My next dive trip is only a couple of weeks away and my mind is well and truly on what photographic equipment will make the cut into my bag. Most importantly, it has to fit into 30kgs hold and 7kgs hand baggage… and my oh so clever Scottevest. Here’s my personal underwater camera packing list for a long haul holiday!
This time I will be diving Bunaken and Lembeh Strait, Manado Indonesia. This means there will be both wide angle opportunities on the walls of Bunaken and all manner of tiny, crazy, Lembeh critters to find.
Main Camera – Olympus OMD-EM5
This is my go to camera of the moment, underwater and on land. It’s perfect for travel and with the right lenses I should be able to cover most scenarios. There’s the Olympus 60mm macro lens and SubSee +10 diopter for the really small stuff. I am seriously impressed by the FIT LED2400 video/focusing light and will be interested if the red light setting in particular really helps on night dives when shooting photosensitive subjects (watch this space for a verdict).
I do like to have the choice between wide angle and fish eye so both the Olympus 9-18mm wide angle zoom and Panasonic 8mm fisheye lens are in. The Nauticam 4inch minidome is a real space saver for travel. Yet it is also very practical and easy to handle underwater.
It all gets housed in a Nauticam NA-EM5 housing, tray and handles. The Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobes are back in action. StiX float arms help with the whole set up’s balance underwater. A bit of an extravagance but well worth the extra in my opinion.
Compact Set – Canon S90
The Canon S90 is by no means a new model, but over several trips, it has proven a reliable, quality camera. And I still love the wet lens system and believe it encourages creativity. The Inon UWL100 AD wide angle and Inon UCL 165AD allow me to shoot both wide angle and macro on the same dive – something that may prove useful on the walls of Bunaken. The Inon S2000 strobe is smaller than the Sea&Sea YS-D1 but still powerful enough on this set up. I don’t really do too much deep diving so the Canon housing is perfect with a 40m depth rating.
GoPro Hero3 Black
Of course I could not go without a GoPro! It simply mounts on the hot shoe of the OMD and I forget about it! Well, other than to turn it on and off of course. I do use a red filter and like the URPro option, which fits on a SRP adapter.
Throw in my laptop and there you have it! All of that plus dive kit (maybe even a tshirt or 2 )and I will be a happy snapper!
Are you interested in any of the above equipment?
Why not chat to me to find out more
01483 279 879