3 hours ago, ChipBPhoto said:

Hey @CCRphoto - I'm a long time Nauticam user with several Sony FF models over the years. I just helped a buddy set up a OM-1 in a Nauticam rig and I have to say it is pretty incredible.

First, the size. While I enjoy using mine in the water, the smaller size of his rig is much more manageable on and off the boat. Yes, adding the strobes brings on additional bulk, but it feels more comfortable in use.

My buddy is interested in an all purpose zoom solution so we opted for the 12-50 and the WWL-C. Again, very small overall. The WWL adds nice corner-to-corner sharpness, even at more open apertures with a 130 degree FoV at the wide end. I compare his images to mine using the Sony and WACP and they are very similar in quality.

Nauticam has become the more premium priced housing, but the durability and support warrant the investment.

In all, I agree with those above in saying the OM-1 would be a solid option.

Enjoy!

chip

At this stage the OM-1 is still favourite for the smaller size and portability, I will take a look at the Nikon Z5 II etc, but the OM-1 + 90mm macro has some appeal to this old supermacro nerd. What strobes did your buddy set his rig up with?

3 hours ago, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

Europe and Australia recently struck a trade deal making almost all import/export tarrif free. Especially strobes and accessories (tarrif codes 9006.61 and 9006.99) are now free of any tarrif charges except local GST which currently sits at 10% making the final price even more affordable than in Europe where average VAT rate is around 22%.

Shipping is fast too, 2-3 working days to most locations from EU to AU. Repairs are rarely required but in case something brakes the turnaround would be 2 weeks from pickup to delivery. The same team that designs and produces the strobe will also service/repair it to guarantee the highest quality.

Europe's 22% VAT is insane - makes everything so crazy expensive when visiting there.

I will take a look at Retra's, the Retra Pro Max II and Backscatter HF-1 each have their own pluses and minuses, I will have to spend a bit of time researching each and then making a decision.

6 minutes ago, CCRphoto said:

At this stage the OM-1 is still favourite for the smaller size and portability, I will take a look at the Nikon Z5 II etc, but the OM-1 + 90mm macro has some appeal to this old supermacro nerd. What strobes did your buddy set his rig up with?

He bought my Inon Z-330 v2 strobes. They work well, but not HSS. Not a need for him.

I am using the Backscatter HF-1 for wide and MF-2 (now MF-3) for macro. Both are great.

The Retras are always a very solid choice due to the circular flash tube. If I did not already have the HF-1s I would grab a pair of the new Retra Maxis and add a warming diffuser as needed. The high capacity batteries, overall power and built in video lights are attractive, especially considering they are not super negative.

Edited August 1Aug 1 by ChipBPhoto

1 minute ago, CCRphoto said:

I will take a look at Retra's, the Retra Pro Max II and Backscatter HF-1 each have their own pluses and minuses, I will have to spend a bit of time researching each and then making a decision.

If you are looking at HF-1s then the comparable Retra strobe is the Maxi, not the Pro Max II. I just went through all of this and the winner was the Maxi. Powerful, tremendous range from lowest to highest power, useful video lights if into that and a great focus light. Can shoot a week, hardly an exaggeration, fast recycle and despite being on the larger side are neutral or even positive in the water. I am keeping my Inon S220 strobes for backup. I have used quite a few different types of strobes.

I had, I thought an issue with one of my new Retra Maxi. I sent an email to Retra, they answered within an hour with a solution. Turns out the newest software was corrupted on some loads and they set it up for me to revert both strobes back to an earlier software. Problem solved, perfect! I do not think there is any other strobe company that gives you friendly and personal support. Same with Nauticam, while you may not get answers to emails often, there is just huge support, parts and service available for what has become the premium brand.

One thing, for an OM based system, I might would go with the Backscatter Atom. A little smaller than the HF-1, still quite powerful, cheaper and supports OM Systems RC control for TTL. The Retras have standard, universal mimic TTL which works fine IMO.

I was concerned about the size of the Retra Maxi when I first began looking at a new strobe. The HF-1 support only for OM Systems RC TTL turned me off to the Backscatter products pronto. It really turns out, in actual use, the Retra Maxi is just not that big. In fact, it maneuvers well in the water due to being neutral, the lithium batteries shoot and shoot and shoot, and my systems still fit into my Sam's Club Members Mark insulated bag ($8) like it was made for them. Nothing I have encountered with my Maxi strobes thus far changes my opinion of them, they are quite amazing.

