Flying back to the US from Singapore after spending a week in Lembeh (Lembeh Resort). My son shot with 2 (Backscatter) Atom Flash strobes (I was shooting with my Retra Flash Pro Max strobes) - after a week of changing batteries, etc. I've warmed up to the idea that I might look at the Atom Flash strobes for macro work. Don't get me wrong, the Retras are great strobes, but dealing with two batteries (vs 8) has some significant appeal (even when considering the different chemistry).

I've had Retras now going back 3 generations, and I still love their strobes. However, the Atom Flash feels solid, performed really well, and made wirelessly connecting to an (off camera) Mini Flash very easy (and easy to control).

The good news is that my son heads back to college in the fall, so I can "borrow" his strobes for any trips later in the year. We'll see what Retra announces next as well.

MY daughter shoots (w/a) with HF-1's, my son is now shooting (macro) with the Atom Flash - I feel like there's a message in here somewhere that I'm not picking up ;)

8 hours ago, OneYellowTang said:

Flying back to the US from Singapore after spending a week in Lembeh (Lembeh Resort). My son shot with 2 (Backscatter) Atom Flash strobes (I was shooting with my Retra Flash Pro Max strobes) - after a week of changing batteries, etc. I've warmed up to the idea that I might look at the Atom Flash strobes for macro work. Don't get me wrong, the Retras are great strobes, but dealing with two batteries (vs 8) has some significant appeal (even when considering the different chemistry).

I've had Retras now going back 3 generations, and I still love their strobes. However, the Atom Flash feels solid, performed really well, and made wirelessly connecting to an (off camera) Mini Flash very easy (and easy to control).

The good news is that my son heads back to college in the fall, so I can "borrow" his strobes for any trips later in the year. We'll see what Retra announces next as well.

MY daughter shoots (w/a) with HF-1's, my son is now shooting (macro) with the Atom Flash - I feel like there's a message in here somewhere that I'm not picking up ;)

Maybe the message is that you need new Retra Maxi strobes?

The problem for me with the HF-1 is are two fold. They are very negative in the water, enough so that my clamps have to be overly tight to prevent the strobes from not falling down. Second, they have proprietary (RC) TTL that only works with the TG series cameras and I guess the OM1? May work with some Sony cameras but uses a proprietary trigger that will not fit in my housing which already has a UWT trigger. Backscatter could not have told their China box factory to add a universal TTL mode? Does not work with my Canon either. Same thing with the Atom. Cannot have a standard TTL mode?

I have now used my new Retra Maxi strobes in the pool on practice subjects and found that the TTL works quite well with both my Canon and Sony. Yes, I mostly shoot in manual strobes mode but having TTL is a solid requirement for me because there are times I want to shoot TTL. And the Maxi is essentially neutral ln the pool and possibly slightly buoyant in salt water. I do not have to tighten my clamps down to support them.

3 hours ago, Nemrod said:

Backscatter could not have told their China box factory to add a universal TTL mode?

I have understood that all Backscatter strobes are made by AOI. But i could be wrong.

3 hours ago, Nemrod said:

Maybe the message is that you need new Retra Maxi strobes?

The problem for me with the HF-1 is are two fold. They are very negative in the water, enough so that my clamps have to be overly tight to prevent the strobes from not falling down. Second, they have proprietary (RC) TTL that only works with the TG series cameras and I guess the OM1? May work with some Sony cameras but uses a proprietary trigger that will not fit in my housing which already has a UWT trigger. Backscatter could not have told their China box factory to add a universal TTL mode? Does not work with my Canon either. Same thing with the Atom. Cannot have a standard TTL mode?

I have now used my new Retra Maxi strobes in the pool on practice subjects and found that the TTL works quite well with both my Canon and Sony. Yes, I mostly shoot in manual strobes mode but having TTL is a solid requirement for me because there are times I want to shoot TTL. And the Maxi is essentially neutral ln the pool and possibly slightly buoyant in salt water. I do not have to tighten my clamps down to support them.

I was looking at the Maxi's for an upcoming trip to Galapagos, but honestly, the HF-1's are likely going to be my answer. Having shot the HF-1's using my TLC arms and clamps I have not noticed the need to overly tighten them in the water. It might be the o-rings on your ball mounts(?)

The TTL thing doesn't bother me at all - I never shoot TTL (although my daughter, shooting a Sony A7RV, used it extensively with a single HF-1 earlier this year with the new trigger - worked flawlessly, easily delivering really good TTL results).

The ability to easily control an off camera Mini Flash was a great benefit shooting macro (and snooting).

I have two HF-1's almost since they came out. At the first dive I was shocked by the torque that the (UW) heavy strobes produced on the rig (Nauticam/Sony A7R5), but coming from Z-330 I was used to place most floats on the inner arms. Since I place more floats on the outer arms no problem any more, everything is fine, no need to overtigthen the clamps...

I never considered TTL, but I find it useful that with the Backscatter trigger for Sony I can switch to HSS just by switching the flash from "Manual" to "HSS", without any further adjustment on the camera...

Edited 42 minutes ago42 min by Architeuthis