Featuring Logan Wood
Packing the right camera gear for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Raja Ampat, Indonesia can be stressful. The options are endless and the weight allowance is limited. Ikelite Video Producer Logan Wood breakdowns the camera gear that he found essential for documenting all the amazing underwater wildlife and scenery while diving aboard the Velocean liveaboard.
If you're more of a reader scroll down to see the video transcript.
I just got back from an incredible two week trip to Raja Ampat, Indonesia, diving aboard the Velocean Liveaboard. There's so much incredible marine wildlife and coral out there that today I just wanted to run through some of the camera gear that I brought with me. So if you're interested in going on a trip similar to this or just like talking gear, then this will be the video for you.
All Star Liveaboard's luxury liveaboard the Velocean is in a class of its own with incredible accommodations for underwater photographers. © Logan Wood
Cameras
Alright, so starting off with the camera bodies, my main camera for shooting underwater was the Sony A1 II. Now, I've been shooting on this camera for a few months now since it came out, this thing is a beast, and I knew I wanted to bring it on this trip. It's got great photo, of course, as well as great video. So I was able to switch back and forth either on the same dive or just do one dive that was strictly video or one dive that was strictly stills and keep the same camera in the housing.
The Sony A1 II is an incredibly versatile and powerful choice for hybrid shooters looking to capture stunning photo and video underwater.
One of the main reasons why I like shooting on Sony cameras, whether it's the A1 II or any of the other ones, is how customizable they are, and this latest A1 II is even more customizable with some new dials and as well as new settings that you can map to the back buttons, which is really important when you're shooting underwater. So the Sony A1 II was my main camera, and it didn't let me down.
And then my backup camera, as well as just kind of like my top side second body, was the Sony A7C II. This thing is super small, fits in my carry-on, while still being a full-frame camera that shoots great photos and really good video. So the A7C II was my backup, and it usually is on these trips. It's just so easy to pack.
Underwater Housing
And then moving on to the camera housing, this is the Ikelite 200DL Underwater Housing for Sony a1 II # 71483. Now, the biggest thing that stood out to me about this housing during this trip specifically was making sure that I had the USB-C Bulkhead installed on it. And that's because the A1 II's battery life is... it's okay, it could be better. And I like making sure that I have as much battery life as I can before every single dive. So it was really easy to finish my dive and then go back to my camera station and plug in my housing without having to take the camera out. By the time the next dive came around, I was pretty much at full battery.
Lenses, Extensions, and Ports
While I did love shooting the A1 II, I don't think that the camera body is as important as the lenses that you choose to bring with you. So let's break down the lenses that I brought on this trip.
So first up, we have the trusty Sony 16-35mm F4 PZ. This thing always goes in my bag for wide angle shots. And I like the PZ version specifically because of how small it is and because I can customize the buttons on the back of my camera so that I can zoom this thing internally, meaning I don't need to bring a zoom gear. And that's one less piece of gear that I need to worry about when packing.
Then next up, we have the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 lens, and this is just a great all-around focal range. I throw this on anytime that I wasn't quite sure what would show up on the dive. To be honest this lived on my camera for most of the trip.
Then finally I brought the Sony 90mm macro for macro shooting. This thing is really sharp and I run it in autofocus most of the time so I ended up just not even bringing the manual focus gear and keeping it autofocus and then programming some buttons on the back of my camera so that I could switch between manual focus and autofocus when I needed to.
And then the only zoom gear that I needed for all three of these lenses was just the one for the Sigma 24-70mm because the rest of them zoomed internally and doesn't need a zoom gear or manual focus because I use autofocus. So I was really happy that I only had to bring one and I honestly just kept this inside the housing the entire time because both of these are small enough to just fit through without touching.
The Sigma 24-70mm is a great all-around lens choice and did a lot of heavy lifting on this trip.
Then for extensions I only needed three extensions for all three of these lenses and two of them actually just live together the entire time because they accommodate both the Sigma 24-70mm and Sony 90mm macro lenses and then anytime that I wanted to use the Sony 16-35mm I just had to swap this out so that worked out really well.
I have a longer video that goes more into depth about why I choose these three lenses for most of the trips I go on so if you're interested in learning more about that, you can watch Top 3 Best Lenses for Sony Full Frame Mirrorless Underwater.
From there I had the Full Size 8 inch Dome Port # 75340 for the 24-70mm and the 16-35mm as well as the Macro Flat Port # 75301 for the 90mm and again these just interchanged on the same extensions for both of these lenses and then anytime that I wanted this I decided to switch out the one extension and then use the full size 8 inch dome port.
Strobes
Alright so moving on to lighting I did bring a pair of Ikelite DS232s # 40232 I brought the big guns for this trip and these are great because it's the same power as the DS230s with the addition of video light for macro subjects and I really found the video light useful when I was shooting the jellyfish, it just gave them a nice pop opposed to shooting them with natural light.
The DS232 has everything you need and more for underwater photo and video. An absolute must-have for a once-in-a-lifetime trip like Raja Ampat.
No Ikelite strobe system is complete without the Ikelite TTL Converter #46043 and the Electrical Sync Cord that goes with it. Now when this thing is hooked up it's pretty much plug and play, all your exposures are going to be bang-on every single time.
The latest Ikelite housings come with a new updated hotshoe that allow you to switch between manual and TTL as you wish. So anytime that I wanted to get more creative with my lighting I could just switch into manual and play around with that.
Extras
And then the last piece of kit that I brought for my main rig was an Insta360 camera. I’ll make another video in the future about how I mount this to my housing but it's really fun to get another angle while I'm shooting stills and that I can reframe later as well as get some BTS shots of myself diving.
And then of course I brought my Vacuum Pump so I could put a vacuum on my housing the night before check for any leaks and make sure that I'm good to go in the water.
Then I've got my spare parts kit, this has the Novus Polish, tools, extra O-rings, lube, really anything that I would need.
Can't forget a drone, this is the Mavic Air 3 and then I've got the batteries and controllers obviously those come with me in my carry-on.
Then finally I have a kit full of chargers for my watch, my laptop, my phone, anything that I would need to charge, more cables, and hard drives for backing up.
I really found the video light useful when I was shooting the jellyfish, it just gave them a nice pop opposed to shooting them with natural light. © Logan Wood
That does it for the gear that I brought with me to dive in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. I know it seems like a lot but that's kind of the game we play as underwater photographers. If you want some more information on the Velocean Liveaboard you can visit the All Star Liveaboard website. It's an incredible trip and an even more incredible boat.
If you have any questions you can shoot us an email to ikelite@ikelite.com.
Additional Viewing
Sony a1 II Underwater 4K Results Diving in Raja Ampat, Indonesia [VIDEO]
Building a Spare Parts Kit for Underwater Photography [VIDEO]
Ikelite DS232 Strobe Features // The ULTIMATE Strobe with Video Light All-In-One [VIDEO]
My South African Ikelite System for Sony a1 // Logan Wood's Underwater Photo Gear [VIDEO]
Sony a1 II Setting It Up // 200DL Deluxe Underwater Housing [VIDEO]
Never Take Your Camera Out of the Housing! // USB-C Charging & Data Transfer Bulkhead [VIDEO]
Logan Wood is a published photographer, cinematographer, and Producer at Ikelite. Stemming from a great appreciation for the outdoors and living an active lifestyle, his work focuses on capturing and sharing the natural world through the latest technologies. When not in the studio, Logan can be found cruising on his bike, going to concerts, and researching where to go next. You can see more of his work at loganwood.net and on Instagram @jlowood