For the HF-1 or Atom, you may need 3D printed float collars or an additional float arm. With the Maxi strobes I was able to remove my outer float arms and use bare arms instead due to their buoyant nature. This, even compared to the diminutive S220 strobes.

Edited August 1Aug 1 by Nemrod

Last year I went from an EM1ii (m43) to an A7RIII (FF) and looking back I regret it somewhat. Although it was fairly cost neutral being both somewhat older systems the money would have been better spent on getting a Canon 8-15 and required accessories, since I'm now spending that anyway but likely with the Sony 2x TC and required extension on top.

2 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

The Nikon could be an interesting option - a lot will depend on timing, at the moment I'm not sure whether it is going to take another two weeks for the shares that I am going to be selling to hit their peak - or is it going to take another 3-4 months until after the next set of quarterly financials are released... very hard to tell but they jumped 19% on Friday after the April-June quarterly report was released on Friday morning, and should go up another 100-125% from here now that they have proven that they can mine and process the copper consistently and successfully. Its a very good time to be owning shares in a copper miner.

Expectedly, you will need a lot of shares of the coppermine... 😄

Seriously talking, I would go second hand in your case (it will need monthes until the new models will become available, if this will ever happen). It is just important to decide now into which system to go (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony; MFT, APS-C, FF), then later you can upgrade with intermediate expense (just 10% of a coppermine (estimated))...

CCRphoto:

I am currently using a full frame Nikon underwater but have begun experimenting with going back to micro four thirds (MFT) for travel weight and size reasons.  I previously used MFT for several years and would add the following for consideration:

I use nauticam housings, so the choices are based on that.  For macro, the Oly 60mm and Panasonic 45mm are excellent. I have not used the 90mm lens and doubt I will do so.

For extreme wide angle and CFWA, I like the the Oly 8mm fisheye in a 100mm Zen or 140 Nauticam dome port, or second choice, Panasonic 8mm in the same ports.  The 12mm Oly is also good for a rectilinear choice

Alternatively, a 14-42 or 12-32 lens behind a WWL or WWL-C works well.  I found the Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II ASPH MEGA OIS LUMIX G Vario to be the best 14-42 with the WWL, compared to the other 14-42 options from Panasonic and Olympus.  I don’t care for the zoom operation of the EZ and PZ lenses.  You may feel different about that.  The 12-32 lens works well behind the WWL-C and many above water tests suggest it is a sharper lens than the 14-42 lenses.  While none of those kit lenses are what I would choose on land, they work well in the water with the WWL and WWL-C. The other lens I enjoyed was the 12-40 behind a 180mm dome, but decided the weight and size of that option defeated the purpose of using micro four thirds stuff.

At various times I experimented with the 12-50, 7-14, and some other lenses, but finally settled on those I list above as all I really needed and the 8mm with dome port or WWL are alternatives on any dive trip, depending on destination and goal.  I would not take both of those.  I supplement with various wet lenses like the CMC, MFO, etc.

I am unsure whether I will go back to MFT, as I am happier with the results of APS-C and full frame, but that is probably a personal skill issue, not a hardware issue.  Generally, I feel APS-C is the sweet spot, and if Nikon does decide to produce a D500 replacement Z camera, that is something I would be very interested in. So far, it seems that camera companies have been withholding some of the best tech from their crop sensor cameras and offering limited lens choices. 

I hope that whatever you choose, it brings you many hours of enjoyment.

Oh, I also recommend the Retra strobes or if you want something smaller, look at the Atom.

 

 

While I don't think that you will go wrong with the OM-1, I am using a Panasonic Lumix GH7 with an external monitor and love it. I mostly shoot the Olympus 60 mm macro lens that was mentioned and it is my favorite lens. However, I shoot video exclusively so my use case will be a little different than yours.

OM System/ Olympus is really great if you want a true fisheye and intend to use the excellent 60mm macro and are not much interested in video. If a zoomable fisheye, or 90mm macro is the goal it looses some advantage, such as size. It could be argued that lens options for a Nauticam wet lens or conversion ports are better with other brands, as is mixed photo/video capability

Things to consider...

