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@Gmsalterego Gopro Mission 1 pro color grade video tutorial by gopro tips (also underwater)

Hello, you still have the focus gear?

Aloha and welcome @PomInOz !

I think Back Scatter did make a useful and honest attempt to provide good data. I also agree with Retra that improvements could be made especially in the graphs and some of the measurement methodology. I really enjoy the side by side comparison where I can pick a strobe and add diffusers. There is no serviceability or reliability chart! Inon and YS for example. Basically throw away strobes. True, I have Inon strobes that are 20 years old and still going and several which developed various problems with switches and disappeared into the nether world when sent off for repair. I will gladly pay more, even a lot more for a strobe that has a strong warranty and can be repaired, serviced and even updated. This is fun! Nearly the same brightness in the center but clearly one strobe is producing a lot more power. The problem with GNs! And then the Maxi vs HF-1, just what I see there, the Maxi has a fuller, smoother light output and is if we must say it, slightly more powerful regardless of the charts, I am looking at it with my eyeballs!

Thanks Davide DB for this very interesting link. In my opinion, including price information would be a plus.

Thank you, Dave. We’ve fixed the legends and improved readability on mobile devices. If anyone else has any suggestions, please let us know. We’re planning to publish the article next week. https://www.retra-uwt.com/pages/a-closer-look-at-backscatters-strobe-test-retra-uwt

Might be kind of fun to have categories on the opposite ends of the spectrum - an untouched raw file category and an anything goes category to see what people are up to with AI. Maybe those would be better as a forum post so there's no entry fee for it though! I don't really enter competitions, because I know the outcome 😂, but I'd probably enter something like this to support the site - great idea!

Funny that, my partner keeps talking about bins and my equipment. Perhaps she means for storing it? I'm not sure.

I ended up getting several plastic bins. I’m gaining on it—the camera, lenses, and housing are all in bins. Now to get the diving detritus stored.

I have always loved my Sigma 17-70 paired with a dome and the Canon 7Dmkii (and 20D, 40D before that!) I know a lot don't think it's wide enough, but it was great for going on a leisurely, "who knows what I'll see or what I'll be in the mood to shoot today" diving. I don't know how it will work with the newer cameras so wondering what you all like to shoot when you want to "have it all" on a dive? Please let me know what you think are good contenders and if you can share an example of its diversity, that would be double helpful! Yay for shopping season!

Welcome to the forums, good to see another Sydney-sider in the forums. Do you do any diving in Sydney?

Some good stuff in those clips. But the master hasn't done anything for many months now, and doesn't reply to comments. Note that if you watch the last video, there is a link to an unpublished extra clip.

I also keep all my camera gear in my carry on luggage so I won't forget anything.

I keep as much as possible in my travelcase, so chances I forget something when I leave on a trip are lower. The case goes on a shelve with enough space above too get at my goodies.

R50 user here, came from an RX100V set up as I wanted to upgrade without the complexity of worrying about ports, lenses, domes etc. The simplicity, form factor and cost was appealing to me. I pair mine with WWL-1 and 2 x Inon UCL 165s, YS D3 DUOs, it's a fairly modest set up compared to what many are running here but in my own humble opinion feel I'm pretty happy with the results. If you are heavily into ting macro then this probably isn't a great choice but I feel it does ok with the 2 x diopters. A few pics from a month in Alor earlier this year:

We know the master and his t-shirt very well 😁

I converted a closet by adding open shelving to it. Gear is (mostly) stored in plastic bins with lids and labelled e.g snoot gear, macro accessories, strobes and batteries, astro tracker etc. One shelve is for lenses and bodies. Once the space fills up I will need to start selling rarely used items to keep the boss from understanding the true extent that GAS occurs.

I have discovered a master who has summarized complex underwater optical problems into easy to understand laws and answered all the questions I mentioned above. I will try according to his method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcRtbHXMQPs

I have 14 35 with 180 dome use for some time，video is good. But not wide enough for some time. So I change to fish eye

Very complete analysis and you pointed out many legitimate issues. Some issues with formatting the charts - the legends are not showing which line belongs to which product. One other thing to highlight that might be worth noting. The numbers for Backscatters strobes all seem to align well with the manufacturer reported specs. GN brightness and Color temperature for example. I suspect this a "methodology bias" where BS is using the same measurement method as their marketing department. The numbers might be valid, but the consistency works in their own favor. Similarly with Isotta Red64 discrepancies. You can be sure that Backscatter did not allow any such oddities with their own strobes. They should correct the outliers to avoid the perception of bias. I hope that Backscatter makes some quick revisions to their test report.

I've tested the Canon RF20-50mm and RF14-35mm in a 140mm dome as a compact travel setup. Edges will be too soft for some people, but it provided acceptable results for me.

Running only FF limited to macro feels like losing a lot of opportunities🤣

This video is really helpful, ultimately I need to test it myself to find the best extension ring。 Thank you

Our commentary of the test will be published soon, here is a preview: https://www.retra-uwt.com/pages/a-closer-look-at-backscatters-strobe-test-retra-uwt

You can visualise this by downloading the images and measuring brightness in photoshop at the square next to each circle. BTW Backscatter mention that the rings are at 30/60/90/120° - this must mean the angle is measured from one edge of each circle to the other edge. They are shooting with a WWL which has a 130° diagonal field which is what we see as the approximate diagonal measurement. As an example here is a polt comparing the Seacam 160D with a Retra pro max II without diffusers. The brightnesses are the pixel brightnesses sampled from Photoshop (100- K which is the black level which is what Photoshop reports): You can see the Retra brightness drops more rapidly than the seacam as you move further off axis.