Let's chat about DSLR vs Point and Shoot - looking for some wisdom / experience

[David Haas]

Lots of great replies helping nanohawk and others through several decisions.

Barmaglot especially helped us understand how the Nauticam 67mm adapter for their bayonet lenses; WWL-B and WWL-C might not fit various other brand housings.

I personally never bought a WWL-1, WWL-B or WWL-C simply because I've not tried any on my Fantasea housing ports with 67mm threads.

Fantasea housings are made by AOI just like the discussed Olympus PT-59 (for Olympus TG-6) and E-PL 9/10 housings.

They're very well made physically compact housings with lots of capability with various 67mm thread on lenses.

AOI's own bayonet system for the Fantasea UWL-09f / PRO and other brand 67mm lenses likely work on other housing but possibly not the 67mm Nauticam threads. Just something to consider.

Additionally thanks to Barmaglot and others who defined "tapping the zoom" on a compact form 24mm to 28mm to eliminate mild vignetting with any wide lens isn't a huge deal.

You can also set many compacts to a "saved" custom set of functions. I've done this with both the Canon G7X II and Sony RX100 VII to automatically zoom to a 28mm setting with various WA wet lenses.

My shared photos of a humpback whale calf 15' long and adult Momma almost 40' long show getting as close as you can no matter what your subject can work with any wide lens on most housing's flat port.

I also liked the info on the "myth" of shooting anything and everything on one dive.
If you're on a slow easy reef dive MAYBE that's possible but as described switching from a super macro to wide angle or whatever usually doesn't work in real world practice.

I'll admit to popping off my wide angle lens (I take it on almost every dive) to shoot whatever my native lens focal length is as shown in my previous post of garden eels.

Being stuck with a dedicated lens on a port is something I gave up when I sold all my DSLR systems and went full compact set ups in 2016. One advantage of the AOI Olympus E-PL9 / 10 system would be adding a super wide lens and dedicated dome port. This would allow you to shot clean over / under (half below / half above) images. I did that with a Tokina 10-17mm and Canon 8-15mm lens on my last SLR a Canon SL1 in an Ikelite housing.

Keep the ideas coming, this has been a good thread!

David Haas

 

[tursiops]

I also liked the info on the "myth" of shooting anything and everything on one dive. If on a slow easy reef dive MAYBE that's possible, but as described all the switching from a super macro to wide angle to whatever usually doesn't work in practice.

I will admit to popping off my wide angle lens (taken on every dive) to shoot whatever my native lens focal length is as shown in my previous post of garden eels. Being stuck with a dedicated lens on a port is something I gave up when I sold all my DSLR systems and went full compact set ups in 2016.

I now tend to dive either (a) with my OMD-M10 with a WWL-1 using my 14-42mm lens, but occasionally take it off u/w and replace it with a diopter, or (b) with a 60mm or 30mm macro. I find that my visualization of the reef/sand VERY much depends on what lens(es) I have mounted. If I've got the WWL-1 on, it is hard to see nudibranchs. And with the 60mm on, I'm not sure I'd see a hammerhead that swam right by me.

 

[Barmaglot]

I had assumed using some flip style diopters with it.

That is certainly a possibility, but that's what you do when you want to shoot something super small, not the other way around. With the Olympus 60mm lens, you get 1:1 reproduction approximately 10cm in front of the port - this is already a 17x13mm frame size, comfortably framing a 1cm subject. If you want to shoot something larger, you need to step back. In my experience shooting a 90mm lens on APS-C, fitting something like a broadclub cuttlefish into the frame is possible, but really tough on the strobes, and I use Retra Pros with reflectors, which give a considerable reach. However, if you pair the 60mm with a CMC-1, your working distance goes down to 22-70mm - i.e. you can't focus closer than 22mm or further than 70mm from the front glass, and at 22mm, you get 2x magnification, filling the frame with a subject not much larger than your typical rice grain.

It still takes far less power to fire the LED's then to fire the internal flash.

That's irrelevant; LED triggers use their own batteries rather than being powered by the camera. Type and size of batteries vary - some have internal sealed batteries, others use coin cells (most often 2430, but my UWT model uses 1220), and Sea & Sea's latest trigger, which uses especially powerful LEDs to drive their less sensitive strobes, uses AAA cells as a result.

You will likely run your images through some editing software after you get home, but before you show them to your friends. Cropping of the image is pretty simple to do in just about every editing software/app. Vignetting is not a big deal as long as you have your image framed so that the subject is not off to the sides. You will be able to see exactly what the vignette will cover as you compose your shot and if you find that you do have a little vignetting, you can fix it in post.

