jplaurel

TG-6 is a fine suggestion, if macro is your primary interest. But you could also consider a pre-owned Micro 4/3 setup that would have more capability and give you room to grow (estimated prices). Best of all, you will be learning alot of skills that will translate if or when you move up to a higher end system. Olympus E-M1 Mk1 body: $250 (make sure the seller gives you the included factory pop-up flash, which you can use to trigger strobes) Nauticam NA-EM1 housing: $600 Olympus 60mm macro: $450 Nauticam N85 macro port for Only 60mm macro: $250 Backscatter Mini Flash: $399 (new) So, for just under $2000, you now have a nice macro setup that will do 1:1, along with the perfect little strobe for it. Add the optical snoot for $149, if you want. Add a CMC or a pre-owned subsea diopter for more magnification. Now, you're in the Nauticam N85 world, so you can move up to a GH5, GH6, or the new OM1 if you want. And also, it's a nice, light and compact system. Easy to travel with and easy to love. You can do alot with a little setup like this and unlike the TG6, you can grow your system easily. Later, if you want to do some wide angle, add the following pre-owned items. Pair of YS-D1: $500 DP-170 AR coated glass dome: $600 (There's actually one for sale right now in classifieds. I'd snatch that up if I didn't already have one... Works great with both Panasonic 7-14 and 8mm fisheye) Panasonic 7-14 or 8mm fisheye: $500 (on KEH now)

Yes, I specifically asked Daniel Keller this question and he said that a 4X (and presumably the 8X as well) with the AF-12B was the exact same light as the old 30k Luna 8 cyan heads.

Hi Dreifish - Sorry for the delay. Yes, I'll do that with the Keldan 4x with and without the cyan filter. I can also do it with the Luna 8 with both the 5600K CRI96 heads and the 30,000K cyan heads. Based on what Daniel Keller told me, I expect the exact same result. The Keldans should provide a definitive reference. Actually, I have a color meter that should provide an exact measurement.

In his review, Alex noted that the strobes do not retain some settings after being powered down. Thankfully, that has been fixed. With the currently shipping firmware, the following settings are all retained after any interruption of the power supply, including during a battery change: input mode exposure mode power setting pilot light 2nd curtain synchro TTL master and slave Inverted display

We received the ONEUW strobes and set about getting them to work with a Canon 5DSR and 5DIII in the original Nauticam NA-5DIII housing. This is the original housing for the 5DIII, which has the mirror rather than the prism to redirect the LED lights from the flash trigger up to the optical ports. The short story is that we could not get the ONEUWs to trigger with this setup at all. Well, one of them would trigger intermittently, but it was inconsistent. We eliminated cables and the strobes themselves by hooking them up to my Sony Alpha 1 housing with the new Nauticam flash trigger, that uses red LEDs. That worked with no problem at all. The mirror and the optical ports looked ok, but we cleaned them anyway to no avail. The trigger batteries tested good, but we put in a fresh set anyway. Still nothing. We also tried an older pair of Sea & Sea YS-D2s, which also failed to trigger with the 5DIII and 5DSR via optical or electrical. Next, we are going to try a UW Technics Manual Flash Trigger #12032, which can trigger the strobes via optical or electrical (when connected to a 6-pin bulkhead). I am not clear about whether using this device to trigger the strobes via an electrical connection would allow TTL. I suppose it depends on whether it is a straight pass through from the 6-pin bulkhead, through the trigger to the hot-shoe. I'll test it and report back when I have all the parts in hand. The ONEUW strobes have all the TTL circuitry for Canon or Nikon (there is a version of the strobe for each). There is a little confusion around how to rig a pair of ONEUW strobes to a single passive bulkhead (i.e., no flash trigger, just straight-wired from the Y cable). Here is what you need, confirmed by both Reef Photo and ONEUW in Italy. This will enable you to use the strobes in either TTL or manual mode. I have attached screen captures of the ONEUW wiring diagram and the product page for the correct Y cable. Reef can supply both of these things, but the cable is a new product, so it may take a little time to get them from Italy. Y-Dual Synchro Cable 6pin-S6 2xS6 M6-L25 Cod# 330.010 Nauticam 14mm S6 Bulkhead

You want Tefgel for that. I have also used Super Lube for that purpose and it works just fine. I always remove the handles and any stainless bolts that go into the aluminum housing, rinse, dry and apply Super Lube or Tefgel before storing a housing. An important part of maintaining your housing, if you ask me.