You mentioned supermacro ... the newer Sony 100mm and Canon RF 100mm macro lenses go to 1.4x magnification and high resolution cameras like the Sony A7rV are good for cropping images for extra magnification. Yes the OM 90mm can go to 2x but I can't see a difference between this and the Sony A7rv cropped to smaller size frame. The OM System cameras are great for in camera features like focus stacking but I haven't seen anything to suggest that works well underwater.

If compactness is important the Nikon full frame looks a good option for the smaller WWL-1C and the Nikon Z5ii + 24-50mm lens in a Nauticam housing looks interesting.

As has been mentioned, options for good small APS-C specific macro lenses are limited, (not such a big deal if you are satisfied with wet close-up lenses).

The image below shows the minor size difference is between Sony A7Rv/A7v, Nikon Z5ii, Canon APS-C R7, and micro four thirds OM 1 ii if you have the same focal length, but also the small size if the Olympus 60mm macro.

I would say for underwater use there is not a major difference in image quality or even real world autofocus use between most of these cameras except if you want low ambient light which favours the bigger sensor. I suggest choice is more dependent upon (i) what is available used (ii) if you want a fisheye or are are happy with 130 degrees for wide angle (iii) how serious you are about macro.

From left to right: Sony A7Rv+90mm, Nikon Z5ii+105mm, Canon R7+100mm, OM1+90mm, OM1+60mm

Edited August 1Aug 1 by John E

21 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

I think that I am fairly sold on the OM-1 now, will take a look at Nauticam & Isotta housings if I get to the GoDiving show in Sydney in a month or so. Good to know that battery life of the OM-1 will meet my needs!

I've got to do some research on Strobes. What are you using and how have you found them to be?

I'm currently using Retra strobes, I have the reduction rings and they have great light. I can get 3 Sydney dives out of a set of Eneloop batteries. The reduction rings make backscatter control so much easier compared to my previous Z240 strobes. The INON Z240 were very reliable for me though, you could add a neoprene sleeve to act like a reduction ring to them or any other strobe. The Z240s are still sitting around, but I can't see me using them again.

20 hours ago, ChipBPhoto said:

He bought my Inon Z-330 v2 strobes. They work well, but not HSS. Not a need for him.

I am using the Backscatter HF-1 for wide and MF-2 (now MF-3) for macro. Both are great.

The Retras are always a very solid choice due to the circular flash tube. If I did not already have the HF-1s I would grab a pair of the new Retra Maxis and add a warming diffuser as needed. The high capacity batteries, overall power and built in video lights are attractive, especially considering they are not super negative.

Interesting! Agree that the Maxis look better option now that I have found them!

20 hours ago, Nemrod said:

If you are looking at HF-1s then the comparable Retra strobe is the Maxi, not the Pro Max II. I just went through all of this and the winner was the Maxi. Powerful, tremendous range from lowest to highest power, useful video lights if into that and a great focus light. Can shoot a week, hardly an exaggeration, fast recycle and despite being on the larger side are neutral or even positive in the water. I am keeping my Inon S220 strobes for backup. I have used quite a few different types of strobes.

I had, I thought an issue with one of my new Retra Maxi. I sent an email to Retra, they answered within an hour with a solution. Turns out the newest software was corrupted on some loads and they set it up for me to revert both strobes back to an earlier software. Problem solved, perfect! I do not think there is any other strobe company that gives you friendly and personal support. Same with Nauticam, while you may not get answers to emails often, there is just huge support, parts and service available for what has become the premium brand.

One thing, for an OM based system, I might would go with the Backscatter Atom. A little smaller than the HF-1, still quite powerful, cheaper and supports OM Systems RC control for TTL. The Retras have standard, universal mimic TTL which works fine IMO.

I was concerned about the size of the Retra Maxi when I first began looking at a new strobe. The HF-1 support only for OM Systems RC TTL turned me off to the Backscatter products pronto. It really turns out, in actual use, the Retra Maxi is just not that big. In fact, it maneuvers well in the water due to being neutral, the lithium batteries shoot and shoot and shoot, and my systems still fit into my Sam's Club Members Mark insulated bag ($8) like it was made for them. Nothing I have encountered with my Maxi strobes thus far changes my opinion of them, they are quite amazing.

