Tannic waters of the Sante Fe river meet the clear waters of the spring run at Devil’s Ear at Ginnie Springs in High Springs, Florida

Hi, most of my underwater photography is done whilst snorkelling in the UK <10m. I have have used waterproof compacts and go-pros but currently have a Sony a6000 with kit lens and budget SeaFrogs housing. Most shots are close ups of urchins, anemones, crabs and wide or shots of Wrasse and seals. Sometimes I struggle with shots of dark crevices though. I was wondering if I should just use a dive light or do I need to shell out for a strobe?

Does anybody know where I can buy one of these? This is for a camera water housing and I am unsure what the name of this exact piece/shape is as well as where to find a replacement. It needs to fit in order to seal the housing. Unfortunately this unit has no branding or discernible markings. Thanks in advance.

I'm looking to shoot both close-up and wide-angle shots of corals. Around what guide number should I look for in a strobe? Should I shoot with one or two strobes?

I currently have bought an AOI Q1 RC strobe, which has a guide number of 22 according to Backscatter. Would that be bright enough for my use?

This will be my first time traveling with a camera. I have an Olympus TG6 with its housing and some other accessories. I'll be traveling to Madrid and then to Canary Islands, so I have to take two flights. I have a backpack in which I carry everything I use for my setup and thought of taking it as my personal item but I'm worried that some stuff - screws, metallic tray, etc - will be considered dangerous and should be removed. I guess putting them in the carry on would be an option but wanted to learn about your experiences and read your recommendations. Any help is appreciated!

Under the pier Frederiksted, St Croix USVI

Olympus TG-6, PT-059 enclosure, Backscatter M52 air, Backscatter MW-4300, 2 Inon Z330 Type II strobes

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I have a pair of old Subtronic Pro 270 (as in 270 watts/second power each). They are about 20 years old I think and I acquired them used. They are great strobes, but need some refurbishing and updating that will cost some time (support in Germany seems to be limited to one person - though very responsive makes me a little nervous) and money (battery, seals, etc., new cables, etc.). They are also big and heavy. I am considering having them refurbished and updated, but I keep holding off hoping a more modern alternative might appear… so far though refurbishing seems the best option.

I have lately taken to shooting with my Inon z330 setup due to batteries (easy to bring AAs) and size. However, they disappoint IMHO on wide angle shooting - too blue color temp, not wide enough coverage, and uneven light due to lack of circular light element. I really am just not happy with using the z330s in wide angle though they are great medium/wide, close wide and macro.

My current “contender” is the Ikelite DS230/232, which has 213ws of power, color temp of 5000K, and NiMH battery back (proprietary). Other than the proprietary battery packs, it checks a lot of my boxes, but I still lose power relative to the Subtronics. They seem to be about the same size and weight as the subtronics.

It seems like the pro level wide angle strobe market has just about evaporated .. am I missing anything? Maybe something that isn’t readily available online but known to pros?

Other than the Ikelite, the ones I have found so far seem not great replacements:

(1) OneUW 160x is only 160ws, but has nice beam angle of 130 and warm color temp of 4600K (2) Isotta Red64 seems great (270ws, AA batteries, 130 degree beam angle, 5300K color temp) but has been on hold for many years (I preordered this about 3 years ago!). (3) Retra Pro Max is only 140ws, unknown beam angle (circular so probably okay) and nice warm color temp 4900K (4) Seacam 160 is only 160ws, same beam angle 130 and temp as OneUW (seems very similar)

Am I missing any options that have > 250ws power, good recycle times, > 130 degree beam angle, and color temp in the 5000K range without diffuser?

A Lizardfish (Synodontidae). These guys sit on a spot and hold very still and the poof they are off, pretty quickly.
Under the pier Frederiksted, St Croix USVI
Olympus TG-6, PT-059 enclosure, Backscatter M52 air, Backscatter MW-4300, 2 Inon Z330 Type II strobes

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I managed to snap this photo of a green sea turtle taking a bite and eating a wrasse. It seems very unusual as they usually only eat sea grass and algae.

hello I am looking for an underwater housing for my son a7IV I plan on doing a shark dive and would like to capture it.

Hi guys, I just got into underwater photos recently and have been using my GoPro & iPhone with case to shoot. Now I want to invest in a new camera to capture pics for surfers, freedivers and maybe waves as well. Any recommendations? TIA

I am new to using a real dive housing (Aquatica AGH5) with ports, focus gears, etc. I am planning to give my setup a first test run in a pool soon, mostly to figure out buoyancy and establish if I need any other floats for it, and I just want to make sure I'm not going to damage my lens or anything on my macro setup.

The Aquatica housing manual gives a warning for the opposite scenario (using manual focus when the camera is set to AF mode), but says nothing about the other way around. "WARNING: Never attempt to manually focus the camera if it is set to autofocus mode with a mounted focus gear engaged. This will strain the focus mechanism motor and might damage your lens." I assume the main thing is just not to be autofocusing and manually focusing at the same time, and so as long as I'm not doing that, I'll be okay.

The reason I think I want to use autofocus when the focus gear is installed is because manually focusing is extremely slow and I might need/want change my focus to the other end of the range from where I currently am. I feel like autofocus could at least get me close to what I need relatively quickly and then I can fine tune it with focus gear or by moving the entire rig until I have achieved focus. Maybe there's a better way to do it than to use autofocus, in which case I'm happy to hear that (this is for a macro setup with a close-up wet lens).

I'm guessing this is a fairly straightforward answer for anyone who has used a camera with a focus gear before, so - are there any risks of using AF when a manual focus gear is equipped?

Olympus TG-6, PT-059 enclosure, Backscatter M52 air, Backscatter MW-4300, 2 Inon Z330 Type II strobes

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Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

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Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Hello everyone,

I recently went diving with cheap camera rig I put together, and loved it. It consisted of a tray, cheap Fuji point and shoot, 2 small photography lights, and a float. Overall, this setup was fine for macro (less than 6in to subject), but had major issues with anything else. These issues were mostly related to poor ISO performance and slow shutter speeds, in addition to bad Autofocus. The only seemingly good things about the setup were the lights, which lit up everything up to 1m away.

Anyway, I already own a Canon EOS RP and a EF 16-35 F2.8 ii for general photography, and would like to build a new setup around it for 'cheap'.

After some research, I came across the sea frogs housing for the EOS RP which supports this lens. It's available on their website for $700, but is also on Amazon and AliExpress for 530. My only concern is the only Amazon review mentioned "leaks", so I'm looking for others options on this housing. https://seafrogs.com.hk/collections/canon/products/seafrogs-40m-130ft-underwater-camera-housing-for-canon-eos-rp-with-flat-long-port

The only other thing is the port included with the housing is a flat port, and most people online are recommending dome ports, even though the exact lens is compatible with the flat port.

If people are having bad experiences with sea frogs cases, I may pivot to something like a sea life micro 3, but would prefer to use the camera I already own.

Thanks in advance

Any R5 shooter out there ?? Can you switch from photo to video while in an underwater housing? This may be a dumb question but just want to be sure before I spend the money on the camera.

Longsnout Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi)

Under the pier Frederiksted, St Croix USVI
Olympus TG-6, PT-059 enclosure, Backscatter M52 air, Backscatter MW-4300, 2 Inon Z330 Type II strobes

facebook.com/timetodive.us

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