Not looking to bash on Retra. Basically I am down to purchasing a set of these. I see the booster pack. I realize that is something I should get in due course but due to the rather expensive nature of this purchase, can I use these strobes without the booster. I am shooting a Sony NA-6400 and a Canon NA-R50. Mostly wide angle and mostly with a WWL.

Can anyone tell me how many shots (they get) in (their) normal shooting without the boosters? I realize there can be a range here but most folks do not shoot at full power or need the fastest recycle for every dive and every shot. What can I typically expect?

How do you think these strobes will handle with a Nauticam APS size housings? Are they huge?

Being as I am known to be fastidious and OCD with my belongings, do these have good resell should I decide I have bought a Rolls Royce strobe set to shoot with my Toyota level systems?

Why do I want these instead of the new Atom or HF-1? Simple, the Backscatter strobes do not have a universal TTL mode and the Retra does. I shoot manual but do want TTL capability and the Backscatter strobes do not support TTL with my systems.

Edited yesterday at 01:57 PM1 day by Nemrod

Hi Nemrod

I’ve been using Retra since 2020. Yes, pricey but I’ve never regretted the purchase for a second. I’ve gone through various iterations and now have the ProMax with the Booster. They are a very neat package and not much larger than the venerable Inon Z220/240. The Booster is especially ergonomically neat and a much better battery change arrangement than the SuperCharger.

On use, I find using an LSD snoot - which I do almost constantly for macro - the Boosters are essential. I often have the power cranked up. I reckon on getting 3 dives - say 400 images - during the day with some power left over with that setup.

I find the Boosters useful if I'm shooting into the sun a lot with wide-angle and using HSS. In those circumstances I often have the power setting pretty high.

However, on bog-standard wide-angle shots, although I have the Booster in situ (why wouldn’t you?), battery life is significantly longer.

No, with APS-C the Retras are not overkill. I’m shooting a Nikon D500.

I’ll happily admit to being a Retra fanboy. An excellent product that delivers power and quality in a manageable package with excellent accessories and terrific customer support.

Consider the Retra Maxi strobe, not the Pro Max. It's brighter, faster, longer battery life, and include excellent video lights. I am not sure who the Pro Max is for, but it is not the best Retra anymore for most people.

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Dave_Hicks

3 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Consider the Retra Maxi strobe, not the Pro Max. It's brighter, faster, longer battery life, and include excellent video lights. I am not sure who the Pro Max is for, but it is not the best Retra anymore for most people.

Dave, isn't the Maxi in a larger case, which is a concern to me because I like to get into tight spaces to shoot morays and critters? Also, isn't it kind of a video combo strobe. Video is something I never do. The Pro Max II is meant for still photogs I thought? Simply zero interest in looking at or shooting videos. But, yes, let me take another look at those, I think they can come without the video light option? Thanks.

Edited 21 hours ago21 hr by Nemrod

41 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

Dave, isn't the Maxi in a larger case, which is a concern to me because I like to get into tight spaces to shoot morays and critters? Also, isn't it kind of a video combo strobe. Video is something I never do. The Pro Max II is meant for still photogs I thought? Simply zero interest in looking at or shooting videos. But, yes, let me take another look at those, I think they can come without the video light option? Thanks.

Yes, the Maxi is bigger but not all that much. About 8mm more in diameter and 27mm longer. Honestly, I can imaging you would notice in active use. And there is no booster to bulk up the Maxi, where the Pro Max all be requires the booster for decent battery life. Yes, video light is optional and will save $200usd. It's a nice to have feature and the strobe has power to spare for the 5000 lumen light.

Seems like if you get the boosters with the strobe there is a deal, $100 more gets you the boosters and two four cell battery chargers. I don't have the Pro max, just the lower power pure model, my current usage is the standard 4 cell configuration for local diving - go out for a single long dive locally and use the boosters when I'm on a trip. Cheaper than buying them later on.