For the HF-1 or Atom, you may need 3D printed float collars or an additional float arm. With the Maxi strobes I was able to remove my outer float arms and use bare arms instead due to their buoyant nature. This, even compared to the diminutive S220 strobes.

I think that I am becoming convinced about the Maxis, the problem that I had was that for some weird reason, when you click on the Retra Flash tab on the Retra website it goes to a page with massive amounts of information that goes on and on about the Retra Pro Max II - and there is no mention at all of the Maxis - the only way anyone finds out about the Maxis is to go to the Shop and find them there and then click on them and it takes you to a page for the Maxis - anyone who doesn't go to the Shop would be left thinking that the only strobe Retra make is the Pro Max II, and they are out of the price range of most people.

So I'm glad that you guys pointed out the Maxis! Even if the Pro Max II was affordable the oodles of AA batteries needed was an instant turn off - airlines allow you to carry 20 lithium batteries and if 16 were needed for a pair of strobes, a couple of camera batteries, two batteries for the rebreather, a battery or two for the monitor - and I'm over the 20 battery limit!

I will do some more reading on the Maxis but they are more or less favourite now.

18 hours ago, Grantmac said:

Last year I went from an EM1ii (m43) to an A7RIII (FF) and looking back I regret it somewhat. Although it was fairly cost neutral being both somewhat older systems the money would have been better spent on getting a Canon 8-15 and required accessories, since I'm now spending that anyway but likely with the Sony 2x TC and required extension on top.

I do a fair bit of shore diving and so I'm not sure that I want to go to a FF-sized system for that reason if an m43 will do the job perfectly well.

18 hours ago, Architeuthis said:

Expectedly, you will need a lot of shares of the coppermine... 😄

Seriously talking, I would go second hand in your case (it will need monthes until the new models will become available, if this will ever happen). It is just important to decide now into which system to go (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony; MFT, APS-C, FF), then later you can upgrade with intermediate expense (just 10% of a coppermine (estimated))...

LOL!!

I'm a top 20 shareholder, it has taken longer than expected for this project to produce the fruit as the filter press that they installed when building the processing plant turned out to be a complete piece of crap, they spent a lot of money to get a good one from a well known & reputable Italian manufacturer and the problems only became apparent when commissioning the process plant, so they were only operating at about 45% capacity for more than a year while a new one was made by a Chinese manufacturer - that one is operating reliably and doing so at a rate that is higher than its rated capacity - China for the win - wasn't expecting that compared to a long established Italian manufacturer but anyway...

I don't want to spend all of my winnings on underwater photography gear, so If I could obtain a secondhand Nauticam OM-1 housing I would happily go that route, however secondhand ones seem rarer than rocking horse dung at the moment - it seems that everyone is quite happy with their setup.

14 hours ago, JohnD said:

CCRphoto:

I am currently using a full frame Nikon underwater but have begun experimenting with going back to micro four thirds (MFT) for travel weight and size reasons.  I previously used MFT for several years and would add the following for consideration:

I use nauticam housings, so the choices are based on that.  For macro, the Oly 60mm and Panasonic 45mm are excellent. I have not used the 90mm lens and doubt I will do so.

For extreme wide angle and CFWA, I like the the Oly 8mm fisheye in a 100mm Zen or 140 Nauticam dome port, or second choice, Panasonic 8mm in the same ports.  The 12mm Oly is also good for a rectilinear choice

Alternatively, a 14-42 or 12-32 lens behind a WWL or WWL-C works well.  I found the Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II ASPH MEGA OIS LUMIX G Vario to be the best 14-42 with the WWL, compared to the other 14-42 options from Panasonic and Olympus.  I don’t care for the zoom operation of the EZ and PZ lenses.  You may feel different about that.  The 12-32 lens works well behind the WWL-C and many above water tests suggest it is a sharper lens than the 14-42 lenses.  While none of those kit lenses are what I would choose on land, they work well in the water with the WWL and WWL-C. The other lens I enjoyed was the 12-40 behind a 180mm dome, but decided the weight and size of that option defeated the purpose of using micro four thirds stuff.

