a6xxx salted line your pre dive check

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Matteo z

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italy
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Hi guys, i'm new here! and i'm so happy to find a forum with people who loves underwater world like me!

i've got a new a6xxx salted line housing to test for the first time in the sea, i also bought the pre dive vaccum system pump to ensure any leaking due to the oring's port.

i did a list of what i will do before diving

- clean the ports orings surface and put some grease on it
- clean the circular port oring and replace grease
- i think to do 2 vacuum leak tests 15 minutes each one, what you raccomend ?
the vacuum leak must be done every time i open the ports?
- without the camera inside the housing my free diving instructor Daniele will fix the housing at 40-50 meter for 30 minutes for a pressure test, than i hope it will be ok to insert the camera to do the first shoots.

anyone had any problem with the on off switch? the internal switch it's a bit weak in my opinion.

i will mount the 6 dry dome port, with the sony 16 50 on my a6500, i expetc to use it during my freedive time
so need to know if there are any consistent improvements by using this port instead of the flat one
i'm thinking about having less wheight to carry on during the freedive.

Cheers! Matteo
 
Regarding vacuum, I would recommend that you evacuate the housing a few hours before dive, and keep it under vacuum until you open it to remove the camera. If you're freediving, keeping the seals loaded while in the water is particularly important, as you're constantly cycling between water and atmospheric pressure. 15 minutes is generally not sufficient to reveal a slow leak. A full test without a camera inside is always a good idea with a new housing.
For the on/off switch, turn the camera on, put the housing switch in the 'on' position, slide the camera in, then turn it off. If you slide the camera in while the switches are in the 'off' position, they will not line up and engage.
Dome port as opposed to flat port increases your field of view and eliminates pincushion distortion, which is very strong at wide angles when shooting through a flat port - see here for examples: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AupWSggdlFYKjtRFu-IIxyopM8fvAA
Keep in mind that the housing is very buoyant, moreso with a dome port on - you will likely want to mount some weights on it to keep it from dragging you upwards. I use auto wheel weights stuck to the back side of the dome to trim it - the adhesive seems to not mind salt water immersion.
 
I tape up 200g wheel weights with electrical tape wound around it. I don't trust the adhesives, lost one set in the seas off Puerto Galera.

I would be wary about bringing taking the vacuum valve underwater. It looks like its fairly ease to get it knocked about and you may end up getting it loose and cause a flood.

I have issues with various buttons, especially at 20m+ depth. I use a bit of electrical tape here and there inside to improve contacts.

- Wheel at the top right
- Video button
- OK selection button
 
200g individual weights, or 200g in total? I use a bunch of 7g weights and after dozens of dives, they show no signs of loosening.

Not sure what it would take to rip out the vacuum valve out of its threads; I can use it as a handle to pick up the housing by (obviously not its intended use case) and it stays solidly in. Something violent enough to 'knock it about' would likely shatter the housing.

Button issues sound like a defect, I haven't noticed anything of the sort on my example - I would contact SeaFrogs support.
 
thanks for the information guys! @Barmaglot the examples are really usefull! in the next days i will find some auto wheel whieghts to mount on the dome, the weights must be attached to the back of the dome in the circular rear part? or in the bottom part of the dome? 200 g will be enough? actually i mount the housing on a double hand tray, the weight of the tray is not enough to balance the buoyancy?

in any case i want to shoot the first photos only with ambient light, i want to try with autofocus but the other settings in manual,
is it necessary to do a manual white balance with a white piece of plastic or i can trust sony auto white balance?
the last thing i want to know is the back button focus, i really need this options or it can work good on the shutter button?
 
I put the weights on the flat back side of the dome, like this:

jVK1P43.jpg


This is the 8" dome, which has more space, but the idea is the same. How much weight you need depends on the rest of your rig - with a tray, four 20cm arms, six clamps and two strobes, I have almost 500g of extra weight here for neutral buoyancy, and it's still a bit tail-heavy - tends to rotate dome-up if I let it go. If you dive with just the bare housing, you'll likely need more weight.

Regarding white balance, just shoot in RAW and use spot white balance on your computer to pick a reference point - a patch of sand, a rock, a diver's tank or fin, etc. Capture One Express is free for Sony users and does an admirable job.

I have a trigger extension and shoot with both hands on the tray handles, so I don't use back button focus. Even without the extension, the paddle shutter has a fairly long travel so half-press for focus is probably easier to use than back button, unless you have huge hands - the back buttons and shutter are not very close together.
 
As with land photography, shoot in RAW or RAW+Jpeg (.ARW for Sony:confused:) and you'll have all of the adjustability in post processing... White Balance, exposure, any any color correction if needed (though unlikely at less than 20' on a sunny day).

Just wondering, is the camera new also or just the housing?
 
I haven't the faintest idea - depends on the tray and, to some extent, on the salinity of the water where you are. What I did was assemble the rig, put it into water, then gradually add weight until it was nice and neutral. The little 7g blocks allow for very fine granularity.
 
I put the weights on the flat back side of the dome, like this:

View attachment 520612

This is the 8" dome, which has more space, but the idea is the same. How much weight you need depends on the rest of your rig - with a tray, four 20cm arms, six clamps and two strobes, I have almost 500g of extra weight here for neutral buoyancy, and it's still a bit tail-heavy - tends to rotate dome-up if I let it go. If you dive with just the bare housing, you'll likely need more weight.

Regarding white balance, just shoot in RAW and use spot white balance on your computer to pick a reference point - a patch of sand, a rock, a diver's tank or fin, etc. Capture One Express is free for Sony users and does an admirable job.

I have a trigger extension and shoot with both hands on the tray handles, so I don't use back button focus. Even without the extension, the paddle shutter has a fairly long travel so half-press for focus is probably easier to use than back button, unless you have huge hands - the back buttons and shutter are not very close together.

What kind of trigger extension do you have? Do you mind if you share a picture of it along with your tray?
 

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