But I like seeing nice round 6000x4000 numbers in my image metadata!

AOI's own bayonet system for the Fantasea UWL-09f / PRO and other brand 67mm lenses likely work on other housing but possibly not the 67mm Nauticam threads. Just something to consider.

While I'm not 100% certain, not having tried it myself, the photos in their installation manual don't appear to show any potential compatibility issues with any housings, Nauticam or otherwise. The male threads stick out from a fairly wide flat flange, so unless your port has something weird, like 67mm threads recessed within 77mm threads, there should not be any trouble. The lens-side adapter does have a cone flaring out from the central flange, but the only lens that comes to mind that may have trouble with that is Weefine WFL-01 - any close-up lens should have more than enough clearance to fit. AOI's own UWL-400 and UWL-09 lenses don't use this adapter, as they come with swappable mount bases, similar to the original Nauticam WWL-1.

Keep in mind that quick-detach systems for wet lenses are useful not only, and not even so much as for swapping between wide and macro but for clearing the port in the beginning of each dive. Wet lenses require the space between the port glass and the lens to be completely filled with water, and when you splash down, some air is inevitably trapped in that space. You must remove the lens, shake out all the bubbles (this is frequently referred to as 'burping'), then reattach the lens before you can start shooting. An alternative to unscrewing and re-screwing the lens on each dive, or using a quick detach bayonet or magnetic system is fitting an appropriately sized o-ring in the back of the wet lens - this way you can clear out all the air and attach the lens inside a rinse tank, and the water won't drain out on your way to the dive. This is particularly useful if you intend to shoot over/under split shots, although wet lenses are a suboptimal tool for this task due to their small dome size.

 

[tarponchik]

Seems like a tossup but enjoy what ever you buy.

View attachment 707988

No offence but the photo looks a bit too dark to me.

 

[Barmaglot]

No offence but the photo looks a bit too dark to me.

Mantis shrimp are tough to shoot; you get close and they immediately hide. My best attempts aren't much better... for instance, this one, at Richelieu Rock, I couldn't get low enough for a good angle:

Same for this one, at Dauin coast:

A rare opportunity with a peacock mantis out in the open, at Gato Island (north Cebu), and again I couldn't get low enough...

Here, at Koh Tao, I got my perfect angle, but the shrimp itself was kinda bland and the background uninspiring:

My favorite mantis shrimp shot thus far is actually of a pelagic juvenile on a blackwater dive, looks like a horror movie monster:

 

[tarponchik]

Mantis shrimp are tough to shoot; you get close and they immediately hide. My best attempts aren't much better... for instance, this one, at Richelieu Rock, I couldn't get low enough for a good angle:

Same for this one, at Dauin coast:

A rare opportunity with a peacock mantis out in the open, at Gato Island (north Cebu), and again I couldn't get low enough...

Here, at Koh Tao, I got my perfect angle, but the shrimp itself was kinda bland and the background uninspiring:

My favorite mantis shrimp shot thus far is actually of a pelagic juvenile on a blackwater dive, looks like a horror movie monster:

I know, my own attempts gave me "2 eyes in the hole" result at best. But yet somehow your pics are not dark.

 

[Hoag]

... But I like seeing nice round 6000x4000 numbers in my image metadata! ...

That is exactly the reason why I started my post which you quoted with "Just an opinion, so take it with a grain of salt (and maybe a slice of lime & a shot of tequila)".

@Barmaglot you do what works for you and keep getting those amazing results.

 

[tursiops]

Mantis shrimp are tough to shoot; you get close and they immediately hide. My best attempts aren't much better... for instance, this one, at Richelieu Rock, I couldn't get low enough for a good angle:

Same for this one, at Dauin coast:

A rare opportunity with a peacock mantis out in the open, at Gato Island (north Cebu), and again I couldn't get low enough...

Here, at Koh Tao, I got my perfect angle, but the shrimp itself was kinda bland and the background uninspiring:

My favorite mantis shrimp shot thus far is actually of a pelagic juvenile on a blackwater dive, looks like a horror movie monster:

I agree; Mantis shrimp are tough. here is the only picture I've gotten of one that I am happy with.

 

[Barmaglot]

That is exactly the reason why I started my post which you quoted with "Just an opinion, so take it with a grain of salt (and maybe a slice of lime & a shot of tequila)".

@Barmaglot you do what works for you and keep getting those amazing results.

Sorry, the board ate my emoticon, but that part of my post was written with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek.

 

[Barmaglot]

I agree; Mantis shrimp are tough. here is the only picture I've gotten of one that I am happy with. View attachment 708057

That's an amazing shot; much better than any of my efforts.