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Incredibly annoying, but the problem is people buy them without research only to discover this and then complain about on internet forums as the manufacturers are behind a firewall and hard to contact and even if you do, it falls into a black hole. The only way to force change is to stop buying crappy solutions like this. That is why I have an INON focus light, it turns on by rotating a knob to low power, rotate it further and get high power, seems like it's a magnetic switch with two positions. Simple and robust, uses AA batteries, not incredibly bright - but enough for focusing, no auto off on strobe - it is not needed as the light is dim. On lights with higher output and more power levels they add another dial.

If you refer to the port charts you will see that the A7 port chart consistently requires 5mm more extension on the same lens/dome combination compared to what is listed on the port chart for later bodies. It appears they re-designed the housings placing the camera flange 5mm further back in the housing, perhaps to accommodate new lenses better, or even to allow for the grip on newer bodies?? Whatever the reason, the port charts changed due to change of housing design and this required a different Nikonos adapter. if your refer to the below webpage and scroll down to section 8 you will see the A7II has a deeper grip so this seems the likely reason for the re-design of the housing and new port charts: Mirrorless ComparisonSony A7 vs A7 II - The 10 main differences - Mirrorless C...The A7 was Sony’s first ever full frame mirrorless camera. It was released at the end of 2013 alongside the A7R. One year later, the Japanese company caught everybody by surprise with the launch of th If you look at the 37202 adapter, it has those two bolt-on pieces which act as the adapter flange to prevent the water pressure pressing the adapter into the housing. They are removable to allow space for the control knobs to rotate into position. This is consistent with having to place the lens 5mm further into the housing. The modification of the camera tray was discussed on another thread is un-related I believe, they are talking about very small adjustments because the location mechanism for the tray is not precise enough to get the accuracy required to achieve infinity focus. The different adapters are purely to accommodate the change in the housing design.

Your monitor has a nice flat surface on the back. Perfect for some DIY float! The ideal theoretical situation would be one where moving the lights does not change the trim at all. Unfortunately, cameras are small and have a form factor optimized for taking photos rather than shooting video like camcorders. As a result, we all end up with a sort of 'M-configuration' or something close to it. The first approach would be to make the lights neutral or nearly neutral. Keldan offers very expensive floats for their lights 😃 Another way is to move the floats onto the housing itself, AKA place the foam as close as possible to the center of gravity. It is an almost impractical option for mirrorless cameras, but in your case, with the sled, you have plenty of space. If you can find some closed-cell PVC foam, you can cut and shape it however you like. If you search the forum, we have discussed this quite a bit in the past.

After some research I found Nauticam was the only company to make an Nikonos V Adapter so far. There seem to be 3 iterations of it: N-85 / APS-C: # 3601 the first Nikonos 15mm Adapter, was made for SONY NEX-5 N-100 / FULL FRAME: Version One # 37201 N-100 / FULL FRAME: Version Two # 37202 ( which is described in this PDF manual ) Version One is reffered to, to be working with Sony A7 on some Nauticam dealer websites, whereas version two is supposed to be working with A7II onwards. The official Nauticam page says A7II / A9 / A7RIII / A7RIV / a2020 / A7C as of January 2026. It would support the different flange distances measures by some Nauticam Sony owners and explain why there are two versions and why some owners hat to modify their camera tray to get the lens working sharply. Does anybody know more detailed differences between the Version One and Two for FullFrame N100 ? I have attached images of all three variations below.

What engineer thought that 5 button pushes in 3 seconds was a "good" implementation? Insane. We make medical devices and I can only imagine what patients would say if we made them use a series of button pushes to get at some feature of the device. Bill

I have something new about this strobes. Yesterday in my last dive one of my fiber cables got disconnected from the strobe, my strobe started flashing continuously. My first though was that the strobe was broken, so When I realized that was the cable disconnected, I reconnected it and the strobe stopped flashing, after that the strobe worked normally. It was really sunny and we were in only -2 meters, so my impression is that the slave cell is very sensitive, which is good in order to use thin fiber cables and even to use as a separated from the camera strobe with no need of addition more cables or cells. I'll have to check it in my next dive.

