for carryon bags. I have a great Lowepro roller that holds everything I need, but it's 4.5kg empty and fully loaded it weighs 13 kg. So I have had to get creative. I decided to carry only the valuable and fragile stuff in a backpack, and put arms, clamps, etc into my checked scuba gear bag. So here is what I carry onboard: camera and lens and trigger in housing, macro port and lens, two Inon strobes, a Kraken focus light, my wrist computer, and two sets of batteries for the camera and strobes (not shown). I found some cheap sort-of insulated lunch bags for school kids that happen to be just the right size. The housing goes by itself in one bag, and everything else goes in the other bag. I wrap the miscellaneous stuff in a layer of bubble wrap to prevent scratches, but sine the bag is never out of sight I am not worried about things getting banged around. All in, the total weight is just under 6.5kg. There is room in my commuter backpack for a few travel essentials too. Water bottle is 1.5 liters for scale. I am happy to be a m4/3 user!

You can get to most dive destinations in the South Pacific with a direct flight (or one stop in the Solomons for PNG) from Fiji. There are many options for affordable longer-term rentals around Nadi, often listed on AirBNB. There isn’t a local listing site here, but if you booked a week or two for a start you’d have the ability to look around and find a place that suits your taste and budget.

I can recommend Fiji for sure (watch for my trip report soon). Tonga, the Solomons, PNG are easy from Fiji. There is no longer a flight to French Polynesia, you’d have to go back to Australia or New Zealand.

Always! It’s so much easier with the dedicated thumb lever on a Nauticam housing than half press on the shutter and the regular misfires that causes. I don’t think I could feel a half press with gloves.

You’ve described it perfectly. I’ve lived there (twice), first in 1987, and still frequently travel around the country for work. Many people are beyond remote and might not see modern health care in their lifetime. This is a magnificent example that other liveaboards in those remote destinations we all love could learn from.

I am sure some here have been on the Bilikiki. This is a great humanitarian story!

I too have spent most of my career far from photo and scuba retail options whether in person or delivery. Many a business trip or holiday involve stopovers for gear acquisition. I feel the pain. As for Olympus autofocus it’s pretty good. I can’t compare to other brands, but I can say that my EM1 with 60mm locks on targets fast and reliably for me. It will even do continuous AF and follow anemone fish pretty well. As for super macro, before you assume you need the 90mm with its size and weight, look into wet diopters like the Nauticam CMC series. This shot was taken with the 60mm and an older +5 diopter that provides very close working distance and about 2x magnification:

Any lens marketed as m4/3 will fit without an adapter on any camera with an m4/3 mount. That’s the point of the standard. However, it’s important to be clear about functionality. Olympus and Panasonic lenses will all work perfectly on autofocus (and stabilization, but that’s not so important UW). Others such as Laowa may only be manual focus or may not be autofocus and/or stabilization compliant. Of course if you’re one of those masochists that insist on focusing manually, then those are features not bugs! I use the Olympus 60mm macro (brilliant), Panasonic 8mm fisheye (very good), and rarely the Olympus 12mm rectilinear (just decent). There are also options for the Olympus PRO series 90mm macro and 8mm fisheye but they require N120 adapters. Stay away from the 14-42 and 7-14 zooms, the former is an awkward range and the port for the latter produces very poor corners. For a zoom there are the Olympus 9-18, 8-25, and 12-40 but these also all require N120 port adapters and extension. It’s also possible to adapt a Canon 8-15, so if that appeals, ask Chris Ross. Oh, as for housing size, to fit in most rollers, you’ll likely need to remove the handles. That’s what I do and it’s no big deal.

I do both. My catalog (and hard drive) is organized by date / trip / location, then I have separate collections by genus or theme, e.g. “turtles” or “walls”. I’m too lazy to keyword individual images.

It’s been quite a while since I was in Malapascua, but one thing I really enjoyed and that doesn’t get much publicity is the night diving. Typically shallow and packed with interesting life including mandarinfish. Don’t miss it! Everything else you read on the internet is generally informative. Mid November does not feature the best visibility but should be OK.