A few thoughts:

I think the Retra products are great. The strobes are not the smallest but not overly huge. I don't think the Maxis are larger in diameter than the Pro Max, as I can use the same diffusers and macro rings on both of them. The Maxis are about as large as the Pro Max with boosters on the Pro Max, but the Pro Max are shorter than the Maxis if not using the boosters.

I don't like the Maxis much for wide angle unless I use a dome diffuser, mostly because the color temp is not as nice, but the pro max are fine without. With diffusers, the Maxis are fine for wide angle and good for macro without needing diffusers, and a good price. I got those because I want to experiment a bit with some video and did not want to get dedicated video lights.

I can't say how many shots I get with the Pro Max, but they easily get me through 2-3 dives and would probably go at least one more. With boosters on, I have gone six dives without a battery change, but I shoot fewer pictures on each dive than a lot of people seem to. Extensive snooting or or full power would probably not allow that many dives.

Generally, when I charge the batteries, they seem to only be about 50-60% discharged. I have a trip in the Caribbean in a few weeks and am not going to take the boosters as I will only be doing 2-3 dives a day and don't expect to be running the strobes very hard.

Note that ordering from Retra to the USA means using DHL shipping and when I got my Pro Max strobes, DHL hit me with something like $300 in customs duties and related fees, that I believe was a dramatic overcharge, so when I bought my Maxis, I bought them from Reef Photo. The Pro Max II are just too expensive for me to justify.

I have lights and strobes using lithium batteries, including the Maxis, and there are benefits to these, but I also see a distinct benefit in using AA batteries. Airlines are beginning to crack down on lithiums, including not allowing them in overhead compartments and limiting the number carried, and these restrictions may increase. Resorts and liveaboards are placing restrictions on charging lithiums other than in locations and at times when they can be monitored. Strobes with AA batteries don't have those issues.

Self promotion: I have a pair of very clean and lightly used Prime strobes with boosters I have been thinking I should sell, but have not gotten around to it. Let me know if interested and I can figure out a price.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by JohnD
Additional thought

What is the watt/sec for the Maxi? Retra gives that strobe GN and the Pro Max in watt/sec!

Do they have similar coverage for WA?

49 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

What is the watt/sec for the Maxi? Retra gives that strobe GN and the Pro Max in watt/sec!

Do they have similar coverage for WA?

The Maxi is more powerful than the Pro Max II and has similar coverage. It is a colder light and benefits from a warming filter or diffuser.

3 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

The Maxi is more powerful than the Pro Max II and has similar coverage. It is a colder light and benefits from a warming filter or diffuser.

I cannot see that it has a focus light like the ProMax does? Can the video light be set to shut off when the strobe fires?

5 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

I cannot see that it has a focus light like the ProMax does? Can the video light be set to shut off when the strobe fires?

It does have a focus light, and the accessory LSD snoot uses it. High and Low settings where high is 400 lumens. It blinks off when firing the strobe.

The optional 6000-lumen video light is a separate mode and can't fire the flash in that setting. The power level dial can lower the intensity in 16 levels.

Well, dang, what to do, what to do----.

Looks like either has enough power to boil water or fry fish. Just the case size bugs me for the Maxi but I suppose I am just fixating as I oft do.

9 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

Well, dang, what to do, what to do----.

Looks like either has enough power to boil water or fry fish. Just the case size bugs me for the Maxi but I suppose I am just fixating as I oft do.

The lower price of the Maxi should ease some of the analysis paralysis. It's 8mm wider, not a significant difference at the end of the day. If you add in the 16 or even 32 AA batteries you need to carry for the Max Pro II strobes, you come out way ahead for the Maxis in the packing size and weight comparison.

I pack four 21700 cells for a pair of Maxi (or HF-1) strobes, and two more 21700's for my focus light. The focus light is good for two dives, so it gets swapped more often. The strobes will be good for at least two days of diving at 500 shots/day with capacity to spare. A single 4-cell charger will take care of everything.