At various times I experimented with the 12-50, 7-14, and some other lenses, but finally settled on those I list above as all I really needed and the 8mm with dome port or WWL are alternatives on any dive trip, depending on destination and goal.  I would not take both of those.  I supplement with various wet lenses like the CMC, MFO, etc.

I am unsure whether I will go back to MFT, as I am happier with the results of APS-C and full frame, but that is probably a personal skill issue, not a hardware issue.  Generally, I feel APS-C is the sweet spot, and if Nikon does decide to produce a D500 replacement Z camera, that is something I would be very interested in. So far, it seems that camera companies have been withholding some of the best tech from their crop sensor cameras and offering limited lens choices. 

I hope that whatever you choose, it brings you many hours of enjoyment.

Oh, I also recommend the Retra strobes or if you want something smaller, look at the Atom.

 

 

Many thanks for that very comprehensive post - I have made a lot of updates to my lens spreadsheet according!

Agree that a 180mm dome kind of defeats the purpose of M43 - and I used to find that domes that were considerably bigger than the housing had a tendency to pick up scratches or otherwise get damaged far more often.

Coming straight from 35mm slides 30 years ago I really don't know much about the sensors yet, the 7D that I was originally looking at was APS-C about 18mp, the OM-1 MkII is 20mp, I really don't know if there are APS-C cameras now that have more megapixels. Apparently 20mp is roughly equivalent to the slide films I used years ago - but without the chemicals smells when you process it.

Cheers for another recommendation for the Retra's - seems like the way to go!

14 hours ago, SwiftFF5 said:

While I don't think that you will go wrong with the OM-1, I am using a Panasonic Lumix GH7 with an external monitor and love it. I mostly shoot the Olympus 60 mm macro lens that was mentioned and it is my favorite lens. However, I shoot video exclusively so my use case will be a little different than yours.

I think that a monitor is definitely the way to go.

BTW I saw your signature - have you heard anything about that training fatality in S.C.?

13 hours ago, John E said:

OM System/ Olympus is really great if you want a true fisheye and intend to use the excellent 60mm macro and are not much interested in video. If a zoomable fisheye, or 90mm macro is the goal it looses some advantage, such as size. It could be argued that lens options for a Nauticam wet lens or conversion ports are better with other brands, as is mixed photo/video capability

Things to consider...

You mentioned supermacro ... the newer Sony 100mm and Canon RF 100mm macro lenses go to 1.4x magnification and high resolution cameras like the Sony A7rV are good for cropping images for extra magnification. Yes the OM 90mm can go to 2x but I can't see a difference between this and the Sony A7rv cropped to smaller size frame. The OM System cameras are great for in camera features like focus stacking but I haven't seen anything to suggest that works well underwater.

If compactness is important the Nikon full frame looks a good option for the smaller WWL-1C and the Nikon Z5ii + 24-50mm lens in a Nauticam housing looks interesting.

As has been mentioned, options for good small APS-C specific macro lenses are limited, (not such a big deal if you are satisfied with wet close-up lenses).

The image below shows the minor size difference is between Sony A7Rv/A7v, Nikon Z5ii, Canon APS-C R7, and micro four thirds OM 1 ii if you have the same focal length, but also the small size if the Olympus 60mm macro.

I would say for underwater use there is not a major difference in image quality or even real world autofocus use between most of these cameras except if you want low ambient light which favours the bigger sensor. I suggest choice is more dependent upon (i) what is available used (ii) if you want a fisheye or are are happy with 130 degrees for wide angle (iii) how serious you are about macro.

From left to right: Sony A7Rv+90mm, Nikon Z5ii+105mm, Canon R7+100mm, OM1+90mm, OM1+60mm

I think that I will run both the 60 macro and the 90 as well - for two very different purposes. Agree that the 90 is somewhat offsetting the benefits of a M43 system a little, but it will be much nicer to use than the 180mm macro that I had years ago! The local waters really suit macro more than fisheye or wide angle, and I think that I may skip the fisheye altogether and probably go for the 12mm rectlinier as that would probably be preferable to a fisheye for underwater archaeology work.

