JustinBeevor

I can't comment, but would interested if you have any feedback, as I always have the Samyang 8mm at the back of my mind as a potential solution for my Sony. But my instinct would be to close the aperture down to maximise DoF, and control exposure via ISO. Then you would not have to worry so much about manual focus. Or am I mistaken?

I've been using the VCL-ECF1 converter on my 16mm for quite a few years now, and as long as you remember to stop down, you shouldn't have too many complaints. The alternative would be the Samyang 8mm - you lose the autofocus, but with fisheye DoF, that may be acceptable - I haven't tried it yet.

No, never stepped into the world of video. Justin Beevor www.flickr.com/justinbeevor

Thanks, very kind! I've only ever used the 16 with the fisheye converter, so negotiable I would say that the 10-18 is a far better lens - the main issue being that you're comparing fisheye v rectilinear, and you may have a preference. The 10-18 suffers from soft corners too, but I assume this is caused by the dome rather than the lens - the issue is probably accentuated by the size of the dome, and manageable by stopping down. But the 16+converter definitely has soft-corner issues: we need a fixed fisheye, and I have been tempted to try the Samyang 8 (which is fully manual) but never taken the plunge. Can't help re the Inon, sorry. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm just going through a NEX6 to A6300 upgrade, and so am rather biased. There's a few shots on my Flickr feed (https://www.flickr.com/photos/justinbeevor) with the 50mm Touit and the 10-18 zoom ... although nothing underwater since last September. Check the Cayman and Bonaire/Aruba and Aliwal galleries. The problem with the Touit is that its operating range is very close, and gets even closer if you diopter it. With the Subsee +10 we're talking probably 40mm; and I haven't even tried the SMC as the compatibility charts show it goes down to 10mm. I've also found it to hunt for focus on the NEX, but I have never been able to work out what triggers the hunting. So I'm upgrading to the 90mm too (thank god for interest-free finance). I'm going to stick with the 10-18, though, at least for the time being. Its zoom range is very usable, both above and underwater, and I do like the perspective stretch effects you can get with rectilinear. But I prefer fixed-length to zoom (the additional zoom control is distracting) and the dome port is massive and very floaty - although very good for splits. So I reckon the WWL could be an interesting alternative and look forward to giving it a go - I would use the Sigma 19mm in preference to the utterly miserable Sony 16-50mm. Justin Beevor www.flickr.com/justinbeevor

Thanks Mark. A little bird has told me that there will certainly be a new housing for the 6300. [emoji41] Justin Beevor www.flickr.com/justinbeevor

Thanks Alex. Hope to see you tomorrow. Justin Beevor www.flickr.com/justinbeevor

Does anyone have any experience of using one of these? I'm thinking of getting one as an alternative to a snoot for macro shots, and so any practical comments would be most welcome to help me decide. Justin Beevor www.flickr.com/justinbeevor

http://www.dpreview.com/news/3240829197/sony-announces-24mp-a6300-mirrorless-camera?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=mainmenu&utm_medium=text&ref=mainmenu At last, now I can start to make up my mind about my NEX-6 upgrade choice, and the fast autofocus looks great. But one strange downside for me is that it looks like the a6300 should drop straight into the a6000 housing - the only noticeable differences look like the AEL button with its new AF/MF toggle surround, and the menu button moved ever so slightly to the left. As a current NEX-6 owner, I need a new housing anyway, so I'm hoping for similar advances that mark Nauticam's new EM10 mkII housing, with the handle stiffeners and shutter release extension. But if the new camera will fit the old housing, I wonder if these will be introduced for the new Sony? Just a thought, Mr Lai ... please!!

Mark - thanks again, and hope to see you at the next meeting. On the NEX, I've been fine with the 16mm+converter, so would probably stick with that if the a6??? looks good enough to keep from spending £££ on the full-frame upgrade - especially if the Nauticam APSC housing goes the same way as their new Oly EM10ii (Mr Lai, please take note!). For macro I'm using the Zeiss 50 - so would be good to compare notes if you guys are up and running with the 90. Alex - thanks, helpful as ever, and it looks a very interesting option ... if I can persuade Hazel to trade more baggage allowance!

Thanks Mark, that's really helpful - I hadn't thought of the Canon zoom, so that's another choice (and yet more money). The a7Rii is very tempting, but the total cost of the upgrade is eye-watering for an occasional dabbler like me. So I'm still waiting to see what happens with the a6000 replacement when it is eventually launched. Next trip is not planned until June, so plenty of time. Thanks again for your help. If you're at the show in Feb, I'll try and catch you for a chat (assuming I have the right Mark D!!). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey everyone, I'm thinking of upgrading from NEX6 to an a7Rii, but I have concerns about fisheye. Although I've been quite happy using the 16mm+converter on my NEX6, considering the amount of money I'll be putting into the upgrade, I really want to think about whether I can find a better fisheye option for the full frame. Has anyone here tried the Sigma 15mm on an a7? If so, did you notice a good improvement in quality over the 28mm+converter? And what mount converter did you use to preserve autofocus (if any exists)? Thanks for any thoughts. Justin Beevor www.flickr.com/justinbeevor