I use the Keldan SF-2 spectrum filter (for the camera) and the Keldan AF-12B for the lights. Assuming your Gates lights output at 5600K, then the Keldan AF-12B should work, assuming you can find a way to fit them. The inside diameter of these filters is 72mm. They also make a larger version that is 110mm. Daniel Keller mentioned that they can supply the AF-12B material by itself. So, you could get some of that material, a few 58mm filter rings, and make some 58mm filters for your Gates lights with the Gates filter mount. I do see from the specs that the Gates lights are 5000K. Keldan are very responsive. You can reach them here: https://keldanlights.com/contact/contact.html

I just set up an Alpha 1 system and have used it on about 50 dives so far. Comparable to the D850? The real question should be "Does ANY camera have AF that's comparable to the A1. It is unbelievably fast. Unbelievably accurate. It will track a sea lion zooming toward you as if you have a seasoned focus puller at your side. I've been shooting video with it, and I just leave it on continuous autofocus. Amazing machine.

Glad you mentioned that, because I'd run into those filters as well. Well, I guess there's no substitute for actual research into the color science, and at the moment, Keldan seems to be the only company pursuing it for underwater video lights. The AF-12 filters work very well on my Keldan 4x and 8x. I also have the 30,000k cyan heads for my old Luna 8s, which are the same light color. As an aside, if you use the AF-12B filters, pay attention to the "use in water only" warning. I had to hand my rig off to a fellow diver just before we surfaced, and I neglected to turn the 4x adjustment ring to the lock position. Of course, they got bumped as they were brought up into the RIB, and after 5 minutes, this is what happened. Expensive lesson!

That's a good point, Hyp. But maybe it's enough just to add a little fill in the shadows, especially at moderate depths, if you're not using a red filter, and a wet lens at moderate apertures? And what about a GoPro with a light red filter at moderate depths? Might work... Then again, they're may be a good reason why L&M doesn't offer filters for the little Sola lights. I wonder if it would be feasible to offer those small lights with a switchable 5600K/30,000K output.

I would love to know this as well. It would give new life to some of my old lights, like the old Sola Video 2000. Given the cost of the Lee filters, though, I was thinking that maybe a good option would be to buy a pair of the "bluewater dome port cover" for $39 each that L&M make for the Sola 15,000. I think those Sola 15,000s are pretty big, so they could probably be jury-rigged to fit her lights. You could even cut them down to size for something like the old Solas. At least with these, the only work would be getting them attached in some way. The light color should be perfect, assuming the Sola 15,000 is 5600K. Bluewater Dome Port Cover for Sola Video 15,000

Most cameras that can do a manual white balance also allow you to simply set the kelvin temperature. Most UW video lights are 5600K. But as Blake says above, the real solution is what Keldan is offering. Basically, you want to white balance the camera with just ambient light, then have lights that approximate the same color temperature as daylight at whatever your depth. At a minimum, this means cyan filters on your lights, but you can get better results if you use a red filter on your camera in addition. How much better is subjective. The interesting thing about Keldan is that they offer both filters, which are designed to work together. Light and Motion also offers cyan domes for their Sola video pro 15k lumen lights, I think.

If you have a Nauticam housing, you may be able to forgo the plate and just add some balls.

Certainly no manufacturer is immune from the increased costs related to the supply chain problems, fewer workers, and higher production costs due to inflation. It's also worth noting that the new Subal Alpha 1 housing is about $2k more than the Nauticam. I've always had Nauticam housings, mostly because they were early to market with M4/3 housings. And without exception, they've all been excellent. High quality, well-engineered, and many little features that tell you whoever designed the housing was really thinking things through. And also, they're very ergonomic with comfortable and sensible control layouts. The one downside, and this is related to that ergonomic design, is that they're full of complex little clockworks inside. On a live aboard, I don't think you'd have a chance in hell of servicing one. A friend of mine has an old Subal 5DSR housing, and a pusher failed. He had the parts on hand, and with simple tools, he fixed it right there on the camera table. I believe he said that there's alot of parts commonality across housing models, and within each housing itself, which means you don't have to carry a very big spares kit to solve quite a few common problems.

The Sony 28-60 is actually an excellent little lens, considering that it's such an inexpensive and cheaply-built little thing. Works really well with the WWL-1B on Sony full frame cameras. My advice is that, if you plan to travel with it, buy two of them. When I got my first one, I accidentally dropped the camera with it mounted and the barrel extended from just 1 foot onto a thickly carpeted floor. The barrel jammed. I sent it to Sony, and they said it could not be repaired. So it's a very fragile little lens. You can buy them all day long used on eBay or on B&H for around $300-325 or so.