JustinBeevor

Assuming that you're using manual settings, have you tried dialling down the on-camera flash compensation as far as it will go?  I've tried myself and (oddly, but perhaps it's because I'm using fill-flash in daylight) can't see that it makes any material difference to the lighting of the shot - but it might possibly reduce the recycling time.  Just a thought.

This is a very good question, and one which I have often wondered about. But I have used my Nauticam-housed a6500 with both Inon Z240 and Retra Flash strobes, and never noticed any significant detriment from the recycling time of the internal flash. I can't see that the Fantasea tried would fit into the housing; and if a workable trigger were developed, is be fascinated to know how much improvement it brought.
Incidentally, I do expertise greater frustrations from the topside flash capability of the a6500, than underwater - especially as concerns off-camera wireless remote. The fact that the HVLF43 flash can't be triggered by the internal unit is an astonishingly poor design decision.


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Hi JB,
 
What is your favourite lens for Sony A6500 if you are shooting wide angle? Macro? and fish portrait?
 
I heard the Sony 16mm with fisheye converter is not good in terms of corner sharpness, what about stopping down the aperture?
 
Alan

On my NEX6 and a6300 I always used the 16+fisheye and, to be honest, never had a huge problem with corner sharpness - not because the corners were sharp, I just didn't notice that they weren't. But since I've been doing a few workshops and rubbing shoulders with the pro crowd more, and entering competitions, I have been more sensitive to the issue. I still don't think it's severe enough to stop me using the lens - as you say, stopping down helps (who needs shallow DoF with wide angle anyway?), but I haven't done detailed testing, so don't take my word for it.

For my a6500 I do want to look at the alternatives, and that's why I'm splashing out on the Tokky 10-17 for my forthcoming Socorro trip. But it will have cost me over £2,000 for lens, converter and Zen dome. TF my wife doesn't read WetPixel (I hope).

Justin


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I've been using the 10-18 with Nauticam 7" port for some years, and upgraded to the a6500 earlier this year.  The disadvantage of the 10-18 being a rectilinear lens, is that it distorts perspective in a way that can sometimes be quite confusing, stretching the edges of the frame and making the foreground feel vertical, especially when zoomed all the way out.  A couple of examples below.  So it's not the right lens for CFWA and I only tend to use it for over/under splits.

https://drive.google...NVFFbjU5dERuVjg

https://drive.google...S3JxSmw1YnpoU0E

 

That said, it certainly has its uses, and retaining straight lines, as you might need for deep wrecks, is a good application for it.  Alex's shot of a cormorant (?) diving into a shoal under a rig is a prime example.  It is also good for use with larger creatures that don't like you getting too close, like these of sharks: 

https://drive.google...eE9vSDFscHdqY1E

https://drive.google...MHh5eFNDSGxDUnc

 

The standard alternative would be the Sony 16mm with fisheye converter, which I have used successfully but certainly has quality issues.  Otherwise, I shall be using the Tokina 10-17 with Metabones Mk 5 converter for the first time when I go to Socorro in November (and will also take the 10-18).  People allude to auto-focus issues with converters, but so far it seems to be pretty good on dry land.  

 

Hope that helps.  (I'll be deleting the linked photos after about a week.)

 

JB

I use the 90mm macro on my 6500, and have occasionally lost shots when the auto focus got confused - which I suspect was because of particles in the water. You have to remember to check that the lens' focus ring is set to auto before closing the housing, or you'll be stuck with manual focus and not able to reset it via the camera's menu once you're underwater. And you also need to make the right selection on the focus range switch. But the AF-C works really well with mobile subjects. I don't bother with the IBIS.


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Thanks Bill. 

 

That's interesting about the close proximity of the buttons making them difficult to use.  Given the compact size of the Sony ILCEs, it's always going to be a challenge for the housing designers to keep the buttons apart - best example is the cruciform group to operate the main control wheel - they must be pretty awkward in drysuit gloves too.  On the NEX6 housing, the AEL button is also next to the video control, and using the 3-click trick to switch from AF to MF and back on the NEX6, I've never hit the video by mistake: from the pictures of the a6000 housing, the position looks very similar, so I wouldn't anticipate an issue. 

 

But then, I'm a confirmed warm-water diver ... and you're an Olympus user.

Jim, see under "returning the goods": http://www.advicegui...replacement.htm

 

If you bought the lens in the UK, it's subject to UK law, regardless of Zeiss being in Germany.