Champers

I have the a7Rv with the nauticam flash trigger and for me it's effectively fired 100% of the time... The one issue to note is that sometimes (not all the time) at 1/250 I can have a very small black band across the top of the picture (caused by the mechanical curtain closing)... Which I think lots of people have already commented on... We're talking about a very very thin black line that is very easily cropped out... It doesn't happen at all at 1/200... Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't , it seems to have a mind of it's own... I just make sure that I don't have critical detail right at the very top of the boarder when composing my shot...

Starting out in underwater photography can be very daunting... But, so was learning to ride a bike when you were a kid... In time it'll seem like second nature... If I had one tip to give, it would be to find someone who's local to you that does uw photography and ask for their help and to try and hangout with them... Generally speaking, uw photographers are a friendly bunch and will happily impart their knowledge...

Likewise, I'm super intrigued by this lens as well... If it works well with the 180mm nauticam dome like the Tamron 17-28mm (their minimum focusing distance are both the same at the wide end at 19cm, so I'm hopeful...), then it could be a great option for wide angle and fish portraiture all in a reasonably compact set up... bring it on...

Thanks for the info... I'm looking to take more pics incorporating sunballs/sunbursts and I just want to make sure that before I splash out a huge sum on ports, extensions, and gears, that I'm not going to get a whole load of flare/ghosting...

Great videos, I really enjoyed watching them... Looks like you were diving deeper than in the shallows(!?) so I guess you wouldn't have experienced ghosting/flare at those depths...!?

Thanks (I watched the video with the sound off....) By any chance have you had a chance to dive with the Tamron 17-28mm and the 180mm port in open water? I'm specifically interested in its ability to handle sunbursts/sunballs - as in, how good/bad is the flare and ghosting with this set up?

Thanks for sharing this... what dome port did you use?

I'd be keen to buy a Nauticam N100 180mm Optical-Glass Wide-Angle Port with no defects on the dome. Thanks, Stephen

Thanks Paul, This is still super informative... I've never tried using the animal AF modes on my camera and so I wouldn't have a clue as to how well it works, and thus, be able to compare performance (I've always used spot targeting continuous AF mode.) I'm guessing it would be asking an awful lot of any camera AI technology to recognise eyes on the funky small critters we find when doing macro shooting.

This is really interesting and it's good to hear about someone's experience between the two systems. Obviously, the cost of the upgrade from the a&RIV to the a7RV would have be significant, but it sounds like your daughter was happy, and felt like it was worth the investment!(?). And yes, from my experience, I really don't think that the Sony 90mm macro is an ideal choice for blackwater. Fingers crossed Sony and the third party lens manufacturers start to put to put a bit more effort into producing some new macro lenses.

Thanks again Paul, that's really helpful re the port. I've now got the Sony 30mm macro lens on order...!!! I'll keep you posted...

Cheers Paul, I really appreciate you giving your experience and opinion on this. It's super helpful and I'm very nearly on the verge of buying the 30mm macro lens... But,,, the next question I have for you is what port system/setup/brand did you use? I have a nauticam 2020 housing using the N100 mount (and the nauticam charts omit the 30mm macro lens re combining with the N100 port system). I don't have a TTL set up but I wonder if the reason for the critters being blown out might be due to them being either transparent or translucent in nature, and hence, the over exposure?? And yes, I can only imagine using an angled view finder must have been extremely tricky to use. Thanks again, Stephen I wonder what

Hi there, I was wondering if you did manage to use the Sony 30mm f3.5 macro with your a7RV? I recently did a black water dive with my a7RIV and Sony 90mm macro and found myself desperately wanting a shorter focal lengthed macro lens. I don't think the Sony 50mm macro is right for me (for various reasons), but like you, figured that if the AF of the 30mm macro was fast and accurate then it could be a very could compromise (yes, you'd need to shoot in APS-C mode, but still that would give us a 26mp pic). Cheers, Stephen

Hi everyone, I’d be really interested to hear from people that have (or have extensively used) the Sony a7R IV and have now upgraded to (or again, have extensively used) the Sony a7R V. What I’d really be keen to hear about is peoples’ experience and opinions of the “the real world” performance improvements of the autofocus of the a7R V over the a7R IV. Have you noticed a significant improvement in autofocus speed, accuracy, and reliability with the a7R V? Or are the improvements more subtle? I'm currently using an a7R IV and I'm toying with the idea of upgrading to the newer a7R V. In so many ways the a7R IV has been, and is, a fantastic camera for my uw photography. But, macro photography can be a bit frustrating at times with autofocus hunting when using the Sony 90mm macro. If you have any insights or experiences to share, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, if you upgraded from the a7R IV to the a7R V, do you think it was worth the cost? Thanks in advance for your help!