Tales from the YAFS* corner…

(YAFS = Yet Another Fu…. erhm Fabulous Strobe)

BACKSCATTER announced the Atom Flash:

Backscatter.com

Backscatter Atom Flash Underwater Strobe AF-1

Backscatter Atom Flash Underwater Strobe AF-1: With an underwater guide number of ƒ28, the Atom Flash packs serious flash power for its size, lighting everything from the biggest wide-angle scenes to

Edited November 11, 2025Nov 11 by Adventurer

I had the chance to shoot it in Lembeh, last week, while the Backscatter boys were in town. Matthew and I will surely chat about it when I am back.

This is our coverage of Atom flash - not a full review - but some first impressions

The trend these days seems to be to market strobes that require a proprietary TTL trigger. The Backscatter strobes do not have a simple mimic TTL mode. And reading the manual for it and the HF-1 the Backscatter trigger is required for TTL?

My three camera rigs run from the pop up strobe or from a UW Technics board. So the Atom would be manual only I assume though I think the HSS mode would work from the UWT board?

Friends don't let friends TTL. 😉

11 hours ago, Nemrod said:

The trend these days seems to be to market strobes that require a proprietary TTL trigger. The Backscatter strobes do not have a simple mimic TTL mode. And reading the manual for it and the HF-1 the Backscatter trigger is required for TTL?

My three camera rigs run from the pop up strobe or from a UW Technics board. So the Atom would be manual only I assume though I think the HSS mode would work from the UWT board?

Backscatter strobes have proprietary TTL protocol, not a classic TTL. Proprietary TTL protocol requires Backscatter triggers usage, as i remember those triggers exist for Olympus and Sony.

The HSS system in Backscatter strobes is compatible with most of HSS triggers on the market, including UWT triggers of course.

Edited December 1, 2025Dec 1 by Pavel Kolpakov

7 hours ago, Pavel Kolpakov said:

Backscatter strobes have proprietary TTL protocol, not a classic TTL. Proprietary TTL protocol requires Backscatter triggers usage, as i remember those triggers exist for Olympus and Sony.

For what it's worth, AOI also sells Olympus/Sony TTL compatible triggers. For the sony case it might only be integrated into housings, I'm not sure.

On 11/30/2025 at 10:12 PM, Pavel Kolpakov said:

Backscatter strobes have proprietary TTL protocol, not a classic TTL. Proprietary TTL protocol requires Backscatter triggers usage, as i remember those triggers exist for Olympus and Sony.

Yes, that is the problem. I would wish for "classic" or what I am calling mimic TTL mode for the Atom flash that will sync with either the pop up flash or the UWT trigger board when set for TTL operation without a proprietary board that will not work with many existing cameras and housings.

Edited December 2, 2025Dec 2 by Nemrod

On 11/30/2025 at 9:12 PM, Pavel Kolpakov said:

Backscatter strobes have proprietary TTL protocol, not a classic TTL. Proprietary TTL protocol requires Backscatter triggers usage, as i remember those triggers exist for Olympus and Sony.

The HSS system in Backscatter strobes is compatible with most of HSS triggers on the market, including UWT triggers of course.

HSS on my Backscatter HF-1didn’t work with my UWT trigger. I was probably doing something wrong. I’ve since gotten rid of that HF-1, but I may revisit Backscatter’s strobes again in the future.

Unfortunately the Backscatter Sony Trigger won't fit in a Nauticam housing for a 6700, but I know the Turtle TTL Trigger worked with the HF-1, so I'm wondering if it will also work with the Atom, if it did that would be another option.

I use Backscatter HF-1 with HSS and UWtechnics Board, but manual only.

A friend of mine shoots Sony and uses Turtle Smart3 Trigger enabling HSS and TTL on the Backscatter HF-1.

So you are not forced to buy the Backscatter Flash Trigger module to get TTL.

I wonder if the AOI Trigger will also work with the HF-1 enabling TTL and HSS ? 🤔

Ok, I’m lazy. How does this strobe position itself to the HF1?

1 hour ago, Christian K said:

Ok, I’m lazy. How does this strobe position itself to the HF1?

Sorry, too lazy to answer.

3 hours ago, Christian K said:

Ok, I’m lazy. How does this strobe position itself to the HF1?

Well, okay, none of us are expert on this strobe. Per Backscatter it is smaller than the HF-1 considerably and has a UW GN28 which is equivalent to the HF-1 at max power until you set the +1 or +2 settings which I think are GN34 and GN40 respectively.

Per Backscatter and the strobe operator manuals, the Backscatter MF-1/2/3, Atom and HF-1 will only shoot TTL with the Backscatter trigger. If this is not true, explain how this is not the case because I might like to purchase a set but I want to run off my UWT board or the pop up strobe for TTL. Manual of course is no issue with the UWT trigger or the pop up flash but TTL?

On 12/3/2025 at 5:37 PM, Nemrod said:

Per Backscatter and the strobe operator manuals, the Backscatter MF-1/2/3, Atom and HF-1 will only shoot TTL with the Backscatter trigger. If this is not true, explain how this is not the case because I might like to purchase a set but I want to run off my UWT board or the pop up strobe for TTL. Manual of course is no issue with the UWT trigger or the pop up flash but TTL?

My understanding is that this is true; if you want any form of TTL, you need to purchase a Backscatter trigger and use that instead of your UWT. I was interested in this issue as well because although I have not used TTL for quite some time, on a recent macro-only trip I switched to TTL part way through the trip, out of curiosity, and was very impressed with the results, and may start using that mode for future macro and was thinking a single small strobe with snoot would be interesting.

That lack of TTL, if desired, would severely limit the choices in a smaller macro strobe, since there are few of those that offer TTL and accommodate a snoot. If the snoot were not an issue, the Inon S220 would likely be my choice.