adamtaylor

Depending on your budget and number of lenses you want to own / carry you may wish to consider the Olympus 12-50 in the Nauticam Macro port with gearing. The lens itself is inexpensive and flexible with its 43mm Macro Mode but the port and gear combo is expensive. Bonus is the port works with 60mm Macro lens as well. Perhaps someone else can compare the 14mm zoom lenses you mention to the 12-50mm? The 12-50 set up is my go-to lens for unknown sites / conditions, or all around flexibility. I generally get better results from the 60mm for macro or 12-40mm in the 180mm dome, but the 12-50 offers flexibility especially when wet diopters ate added. Good luck with your research and choice Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Oops, misread the which Ninja model was on that link. Please ignore Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

I recently researched monitors for my GH 5. While the Ninja Inferno was my first thought by the time I factored in the cost of housing and mounting hardware I couldn't justify the price for what you gain over GH5 internal recoding. Perhaps I will revise this opinion in the future and upgrade to Inferno in Nauticam for the reasona you mention. But for now have opted for a Small HD monitor. Apparently the Nauticam housing for the Shogun also works for the Inferno https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-NA-Shogun-Atomos-Shogun-Underwater-Housing Regards, Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

As I will occasionally use the monitor topside I have opted for SmallHD 502 (so I can send up a surface feed in the future). Ordered the housing and just waiting to see if there are any Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals for the monitor. Will comment after I have tried it out. Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

A frw more thoughts. Positioning two legs to the front helps compensate for creep. But depending on how far forward you set your strobes you may need to strap a weight to the rear leg (or all legs if there is much current). Also, when available light is good, and only a single strobe required I have rotated the second strobe behind or beside the camera to act as a counterweight for the forward strobe, or to compensate for current pushing on the dome. Basically I found that by starting with a solid base, and adjusting components upwards from there minimized the fine-tuning required. Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

I have used a Gorillpod Focus with my Olympus EM5 in Nauitcam Housing. I would recommend the more robust Focus over the SLR model as it supports more weight. With the standard flat / macro port things worked well. But with 180mm glass dome and moving strobe / video lights up and forward the gorillapod would creep. Same issue with 180mm dome in streams with any noticeable current... you have to ensure to adjust it just right or the additional pressure causes some creep / settlement. This is particularly noticeable trying for over-under images if you position the strobe / video arms up in the air over the camera / water. The centre of gravity shifts and the gorillapod struggles to carry the load. Good luck Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Thanks for the images, Kind of what I recall from the marketing materials, but it does seem to tuck in tight behind the camera. Must feel like a brick underwater without the floats ;-) Can you still access the top and front buttons / dials easily? Am thinking cost wise I will going for one of the other two... Regards, Adam

Thanks for the images, really helps appreciate scale. Looks like an extra long clamp, and that the monitor can swing into a few different orientations easily. Thanks Adam

Thanks for the images. Really helps me get a feel for the set up. I note you have the flip adaptor on your 12-50 Macro port. Are you using the CMC 1 or CMC2? Do you think the system would balance the vacuum if only one housing had the vacuum valve? Thanks Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Another thought / question for the forum. Has anyone either sent a signal to the surface, or mounted the monitor further from the camera? Am thinking about filming spawing salmon and it would be nice to set camera on tripod and control from streamside instead of in the water... Mind you even having a monitor on top will save getting a kinked neck in shallow streams. Thanks for all the useful input so far Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Would be interested in seeing images, but am thinking the higher cost for the Atomos housing could be used for a new lens instead [emoji6] Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Thanks for the input. Is the screen orientation change you mention highly sensitive? Can it be turned off? I am hoping to have a top mounted screen I can clearly view from above. Basically for wide angle on the glass sponge reefs I want to be able to hold the camera below me to get a sideways / slightly upwards shot as I swim the edge of the reef. Between the silty bottom or live sponge cover I need to keep my fins up in the water column Thanks Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Good to know... No local dealers where I can try hands-on so this type of input is appreciated. My dry gloves are not super thick, but later in winter / early spring when there is a lot of snowmelt will be doubling up my wool gloves underneath [emoji6] Thanks again Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Many thanks bubffm for the comments and especially the pics. As the specs appear similar my choice may be down to the simple question of do I want / need a monitor for anove water use? If you didn't already have the othe SmallHD topside monitor would you have gone for the newer SmallHD + housing? This discussion is really helping me narrow down my decision. Thanks Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Thanks Nick, Seeing the size in relation to a similar housing is great. I am considering the smaller 5" version, so seeing that the 7" model is not enourmous is a relief. The images and video I have seen of the Atomos Shogun looked rather unwieldy. Hopefully someone has tried both Small HD and Dive amd See products and can comment. My eyes are still good, but its tough to see focus peaking on the tiny GH5 screen, especially from am angle. Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Hi all, Am new to shooting video and am loving my GH5 in Nauticam housing. My biggest complaint is the position of the viewfinder... For most macro shots I cannot see the screen without being on my belly disturbing the bottom. For some wide angle where I am swimming it would be nice to look down on the screen so I can better frame sideways / upwards shots. I am doing alot of conservation work on glass sponge reefs and the last thing I want to do is damage the delicate sponges trying to capture images of the reef and fish life from their level. Have done some basic research and need some input / advice. 1) As amazing as the Atomos Ninja Inferno in a Nauticam sounds the price is double other options. With the GH5's available internal recording formats it would take serious convincing before giving this option more thought. 2) Small HD in Nauticam housing 3) Dive and See 5" monitor Anyone used either the Small HD or Dive and See? Am looking for input on which model people recommend and why? How have you mounted yours, how easy is it to use wearing gloves etc. External feed to surface isn't necesary but would be nice to have / add in future. Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Love my GH5 Agree about the grain on Auto ISO. Our dark waters can push ISO too high. Still learning to edit but enjoying the process and the camera. Eill need to try Auto WB a bit as I usually use Manual. I Have found that when I manual WB while shooting wide angle with lights things can be a bit off. Probably asking too much of the camera but if for example I WB on a white plumose anemone 10 feet away (still getting a little bit of articificial light) and then later pan past another, closer white plumose in the foreground it can be purpleish... That being said decent screenshots can be pulled, and overall performance is night and day compared to my old Olympus EM5 Regards, Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Very nice I see you have made a gkod transition to the new camera How are you enjoying it in local waters? Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Reading this thread encouraged me to try editing a 1080 video from 4K footage. This was a learn as I go experiment, so I cannot really comment on how things SHOULD be done, simply what I did. Imported the 4K footage into a 1080p timeline in Premiere Pro. I really enjoyed the flexibility of having x2 the area to work with for framing, crop, zoom and motion. Will definitely change the way I frame some shots in the future if I want to do more of this. Another thing I noticed is a need for an external monitor. The tiny viewfinder was hard to confirm focus in macro, especially with the housing on a tripod tight to the bottom. The Nauticam CMC2 was also great, but the focal plane is VERY narrow. Gear was Panasonic GH5, Olypmus 12-50mm lens in Nauticam Housing + Nauticam CMC2. Lights are Archon W41VP Any comments & suggestions appreciated Thanks Adam https://youtu.be/5Yx-EOces8g

