NEW External TTL-Converters from Underwater Technics.

[Pavel Kolpakov]

Underwater Technics company has announced new production line: External TTL Converters (for Sony, Canon, Nikon and Olympus).

Mass production starts in March-2025.

Product is made in sealed metal body, it has very simple and universal installation, - into the threaded hole on the top of the housing, very nice protection from water and from mechanical damages. Battery CR2032 can be easy replaced, one time per few years.

 

External TTL Converter is available in few versions, for the following underwater housings:

- M16 thread for Nauticam, Marelux, Seafrogs aluminum;

- M16 thread for Isotta;

- M24 thread for Marelux, Aquatica, Seafrogs aluminum;

- M16 thread for Ikelite;

- 1/2"UNF20 for Ikelite;

- M12 for Seafrogs plastic housings.

 

Product has the following features: 

- Switching TTL/M/HSS modes by camera menu,

- Flash synchronization at 1-st / 2-nd curtain by menu,

- TTL flash exposure compensation (+/-) adjustment by menu,

- Manual flash power adjustment by menu 1/125...Full (in M mode),

- HSS ultra fast shutter speeds up to 1/8000s,

- Continuos shooting,

- Battery life: 3 years of continuous work,

- Automatic ON/OFF. No any mechanical switch is needed.

- Supported strobes: Inon, Marelux, Retra, Sea&Sea, Underwater Technics.

Here are the photos of pre-production samples:

Edited February 9 by Pavel Kolpakov

[TimG]

Looks very neat, Pavel. Fits Subal too?

[humu9679]

Looks like installation is a breeze. I shudder when I think about installing or removing my old UW Technics trigger.

[Pavel Kolpakov]

12 hours ago, TimG said:

Looks very neat, Pavel. Fits Subal too?

Thank you, Tim.

Subal threaded holes usually are situated too close to the central protrusion on the top of the housing, it would be impossible to install such device, but only bulkheads. Currently i see only the following housings acceptable for the External TTL-Converter installation: Nauticam, Marelux, Sea&Sea, Aquatica, Isotta, Ikelite, Seafrogs.

Edited February 10 by Pavel Kolpakov

[Pavel Kolpakov]

15 hours ago, humu9679 said:

Looks like installation is a breeze.

Yes, this device was specially developed to simplify the installation and improve the mechanical protection.

Edited February 10 by Pavel Kolpakov

[DocTock]

Pavel - 
Very interesting looking product!
Where will one be able to see that menu displayed? Integrated in camera menu?
Will it be compatible with FF DSLR Nikon?
 

[Pavel Kolpakov]

3 hours ago, DocTock said:

Pavel - 
Very interesting looking product!
Where will one be able to see that menu displayed? Integrated in camera menu?
Will it be compatible with FF DSLR Nikon?
 

This is a camera menu for external flash control. TTL-Converter provides intellectual communication with the camera, including the menu options. 

The Canon version menu is shown on the pictures above. TTL-Converter even saves the latest Canon menu settings in it's non-volatile memory (for the user's convenience), and then loads them into the camera the next time the TTL-Converter is connected.

UWTechnics produces such TTL-Converters for Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus.

Nikon DSLR cameras are supported of course.

 

Edited February 11 by Pavel Kolpakov

[DocTock]

7 hours ago, Pavel Kolpakov said:

This is a camera menu for external flash control. TTL-Converter provides intellectual communication with the camera, including the menu options. 

The Canon version menu is shown on the pictures above. TTL-Converter even saves the latest Canon menu settings in it's non-volatile memory (for the user's convenience), and then loads them into the camera the next time the TTL-Converter is connected.

UWTechnics produces such TTL-Converters for Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus.

Nikon DSLR cameras are supported of course.

 

This sounds very VERY interesting. Would love to have menu control over the controller!
Do you need any folks to "test" production models? 😉
Any thoughts on anticipated cost?

[Chris Ross]

Looks very Good Pavel, I would guess this streamlines your model range a little as it will fit any housing with enough space to route the hotshoe cable.

 

Out of interest what is different about the Isotta and ikelite M16 housings that requires a different version - perhaps something about the way the o-ring seal is achieved?   There was a related question on this recently.

[Pavel Kolpakov]

7 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

Looks very Good Pavel, I would guess this streamlines your model range a little as it will fit any housing with enough space to route the hotshoe cable.

 

Out of interest what is different about the Isotta and ikelite M16 housings that requires a different version - perhaps something about the way the o-ring seal is achieved?   There was a related question on this recently.

Chris, thank you!

The Ikelite versions of TTL-Converter (M16 and 1/2UNF) have a slightly different o-ring sealing than others and need a nut, the same nut as Ikelite bulkhead has. The nut usage requires much longer length of rear threaded part, than Isotta. Also, Ikelite version TTL-Converter has a lower overall height of external part of the body to reduce the shoulder of external impacts and avoid damage to the plastic housing. Isotta version has some greater height of down external part of the body because some housing controls or protrusions are situated too close to the threaded M16 hole.

    Sometimes, who knows, It may be possible to install Ikelite M16 version Converter on the Isotta housing, but i am not sure, and it will require the concrete housing check.

 

So, Isotta and Ikelite versions of TTL-Converter are different in the rear part of the body. We will publish all versions soon, you will see the difference on the pictures.

Edited February 12 by Pavel Kolpakov

[Lewis88]

Are these new triggers firmware updatable without sending it back?

[TmxDiver]

I think I must be missing something. 

