Architeuthis

The camera is sold now... Heavily used, but working, Nauticam housing for Olympus EM5II (with vacuum system, shutter release extension & padded travel bag etc.) goes for 200 Euros obo (buyer pays for shipping)... Wolfgang

The lens is sold now... The Nauticam focus gear for Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS is still available: 55 Euro obo (buyer pays porto)... Wolfgang

The new Monster adapter LA-FE2 has just been released: https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/new-product-release-monster-adapter-la-fe2/ We will see how good it will work...

The FCP-1 portchart is now available at the Nauticam homepage: https://www.nauticam.com/pages/copy-of-0-36x-wacp-wide-angle-conversion-port-chart

I previously had Olympus EM1II and now have Sony A7R5. I fully agree that there is not much difference in size and weigth for WA: with EM1II I was using mostly the Canon 8-15mm with Nauticam 140 domeport and occasionally the Zen DP170 with Zuiko 12-40mm or 8-25mm. Now I am using Canon 8-15mm with the 140mm domeport and occasionally the Zen DP170 with Sony 20-70mm and sometimes the Tamron 17-28mm (recently I acquired a WACP-C for WA) - pretty similar riggs in size and weight. A big difference is when making macro photos: The rig with EM1II with 60mm or 45mm macro lens (diopters are only required for special cases, e.g. clownfish eggs) is much, much smaller than A7R5 with Sony 90mm (SMC-1 quite often required, I take it with me on every dive). The macro FF rig is the biggest I ever had... => I do not know the release scedule of Nikon, but sooner or later they will release a mirrorless model that is on par witht the D500, presumably same technology as Z8, but DX. For a Nikon user it may well be worth waiting for such a model (what I hear and read the Sony APS-C cameras are not really outstanding)... Wolfgang

First, I cannot tell whether there is a difference at 15mm between Sigma and Canon 8-15mm, as I only have the Canon, which is excellent... Second, the advantage of Canon 8-15mm is that you can make circular fisheye photos. In addition, you can use the 1.4x TC and zoom in more narrow than the 180° diagonal fisheye, approximately to 124° diagonal, more or less the wide end of WACP (the usable zoomrange is, however, quite narrow (15-21mm) and you loose the option for circular fisheye, when using the 1.4x TC)... Regarding the domes, I use the 140mm domeport, as it already provides very good IQ and it is still small (100mm is regarded too small for high IQ on FF by many, but not all). From my personal experience, I know that IQ with the 170 domeport is at least as good as with the 140, but it is significantly more bulky (not so good for CFWA). On the other hand the 170 domeport works better for split photos (but also 140 works o.k.). Quite many use the 230 domeport for the Canon (and Nikon) 8-15mm - excellent IQ, very bulky, but even better for split photos (and also very well working with rectilinear WA lenses)... Wolfgang

I, personally, am a big fan of the "ultra-wide" angle, I like even the circular fisheye. For this purpose (UWA and circular), I currently use Canon 8-15mm with adapter and 140mm domeport. I still have to become familiar with the WACP-C (first longer occasion with many dives will be diving in the Carribean in March; I guess the WACP-C will be ideal for the carribean reef sharks...😊), but it might well be that later, when I am familiar with both WACP-C and Canon fisheye, I will use the Canon fisheye lens more often than the WACP-C... MAYBE, at a later stage, I will exchange the WACP-C for an FCP. But even if it will be possible to cover the entire range, from circular fisheye up to moderate zoomed-in WA, with FCP and two lenses, as Alex indicated in a previous post (28-60mm and ???), there will remain the need for the Canon fisheye in a domeport for split shots. There is plenty of time to see how the FCP story develops and decide later, presumably I will decide that I do not need a FCP... Wolfgang

According to the WACP-C port chart and Alex's post above the difference at the long end is even smaller (5° difference at 60mm and 3° difference at 70mm): 28-60mm: WACP-C: 130° - 69° FCP: 170° - 74° 28-70mm: WACP-C: 130° - 59° FCP: 170° - 62° Consider an error marge of +/- 3% for the FCP specifications and the AOV at the long end is very comparable, if not almost identical. The difference is mostly at the wide end (for >2x the cost and approx. 1kg more one gets 170° instead of 130° at the wide end)... By using the 28-70mm with FCP one can even get a more narrow AOV (62°) compared to WACP-C with 28-60mm (69°) at the long end... At the moment, however, the FCP is not for me: I have a brand new WACP-C here and am waiting for the 28-60mm to bring it UW...😋 Wolfgang

