diver dave1

The results of having too many things going at once and not enough detail in them. The D7000 does have access to the AEl/AFL button. So clearly, I was wrong. Commentator, please just delete this entire topic. I do not want to mislead others in the future.

Kraken, Thank you for the attempt to help. My problem is that the Nauticam NA-D7000 housing does not appear to allow me access to ANY assignable button on the camera when the camera is in the housing. So while I know how to set the AE-L button, I cannot access it underwater. If I set it before putting the camera in the housing, I could never focus underwater. I am hoping I am wrong and overlooked something or there is someway around this issue. Thus the plea for assistance.

Thanks for the information. Based on what I have and need, looks like I will be using the mini-dome for this trip. I have the extension needed for it with the 1.4X but not for the 8" dome. My gear is a mix of Nexus with Nauticam housing due to past housings owned. I posted a question regarding Back Button Focus in the Shooting Technique section. I hope you will answer there if you have help for my problem posted there.

I want to use back button focus on my D7000 used in a Nauticam housing. As far as I can tell so far, all of the buttons I can program are not accessible using the NA-D7000 housing. I would think there is some kind of work around. Who knows what it is and how to separate focus from shutter release using this housing and camera? thanks in advance.

I have a Sea and Sea 8inch dome I have never used. It is setup for Nauticam connections and I plan to use it with a D7000 in Nauticam housing. I plan to use a Tokina 10-17 and a 1.4X for shooting humpback whales at DR soon. I have no spacer to put between the dome and the housing. I do have the extended piece for changing focal length. I normally use a 4 inch dome with the 10-17 and 1.4X but was thinking the larger dome would improve the whale shooting. Any comments on this? Will I have any trouble with this setup? My concern relates to the nodal point change from moving the lens forward but not the dome. Thanks for any assistance.

If you look at the work of most u/w photographers, there will be few taking photos of small fast fish. As you have learned, its not easy. If you can find a place the fish like to be or dart past often, you might manually focus on that spot and snap a photo when a fish is arriving. This can work with salt water fish. I have no experience with fresh water fish.

Faster focusing can often be reached using a focus light. Focus lights do not have to be over expensive or large but you can spend a lot, just as with most gear. Your housing has a cold shoe for connecting lighting so you could buy the fittings needed to connect a focus light at that location. Here is some information below at the link. Search this site for 'focus' + 'light' https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/focus-and-video-light-buyers-guide#Comparison

Welcome to the addiction! You bought a nice camera and housing. You said wide angle shots are of interest to you. Wide angle shots mean lots of light spread over a large area. That directs toward more powerful strobes set a good distance apart. If you buy 2 smaller strobes, you will get some degree of coverage and light but not as much as you will want with time. If you buy a single more powerful strobe to start and limit the bank breaking, you will be half way to what you will really want. If you buy the smaller ones, you will still be 100% of the way from your ultimate goal. I started with the smaller strobe path and spent more in the end. Hoping to keep you from that mistake. If going new, I would buy an Inon Z-330 with an 8" and 5" arm plus floats to provide lift. If you can find good used Inon Z-240's, that would work great. But you cannot tell how many shots have been used with those strobes. Some people sell the Z240 to upgrade tot he Z330. I would buy the Z330 and save up until I could afford the second one. There are other brands of strobes that sell good, powerful strobes at similar or higher cost. I am familiar to Inon so I will stick to discussing that brand. The other brands can be just as good or better and others will likely chime in to discuss ones they know about. Hope that is some help. You will find your 2 strobe will cost more than you likely spent on your housing. YIKES!

Thanks for the information and suggestions. I downloaded the DNG converter and will give it a try when needed.

I am using Lightroom 6 and have no plans to move to CC. The new RX100 vi seems quite interesting and I am considering it for a land travel camera. Will Lightroom 6 be able to read the RAW images or will I have issues? Or is it too early to know.

How is the shutter lag on the G7X? Enough to give you some frustration in the field?

I used Dive Aventuras and they were great.

Just back from Turks and Caicos. Caught a Spotlight Goby (Gobiosoma louisae) eating a blenny or smaller goby. It snatched it off a sponge and worked to escape with it. See the series of photos of it at my website link below.. Interested in comments. The first photo shows the tail sticking out of the side of the goby's mouth. Later photos show the head sticking out. https://www.shiningseastudio.com/Turks-and-Caicos/i-LDnhMtq

I carry enough cards to never need deleting during the trip. I copy the photos of each day to a laptop and to a portable hard drive. This leaves me with 3 copies of each picture. The laptop has lightroom though I rarely use it during the trip. I can open and view RAW images without it. My setup does not meet your under $500 criteria but as most u/w photogs discover, nothing in this endeavor fits a reasonable budget.

Whenever I break a seal, I remove the O-ring, clean it and the seating area. Before re-sealing it, I inspect the area with magnifying glasses and a bright flashlight/torch. I avoid breaking the seal for as long as possible. Usually only opening to change from wide angle to macro. My camera has space for 2 SD cards and the battery lasts several days so this is usually not the thing driving breaking a seal.