1 hour ago, waso said:

Btw: has anyone used the Retra in TTL mode with Canon mirrorless yet?

Came here to ask the same question. Currently shooting with Panasonic GH7 and Inon Z240/Keldan 4 series, and I'm really interested in simplifying with a hybrid strobe. The options are the HF-1 or the Maxi, and I'm leaning towards the maxi but I'd love to hear some TTL experience since that's how I generally shoot.

In a few days I am leaving for a three-week trip to Raja Ampat. Nine days at Misool Eco resort, then 9 more days on the Emperor Harmoni liveaboard. I've only been shooting the Maxi's in darker cold water with limited visibility. Using them in bright clear conditions should add some additional perspective and the high dive count will be a good measure of their reliability and battery capacity.

I'm doing my packing for a trip today and considering what to bring along. My current planned camera loadout is looking like this:

• Nauticam Z8 system

• 2 Retra Maxi Strobes

• 1 Backscatter Atom Strobe with adapted OS-1 snoot

• 1 Backscatter MF-2 as an additional backup strobe

• Nikon Z105mm macro lens w/MFO-1

• Nikon Z24-50mm w/WWL-C

• Nikon AF-S 8-15mm w/140mm dome

• Macro setup with the Atom + Snoot for primary, Maxi with macro rings for secondary

• Wide angle setup with the two Maxi's, optional reduction rings & filters

I've shot the HF-1s lots of times in these conditions, so I won't bring them on the trip.

19 hours ago, Adventurer said:

Chris, no, please stop rehearsing this wrong and changing what was previously articulated correctly.

Two persons who reviewed the Apollo have written in their review that they considered „some sort of settings“ to be better to conduct their review - for some unknown reasons to the public. In these settings the Apollo is not allowed to out-perform the competing products. This is why they were able to win, not because of altered batteries or other reasons etc.

@Adventurer again people have been posting their test results to the forum using their own strobes and a supplier provided strobe in the case of the maxi and taking a lot of time to test and compile results to benefit the forum participants. You however again imply an ulterior motive as the reason your strobe doesn't win. As far as I can see the reviewers have detailed what their methodology has been and reasons behind it.

Please if you disagree with results or methods don't accuse (or imply) people of having ulterior motives, rather address the issue you have with their methodology, why you disagree with the methodology and what you suggest they should do instead and why. You can also agree to disagree. Implying ulterior motives is a form of ad hominem response and we discourage that on the forum. We are all for vigorous discussion about the subject being discussed as long as it is directed to the subject not the forum member.

As far as my question , I believe it a statistical possibility that can't be resolved with the samples at your disposal. You can only draw conclusions based upon the strobes you actually have available to you.

As far as a fair way to compare - my thought is that determining the max power level at which the strobe can rapid fire without dimming or dropping frames at a given frame rate (10 frames/sec , 5, 3 whatever the reviewer chooses) and comparing the light output when firing at that rate makes the most sense. The strobe with the highest light on the subject under those conditions wins. Any tests with dimming and/or frame dropping just makes a lottery of whether your shot is exposed correctly or not.

12 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

In a few days I am leaving for a three-week trip to Raja Ampat. Nine days at Misool Eco resort, then 9 more days on the Emperor Harmoni liveaboard. I've only been shooting the Maxi's in darker cold water with limited visibility. Using them in bright clear conditions should add some additional perspective and the high dive count will be a good measure of their reliability and battery capacity.

I'm doing my packing for a trip today and considering what to bring along. My current planned camera loadout is looking like this:

• Nauticam Z8 system

• 2 Retra Maxi Strobes

• 1 Backscatter Atom Strobe with adapted OS-1 snoot

• 1 Backscatter MF-2 as an additional backup strobe

• Nikon Z105mm macro lens w/MFO-1

• Nikon Z24-50mm w/WWL-C

• Nikon AF-S 8-15mm w/140mm dome

• Macro setup with the Atom + Snoot for primary, Maxi with macro rings for secondary

• Wide angle setup with the two Maxi's, optional reduction rings & filters

I've shot the HF-1s lots of times in these conditions, so I won't bring them on the trip.

Dave, we were on Harmoni last year. Brilliant! Best liveaboard we’ve done.