Great information, thanks! Here the relation focal length/AOV is shown graphical (WWL/WACP values are taken from the WACP-C port chart): This shows that the new FCP practically repaces the WWL/WACP as it offers very similar AOVs zoomed in to 60mm or 70mm, but it offers 170° instead of 130° at 28mm...

Jim Decker from Backscatter wrote that also with A7R4 the Canon 100mm IS macro with adapter performs better than the Sony 90mm: https://www.backscatter.com/reviews/post/Sony-a7R-IV-Underwater-Camera-Review Not everybody agreed: I remember Phil Rudin posted that in his hands the opposite is the case, it may vary how one uses the camera... I have used both Canon 100mm IS (for sale in classified and eBay) with Metabones V adapter and the Sony 90mm macro with A7R5 and can say that AF performance of the native Sony lens is much better compared to the adapted Canon lens on this body. Also sharpness of the Sony lens is excellent... => I am very glad that, after Alex's post above, I changed my plan from acquiring a used A7R4 housing to getting A7R5 camera&housing new (of course only available new at this time). I highly appreciate such forums, as they are a very good place to get information before investing thousands of $$$..... Wolfgang

I use A7R5, but cannot compare to older Sony models. I think this tread in the old forum answers the question, at least partially: https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/70196-sony-a7r-v/page/3/ On page 3 of this tread Alex Mustard says that AF using the Sony 90mm macro with A7R5 is much better than A7R4 and even better compared to Nikon D850... I am not sure whether macro AF of A74 is closer to A7R5 or A7R4, but the newer models A7cII and A7cR are likely on par with A7R5 (and A1)... Wolfgang

I think that at this level one cannot say a book is outdated. It lacks photos, so the entertainment value may be smaller compared to modern books, but the >3000 drawings work out differences between species more striking than photos ever can. With > 2000 species it is the most comprehensive single book that I know (the Italian Atlas covers 1300 species with >2200 photos)... Good that you mention the lack of photos, then nobody will be disappointed upon ordering... Wolfgang

Gold standard for Mediterranian, especially Adria, at scientific level. Unfortunately German only (Italian and Spanish translations exist): Riedl R., ed. (1983) Fauna und Flora des Mittelmeeres. Paul Parey, Hamburg/Berlin. (2011 new edition by Seifert) Spanish: Riedl R. (1986) Fauna y flora del mar mediterráneo: Una guía sistemática para biólogos y naturalistas. Ediciones Omega, Barcelona. Italian: Riedl R. (1991) Fauna e flora del Mediterraneo – dalle alghe ai mammiferi: una guida sistematica alle specie che vivono nel mar Mediterraneo. Muzzio, Padova.

For sale is a hardly used Nauticam N120 60mm macroport (SKU # 18701)... asking: 250 Euro plus shipping (located in Austria/Europe)

Here are some pictures. I must say on the pictures the difference looks smaller as it is in real life, when holding the gear in the hand: N120 and N100 30mm extensions (according to the kitchen scale, the weight is 203 g and 140 g, respectively) And here WACP-C (2249 g) compared to Zen DP170/N120 (912 g):

The MF/AF behaviour seems to depend on the camera body: I can MF with the focus gear and , at the same time, use the AF with A7R5... Wolfgang

This item is gone...

