JayceeB

Does the dial work sometimes?

Anyone know the difference between the announced Apollo 22, Apollo 33 and Apollo 44? https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/marelux-apollo-underwater-strobe-apollo-22 https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/marelux-apollo-underwater-strobe-apollo-33/ https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/marelux-apollo-underwater-strobe-apollo-44/

Thanks, Phil. Is there some device that screws onto the housing optic ports to trigger the strobes wirelessly? Or do you still need one master strobe connected via fiber optic cable that can trigger additional strobes wirelessly?

Has anyone tried the R7 with the RF100 macro in the nauticam housing? I'm wondering if this lens needs to be attached through the front of the housing or not, like the Tokina and 8-15.

Looks like your cross-bar float is quite high. A shorter cross-bar would lower the float, as long as your multi-clamps would still have enough reach, and the cross-bar float was still higher than your optical cables.

Well, it kind of worked. The light diameter was still too big for the subject. I had my strobe on full power, yet the Frogfish was still underexposed. It did leave enough dynamic range that I was able to adjust the shot with Lightroom.

Here’s another DIY fish portrait snoot…it’s ok to chuckle. I have a Marelux SOFT Pro, but the light beam is too small for a large black Frogfish I’ve been trying to light with a fisheye lens and close focus wide angle. Hopefully I can still find the Frogfish to test it out this week. Start with a ‘Talenti’ gelato container. Cut the bottom off. Wrap the outside with foil tape. Drill two holes and thread through broccoli elastics. Use a hole drill to drill a smaller diameter hole in the lid. This setup gives you two diameters to work with, by removing or securing the lid.

There are some good tips in this youtube video. It's 'video-centric', but much of the content is applicable to stills photography too.

I use a similar setup for shore diving. I like the redundancy so if one shackle fails your rig doesn't hit ground. For boat diving, i use a traditional lanyard setup hooked near the housing ball mounts to avoid failure points on clamps and arms. The downside of hooking the lanyard low, is the kit tends to tip forward when the deckhand lifts the camera up.

Here's a photo of my wife's kit with the cross bar and multi-clamps. I've used triple clamps as well, but prefer the multi-clamps as your crossbar remains rigid when adjusting the arms.

You might try mounting a 70x200 cross bar (I use nauticam multiclamps on the housing handle balls), and another 70x200 on each arm. That should add 320x3=.96 kg, which gets you close to neutral. I've gone through this exercise with several kits and the crossbar has worked well for me. As an added bonus, the crossbar is also a handy spot to mount a wrist computer. One observation I've had is the more buoyancy you add to the arms, the more difficult it is to tilt the housing forward, as the buoyancy on the arms tries to torque the kit back to level.

I just returned from Dauin yesterday. Before I left, I purchased the Marelux SOFT Pro, and tried it out on a few dives locally to see how difficult it was to use. Snooting (for me at least) will take more practice to get proficient, so I decided to leave it at home, and learn to use it locally where I'm not concerned about losing a shot or two on subjects I'll have a chance to photograph again. I was very glad I left it at home and concentrated on all the macro opportunities rather than learning to use new equipment. Our guide pointed out critters faster than we could photograph them, so had I spent a lot of time on a single subject getting the snoot shot perfect, I would have missed out on many others. I also had a chance to use the SMC-1 (mounted on a Saga Flip) on nearly every dive. I would say 30% of my macro shots were made using the SMC-1. As other folks have stated above, the depth of field is razor thin. Even a millimeter or two closer or further away makes the difference between nudibranch rhinophores in focus or not. I have used other diopters before so had some practice using them, but definitely got more proficient after a few days of frequent use. If you can, I'd recommend practicing with a diopter before it's game time. Definitely bring a muck stick to help steady you and your rig safely and off the reef.

I wonder if writing to two cards uses more battery power? Does it take longer to clear the buffer? I would consider this a mandatory setup for weddings, but i've never written to two cards underwater.

Good point. See if you can recreate the problem out of the housing. If you can't, it might be housing control issues.

For troubleshooting, you may have already tried this, but if not, consider: 1. Try a different lens. Same behavior? Hopefully you can recreate the bug above water. 2. Some cameras can be finicky with various memory cards. Have you tried a different card? Given your camera is a high rez Sony, QA likely ran the most test cycles with a Sony Tough Series card for your model.