Spizeck

I had poor results on a recent trip to the Virgin Islands. Probably user error, but the flash was firing late, and using shutter speeds above 160 resulted in just ambient light reaching the sensor. Experimenting around, I ended up doing what Chris suggested and just stopping down more. This last trip, I shot F13 or smaller more than I have ever done in the past. Worked well, getting the "blue" I wanted and increasing corner sharpness. Strobes were operating at a higher power than I have ever used before and as a result, the batteries were draining more than normal, but still got 3 dives on a set of batteries with juice to spare. Not really a big deal...

Big shout-out to the guys at TRT Electronics for helping me with this same issue. I had been using a manual trigger the camera didn't recognize (and so it didn't apply the 160 restriction) for wide angle when trying to get sun-rays in the shot. I do not get the black bar using 200 or even 250 (Sony a6600). Anything above 250 does catch the curtain however. The trick is to enable wireless flash mode (WL) if using a hot shoe trigger.

Has anyone used the Zeiss 12mm? I'm curious if the performance of the Zeiss would be better than the 10-18?

Brett, I noticed the same thing about bottom left... I am going to be checking on a Stucco wall this afternoon. I wonder if the bottom left thing might just be a subconscious thing when I am shooting where I might tend to shoot looking to the right a little more. Anything I have printed, I have just cropped down a bit. I really wish there was a legit fisheye out there for e mount... Chad

All excellent information. Thank you all! Here is a shot from a few weeks ago at F11. You can see, the corners still suck. I can't see a difference between the F8 and the F11 shot. DSC02230 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

I have a 50mm port adapter, a 10mm extension ring and the 180mm glass dome.

Chris, I am using a 180mm (7 inch) glass dome from Nauticam. Thank you for the tip, I have been experimenting with different apertures and will continue to experiment. That is a good point about the depth of field, didn't think about that. I will have to try messing with the focus point in future dives.

Do I possibly have a bad copy? I end up having to crop down a lot of my wide angle shots because the outside corners are usually super soft. Here is an example: DSC00728 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Anyone have an ID? 99% of the octopus I see out here are significantly larger Day Octopus. DSC01102 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Can you expand on that please? Would the corner sharpness be better wider? How does the larger dome help that?

I'm using the Nauticam glass 180mm port. 80 to 120 adapter, 10mm extender and the dome.

All of this is at Wake Atoll, pretty remote like you are saying. I just got a Nanuk 955 case (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088MNJX2P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and it fits EVERYTHING, camera, housing, macro port, 8" dome port in its protective case, all accessories. I check it and it has made it to and from the Island without issue.

I have been using the 10-18 with a 6600. I was so close to buying the Tokina, but heard it has issues with focusing especially in low light. I can say that the 10-18 has ZERO issues focusing SUPER FAST. Here are some example shots with the 10-18. First month I was using it, I didn't have the zoom ring. That's why most of the shots are all at 14mm. Convict Tangs by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr Octopus 6 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr Turtle 4 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Don't forget Seal Lions. These guys are so much fun to dive with. This guy was very jealous that I had a macro setup and wasn't paying attention to him. Sea Lion by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

I enjoyed watching. Makes me wish the Maldives were not so far away.