Retra Strobes and equipment

[RickMo]

On 12/19/2023 at 2:42 PM, Tom Kline said:

Many shots here https://www.salmonography.com/Marine-and-Freshwater-Biology/Palauan-fish-portraits/

 

Tom, your website is outstanding--beautiful, unique images and excellent information.  Thanks!

[Tom Kline]

4 hours ago, RickMo said:

Tom, your website is outstanding--beautiful, unique images and excellent information.  Thanks!

 Thanks. I am fairly nerdy with my pix - under the influence of my academic background.

[LaurenWang]

On 12/10/2023 at 12:22 PM, fruehaufsteher2 said:

Still fighting with myself whether one or two Pro Max would be a great Christmas present for me. 
 

two questions: who needs the supercharger…? Everything that adds bulk to my gear is bad… 

how good is the focuslight? 
 

thanks a lot for sharing the initial thoughts. 

I didn’t have the super chargers for a long time and finally glad I got them- longer battery life for one and faster recycling speed. It was so frustrating running out of battery esp when I was in Raja.  Depends on how many photos you take during a dive I suppose but also nice not to have to switch them out between every dive.  I also know someone who only uses the focus light (but haven’t done so myself)

 

[TimG]

1 hour ago, Scubalauren said:

I didn’t have the super chargers for a long time and finally glad I got them- longer battery life for one and faster recycling speed. It was so frustrating running out of battery esp when I was in Raja.  Depends on how many photos you take during a dive I suppose but also nice not to have to switch them out between every dive.  I also know someone who only uses the focus light (but haven’t done so myself)

 

 

Yep, the Superchargers sure avoid "range-anxiety". 

 

I'm one of those who now rarely (?never) takes a focus light. The Retra pilot light is very good, I find, especially for macro or snoot use. No need of course for wide-angle.

 

[Crittermad27]

On 12/13/2023 at 12:21 PM, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

I wouldn't suggest using soap as it could contain chemicals that potentially speed up corrosion while trapped beneath the Bumpers. A very very small amount of silicon grease should suffice, to get the o-ring slightly shiny. 

Yep I used silicone- still needed help getting the front bumpers on/off 

[TimG]

11 minutes ago, Crittermad27 said:

Yep I used silicone- still needed help getting the front bumpers on/off 

 

You got though there in the end, eh? Nice feeling of satisfaction? Surprise? Relief? 😅

 

I usually find getting them on is fine. Off can be a struggle. But then not just strobe bumpers....... 

[TimG]

There was a new firmware update today from Retra:

 

v1.48 for Pro Max

v3.15 for Pro X/Prime X

v4.5 for Pro/Prime

 

All on one update (certainly in the Apple Store - can't speak for the Android version)

 

All updated fine, no problem, on my Pro Max.

 

I did find that the slight flicker from the Pro Max pilot light when set to Manual is still there. Retra said sometime ago that that this was not an issue. I must admit though, I hope it disappears in a future update..... 

 

UPDATE: My bad, a fresh set of batteries (4x AA) and the flicker disappeared.....

[Oskar - Retra UWT]

Hey Tim, good to know you got the new firmware update sorted.

 

Just a heads-up, that flicker in the pilot light is totally normal, especially when LED is set to full power and in the 4xAA setup. If you switch to 8xAA, it becomes less noticeable, and sometimes, you won't even see it.

[Barmaglot]

Question regarding firmware revisions - I see that the latest version listed for Retra Pro/Prime is v4.3, but my Retra Pro strobes are reporting as running v4.5. Was there a version that got pulled/reverted?

[TimG]

13 hours ago, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

Hey Tim, good to know you got the new firmware update sorted.

 

Just a heads-up, that flicker in the pilot light is totally normal, especially when LED is set to full power and in the 4xAA setup. If you switch to 8xAA, it becomes less noticeable, and sometimes, you won't even see it.

 

Thanks Oskar.

 

I've just retried with a set off freshly charged Eneloop batteries and the flicker had disappeared. So less than fully charged batteries may well have been the issue!  My bad. I've updated my earlier post.

[Oskar - Retra UWT]

14 hours ago, Barmaglot said:

Question regarding firmware revisions - I see that the latest version listed for Retra Pro/Prime is v4.3, but my Retra Pro strobes are reporting as running v4.5. Was there a version that got pulled/reverted?

Apologies for the oversight—there was a typo. The accurate version is 4.5. Thanks for catching that; we'll make the necessary correction.

[Barmaglot]

15 minutes ago, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

Apologies for the oversight—there was a typo. The accurate version is 4.5. Thanks for catching that; we'll make the necessary correction.

Thank you. While at it, perhaps you could shine some light on an odd issue I encountered recently. I'm using a UW-Technics converter to trigger my Retra Pro strobes, and it has a mode where you manually set the strobe power in camera menus, while the strobes themselves are in STTL, and the trigger generates light pulses of appropriate length to cause the strobes to flash at required power. I understand that in Canon/Nikon cameras this power can be set directly in the 1/128...1/1 range, but on my Sony a6300, there is no direct manual control of flash power, so it uses flash compensation setting (-3.0...+3.0 EV range) to range between 1/64 to full power. The -3 (1/64), -2 (1/32), -1 (1/16) and 0 (1/8) settings appear to work as expected, but +1 (1/4) and +2 (1/2) positions don't appear to be any brighter than 0, while +3 (full power) is noticeably dimmer. If I set the flash power knob to -3, which gives me the brightest exposure in this mode, I can just about match 1/4 manual power, but no more. I understand that in TTL mode, the strobe expects a pre-flash followed by a main flash - is it possible that there's some bug in v4.5 that causes it to truncate the pre-flash under some circumstances?