This has been a really useful debate, thank you all. I currently have a NEX6 which I have been wanting to upgrade for some time; and given the series of delays in announcing the A6000 replacement, I am now seriously looking at the full frame option. So if I were to agree (which I don't) with DKO's view of Sony's inability to get things right, it would be over that delay issue. The cost of the A7Rii frankly scares me, as does the thought of trying to justify it to my long suffering (non diving) wife, and so I am encouraged by the views expressed in this debate about the A7ii. My list of "wants" includes size/weight, fast autofocus, and fast flash sync speed, and the A7ii looks like it does all of those. As to stabilisation (and associated battery issues), I have never been persuaded of its merits for underwater photography, and I expect I would turn it off all the time. I see the comments about the 16-35 benefiting from stabilisation, but the equivalent 10-18 (which also has OSS) is actually my least used lens on the NEX6, and so I don't think stabilisation would be a huge issue for me. My most used is the 16mm with fisheye converter, which has always served me well, with no significant corner-sharpness issues - so I feel safe to assume that the 28mm plus converter would do just as well. It would be nice to try the Canon fisheye zoom, but the added port size/weight would be a deal breaker for me. After the fisheye, my next-most used lens is the 50mm Zeiss macro, which I have not found to be ideal for underwater use: it tends to hunt on occasion, and won't take the SMC (so Alex T tells me). So the 90mm macro is a real selling point for the A7, and from reviews (including Phil's), it seems to be a cracker. Thanks again for all the helpful comments, even though I'm a late joiner to this thread.

Brilliant, Richard, thanks. They have space on their April trip, but I'm not sure the dates work for me. Equally, I think May may be difficult as my boss will be away; but if you could let me have details just in case, that would be really kind. Regards, Justin

Thanks Richard ... dates would be fine, but it looks fully booked on their website I'll try anyway. Thanks Richard ... dates would be fine, but it looks fully booked on their website I'll try anyway.

I'm considering a one-week trip out to Singapore (I'm UK-based) to spend a week diving the wrecks of HMSs Repulse and Prince of Wales. I have the necessary certification. Can anyone please recommend a good liveaboard operator that runs such a trip?

Thanks again Bill. I was getting close to upgrading to the a6000, but I think I'll wait for its replacement - maybe Sony will respond to the Oly challenge and give it better features. Did you mean Zeiss 50? If so, I totally agree re speed - it's the hunting that gets me, but apparently with the a6000 there is an option to switch off the pre-AF, which might fix it. JB

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.

Here is the explanation from Zeiss: Out of factory, the Sony NEX cameras come with its AF enabled all the time, as long as the camera is switched on and before it switches down to power save mode. So the AF of NEX cameras is always active, independent of the lens that is mounted (AF E-mount lenses only). Because the AF motors in some other E-mount lenses (e.g. Sonnar T* E 1,8/24 ZA) are more quiet, this is a little bit less noticeable, whereas the more robust and therefore louder AF motor of Touit lenses underlines this standard behaviour of NEX cameras. Touit lenses exactly behave identically with all other typical AF lenses with E-mount in this point. In practical use and to save battery power, we recommend to disable the AF in the menu of the NEX-7 and to press the separate AF/MF button on the camera´s rear side to focus directly before shooting. Unfortunately, other Sony NEX models are not equipped with a separate AF/MF button to active AF while the camera is set to MF. With those cameras, we recommend to set the “power saving start time” to a small value. The NEX6 can't be set to back focus. However, it seems that the a6000 can: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53675229

Thanks Alex. Good to know it's not just my lens, then.

Thanks for your help, buddy. Sadly back focus is not a feature at all on the NEX6, which is why I have to do the 3-click faff to switch to manual and back. I wish Sony had thought that one through better! You're right that the lens' behaviour is odd ... maybe I ought to check with the retailer whether it's actually a fault. Thanks for the compliments on the pics. The hammerheads were an amazing dive - they were down at 45m+ so I had to stay above them given I was on EANx, but they just hung around for ages with no shyness at all, maybe around 20 of them big and small. W/A is the 10-18 which is a fab lens, even though it's rectilinear. Full list of kit is on my Flickr profile.

I've returned from my first trip with the Touit Macro, on the Daedalus/ Rocky/ Zabargad/ St John's route, aboard Hurricane. Photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk5kp8ro. I'm very pleased with the pictures (would welcome feedback!), but I have to say that I'm really disappointed with how the lens works for underwater use. It has a constant focus function that operates independently of the shutter button, and I can't find a way of disabling it. The result is that as you're framing a picture, the lens will start hunting for focus, throwing the frame in and out of blur, and making the task of capturing the moment next-to-impossible. Added to that, the NEX6 doesn't have a thumb focus option, so the only solution is to use the AEL button to switch to manual focus (three button-clicks) to freeze the focus, then move the camera backwards and forwards to get the right focus point, take the pictures, and then switch back to automatic (another three button-clicks) to re-engage focus for the next scene. I was using a SubSee +5, but the focus hunting issue was the same, whether or not the diopter was flipped up. As a result, I simply can't recommend this lens for underwater use ... and I'm getting closer and closer to switching from Sony to Olympus or upgrading to dSLR. But if I am missing something, or if anyone has a solution to the problem I describe, please let me know to save spending yet more money on shiney new gear! Thanks for any help.

Jim, see under "returning the goods": http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_common_problems_with_products_e/consumer_what_you_can_do_about_faulty_goods_e/faulty_goods_-_if_you_want_a_repair_or_a_replacement.htm If you bought the lens in the UK, it's subject to UK law, regardless of Zeiss being in Germany.

Thanks jander. Not bad turnaround, but cr@p customer service!

jander, how long did they take to turn it around? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk