11 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Actually, I DO use silicone on the rebreathers! It eats silicone for breakfast. It has lots of lots of very big o-rings in the Loop with bayonet fittings. Hoses, heads, canisters, lungs. They are all rubber/edpm and fine with silicone. This is all low-pressure ambient level so even 100% O2 is not an issue. I do use Tribolube when I service the regulators, MAV, etc. I treat all regulators like they must be O2 clean, even if some of them are just air.

I know some CCR units have silicone o-rings, but that just seems like a bad idea to me.

BTW which CCR are you diving?

3 minutes ago, CCRphoto said:

BTW which CCR are you diving?

I have two KISS Sprit LTE units for myself and my wife. I have about 1,000 dives on this unit and it's still perfect. I've replaced the harness webbing, some scuba hoses, and fischer cables, but not much else. About 12 years old now. I had an earlier generation of KISS units as well from 2007 when I got CCR certified.

Edited August 19Aug 19 by Dave_Hicks

15 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

I have two KISS Sprit LTE units for myself and my wife. About 12 years old now. I had an earlier generation of KISS units as well from 2007 when I got CCR certified.

Nice!

I'm a Divesoft Liberty backmount with FMCL.

12 hours ago, TimG said:

Kinda wonder if Tom still has the RS. Or the Ken and Barbie dolls...... Action Man, anyone?

Sorry, back to lubes.... and Retra Maxis

Still have some RS gear some converted by Seacam. Dolls were the department of my 3 younger sisters, seem to recall Bs but not Ks (6 decades ago).

11 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

I have two KISS Sprit LTE units for myself and my wife. I have about 1,000 dives on this unit and it's still perfect. I've replaced the harness webbing, some scuba hoses, and fischer cables, but not much else. About 12 years old now. I had an earlier generation of KISS units as well from 2007 when I got CCR certified.

Dave, I know we have changed the subject, but it is nice to hear there are few KISS Rebreather fans out there. I have been diving KISS Rebreathers since 2005, starting with a KISS Sport and switching over to a KISS Classic in 2010, which I still use today.

1 hour ago, Walt Stearns said:

Dave, I know we have changed the subject, but it is nice to hear there are few KISS Rebreather fans out there. I have been diving KISS Rebreathers since 2005, starting with a KISS Sport and switching over to a KISS Classic in 2010, which I still use today.

When you have spent all you can on scuba gear, buy a camera. When you have spent all you can on cameras, buy a Rebreather!

.

..

...

Actually my CCR was al lot cheaper than my latest camera rig. 🙄

I don't know about that Dave. I my case, it's more like the rhetorical question of which came first, the chicken or the egg?

But I will affirm the current setup on my rebreather is a lot cheeper than the overall cost of my current camera rig.😉

15 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

When you have spent all you can on scuba gear, buy a camera. When you have spent all you can on cameras, buy a Rebreather!

.

..

...

Actually my CCR was al lot cheaper than my latest camera rig. 🙄

It gets a bit like that! My CCR will probably end up about equal with a new Z5ii setup that I am eyeing.

On 8/17/2026 at 11:44 PM, Dave_Hicks said:

Probably about 1/4 power, level 2 on the dial.

Here is one of a group of striped nudis (8-10cm each) devouring a Sea Pen. Shot with the curved port 60mm @ f14. Level 2 or 2.5 on the Maxis, using reduction rings.

One other question - how many frames per second do you think that the Maxis could sustain at power level 2.5?

I will give it a try later this morning. Certainly 3 fps is no problem, which is my default setting. Last night I was shooting jellyfish much faster but only about 5 frames.

2 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

I will give it a try later this morning. Certainly 3 fps is no problem, which is my default setting. Last night I was shooting jellyfish much faster but only about 5 frames.

Many thanks - that would be hugely helpful.

Jellyfish are always interesting subjects - do you get big Lion's Mane Jellyfish up there?

32 minutes ago, Dave_Hicks said:

I will give it a try later this morning. Certainly 3 fps is no problem, which is my default setting. Last night I was shooting jellyfish much faster but only about 5 frames.

If you have time to test the Maxis at power level 2 that would be awesome too. If the Maxis can sustain high fps at power levels 2 and 2.5 then that will help me immensely.

Test results:

Shooting a target at about 30 cm on my bench. Z8 f25 iso64 to get a good exposure at Maxi power 2.

Shooting at 5fps at 2 or 2.5 the histogram slows walks to the left as subsequent images get darker. At power 1.5 on the Maxis the histograms are stable.

Shooting at 4fps at power 2 the histogram slowly walks left and dims.

Shooting at 3fps power 2 the histogram just barely walks left. It is basically stable at this speed and power. At power 2.5 is not much different, the histogram dims a tiny bit faster but not much.

This is an area where I think the HF-1 is a bit better. It uses a different priority in rapid fire. It priorities exposure over fire-always. The Maxi always fires even as it becomes more and more dim. The HF-1 will skip frames and only fires at the expected power level. You get some blank frames but all of the ones you get are properly exposed.

In this instance at power 2 or higher, with 10 frames the Maxi deliver a couple properly exposed frames then a run of increasingly dark images. The HF-1 delivers 7 properly exposed frames and 3 blank frames interspersed.

Personally, i would rather have a sequence of properly exposed images even if a few get dropped. At least you get consistent images across a sequence that might span several seconds.

* The Maxi at power 2 and HF-1 at 3/4 deliver the same exposure

I hope that helps! I find 3fps is a good rate for me and delivers usable sequences at about half power on these strobes. You can always increase ISO and lower strobe power until find a frame rate that works for you.

Edited Wednesday at 04:21 PM2 days by Dave_Hicks

2 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Many thanks - that would be hugely helpful.

Jellyfish are always interesting subjects - do you get big Lion's Mane Jellyfish up there?

Oh yeah! They can be pretty amazing subjects.

10 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Test results:

Shooting a target at about 30 cm on my bench. Z8 f25 iso64 to get a good exposure at Maxi power 2.

Shooting at 5fps at 2 or 2.5 the histogram slows walks to the left as subsequent images get darker. At power 1.5 on the Maxis the histograms are stable.

Shooting at 4fps at power 2 the histogram slowly walks left and dims.

Shooting at 3fps power 2 the histogram just barely walks left. It is basically stable at this speed and power. At power 2.5 is not much different, the histogram dims a tiny bit faster but not much.

This is an area where I think the HF-1 is a bit better. It uses a different priority in rapid fire. It priorities exposure over fire-always. The Maxi always fires even as it becomes more and more dim. The HF-1 will skip frames and only fires at the expected power level. You get some blank frames but all of the ones you get are properly exposed.

In this instance at power 2 or higher, with 10 frames the Maxi deliver a couple properly exposed frames then a run of increasingly dark images. The HF-1 delivers 7 properly exposed frames and 3 blank frames interspersed.

Personally, i would rather have a sequence of properly exposed images even if a few get dropped. At least you get consistent images across a sequence that might span several seconds.

* The Maxi at power 2 and HF-1 at 3/4 deliver the same exposure

I hope that helps! I find 3fps is a good rate for me and delivers usable sequences at about half power on these strobes. You can always increase ISO and lower strobe power until find a frame rate that works for you.

Many many thanks for running all of those tests! That gives me an absolute ton of useful information to work with. It is obviously going to take some work to get things up to around 8 frames per second.

I guess besides increasing the ISO or lowering strobe power to get the frame rate I need, the other answer would be to add more strobes😀 Or for really still invertebrate subjects use longer exposure times and video lights.

Edited yesterday at 03:58 AM1 day by CCRphoto

10 hours ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Oh yeah! They can be pretty amazing subjects.

Very nice!! We get a very similar species down here in winter and they make spectacular subjects!

In the review you state that the Retra MAxi's don't feel large under water. What about travelling with them? They are rather big and each of them weigh over 1 kg adding a lot of weight to the luggage.

I'm doubting about a new strobe since one of mey YS-D2J's have died.

Thanks,

Quick heads-up for anyone who has been on the fence about the new Retra Maxi strobes:

Launch pricing for both versions (with and without the video light) ends on September 1st. After that, prices will increase, so this is the last chance to order at the current launch price:

https://www.retra-uwt.com/products/retra-maxi

30 minutes ago, Oskar - Retra UWT said:

Quick heads-up for anyone who has been on the fence about the new Retra Maxi strobes:

Launch pricing for both versions (with and without the video light) ends on September 1st. After that, prices will increase, so this is the last chance to order at the current launch price:

https://www.retra-uwt.com/products/retra-maxi

You need to delay the price increase until the 1st of October! My copper mine shares haven't reached the top yet.

3 hours ago, Michiel said:

In the review you state that the Retra MAxi's don't feel large under water. What about travelling with them? They are rather big and each of them weigh over 1 kg adding a lot of weight to the luggage.

I'm doubting about a new strobe since one of mey YS-D2J's have died.

Thanks,

I would say they are incrementally larger and heavier. Too me it was not much of a difference from my older strobes, the Inon 330s. Same bag, just filled the space a bit more.

Hi,

Can the 6000 lm light (or that light at lower power) be used while the strobe is in normal flash mode (TTL or manual), essentially as a powerful focus light?

More specifically, does the continuous light stay on between shots and then switch off automatically during the flash exposure before turning back on again?

I know the Maxi has a separate 400 lm pilot light, but I am specifically wondering whether the video light can be used this way.

For comparison, the Backscatter HF-1 allows its continuous light to be used together with the flash, which is very useful for tracking and focusing on moving fish.

Thanks!

The Maxi video light mode is exclusive of the Flash. Pretty sure the HF-1 is the same.

3 hours ago, Fred Courchamp said:

Hi,

Can the 6000 lm light (or that light at lower power) be used while the strobe is in normal flash mode (TTL or manual), essentially as a powerful focus light?

More specifically, does the continuous light stay on between shots and then switch off automatically during the flash exposure before turning back on again?

I know the Maxi has a separate 400 lm pilot light, but I am specifically wondering whether the video light can be used this way.

For comparison, the Backscatter HF-1 allows its continuous light to be used together with the flash, which is very useful for tracking and focusing on moving fish.

Thanks!

Basically no. The video light is on a programable switch position that is via the Retra app specified to be TTL cancel or the video light. Either but not both. And the programmable mode (U) position is on the mode dial and power is set on the strobe power dial.

The focus light is available in all modes via a push of the center button a two power levels. And, yes, it does shut off when the strobe is triggered. I find both focus lights to be adequate for lighting my way through swim throughs or a night dive.

I do not think the HF1 can do that either but I admit to not being particularly smitten with it once I found out it had no support for Canon/Nikon and Sony only via yet another $ trigger and no universal TTL. And it is plastic, yuk.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Nemrod

33 minutes ago, Nemrod said:

I do not think the HF1 can do that either but I admit to not being particularly smitten with it once I found out it had no support for Canon/Nikon and Sony only via yet another $ trigger and no universal TTL. And it is plastic, yuk.

Partially plastic, not that there is anything wrong with that! The front end is aluminum and acts as a heat sink. The rest of the body is very tough plastic that does not scratch and dent like aluminum body strobes do.