New a6xxx housing from Meikon

[Barmaglot]

Ah, thanks, that's much better - the SeaFrogs site lists two new ports, one available now (that's the one that popped up on Meikon site) and the other for preorder. Once that new port is available, the Salted Line housing will fully exceed the capabilities of the older one.

 

[LeeParrish]

I just put a white A6xxx housing on order from Meikon, the 10% fathers day discount pulled me in on it. As soon as the new port that is listed for pre-order on Seafrogs for the 16-50 is available I'll probably order it too since I have a INON UCL-165 that I should be able to use with that port. I'll test it all out in my pool once I get it all together, along with testing out the weight and balance before heading out on my next dive trip.

 

[lulazz]

Hi all
Anyone using the sigma 60mm?
I tried it once and I think that for fish is not too bad
Probably the new 70mm macro will be great if it fits in the port
Also anyone using the st100 strobe? I have one but not sure if it is that good
And powerful as for specs

 

[Barmaglot]

Sigma 70mm macro has not been released yet, but going by photos, it extends to to focus, reaching something like half again its collapsed length at closest focus distance. Specs say that its collapsed length is 105.8mm, so fully extended length is probably close to 160mm, while the KitDive port is sized for Sony 90mm lens, which is 130.5mm long and focuses internally, so the Sigma 70mm will likely bump into the port glass when trying to focus anywhere closer than 30cm or so, corresponding to 1:2 reproduction ratio. With a high-end housing such as Nauticam, you could lengthen the port using extension rings, but Meikon doesn't make those.

Regarding ST-100, I'm curious myself - I'm currently on the fence about ordering a pair. Going to Ras Mohammed in September (hopefully) for a four-day liveaboard, and as I understand it, that area is more of a wide-angle destination - my LEDs won't cut it.

 

[LeeParrish]

I see that the 67mm threaded macro port is now available to order on both the Sea Frogs and Meikon web sites. I don't see anything yet regarding the smaller dome port they mentioned a while back that was going to be available on the 15th, or the vacuum system, but hopefully those may be out soon too.

I'm also wondering if this port would work with their wet wide angle that is set up for a 67mm threaded mount? It wouldn't likely be as good as the dry port, but it would be great to be able to have everything from macro on up to fairly wide angle using the 16-50, threaded port, a 67mm macro adapter (I have an Inon close up lens), and then a wide angle wet adapter that you could swap while under water. There are a few dives where I really would appreciate having a full range of options and not having to choose wide or macro before the dive.

 

[Barmaglot]

I can't see any reason it wouldn't work with the wet dome attachment. I use the wet dome with the older, fixed-port housing and 16-50mm lens, and if the new port has the same dimensions, it should fit without issues. For the reference, I use this adapter for ease of attachment underwater.

 

[LeeParrish]

That adapter looks nice, I may have to look into one or more of those so I can swap back and forth without dealing with threading anything on under water.

 

[Barmaglot]

Yay! My new housing with dome port is here! Four months later than I originally hoped for, but better late than never

Quick buoyancy test - I had a box of 7g adhesive lead weights waiting, so I put them inside the housing until I got it as close to neutral in my kitchen sink as I could - it was kind of floating, with only the bottom petal of the port hood lightly touching the bottom. According to my kitchen scale, total weight of ballast, once I took it out, is 1580g. A6300 with battery, memory card, 10-18mm lens and zoom gear weighs 672.5g; the same with 16-50mm lens and zoom gear weighs 566.5g, so the housing and dome, sans accessories, should be 900g positive with camera and 10-18mm lens and 1kg positive with 16-50mm lens. Empty housing with dome weighs 1610 grams (1154g front with dome, 456g back), so total displacement is roughly 3190ml of water. Since I was testing in fresh water, sea water should require about 100-120g more ballast for neutral buoyancy.

Now I need to decide whether to get new ST-100 strobes or used YS-D1s - cost is similar, as is flash power (both are rated at GN=32), ST-100 is a bit more compact, YS-D1 recycles twice as fast (rated at 1.9s at full power, while ST-100 is rated at 4s), but ST-100 is available new for <$250, while used YS-D1s in $250-300 range come with hundreds of dives on them, and salt water does degrade stuff...

 

[Barmaglot]

Interesting - see comments here: Seafrogshousings on Instagram: “Macro port for A6xxx Salted Line is available for purchase now at www.seafrogs.com.hk Price: 99 US$ Macro port is specially created to work…”

• seafrogs.com.hk@nicholls82 8” /200mm Dome port for A6xxx series Salted Line will be released in few weeks

 

[Barmaglot]

...and they've posted an image:

Seafrogshousings on Instagram: “Prototype of new 8” dome port for SeaFrogs A6xxx series Salted Line Housing. Purposely built for those who are interested in split…”

Meanwhile, 4" dome is supposedly coming by end of this week.