I just got my package from Panocean and unpacked it: => I am very positively surprised by the smallness and handyness of the N100/30mm extension ring (although it has the "old" locking mechanism). Sony/N100 is the way to go...🙂 => When holding the "compact" WACP in my hands, I am very glad that I went for the C version and not anything taller/heavier, like e.g. WACP-1 or 250mm glass domeport. A substantial piece of gear, alike the size of a handball (WACP-1 would be the size of a football then). I estimate that carrying it in a suitcase will be like carrying two Zen DP170...🙄 I think now that, in order to complement my equipment, I will later go for the "small" Matty-Smith acryl domeport for split photos that Phil recommends ("small" instead of "large" will suffice, since I am an amateur afficionado, not a professional... )... Wolfgang

Hi John, I am still experimenting with the AF settings on my A7R5 (I also come from EM1II) and use most of the settings recommended by Alex in his videos. I have confused/mixed your post with another post here that is mostly on AF with Sony 90mm macro and have put a post with detailed settings there: Wolfgang

As requested by PM, I show here two images of the domeport glass that I want to get rid off. It has two mild scratches on the outside, barely visible on the photos, that show as flare when making photos against the light. In addition there is a "milky" ring inside, resulting from an unprofessional attempt of polishing using an electrical cordless drill equipped with polishing material... => I think it MAY BE useful for a patient homeworker, who already has a Nauticam 140 port or a port by another manufacturer that uses the same glass. The chaces to get rid of the flaws with a lot of patience is good. I will keep the glass for a couple of days more and then dispose it... Wolfgang

When I have the Focus Menue set as the following table shows, I can perform C-AF&tracking and manual focus simultaneously (this is A7R5, there may well be a difference to other models). Where my settings (entitled "Macro" and assigned to the C1 configuration, as I say I am still experimenting and the settings change with getting experience) are different from the settings that Alex recommends in his videos, I have indicated this by writing Alex's settings in the column entitled "Alex Mustard": Assignment of the four custom buttons is currently by default (C2 is already set by default set to change the focus area): Subject recognition on/off is assigned to the recording button, which is not required at all, as A7R5 has a separate configuration for video. Easily C1, C3 and C4 can be assigned to other tasks, e.g. changing recognition modes Wolfgang

One certainly can get sharp photos without the focus gear for the Sony 90mm. I find it sometimes, especially with SMC-1, very convenient to gross adjust first the focus manually (what goes very quickly with this lens) and then let AF do the rest. Without manual focus gear it would, sooner or later, also come to the same stage, but it will take longer...

Back button focus is not dependent on focus mode ("focus mode" in this context would be e.g. manual focus, single point AF, continuous AF&tracking, animal recognition etc...). It just means that the focus process does not start when the shutter button is half pressed own (as is usual set by default, but inconvinient often UW), but instead you assign a separate button (that can be easily pressed by the dumb) to initiate this process. Nauticam housings have a special lever to activate such a button, what is very ergonomic... I use the Sony 90mm macro with A7R5, so my experience with this lens is not really comparable with A6xxx cameras. I use similar procedures as recommended by Hergen Spalink on the Nauticam homepage and Alex Mustard in his videos (they are for A7R5 and A1). Before A7R5, I had Olympus EM1II and EM5II with Zuiko 60mm and Panasonic 45mm macro lenses. => I use C-AF&tracking, what works very well with the A7R5 (much better than EM5II and a bit better than EM1II). AF works even very reliable, when an additional SMC-1 is attached to the housing... => In addition I have assigned separate buttons to allow me changing the size of the AF field (for e.g. eye detection, I want a larger field, while for just C-AF&tracking, I want the smallest field possible to start with), as well as to switch animal eye detection on/off (sometimes the automatic algorithm focuses on something that is not an eye and I do not want focus there). I am still experimenting with this... => I also have the focus gear and can adjust focus manually, what also works very well (in contrast to Zuiko 60mm and Pana 45mm, the manual focus ring works very well with Sony 90mm)... I doubt that with A7R5 it will be reliably possible to C-AF on a single fish and then to follow it by tracking for a longer time period. For a short time (focus on the fsh and C-AF&tracking keeps focus until the shutter is released, it will work... Wolfgang

Is it known, whether such a compatible 14mm lens for Sony FE mount exists?

I thank you all for the very valuable advise, that helped me in making a decision... To keep you updated, what I finally did: I just pulled the trigger for a WACP-C. This, together with Canon 8-15 (+/- 1.4x TC), will cover (almost) all my WA needs. Maybe, later, I will go for a dedicated port for split photos, but I do not see a way to carry this, in addition to all the other stuff, with me on air travel (for the time being, the Canon 8-15 with 140mm dome will remain my split photo equipment)... Wolfgang