Dropping the price down to $675 US

Thanks. I’m using a new to me Olympus TG-6 in a PT-059 housing. I have a Backscatter M52 Air Lens on the housing I bought the kit as a used complete set from eBay. I was told it had done about 100 dives (not sure where or over what time frame). I checked it upon receipt and I missed the fact that whilst the strobe was firing it was not registering the TTL I just removed the knob and screw from it and have now discovered another major issue - cracked mount (was being held in place by the other side mount). Basically it’s scrap. I have no comeback via eBay or PayPal because it has been more than 30 days since delivery. I’ll enjoy my training and this next trip and then when home will sell the working twin YS-01s (one of which still under warranty) and then look out for / save up for the INON S-220s. The best price I’ve seen here in the uk is eBay from Italy at about £375 each once all taxes and duties are paid. I’m shocked by the cost of these things and their apparent fragility! I’m glad my ScubaPro regs don’t have the same reliability risk. I’ve heard INON are very very long lasting (I am meticulous about caring for and maintaining my equipment as I expect it to very rarely let me down and last many holidays !)

Aloha and welcome @3scubakids3 !

@danka94 lovely images! I quite liked the whole video.

Wow, I didn't imagine you would encounter blue sharks that large there. I'm not a fan of slow motion; yes, perhaps with some faster cuts you could keep it under 3 minutes. The images are very beautiful. I like: the sun rays piercing the water the pastel blue color, which is absolutely not 'electric'. the backlit shots don't have that 'evil' magenta that often appears with compressed codecs. Did you use N-Raw? Did you set the White Balance (WB) underwater or in post-production? I noticed from the kit and the lighting on the shark that you are using Keldan blue filters. Did you use a Spectrum filter on the lens? What type? From the video, I can't tell what depth you are at. Thank you in advance

Hi Ange, Welcome aboard and we hope to solve your problem! Please, just open a thread in the relevant subforum. Ciao

Hello, this is Ange aka 3scubakids3. I was certified in 1984; and no I never dive in Kansas. I am for landlocked! I am now retired and have been blessed with being able to travel more and I have been sucked into the underwater photography world. I have been shooting with a TG7 but have crossed over to the darkside and bought the Nauticam housing for my Sony A7rV. I am headed to Alex Mustard's class in Grand Cayman hoping to learn to use my investment! I found Waterpixels as I am trying to figure out why after changing settings on my camera, why I no longer can select "No Flash"... Looking forward to this next adventure in my story! Ange

Meantime getting leakage/battery swelling news across the "Leton world"...

Thanks for the enthusiasm ! Yup, diving in the beautiful Calanques and the islands in front. It's an amazing place! I have already spent some time snorkeling with the TG-6 last summer in the Azores. I got some nice pictures, but still find that sensor to give very soft images. I compared it to my old Canon S110 and the Canon won... :/ I'm about to get a Sony A6400 - I'm used to shoot with an old Nikon APS-C topside, and want that extra sharpness from the images. Also, Sony's autofocus seems to be otherworldly, which should help with less frustration (I got so many out of focus images with the TG-6, that I only found out later at the computer).

Hey Chris, thanks for your input, that is super interesting and I would love to see more. Alas the link you posted is only a red X here and I can`t see it. Meanwhile Nauticam have replied, but were not helpful so far to understand what is not working. They basically said "it should be working." My UW dealer (Pan Ocean Photo) however has graciously offered to lend me a TRT Electronics trigger (that was also suggested by Retra) which should arrive tomorrow. That way I should be able to see if the problem lies with the Nauticam LED trigger or with the Z8.

I absolutely really like the whole video. Short enough not to step out early and long enough to get an good idea how it was there. The cleaner the went into the gills and the shark that had to check out very closely whether the lens is something to eat or not. Great! Can you tell something about the dive center and the location? Looks like quite cold water but impressive clear.

One thing with non matching strobes is it's not as straight forward to keep the lights balanced, also a video light is nowhere near as powerful as a strobe. The other thing to consider is trying to use manual - it's not as hard as it seems. You don't say what setup you have, but if you are doing macro having the strobe at the same distance means the strobe exposure is constant. It's also easier to use a single strobe for macro. IF you end up buying one strobe I'd suggest the little INON S220, it also uses AA batteries and is an excellent little strobe. If you want to balance the two strobes together one way you can try is have one strobe in TTL connected to your camera and the second strobe also in TTL can trigger off the flash from the first strobe. I expect it would trigger without a cable, but if you do use a cable run it off the first strobe. If I recall correctly the YS-01 have a port on front of the strobe for a trigger cable. The cable runs from the front of the strobe to the fibre port on the second strobe. INON uses a screw on connection at the strobe end end but the camera end is the same as the YS-01.

