Z-mount lens recommendations

Nikon is a bit late in the game on the Z port, much as Canon was with RF not being too serious until the R5 released. But it likely will catch up quickly on the essentials.

I continued to use my 100mm EF lens with an adapter. The RF version came out a bit too late, and it didn't seem to warrant buying the upgrade.

Same with the 8-15 FE. It's only the 14-35 that I got the RF version and I paid a price for it, in that the zoom gear didn't ship until a few weeks after I went to Palau. So I had to pick a FL and stick to it.

I could have used a smaller dome with the 8-15, but the 14-35 still required the 210-230 class, and I was able to use the same port extender, so less to pack, and keep track of on the camera table. Though you can also think about speed of lens change on this matter.

There isn't a lot of attention to the 24-70 range because there's not a lot of value, interest in the upper end of the range. Your strobes can't light up subjects at that distance. People get closer with the FE, or with the macro lens, and in both cases want to be less than a body length away. Midrange is no man's land, or for people that don't want to have to choose between wide and macro on the dive. There are some exotic (and $$$) options to try to meet that wish.

You have invested in Nauticam parts, but it's hard to ignore the big price increases last year. My housing is now $1300 than when I got it, and nearly double the price of the Aquatica option. BW has also starting selling Marelux as the new kid on the block competitor. If I were doing it now, I would not go with Nauticam, though in part because my existing ports were all N85 or N50, not N120s.

As for $1800 strobes...the boutique offerings are shiny, but I don't think essential.   Same for $2400 video lights.