[Oskar - Retra UWT]

I understand you are trying to manipulate TTL mode into manual mode via TTL pre-flash. Pre-flashes in TTL are limited in power output (duration) and therefore it will not be possible to obtain the desired results. Unfortunately this is not a bug in the firmware but a part of the TTL protocol.

[Barmaglot]

Understood - that's what I figured was the case; thank you for the confirmation. I guess this mode is only usable with strobes that can do 'dumb' slave TTL.

[JohnD]

Does anyone know if the Retra neoprene covers the same size as the previous ones?  The strobe body on the new strobes are longer.  I am about to order a new set of bumpers because of the changed design, and am wondering if I should "upgrade" the neoprene sleeves.  Or are the new bumpers longer so the neoprene still fits right?

[TimG]

John, last time I looked there didn’t appear to be two different neoprene cover sizes - unlike the bumpers.  
 

The new bumpers look like the same size in terms of depth. I reckon there’s a gap of about 2mm with the covers on the new strobes with new bumpers installed. Barely worth worrying about. 

[Barmaglot]

33 minutes ago, TimG said:

John, last time I looked there didn’t appear to be two different neoprene cover sizes - unlike the bumpers.  

The order page for neoprene sleeves has a menu to choose between Pro X/Prime X/Pro/Prime and Pro Max/Prime+/Pure, so there might actually be a difference. There is actually another size, that is no longer sold, from before the bumpers were released - it covers the full length of the strobe and doesn't stay in place very well; I use a pair of zipties to stop them sliding around.

[JohnD]

2 minutes ago, Barmaglot said:

The order page for neoprene sleeves has a menu to choose between Pro X/Prime X/Pro/Prime and Pro Max/Prime+/Pure, so there might actually be a difference. There is actually another size, that is no longer sold, from before the bumpers were released - it covers the full length of the strobe and doesn't stay in place very well; I use a pair of zipties to stop them sliding around.

Thanks.  Somehow I missed that.

[JohnD]

1 hour ago, TimG said:

John, last time I looked there didn’t appear to be two different neoprene cover sizes - unlike the bumpers.  
 

The new bumpers look like the same size in terms of depth. I reckon there’s a gap of about 2mm with the covers on the new strobes with new bumpers installed. Barely worth worrying about. 

True on the size, but being a little OCD, it would nag at me if there was an option.  And I guess there is and I missed it...

[TimG]

12 hours ago, JohnD said:

Thanks.  Somehow I missed that.

Me too!

[JohnD]

Finally got the new Retras wet this past week.  Performance not night and day different from my earlier pair of Primes, but the pro Max are obviously brighter than the Primes.   I think I am probably just going to use the superchargers as the "standard" most of the time.  Now that I have had them in the water and they worked great, I will be putting the Primes up for sale.

 

Interested to see what the rechargeable battery pack is like, but I try to minimize lithiums so unless there is a compelling upside, I may not switch.

[Dave_Hicks]

23 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Finally got the new Retras wet this past week.  Performance not night and day different from my earlier pair of Primes, but the pro Max are obviously brighter than the Primes.   I think I am probably just going to use the superchargers as the "standard" most of the time.  Now that I have had them in the water and they worked great, I will be putting the Primes up for sale.

 

Interested to see what the rechargeable battery pack is like, but I try to minimize lithiums so unless there is a compelling upside, I may not switch.

 

Do your phone and laptop and focus light run on AA batteries? No? So, what's the problem?

 

Just buy Quality chargers and li-on batteries and don't worry about it. I think in a few more years there won't be any more AA driven strobes. They are just not competitive anymore on features or performance. Even Retra created an ugly hack with their SuperCharger, but are now replacing that with a Li-on pack.

[TimG]

My focus light uses AAs (an Inon) and I chose it for that reason; and I dont travel with a laptop…. 😝

 

Chargers are great if you only needed one. But unless you can find things that are, say, USB-C compatible, you end up traveling with a bag full of chargers, cables and plugs. I’ve actually worked quite hard to minimise all of that. Then I can get a spare t-shirt into my bag! 

[JohnD]

I don't have a personal problem with lithium, but cannot legally pack them in luggage unless installed, so sometimes a minor hassle to carry.  I fly to dive.   I do end up with several lithiums anyway, but using the superchargers and eneloop pros I can get through quite a few shots before needing a change.  I guess its kind of a "don't fix it if it isn't broken thing."  That said, I am usually near the front of the line for new toys.

 

On the rechargeable battery side of things, I have managed to get almost everything to USB-C and that makes things simpler.

 

I am looking forward to seeing the lithium pack and evaluating if it is something I "need."

 

[RomiK]

1.Could somebody with the new bigger bodies Retra Max measure their negative buoyancy with batteries? My previous generation Retra Pro X with supercharger and bumpers and wet neopren cover show around negative 260g. Thanks!

 

2. It's going to be interesting to observe the real life performance of the Li-ion battery pack. During a research for NiMH batteries I run across several articles stating that NiMH are better for strobes because the recharge time is shorter. So while Li-Ion are better for constant power devices the NiMH are supposedly better for Discharge and Charge devices which are originally designed for Alcaline or NiMH power sources. Off course the battery pack could be designed with some more circuitry a balancing intermediaries so we shall see. Here is empiric test using standard dumb Li Ion vs NiMh on strobes.