I am by no means familiar with good vs bad performance as a parfocal lens. I do not zoom with my 12-40 lens while shooting so cannot comment on that. But I have changed aperture to lighten or darken the image due to camera orientation relative to available light. Subjects seemed to remain in focus when kept within the general focal plane. Keep in mind this was experimenting with with transitioning to an upwards angle near the surface, or in extremely dark environments at high ISO so I was not expecting perfect results. Maybe someone else can provide a more definitive answer? Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Following as I am considering the same. I will try with my Archon on spot light only to start, and possibly drop by a local hardware / plumbing store to see if any standard pipe reducers would fit. A low tech, and cheap experiment which I did for my YSD1 strobe. Getting a snug fit so it does not wobble will be the biggest challenge. Surgical tubing as a gasket was my first solution. Will post pics if I cobble something together. Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Agree with what you say about the 60mm. It is a great lens, but has a fairly steep learning curve as it is much more powerful than the 12-50mm set to 43mm Macro. To limit focus hunting I set the focal range on lens to 0mm to 19mm. I have the focus gear so especially when focus peaking (and optical zoom) is active it's easy to achieve focus at the START of the shot.... Confirming focus on a small moving subject during the shot is more difficult as the focus peaking dissapears. Cannot wait for my flash so I can try focus peaking with still photography. For the 60mm I find that if you have a subject surrounded by other things it can confuse autofocus. Try pre-focusing on something at a similar distance and it helps get autofocus in the ball-park. Have only got the camera back in the water one more time. A dusk dive with 12-40 lens. Works with the tripod but I suspect it will not be super stable in current due to the size of the dome. Lots of particulate in water so tried the spot feature on my lights to minimize backscatter. Interesting effect and will definately experiment more. Video has always been an after thought for me, so still getting used to keeping the subject firmly in the focal range. Will try to post some more sample footage. Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Nice, how do you like the Olympus fisheye? Is it challenging to light such a wide field of view without burning the edges? I've been wanting something wider than my Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 PRO and still on fence between the Oly fisheye and Oly 7-14mm so would live to hear pros and cons. Tried macro with my GH5 today for first time using spare 10" & 12" arms on the tripod ball joints. The 60mm macro is a bit challenging and the CMC-2 would be best left until I dial in macro on its own. Conditions were challenging to say the least. River silt, plankton and a couple curious seals kicking up the silty bottom.... Would prefer to experiment on settings using the 12-50mm as it isn't quite as tight as the 60mm. Still waiting for the replacement gear set from Nauticam which works with GH5. Regards Adam Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Good luck and have fun with it Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Hi Brad, I tried Auto ISO because like you I find the choices overwhelming. Basically I wanted to keep things simple, set a shutter speed, try Manual White Balance, start at f8 and go from there. I thought the added adjustments to ISO would be too much on my first dive, and besides I was curious to see what the camera would chose in different conditions. The more open green water shots were 6400 and the mid range shots 2500 with close ups and jelly shots 640 to 1600. It's not great footage & I have not pixel peeped, but with all the particulate I did not notice much graininess to the footage. May be different at 4K and clear water / lots of colour. Perhaps once it is edited to get rid of washed out whites etc it could look worse, but compared to how my EM5 performed at high ISO I am happy. Will try to get out to some of my deeper. darker sites in the next few weeks and push the settings a bit to see how it performs. Considering you can access ISO by pressing a lever then spinning a dial I will be trying full manual settings soon, but one thing at a time... As for cold water, even with thin dry gloves with liners all the controls were easy to use. Will update over the next few weeks as I continue experimenting. The more we share the more we learn... Regards, Adam