Another OM-1 / Nauticam user here. I can’t compare to other housing brands but I do really like mine (and the one I had before for an OM-5). As for lenses I have also settled on the Olympus 60 sometimes with a SubSee +5 diopter for macro and the Panasonic 8 fisheye behind the 4.33” minidome for wide angle. Both deliver great image quality. My previous experience is with the 12-50 zoom plus macro (OK at everything, better at macro, excellent at none), Panasonic 7-14 rectilinear with a 6” dome (I really want a zoom of this range but this combo was not very good at anything) and the Olympus 14-42 behind the flat port of an Olympus housing (the less said the better!). Happy diving!

I’ve heard 60 is the new 40 😎

Hello neighbor! I am also in WA, up north in the islands (when I am home, currently based overseas)

Dave, thanks for the tips on USB powered chargers, I like that approach and will follow it Tom, I believe the same issues are happening to mine, thanks for the data point. I think that I may have isolated one issue. I found two cells that were completely dead and couldn’t be revived. Although the charger is supposed to take any number of cells at any state of charge, and bring them all to 100% independently, maybe it’s not so smart and maybe one bad one in the mix stumped it. I’ve now got enough good cells to proceed thankfully. My next trip to the land of Amazon will give me a chance to update it all.

Thanks for the ideas. I have checked all of those things and yes I’ve been using this charger here for a year without issue. Since my first post, I’ve now had two batches of cells complete the full charging cycle and one batch not complete. I checked voltages to confirm. It’s clear that the charger is working only intermittently. I did manage to find a cheap 4-cell charger that is very slow. (And just by the way, the only replacement rechargeable Energizer AAs here are USD 8 per cell!). I will just have to limp along and hope for the best on this trip.

Good advice in general, for sure. But not the cause of my current (!) problem.

I have a large inventory of AA Eneloops of varying age and the Powerex 8 cell “smart” charger. In preparation for a liveaboard trip this weekend I set out to charge them since I’ve not been in the water for a month. Something has gone wrong as the batteries never complete the charge cycle, whether a normal fast charge, a soft charge, or a reconditioning cycle. I’m guessing it’s the charger, since this is happening regardless of the age of the batteries. Does anyone know how to test the charger, or if this is a known issue with (hopefully!) a known remedy? I am in Fiji and can only find super cheap 2-cell chargers which would not be ideal, I’m out of time to order a replacement, and I would hate to have to buy and pack 96 alkaline batteries at $4 a pop!

I’m sure you’ve seen the many “how to” threads, but just in case, these two are good: Advice on a Carry-on What do you carry . . . In that second thread I posted a photo of my Lowepro Pro Trekker backpack/roller, which I find to be almost perfect for my m4/3 system. However it’s about 14 kg fully loaded, and even worn on my back It looks heavy and gets weighed. I currently start most trips on an ATR-42 with a strict 7 kg limit, so use an inconspicuous commuter style backpack with a camera insert that doesn’t attract attention, and put the more durable stuff in my checked bag.

Not the first time on that reef either. I was on board the Eco Explorer out there in 2006 and had a fabulous week. It went aground the following week. I believe it never returned to service after the accident.

Dang, that’s quite a portfolio of greatest hits! I love flamboyant cuttlefish, but the larval octopus are spectacular and get a huge thumbs up from me. I’m guessing those were done on black water dives, eh? Very well done.

This is a fantastic resource. Kudos to Eric Cheng for building it! I’ve just started exploring. One thing I don’t yet understand is how to find the articles that are referenced. The links jump to the footnote, then the footnote jumps back to the link not the article. Any tips appreciated.

Great images! That miamira alleni with an emperor shrimp and eggs is excellent. Man do I miss Anilao diving and 1:1 guides . . . 

I use 8 Stix jumbo floats, 2 on each arm segment, for both setups. The Nauticam 4.33” FE port is not very buoyant so that setup is almost perfectly neutral, while the macro setup is slightly negative.

You’ve described my system (well, the camera body is a generation older). I’ve been very happy with it. The 60mm macro lens is fantastic and produces top quality images, add a +5 diopter and you’d want for nothing. I use a Nauticam port with the 8mm fisheye and find nothing to complain about there either. A 12mm rectilinear will also work behind that port for a bit more reach. I’d guess that compared to a Subal the Nauticam housing won’t feel nearly as refined, but it’s plenty ergonomic for me. Good luck shopping!