I'm really not into video, years ago when I was working on liveaboards I was basically forced to make a video of the trip to sell to the punters at the end of the trip - company policy, and of course you had to get a short piece of every person on the trip diving and after 18 months of punters giving me a cheesy wave and then having to create a video out of it I was done with video! It was back in the VHS tape days and there were no real editing facilities - just two tape machines.

That is a very interesting comparison for the various cameras - cheers! It certainly looks like the Oly 60mm makes a nice small package to use!

I guess if guys like TimG and Chris have been happy to come down to the OM-1 MkII then it should be plenty good enough for me given that I have never used digital before.

13 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

I'm currently using Retra strobes, I have the reduction rings and they have great light. I can get 3 Sydney dives out of a set of Eneloop batteries. The reduction rings make backscatter control so much easier compared to my previous Z240 strobes. The INON Z240 were very reliable for me though, you could add a neoprene sleeve to act like a reduction ring to them or any other strobe. The Z240s are still sitting around, but I can't see me using them again.

Which Retra's have you got?

44 minutes ago, CCRphoto said:

Many thanks for that very comprehensive post - I have made a lot of updates to my lens spreadsheet according!

Agree that a 180mm dome kind of defeats the purpose of M43 - and I used to find that domes that were considerably bigger than the housing had a tendency to pick up scratches or otherwise get damaged far more often.

Coming straight from 35mm slides 30 years ago I really don't know much about the sensors yet, the 7D that I was originally looking at was APS-C about 18mp, the OM-1 MkII is 20mp, I really don't know if there are APS-C cameras now that have more megapixels. Apparently 20mp is roughly equivalent to the slide films I used years ago - but without the chemicals smells when you process it.

Cheers for another recommendation for the Retra's - seems like the way to go!

Roughly about sensors, the bigger they are and the lesser the MP count is, you get cleaner (less noise) files in higher ISO:s. And the bigger sensor, the more dynamic range. As a rule of thumb. So for bigger lowlight scenes where you'd might want to bump your ISO up, a bigger sensor will deliver cleaner images. I would also, if I were you coming from the SLR days, pay some attention to autofocus performance, especially if you go mirrorless. Even some newer models lack a little and you'd might experience them as sluggish. Go to a camera store or some photo fair and try. Read tests and get a sense for how they stack up. Good luck. And it is expensive, but you already knew that.

Edited August 2Aug 2 by Christian K

18 minutes ago, CCRphoto said:

Which Retra's have you got?

If he is using Eneloops he has a Pro Max of some flavor. The Pro Max uses four AA batteries and a battery booster holding another four AA batteries for a total of eight AA batteries per strobe. The Retra Maxi uses two lithium ion cells and does not require an add on booster.

I agree the Retra website is a little weird, I guess they are too busy building strobes to fix the website. They certainly could use a little more information to distinguish between the two products, the Pro Max II and the Maxi. They also need to introduce a set of bumpers. But no worries there because @Dave_Hicks has us Maxi users covered for bumpers and even some accessory knobs.

Edited August 2Aug 2 by Nemrod

36 minutes ago, Christian K said:

Roughly about sensors, the bigger they are and the lesser the MP count is, you get cleaner (less noise) files in higher ISO:s. And the bigger sensor, the more dynamic range. As a rule of thumb. So for bigger lowlight scenes where you'd might want to bump your ISO up, a bigger sensor will deliver cleaner images. I would also, if I were you coming from the SLR days, pay some attention to autofocus performance, especially if you go mirrorless. Even some newer models lack a little and you'd might experience them as sluggish. Go to a camera store or some photo fair and try. Read tests and get a sense for how they stack up. Good luck. And it is expensive, but you already knew that.

Many thanks for that explanation, it helps me quite a bit. Sounds like I need to do a bit more reading on it all to get my head around it.

Your comments about autofocus are interesting, unfortunately I live in a part of the world where there isn't a camera store of any sort - not a whole lot else such as a dive store either! Kind of have to do a lot of research on the internet for most things and then order them online - you get used to it, and become good at swearing too! I might throw this to @TimG for his thoughts on the OM-1 MkII's autofocus?

My last camera was the mighty Nikon F4 - which if memory serves me right was Nikon's first ever autofocus camera! How times have changed!

