Last week, I went diving in Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is a small island off the coast of Cancun. This is the fourth year I’ve gone diving here. It’s one of my favorite places to dive because it’s relatively easy to travel to (versus something like Little Cayman) and has incredible wildlife. The water was 87°F with ~60ft of visibility. Incredible.

I think I’m starting to figure out my underwater camera setup. I’m really pleased with some of these photos. You’re probably here for the photos, so let’s get straight to that. More about the gear at the bottom of the post.

Update: My dive buddy, Chris Sohl, shot a really great video of the trip. I’m the one with the big camera.

Camera Gear

This was the first year I’ve used my new camera setup. I recently did a ton of research and selected a Sony ɑ7R ⅲ to replace my Sony ɑ7S ⅱ. I’m still using my Sony 16–35mm 𝘧/4 wide angle lens from my previous setup. After trying to print some photos from the ɑ7S ⅱ, I realized I needed something with more resolution if I was going to print photos.

Originally, I planned to mostly shoot underwater video. That’s why I selected the ɑ7S over ɑ7R awhile back. After trying it a bit, I realized I really prefer stills. Getting good lighting for video is really difficult. It works best for small things since you can control the light better. I really enjoy shooting wide angle seeing large structures. With video, this is really difficult.

I also upgraded to a Nauticam housing and Sea & Sea stobes (for some reason everyone calls underwater flashes strobes instead of flashes). The Nauticam housing is really incredible. Zero issues with it. You can insert and remove camera really easily as well.

My favorite feature is its vacuum system. You pump out all of the air in the housing before diving. There’s a pressure sensor in the housing and shows a green light when the pressure is correct. If it starts to change (meaning it will start leaking) the light flashes red so you can get an advanced warning. If the light is green, you can be confident all of your gear is safe! So great!