UPDATE: I spoke to Maria and think I will go for option 4.

@vkalia Yeah sure it does – but I like to have it clean and sorted :-D. Thanks to your feedback, I've found a used Protactic 450 AW (I) for 20 bucks (to be fair, there were only 2 inserts left). In there, I’ve got plenty of space and, most importantly, the outer measurements do fit! Even without compressing, I measure barely 20 cm in depth. I will add an packed image later.

Thanks for the replies so far, I appreciate your help. I'm really scratching my head now. Not quite sure what to do next, this failure and a massive drop in confidence in the YS-01's has thrown me a bit. We do have a local (ish) "in country" repair / service centre here in the UK, however I called them this morning and the one guy that know about these strobes and their issues and he is not in until Wednesday. That in itself is also concerning (prone to failure, limited expertise) and from you info above almost certainly not economical or even possible to repair So I think I have the following options given my next trip is 25 days away and I am trying to fit in a 1 day training course with Maria, using my intended equipment between now and the trip. 1) Do my training course and the next dive trip (17 -20 dives only) with a 1 strobe setup using the fully functional one in TTL mode 2) As above, but in Manual mode only (I read that TTL use can "wear out" the strobe more than manual use 3) Take both Strobes on the trip, but either use one TTL and the compromised one on manual, or both manual 4) Buy a new YS-01 Solis for £310 GBP and use on this one trip along with the other working one. When I get back sell all 3 of them as I can't be doing with this fragility and low confidence long term. then look with zero time pressure for a better solution (probably INON) 5) Buy 1x AOI Q1i to pair with the working YS-01. My budget could just about stretch to this, but I am confused on how the fibre optic connection would work (same connector style?) and also am mixing battery types AA vs 18650 6) Buy 2x AOI Q1i - I just don't think I can find £800 right now for 2 plus 4 18650s and the additional diffusers etc 7) Buy a single video light or hybrid strobe/video to pair with my working YS-01 Solis. Not sure on which one, the cost, and whether it has good/fast availability in the UK. I am open to new or good used condition, but again, time not on my side for this trip. sorry for the long post, I've ended up in an unexpectedly complicated situation!

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to simplify. Bringing both the MFO‑1 and CMC‑2 on separate bayonets would just add unnecessary complexity, so I’d rather stick with a single flip adapter. Sure, the MFO‑1 would be easy enough to pack, but given the range of creature sizes in the Caribbean, I doubt I’d ever finish a dive thinking, “Damn, I wish I’d brought the MFO‑1.” On the other hand, I can imagine spotting something tiny and thinking, “Damn, I wish I’d had the CMC‑2.”

I have heard of many S&S strobes failing similar to this - the TTL circuit dies and can't quench the flash when required. It is possible it may spread to only full power on manual control. I'd think that with 26 days to go, you would be pushing to get it repaired in the available time, unless there is a repair shop in country, but even then it will take to to assess and possibly get parts. Also given repair costs a new strobe might be the best solution. I would suggest researching what is available to buy now, if they have to get stock in, again time might be tight. Might be another Solis - or perhaps a pair on INON S220 - a nice little strobe and INON seem to have a better reliability reputation.

I guess Backscatter won't mind me sharing this response from 2024: "Thank you for reaching out with this inquiry. We are a Sea&Sea authorized repair center here at our shop in Monterey. If the issue with the strobe is damage to the battery contacts and/or battery cap, the typical cost to repair that issue is $215. If there is damage to component(s) on the main circuitry assembly inside the strobe, parts and labor to replace that circuitry costs $350. Once we evaluate the equipment at our shop and determine exactly what is needed for the repairs, we would send you a quote for that service. At that time you can decide whether you wish to proceed with the service or reject it. There is no cost for the evaluation itself. If you decided to pass on the service, we could recycle the unit here at no cost to you or can return it back to you for any reason at the cost of return shipping." The $250 figure was from the Sea&Sea Japan repair facility, but of course you have to get thing to Japan.

Based upon the reviews and the fact it only gets to 1.1x, I don't have an MFO-1 and don't plan to buy one. Seeing as how you already have the CMC-2, mounting it on a flip seems the best way to go. I agree I'd take the MFO-1 along, you might as well try it out, it's not like it takes up much space.