The cost of getting into scuba diving is a barrier to entry, and the cost of the gear is certainly a barrier to entry into underwater photography - unless someone goes the TG-7 route.

47 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

If he is using Eneloops he has a Pro Max of some flavor. The Pro Max uses four AA batteries and a battery booster holding another four AA batteries for a total of eight AA batteries per strobe. The Retra Maxi uses two lithium ion cells and does not require an add on booster.

I agree the Retra website is a little weird, I guess they are too busy building strobes to fix the website. They certainly could use a little more information to distinguish between the two products, the Pro Max II and the Maxi. They also need to introduce a set of bumpers. But no worries there because @Dave_Hicks has us Maxi users covered for bumpers and even some accessory knobs.

OK cheers - I really wouldn't consider strobes using a big bunch of AA's - I think that the world has moved on from there...

The Retra website certainly needs a tidy up so that users find the information about the Maxis where you would normally expect it to be - having to find them in the Shop page and then work backwards to get to the information on them is a bit random...

Is the battery compartment on the Maxis sealed?

39 minutes ago, CCRphoto said:

OK cheers - I really wouldn't consider strobes using a big bunch of AA's - I think that the world has moved on from there...

The Retra website certainly needs a tidy up so that users find the information about the Maxis where you would normally expect it to be - having to find them in the Shop page and then work backwards to get to the information on them is a bit random...

Is the battery compartment on the Maxis sealed?

Yes, both the Max II and the Maxi have sealed battery compartments. They are both a premium strobes. The Pro Max II is about light quality, the Maxi is about power and speed. With the booster pack on the Pro Max there really is no size difference between them. In fact, the Maxi is just not all that big, no more than the HF-1 or those gigantic Ikelite strobes.

Being a Canon/Sony shooter the Backscatter strobes like the HF-1, MF-2 and the new Atom do not support compatible TTL for my cameras. The Retra does. For an OM system if you are trying to be as small as possible and still have power and speed the Atom might be the ticket.

In the box with my Retra Maxi, there was a card that simply said, "let there be light" and trust me on this if nothing else, there is LIGHT!

I am prepping for the Maldives, heading to the scuba pool to do some testing, trying to decide if I take this Sony or my other Canon. Sorry for the couch potato pic but I am about to pack it in the bag for the pool. Two Retra Maxi, WWL, Nauticam NA-6400. Warming diffusers. So you can see what two Maxi strobes look like on an APS-C Nauticam.

Edited Sunday at 04:31 PM5 days by Nemrod

On 7/31/2026 at 5:02 PM, CCRphoto said:

Interesting - will be interesting to see what the OM-1 Mark III is like.

On 8/1/2026 at 4:21 AM, CCRphoto said:

Europe's 22% VAT is insane - makes everything so crazy expensive when visiting there.

I will take a look at Retra's, the Retra Pro Max II and Backscatter HF-1 each have their own pluses and minuses, I will have to spend a bit of time researching each and then making a decision.

I was about to add that the Backscatter's HF series is small, great battery life, and that you may use high speed sync with the right flash triggers. Great for macro, and some have used it pretty successfully on larger subjects (see Phil Rudin and Dave Hicks forays into using these flashes). The OM-1 ii I believe already has an x-sync speed of 1/250th, which puts it right up there with most.

A couple of other things to note - again, lens size! Many APS-c lenses are sized right for their systems, but oftentimes the lenses are large which happens with Canons and Nikons. It’s like hauling around full frame cameras with their added size and weight.

Also, I was thinking about your desire to have a monitor. They are nice to look at, and I like having one to shoot video topside, but have you considered just composing on the standard screen? I have also tried using 45 and 90 degree viewfinders - great in some instances - but again, these add bulk and, in my view, are a throwback to film and DSLR days when live view was horrible.

3 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Your comments about autofocus are interesting, unfortunately I live in a part of the world where there isn't a camera store of any sort - not a whole lot else such as a dive store either! Kind of have to do a lot of research on the internet for most things and then order them online - you get used to it, and become good at swearing too! I might throw this to @TimG for his thoughts on the OM-1 MkII's autofocus?

Sorry but I can’t yet offer a sensible comment on the AF underwater. Mine hasn’t got wet yet. Chris is The Man though - longtime M43 user.