mattia
Regular
My girlfriend and I got back from our 3 week vacation in Indonesia almost a month ago, and I'm slowly getting around to sorting through the photographs. Used the RX100 for all the underwater stuff, and the A7r for everything 'topside'.
We spent one week in Raja Ampat, in Papua, eastern Indonesia. Fantastic, breathtaking dive destination, but expensive to reach and to dive. But worth every penny! We dove for 1 week, 19 dives.
Reefscape by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Underwater photography is really quite a big challenge for me, because it combines requirements for situational awareness (diving well and controlling bouyancy/position in the water), flash use (at depth or for smaller stuff, available light makes things difficult) and positioning, and use of so-called 'wet lenses', which is what makes the RX100 a really great, relatively affordable diving system: everything from extreme wideangle to macro during a single dive, in a package that's travel friendly and 'affordable'. This was the second ever trip with a strobe, with new dive gear (finally bought my own), and occasional current diving, and the first real dives in almost a year, so the learning curve was pretty steep.
My setup:
- Original Sony RX100
- Acquapazza aluminum housing
- INON wet lenses (macro and fisheye)
- Single INON strobe
The fisheye (UFL-165) is the weak link for me, due to vingetting a soft corners if I forget to stop down quite a lot, and I have now bought what should be a better lens (UWL-100 with dome), but it is a lot heavier. Which means fiddling with floating devices to make sure the camera is relatively 'neutral' underwater, making it easier to hold and use. Underwater photography is a whole different ballgame! Overall, the camera itself is a fraction of the cost of the system, and that's buying the wet lenses second hand (housing 800, strobe 400, wet lenses 300 total), but compared to getting a housing, ports, etc. for my a7R or even E-M1, it's downright affordable overall, and travels much lighter.
A few highlights:
Reef:
Reef Life by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Citrus Reefscape by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Big Stuff:
A trio of Mantas by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Flyby by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
How to sneak up on a scuba diver... by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Medium stuff:
Octo #1 by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Peacock Mantis Shrimp #2 by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Squid by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Small stuff:
Underwater floral arrangements by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Juvenile Clownfish Hideaway by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Nudibranch by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Tiny stuff:
Pygmy Seahorse by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Skeleton shrimp by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Teensy Tiny Nudibranch by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Link to full album: Raja Ampat - 2016
Comments and critique welcome!
We spent one week in Raja Ampat, in Papua, eastern Indonesia. Fantastic, breathtaking dive destination, but expensive to reach and to dive. But worth every penny! We dove for 1 week, 19 dives.
Reefscape by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Underwater photography is really quite a big challenge for me, because it combines requirements for situational awareness (diving well and controlling bouyancy/position in the water), flash use (at depth or for smaller stuff, available light makes things difficult) and positioning, and use of so-called 'wet lenses', which is what makes the RX100 a really great, relatively affordable diving system: everything from extreme wideangle to macro during a single dive, in a package that's travel friendly and 'affordable'. This was the second ever trip with a strobe, with new dive gear (finally bought my own), and occasional current diving, and the first real dives in almost a year, so the learning curve was pretty steep.
My setup:
- Original Sony RX100
- Acquapazza aluminum housing
- INON wet lenses (macro and fisheye)
- Single INON strobe
The fisheye (UFL-165) is the weak link for me, due to vingetting a soft corners if I forget to stop down quite a lot, and I have now bought what should be a better lens (UWL-100 with dome), but it is a lot heavier. Which means fiddling with floating devices to make sure the camera is relatively 'neutral' underwater, making it easier to hold and use. Underwater photography is a whole different ballgame! Overall, the camera itself is a fraction of the cost of the system, and that's buying the wet lenses second hand (housing 800, strobe 400, wet lenses 300 total), but compared to getting a housing, ports, etc. for my a7R or even E-M1, it's downright affordable overall, and travels much lighter.
A few highlights:
Reef:
Reef Life by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Citrus Reefscape by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Big Stuff:
A trio of Mantas by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Flyby by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
How to sneak up on a scuba diver... by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Medium stuff:
Octo #1 by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Peacock Mantis Shrimp #2 by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Squid by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Small stuff:
Underwater floral arrangements by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Juvenile Clownfish Hideaway by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Nudibranch by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Tiny stuff:
Pygmy Seahorse by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Skeleton shrimp by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Teensy Tiny Nudibranch by Mattia Valente, on Flickr
Link to full album: Raja Ampat - 2016
Comments and critique welcome!
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