Architeuthis

One can snorkel with whalesharks also in Tansania/Mafia island, near the delta of the Rufiji river. I have been there 2024 and 2025. On one excursion it was approx. 15 individuals. The excursion with the least whalesharks was 3 individuals. Several boats with snorkelers are usually present, but the activity was still o.k. (maybe one dozend of snorkelers around)... I returned on Sunday, 29.3. from the Maledives (Omadhoo island in Ari Atoll). Also there whaleshark excursions are offered, also from other close islands and resorts. According to divers, who have participated, at these spots there are around appox. 150 snorkelers plus several groups of scubadivers UW, producing a lot of airbubbles. We gratefully declined from participation in such an excursion... Wolfgang

My monitor is able for Adobe RGB and the water looks nicer when I view and process in Adobe RGB. Since my main device for viewing (a 2K projector) and internet are not able to display Adobe RGB correctly, I process and store all photos in sRGB (with few exceptions, when I know that the output will be in Adobe RGB). Also this photo is entirely sRGB...

I have Weefine 2300 (branded as Kraken in US). It comes with "Auto shut Off" function that shuts the light off during flash.. I put it to the housing (Nauticam Sony A7R5) via separate ball with long clamp. For coarse orientation, I use the white light occasionally. Most of the time, for searching as well as for focusing, I have just the red light on (this proofed to be very useful, many critters, e.g. shrimps anf basketstars, are not able to perceive the red light)... Wolfgang

Hi Rich, As far as I know, "Hue" and "Saturation" of the water is nothing one can adjust at the camera (regarding the RAW file). The actual color of the water is adjusted in post, e.g. in LRc, via the "Temp" and "Tint" sliders and (within the range of your RGB signals) you can produce virtually any color you like... Similar with darker/lighter of water, what can be adjusted as you like in post (but exposure to the right by ISO, shutter and aperture is, of course prefereable as the starting point)... It is just the balance of #1.: "Temp"&"Tint" between foreground subject and water that you can adjust by choosing the strobe temperature (or, alternatively, making a mask of the foreground and of the water and adjust this separtely) and of #2. darker/lighter ("Exposure") between foreground subject and water that you sleect by strobe power (or, alternatively, making a mask of the foreground and of the water and adjust "Exposure" separately I am not quite sure what you mean with "nice blue water column". For me the blue of the water in your second example photo looks good, but this is certainly a matter of personal taste. Maybe you could post an example where you like the blue of the water, so that one can understand what your goal is? Here is an example of mine, from my last trip to the Maledives (I just returned yesterday). Conditions for water were difficult as there was only little light in approx. 30m at approx. 08:00 AM, mediocre visibility (approx. 15m) and cloudy sky. Sony A7R5, Canon 8-15mm f/4 fisheye with 2x Sony TC at 30mm; 1/160s; f/9; ISO 400, 2*HF-1 with 4500K diffusers. Probably you do not like these colors, but when you tell me what you like, I think I can adjust the water to any color you would like to see: Wolfgang

Rolling shutter may be the problem in A7R5 video. I personally never saw any distructing distortion of subjects in my, very few, A7R5 videos. Others can commend the video issue certainly better...

Hi Assist, I am proud owner of A7R5 for almost three years. This camera is perfect for me, but I am photocentric and do (almost) no video. Many here have A1 or A1II for both photo and video and seem pretty satisfied with this camera ... I am sure A75 is very good for both photo and video for many here (A7R5 is perfect for photo, but few would go for this camera for serious video). SInce you have A7CII, you can decide by yourself whether both photo and video fulfills your demands (A75 will be better in both, but I believe that there are NOT worlds inbetween. I think in case A7CII is not good enough, A75 will also not do it)... Besides this, outstanding UW-photos or UW- videos can be produced with any of the cameras you consider. They all have high technical quality and the person behind the camera is, by far, the rate limiting factor... Maybe you can get a used housing for your A7CII and just go UW to make photos and videos (and then decide whether with A75, A1II, A7CR etc. the results will be better). Besides this, switching between A7CR and A7CII looks sexy to me (but a photo that is not good with A7CII will not become better with A7CR and a video done badly with A7CR will not improve with A7CII)... Another consideration is the lenses. These may be more important than the camera itself. Which do you have and/or intend to use? Wolfgang

I have the Nitecore NL2153HP with 5300 mAh for my HF1's. After a full day of diving and making photos (I seldom use the videolight), I have still 60% -75% of charge available. No need for more capacity...

I remember correpondence with Backscatter where they wrote me that the flash will shut off, when used with batteries that do not allow to draw a minimum of current, like e.g. 20A... Who knows what the outcome could be when inserting different kind of batteries, some with, some without built in protection circuits (maybe of different kind)? A shut off of the flash might be the least problem... => I fear that beeing too stingy can cost a lot more money in the end (At least the price of purchasing multiple different batteries before buying the right ones; not to speak about broken equipment). At the best one could save a couple of Euros, by taking the risk. This is opposed by total costs of many thousands of Euros for the entire rig... Wolfgang

price reduction: 280 Euro

price reduction: Sony 90mm macro lens (new: 799 Euro): asking 450 Euro Focus gear (new: 220 Euro): asking 150 Euro Macroport 105 (new: 440 Euro): asking 290 Euro selling together as set for 850 Euro (preferred).

Hi Rich, Since you mention Tokina 10-17mm: It will be optimal for R7, but not for R6, since this as an APS-C type lens. I remember reports from people using the Tokina with FF cameras (it seems this lens has an extraordinary large image circle), but this is probably not the IQ you are expecting for spending $$$$s dollars for the entire rig... For FF you may want the Canon EF 8-15mm fisheye (or the new RF version) but these lenses are nor as flexible as the Tokina on APS-C (or on MFT (with 0.71x speedbooster)), they offer just switching from circular fisheye to 180° diagonal fisheye and back... Wolfgang

I do not recommend to buy a new housing for an old camera model. In the end you will want to upgrade soon and the used housing will not be worth much on the second hand market, since nobody wants the housing. Maybe you can get a second hand housing for R6 at a reasonable price. If not, it is more economical to buy both new housing and camera model (but camera model with latest technology). You will use the combination longer and also get a better price for the used housing, when you once upgrade...

I cannot help here, but I am wondering for what purpose this upgrade serves? Compatibility with type II extensions?? P.S.: Here I found the reasoning for this upgrade: https://www.seatech.co.nz/blogs/product-information-new-releases/nauticam-n120-port-adaptors-lock-mechanism-upgrade?srsltid=AfmBOooyQBblQAv47WZo8VCaB5ediSh_z5-Od3lE8k-gK-E7EASGpSjz

I got the Backscatter Sony flashtrigger that is able to trigger the HF-1 in HSS mode and tested out by myself (with Sony A7R5): When the "drive mode" is set to "slow" (3 fps), only every 4th image is lit by the strobe and the other three are black... => This means that drive mode is not working with HSS. The flash fires after every (approx.) 1.3s ... For fast sequences one has to remain in the regular "manual mode", within the limits of the flash sync. speed.

My personal experience with strobe service is extremely bad with Sea&Sea (Europe; located in Netherlands), time span was approx. 2-4 years ago: I had four total losses (YS-D2) and it was not possible to contact them or get any response from them, nether by telephone nor by EMail. The service is(was?) practically non existing... Completely different situation with Backscatter (just now): Two HF-1 had their electrodes corroded. Very fast response, quick and kind handling (although at present there are problems in sending items between US and Europe and the repaired flashes are, at present, delayed in the customs; this is, however, not Backscatters fault)... Wolfgang