Page 55 - Underwater Photography (January-February 2020)
P. 55
Paddle boarding over Devil’s Ear backscatter. Just like with fisheye
Springs, Florida, Aquatica A7rIV Pro lenses looking into the corners of
Housing, Sony A7R IV, Two Inon-Z330 the EVF or LCD while composing
strobes, Rokinon 14mm F/2.8 AF, with the image is very important. Items
Aquatica 200mm Acrylic Dome Port, like your own fin tips, strobe cables,
ISO500, F/13, 1/250th sec. unwanted diver parts, sun flare and
more can sneak into the corners of
your image and ruin an otherwise
AF Expand Flexible Spot, with ISO excellent composition.
sensitivity ranging from 100 to 640 With a minimum focus distance
and aperture settings from F/2.8 to of 20 cm the lens focuses to the
F/18. port however the larger port can
I first tested the lens in a interfere with your ability to shoot
swimming pool to see if my port CFWA without banging the shade
and port extension selections were on something. Shooting in portrait/
in a range where I would have sharp vertical orientation may reduce this.
corners without vignetting. The 5.5 At the higher F/stop numbers
stops of image stabilization in camera I found corner sharpness with the
allowed me to shoot at shutter speeds Aquatica 200mm acrylic port and the
resolution image quality I would additional flotation compared to a as slow as 1/15th of a second while Nauticam 230mm optical glass port to
also suggest that the Nauticam N120 pair of standard eight or ten inch maintaining excellent sharpness in the be sufficient for publication. Each has
216mm (8.5 inch) acrylic dome arms. Weights can be added to the image with static subjects, anything its own tradeoffs but the Rokinon lens
port could also work well with the dome shade for both acrylic port to much slower than 1/15th sec. is not works very well with both.
proper port extension. I have not yet help offset the added port buoyancy. I very useful for most underwater work. I had to reconfigure my travel kit
tested this port to offer an extension prefer the optical glass ports for split With the described auto focus to accommodate the additional weight
suggestion. The Aquatica and images because they appear to shed settings the lens locked focus with and size of a 230mm optical glass
Nauticam large acrylic dome ports are water better and I see less ghosting excellent speed and accuracy even in dome port. I have opted to cushion
both about one-third the cost of the and reflection in the images. For split low light inside the Ginnie Springs the port with bubble wrap and stand
230mm optical glass ports. images I try to shoot at F/16 to F/22 cavern. I was able to lock focus with it on its side in my ThinkTank Urban
With the acrylic ports the dome for maximum depth of field. a half press and drag the focus point Disguise 60V2.0 shoulder bag rather
has a tendency to turn port up putting I tested the Rokinon lens with around the frame for best composition than try to fit it into my ThinkTank
extra strain on the right wrist while the Sony A7R IV camera in both the without dropping the focus point. For Roller bag. With additional items
the 230mm optical glass port are Aquatica A7rIV Pro housing and humans the eye auto focus locked besides the port added to my shoulder
much heaver but still have large air Nauticam NA-A7RIV housing with on even with divers wearing a black bag it exceeded the airline weight
pockets. I have tested the 230mm two Inon Z-330 strobes using manual mask. restrictions by a few kilos, a risk I am
glass ports with buoyancy arms and power settings. The A7R IV camera With lenses this wide strobe willing to accept since my shoulder
found that they provided too much was setup using AF-C with Lock-on placement is critical to avoid bag is weighed far less often at the
Issue 112/55 www.uwpmag.com
