Underwater camera setup

Barmaglot_07 wrote:

SafariBob wrote:

3.) I am intending to get a seafrogs housing for my a7riv, with a dome port for the 16-35. I realise this may not work in practice, the biggest issue I think would be dragging it along for a snorkeling session, at least in a group session without vastly improved fin action. Recommendation on fins? I have come to the conclusion that macro and snorkeling does not seem to make for an easy combination. The downside is that all these three options would be wide angle.

16-35mm really needs a 230mm or large dome for decent quality across the frame, and SeaFrogs simply doesn't have one.

there is an 8inch dome from what I understand?

Consider 28-60mm + flat port + Nauticam WWL-1, or, alternatively, just stay with a 28-70mm. When snorkeling, you're liable to be shooting from a significant distance anyway, so you won't be able to utilize an ultrawide lens to begin with.

this matches my feelings when I was in the water. But through this discussion, I think perhaps snorkeling photo opportunities are more geared towards wide angle.

Note: Nautical WWL-1B and WWL-C come with Nauticam's proprietary bayonet mounts, and while M67 adapters exist, they're engineered in a way that only fits Nauticam ports, with the 67mm threading on the inside of a narrow channel that requires the port to have its matching threads on a thin protruding lip. This prevents mounting them on SeaFrogs threaded flat ports. The original WWL-1 has an M67 threaded mount and thus connects to SeaFrogs ports without issues.

sure, these are the kind of considerations I may struggle with. I would surely pick up a “better” housing if something can be picked up affordably, however I haven’t seen much of that yet, and I guess that tells me, that I can buy used and sell used if need be for similar prices.

Me, I wouldn't bother dragging a full-frame camera around while snorkeling. It'll be big, bulky, cumbersome, and photos taken from several meters away in natural light won't be much different from those that come from a phone.

i am a very dedicated photographer, and don’t mind going the extra mile to make things work.

If you want good quality underwater photos, don SCUBA and bring strobes; there's no way around that.

That’s probably true for macro shots and schools or singular fish from the underside, but I am hoping there will be different more reef/coral oriented and possible over under in a snorkeling session, and anyway, extremely excited to try. Will be going to Catalina soon for first attempt