 

If I have a Nauticam housing for a Sony a7rIV, what would be the advantage of using this new External TTL converter vs. the current UW Technics Internal TTL converter I have?

 

- brett

 

[Pavel Kolpakov]

On 2/16/2025 at 3:58 AM, TmxDiver said:

If I have a Nauticam housing for a Sony a7rIV, what would be the advantage of using this new External TTL converter vs. the current UW Technics Internal TTL converter I have?

The firmware is the same. The difference is only a metal body.

External TTL Converters were made with the metal body to improve the mechanical protection and simplify the installation.

If you already have an internal unit and everything is Ok, you don't need to change it.

[CaolIla]

Did you plan to build a model with 3 or 4 leds?
 

[Pavel Kolpakov]

51 minutes ago, CaolIla said:

Did you plan to build a model with 3 or 4 leds?

Do you mean synchronization for 4 strobes installed on the housing arms? You can use 2 pcs of dual optical fiber cable for 4 strobes synchronization.

If you mean 2 strobes on the housing + 1-2 strobes installed on the bottom (at long distance from the housing), we can also make long length optical fiber cables (single, or dual), no problem.

Edited Monday at 06:45 AM by Pavel Kolpakov

[CaolIla]

It was for 4 strobe It was the idea use double connector to split the fiber .
I find your solution really nice. I'll probably order one as spare if I have some trouble with my internal (isotta triger) It allready happen during a trip. 
 

And try the HSS. 😉

[Adventurer]

On 2/13/2025 at 8:00 PM, Lewis88 said:

Are these new triggers firmware updatable without sending it back?

KickAss question 👌 - RETRA UWT shows that it should be possible to communicate with your underwater lighting product via Bluetooth in the 21st century. 
 

Turtle TRT at least delivers updates and configurations via USB connections and Apples App Store.

 

Wireless Update Distribution would save us all from a lot of headaches a shipping cost frustration. 🙏

[Pavel Kolpakov]

On 2/14/2025 at 3:00 AM, Lewis88 said:

Are these new triggers firmware updatable without sending it back?

We issue the firmware update only if we add a new strobe model which did not exist before on the market. And there is no any other reason for our TTL-Converter update. Currently it is necessary to send the product to the factory. In future we plan to make an online update too.

Edited Tuesday at 06:42 AM by Pavel Kolpakov

[Adventurer]

2 hours ago, Pavel Kolpakov said:

We issue the firmware update only if we add a new strobe model

Well with the frequency at which new products enter the market this year your current converter might already be outdated once it arrives from Taiwan with you and you are drooling at the next new strobe that just was announced.

 

So online updating would be highly appreciated over importing and exporting physical goods which will easily eat up $100++ for one round trip shipment.

[Pavel Kolpakov]

23 hours ago, Adventurer said:

Well with the frequency at which new products enter the market this year your current converter might already be outdated once it arrives from Taiwan with you and you are drooling at the next new strobe that just was announced.

Of course not. It does not work this way.

Our TTL-Converter has 9 different type ttl-profiles in the firmware, each profile can be set by the rotary switch. Totally for Sony, Canon, Nikon and Olympus there are 36 different ttl-profiles in our firmware. Those profiles includes almost all varieties of ttl-profiles which are in use nowadays among the underwater strobes. Most of new strobes appear on the market have the same or very similar ttl-profiles as existing in the firmware.

So, In most of cases client does not need to update the firmware when a new strobe appears on the market. He just need to ask us about the information, - what ttl-profile should be set by the onboard rotary switch.

We update the firmware now only if actually a new ttl-profile strobe has appeared, for example in 2025 it may be 1-2 times or so. Or may be not at all in 2025, unless a fundamentally new ttl-profile appears.

Edited Wednesday at 07:55 AM by Pavel Kolpakov

[CaolIla]

36 minutes ago, Pavel Kolpakov said:

We update the firmware now only if actually a new ttl-profile strobe has appeared, for example in 2025 it may be 1-2 times or so.

It's a lot... 

For me an remote update of the firmeware is mandatory 
The shipping cost, the taxes and the lost time  if I need to send the trigger back is not acceptable.

[Pavel Kolpakov]

1 hour ago, CaolIla said:

For me an remote update of the firmeware is mandatory 

There are currently 7 manufacturers on the market that produce TTL triggers: UWTechnics, Nauticam, TRT, Ikelite, AOI, Inon, Backscatter. But only 1 of these 7 manufacturers uses online updating. This is not accidental.

But if online updating is the main criterion for you among all the characteristics and functions, you can choose it, why not. This is quite normal. Other people have other, more important criteria. And that's okay too.

Edited Wednesday at 07:36 AM by Pavel Kolpakov

[CaolIla]

It's realy not the most important for me, BUT  if I invest (a lot of €) I don't want to be blocked because I need an update with a new strobe or firmeware of my strobe... 

Today online/remote uodate is a standard for a lot of electronic parts.

I believe that for you it will be a "good" sale argument 

For the moment I have the Isotta Trigger in my Isotta housing..  ONLY Manuel.
Your is TTL AND HSS... and my Retra are booth that's the reason I want to try your solution with the external Trigger. I'll be able to try and don't change anything on the actual setup. Only put your trigger at the Isotta housing.

If I invest in a new solution why not a flexibel one 

I'm waiting for your price and the web site where I can order it. 

[Adventurer]

22 hours ago, CaolIla said:

I believe that for you it will be a "good" sale argument 

I think so too.