Alex_Mustard

Hope I am not speaking out of turn - but I am sure Adam would gratefully receive any suggestions of questions/topics we could address. Also this is not a closed shop - if there is a question/topic you would really like to discuss in this format with Adam, then please do volunteer yourself. Alex

I’ve shot the Z7 underwater - for a handful of dives in Cayman - but only used it with the 14-30mm and Nauticam’s new WACP-2. The camera is very likeable on land - but I didn’t love the camera underwater (I did love the lens and WACP-2 once in the water - which is why I kept using it!). The AF with the 14-30mm was totally fine for WA shooting. The synch speed is a negative and the lack of lens compatibility too. I didn’t like the fidelity of the electronic viewfinder for reviewing images. I also was stuck using strobes I didn’t like with it - which didn’t help. I used it for a few shots - which you can see here: http://www.amustard.com/library/page/search/"z+7"/ I didn’t like the files as much as the D850 and I expected them to be the same. I never got to the bottom of why this was. I leant the camera around on the trip and some didn’t like it, but one guy, a very accomplished SLR shooter (very regular magazine shooter) loved it - and preferred it to his SLR. So if you get the chance to try one - I would - as I think some definitely prefer this system. I don’t prefer it to my SLRs. Sadly, I fear that these mirrorless cameras are the future that the camera companies want us to follow. And we will get lots of new mirrorless and less and less SLRs. Alex

My mistake - thought the Nikon 20mm was 72mm. I sold mine as I found it annoying not to have the option of shooting at f/22.

I am not sure if it is available in anything other than 77mm thread.

In a normal year I do around 350 dives (stuck in 86 in 2020)! And almost all those dives for the last decade, at least have been running workshops - where I am joined by between 12-20 photographers depending on the trip. In other words, each year I see, first hand, (350x16=) well over 5500 photographer dives - where if anyone has a problem they come first to me. That is close to 30,000 photographer dives in the last 5 years - I doubt many people see many more. And it is clear from that, while you do see problems with all gear, some brands have way more problems than others. The problem of sharing these thoughts are two fold. First, daring to say publicly anything negative against any brand tends to bring you grief - yet, on on trips filled with photographers there is always loads of honest conversations about these things (those who tend not to join trips never hear these widespread opinions and new photographers aren't exposed to them until after they have bought their gear)! Second individuals will always say - "mine have been perfect" - and many are. But most individuals are experiencing less than few hundred photographer dives in the last five years, so have a much smaller sample size. Anyway, here are my experiences: Sea & Sea strobes which take AA batteries (ie not YS250s) are the least reliable in my experience, by a noticeable margin. Sea & Sea has a strong dealer/supporter network - so please note that I am talking about in my experience. I will leave it up to readers to decide if my experience is with listening to. I've nothing against Sea & Sea or their strobes, but I happily shot a pair of D2s for several dives on my last trip to Cuba (while lending my strobes to the D2 owner). The J ones don't break as much, but they still break more than most. The Inon Z240 has proved to be extraordinarily reliable over the last decade and more. I'd say the most reliable underwater strobe i've seen. However, I've seen a lot of them have problems in the last few years, though. Which I am sure is an age thing - and I think that they have lasted so long is very, very commendable. The Z330 is definitely more prone to failures than the Z240. But is more reliable than D1/D2 etc. There is a new D3 out - but it is not really in circulation yet - so maybe that will turn things around for Sea & Sea. I'll leave my commentary there - within the terms of the original question!

Hopefully Panasonic will take up some of the slack and make some vert stills focused M43 bodies.

Manipulapora sp.?

I guess it is good news for our bank balances - that we don’t have to face upgrade envy. And bad news for housing manufacturers - no new cameras - no demand for new housings. I think we will get some new cameras this summer. Camera companies normally announce a lot in Olympic summers. Even more so when they are Japanese companies with a Japanese Olympics. While the Olympics are cancelled - these products will have been in development for years and will get announced in the coming months, I suspect.

This is a spinyhead blenny. The confusion around the IDs is long running. First, many people refer to all the tube blennies collectively as secretary bennies - even though there is a specific species called secretary blenny. These ones are commonly called spinyhead secretary blennies too! The true secretary blenny is a shallow water species (rarely seen by boat divers, usually only seen by shore divers) and there is confusion about it because on the early (but widespread) editions of one of the popular ID guides had a photo of a spinyhead under secretary blenny. This one can be orangey around the eyes - but is more obviously spikey on its head. The one with orange around its eyes is the roughhead blenny (which has both a dark and golden colour form). Alex

I agree with Phil, the "N120 140mm" is what I would use. To use a Sigma 15mm with a 100mm dome, you need to shave off the lens hood - if you leave it on, the lens cannot get close enough to the dome to not see the edges of the dome. Alex

I tried to use a pair on my last trip - but couldn’t trigger them with the Retra flash triggers - which could trigger all the other strobes we had around. Suggests to me that they probably need a strong-ish pulse of light to trigger. Alex

Saga makes ones that work both ways: https://sagadive.com/categoria-producto/aros-extension-y-adaptadores/ Alex

Just in case it saves you money - domes referred to as 9" and 230mmm are usually the same size. The 8" is considerably smaller - and offers something different. The Zen 180 is also a good mid-sized option. Alex

Not tried it on a dome - but this brought this D2 strobe back to life after a nasty battery flood.