New a6xxx housing from Meikon

[njdiverjoe]

Miso already sent me his draft for the adapter. He only has to check the measures when he gets my plug.

Awesome,what are your first impressions? Any pics?

 

[StevieL]

Hi njdiverjoe,

it's just an cylinder with two threads and two o-rings. The adapter has one face-sealing o-ring, not an side-sealing like the seafrogs blind screw in the housing. The o-ring seals against the threaded brass insert. It looks like the other Leak-Sentinel adapters you can see on his website.

Sorry, but I don't publish his plans without permission.

 

[Barmaglot]

Huh, the SeaFrogs page for VPS-100 now has operating instructions saying that the vacuum valve should be removed prior to diving, and on Instagram, they wrote the following:

Under no circumstances you can dive with system installed on the unit! If you dive with the system while it is on and there is a vacuum inside plus the outside pressure that water creates at depth you're increasing the chances of loosing your camera greatly! So please do not do that.

That is quite odd, since the pressure differential doesn't add more than a few meters of effective depth, unless the valve itself is either not pressure-resistant, or not waterproof at all. It's a bit worrying that per their instructions, after confirming good seal, I need to unseal the housing, if only at the smaller valve port rather than the main o-ring, and then trust that the untested valve port doesn't leak.

Edit: @seafrogs.com.hk at Instagram got in touch with me - apparently the valve is pressure-resistant and waterproof; they've tested it in a high-pressure chamber and he volunteered to take it on a dive this coming weekend to confirm. The instructions on the website are geared towards the lowest common denominator among their customers - the ones who have issues turning the camera on and then complain loudly.
I also took the opportunity to inquire whether or not they're planning to produce zoom/focus gears for any more lenses and alas, they have no such plans.

 

[StevieL]

Perhaps they are not sure if the thread-insert is stable enough? The valve is a lever and a hit against the valve could probably cause a break out of the insert.

 

[Barmaglot]

They didn't give any such indication, this is the relevant conversation:

As our products mostly directed for new users and you wont believe how many of them have no clue to what they are doing, 90% of all people having difficulty to turn the camera on. So you get the idea... and we have to deal with them everyday.
That's why the factory is strongly advise against that. Yes, it's harsh, but it will prevent a ton of new users from making a mistake.

I see
so, my main question is - will the vacuum valve itself be damaged by taking it underwater?

It was tested at high pressure chamber
And I don't wanna lie to you
So let me dive with it in coming Saturday and I'll let you know

that'd be great, thank you
I mean, pressure is one thing, but salt water is another - if the valve is not waterproof, then I'll take my chances and leave it on the boat
but if it is waterproof, then I would rather have the vacuum test confirm *all* the seals on the housing, including the vacuum port itself

We tested the pre production unit whole year to erase all errors and mistakes
Production unit only arrived yesterday, so no time to live test it, but pretty sure everything will be ok and watertight.

Read into it as you will, but in the product photos, the valve looks like less than an inch tall, so I don't think cantilever force is much of a factor.

 

[StevieL]

Hi to all,

I got Message from Miso:

Your drawings are to the point.The thread is indeed M10X0.75 , tested with caliber, so everything is as expected. I have made the drawings of both V4 and V5 adapters and gave them to the company which does CNC machining for me. Hard to say when they will be made, maybe even next week, or around August 15th, as they are also on holidays, just the owner and a couple of guys are there. But he said he’ll try to make them sooner, and I certainly hope so.

and

I opted for both bottom face-sealing and top side-sealing o-rings, mostly to keep salt water out of the cavity. From your drawing of the housing side I assume there is one more face sealing o-ring in the groove around the hole, but I chose not to do this, partly because that would mean 30mm diameter adapter, and partly because trying to seal something at 3 points is calling for trouble, and also an overkill.

 

[njdiverjoe]

Hi to all,

I got Message from Miso:

and

Sounds great -- and thank you for the update!

 

[Compressor]

How does one get service in the US?

 

[lulazz]

Hi All,
I bought the sony 30mm macro and fits in the flat port but it is a bit short for my liking
can you please suggest some lens that I can use? I like fish photo
I rekon the new sigma 70mm macro art would be nice but it will not fit the flat port
maybe will fit another port available
I fear the 90mm macro would be too long and definitely too expensive

 

[Barmaglot]

For fish portraits, you can try using the 16-50mm kit zoom in either the short macro port, or the 6" dome. In the former case, you can attach diopters for small stuff and wet wide lenses for wide-angle. While Sony does offer two 50mm macro lenses (one Sony, the other Zeiss), I have read multiple complaints about both lenses either being extremely slow to focus, or completely failing to function behind a port glass (i.e. hunting back and forth and never locking focus).

Myself, I'm eyeing the 90mm FE - while I share your concerns about it being too long for a crop sensor, I've seen some very good examples of people using it on A6xxx series cameras, including medium-sized fish portraits - although the standoff distance for those is quite long, requiring very clear water.