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Nauticam has introduced a nifty accessory for the EMWL system called a water jacket. With the water jacket one can install clean water at two of the EMWL wet lens junctions. The ones where a virtual image is formed - in front of the focusing unit and in front of the relay lens. A set includes two water jackets and about a half dozen silicone rubber gaskets. Some assembly is required: a gasket goes on each end of the jacket which is made of metal. There is a hinged plug (on the jacket) for pouring in the clean water. There is an alternative plug for use with the 60° objective. The outer diameters of the gaskets are less than the inner diameters of the water jacket where they are fitted (stretching discussed below). This is an accessory that I needed “yesterday” since where I shoot there are many particles in suspension that end up in in the wet joints and thus my shots. They can be in focus or slightly out of focus and resemble a dust bug on the camera sensor, only worse as they can be large. So I used it first the day after receiving a set as the weather was reasonable (not raining). There are no instructions yet but there are color coded exploded view diagrams available. Looking at them included figuring out which gaskets to use. I assembled a set-up that included just the focusing unit and 130° objective. From a diagram it was obvious where the objective gasket fitted. The inner diameter of the gasket is less than the part of the objective where it fits and smaller still than the ends of the 130° objective so there is a bit of stretching involved in putting on the gasket. Once installed on the objective lens it resembles a tutu. I fitted the gasket that goes between the focusing unit and jacket flush and this was my mistake. It made it challenging to mount together but managed regardless. I took the assembled unit to my shoot and shot pix with my iPad just after mounting it to the housing. Note the position of the indexing marks. One shot shows the water jacket with water in it which I brought in a drug vial. It took a minute or two between closing the plug and deploying the rig in the water. The result was that some air got into the water jacket. The air bubble can be seen in the attached shots. I include one oblique angle pic which is consistent with an air bubble. Keep in mind that what is on the bottom in the view is on the top in the virtual image. I thus realized that I needed to stretch the other gasket as well. This made it fit tighter in the jacket and reduced the overall length making it easier to assemble. The overlap is just a couple of mm. However the position of the index marks is quite shifted from the initial shoot. Shoot two was yesterday, 3 days after the the first shoot due to weather, it was even slightly sunny (now back to rain). I again assembled the parts at home and took the attached pix before leaving to the shoot. No leakage and thus successful!!!! Shots from first shoot:

Freediving sock ;-) It's not nice. But it is 100% functional even in the mud.

Hi all, I found a buoyancy setup that works very well on my Nauticam EMWL, as well as some accessories making my life easier shooting it, this post is to share my setup, answer questions if you have. The problem to solve The EMWL is very negative (and tends to all on its - expensive - front lens, at least on the 100 degrees one). For buoyancy, several photographers have been using very large carbon float-arms, and pushing them closer to the subject to help balance the front of the EMWL assembly. I wasn’t too keen to go that route, for 2 reasons: Cost of buying additional large float arms (my finances took a hit with the EMWL itself!) In-flexibility to change my setup underwater: I wanted to be able to take on/off the EMWL (and clip it away), which would have suddenly made the whole rig very floaty. Also, I wanted to be able to move my arms around for different lighting techniques. With big floats up-front, that would have imbalanced the rig. To my great pleasure, I found a company called E-Ocean (https://eocean.eu), had designed a bunch of photographer-friendly accessories, including a few EMWL-specific bits. The purpose of this post is to share my (very positive) thoughts on these accessories. To be clear, I am not paid to write this, but I find the E-Ocean solutions solutions made my life easier and are reasonably priced, so keen to spread the word. They are based in France, but shipping worldwide. 1/ Buoyancy solutions E-Ocean offer two floats for the EMWL: A +750 grams buoyancy collar, which mounts around the relay unit. The version I bought is meant to be assembled on-land (it’s a set of 6 half-cylinders), but E-Ocean are going to release an upgraded version that will make it easier to fiddle with floats underwater. The rationale being: you might find yourself limited in subject approach, due to the diameter of the whole thing. So far, I haven’t been too constrained, although for muck-dives where you crawl on sand, it can happen. A +200 grams collar for the focusing unit. E-Ocean’s owner Lionel recommended to use the 200g piece only with the heavier 130 degrees lens (with just the 750g float, the whole assembly would be slightly negative when using the 100 degrees lens). I chose to use it the 100 degrees lens (the only one I have), which does make the EMWL positively buoyant (now the 100 degree piece points upwards), but once connected to my D810 housing and arms, it stands much neutral. Pros: much easier to handle the EMWL underwater, less chances to let the front lens “drop” onto the bottom, a rock, etc. Cons: it increases the volume of the EMWL significantly (see below photo to get a sense of how it compares with the housing size), would restrict getting into some tight spaces (hasn’t happened to me yet) and possibly makes the EMWL a bit more intrusive/intimidating for skittish critters. In practice, I haven’t noticed a difference (mind me: I dive a rebreather, so some critters just don't care about me getting close). 2/ Lanyard/transport solution In addition, I was after a solution to easily un-mount and clip away the EMWL. Here in Sydney, we often shore dive walking among rocks (crawling sometimes…) and one one particular site, we have quite a hairy giant stride: no way I would jump that high or crawl onto rocks with the EMWL attached to my flat port. Lionel (E-Ocean’s owner) was nice enough to listen to my needs and came up with a system of 2 collars, which would attach onto the relay lens, and through which I could run a cord. They are made of a flexible but sturdy sort of plastic, and so far worked like a charm. I have no concern walking long distances (shore diving…) with the EMWL clipped to one of my D-rings on the rebreather harness. Underwater, it takes me 2-3minutes (I guess) to mount the EMWL to my DSLR (taking the time to clear off bubbles, to store the caps safely, etc). It is easy enough that I would alternate between traditional macro and WAM by clipping it back as needed. This lanyard will be in E-Ocean catalogue soon. 3/ Caps and hood I was nervous to loose the small rubber cap which came with the 100 degrees lens, and I needed a hood. 2 accessories there: A lens cap, which comes with a bungee look (have it on your wrist, clipped on harness…), has holes to let water drain, and is actually big enough to protect the front lens without touching it: extra safety against bumps. A lens hood, which can also serve as cap (though I prefer the dedicated cap when transporting the rig clipped-on): I have found the 100 degrees lens on the EMWL is very prone to flare, so I find myself attaching that hood often. Also on night dives where I need a bit more confidence against bumps, I have it on most of the time. A video is worth a thousand words so here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgR7sS-Ts9Y Not great visibility that day, but you’ll see me going through my routine of picking up the clipped-on EMWL, and attaching it to my housing. If you want to see more photos of that equipment underwater, or just some photos I took with the EMWL, follow our Instagram account or Facebook account: https://www.instagram.com/nicolaslenaremy/ https://www.facebook.com/nicolaslenaremy Safe diving! Nicolas