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I'm using Sony alpha 6000 series in a housing using the pop up flash to trigger using fiberoptic cables - (made using the excellent article on this forum) I did indeed mention the wrong backscatter strobe - I meant the atom! 🤦‍♂️ I can see that the sea and sea ys d3 is available for around £500 in the uk and the atom is about £600 I was planning on using manual settings but are either of these units capable of delivering reliable TTL using my existing pop up flash triggered system? I'm keen to start doing wideangle as well as macro

I've put my order in for this lens. Shipping July 24. Waiting to hear back from Marelux on whether or when they will support zoom gear and extension.

exported to JPEG and the worm thing copped from original

What system do you have? The Backscatter strobes do not have universal TTL and only work with their proprietary trigger or OM cameras. There is a big power and size jump between the YSD3 and the HF-1, maybe the new Atom is closer to your needs, assuming you have an OM camera. The price Delta between the HF-1 plus float collar is not that great compared to the Retra Maxi which does have universal TTL and some other features, like a huge power range and neutral buoyancy and a for real warranty I hope not to need ;). YS strobes have not been noted for their reliability now for several generations, not sure if the D3 is any better or their newer D130.

Blue or even Red! The HF-1 w/float is a bit bigger than the Retra, but not by a lot. Max diameter is about 15mm more, height and weight are nearly the same as the Retra's are heavier to start with. When I first put the Retra Maxi's on my Rig, replacing the HF-1s, it was annoyingly buoyant and unbalanced. I had to remove 2 Stix Jumbo blocks (180grams each) to get it back in some sort of decent trim. The HF-1 floats are a bit more buoyant the Stix Jumbo at 220 grams each. Using the HF-1 floats now is actually a big convenience because I don't need to Add/Remove Stix blocks on my arms when I switch between Retra and HF-1 strobes.

Larger housings actually are generally more buoyant than smaller housings. With Retra Maxi strobes on my NA-6400 (or NA-R50) I need to tie a string on the rig and pull it around like a helium balloon at the fair. I am going to have to remove some floatation or add lead. That is with a 4.33 dome, with the WWL it is a few ounces negative still and either way balance is perfect. I do not know if it was engineering expertise or just luck but the Retra Maxi strobes are perfect in the water, neutral, sometimes bigger is more littler. The price Delta between the HF-1 and the Retra Maxi is not huge, with floats on the HF-1 it is larger than the Maxi. But if I had an HF-1, I think I would want a set of those floats, looks like a great solution to a boat anchor of a strobe and they look professional and I bet they can be gotten in blue!

Bigger housings are not buoyant as well therefore in the end, you also end up adding more floats to them than what you add on a smaller camera.

perhaps I could put this another way sea and sea ysd3 or backscatter hf1 hybrid?

But in any cases, it does not really explain why a Nauticam glass dome would more resistant to water burn than a Nauticam wet angle lens. Something is not right here or port and wetlens have different type of glasses. At the end of the day, I wouldn't buy any second hand "burnt' WWL without seeing that it has no impact on image quality underwater.

Perhaps, but in general higher concentrations of salts are more corrosive, in any case you can't dissolve these markings, maybe they have etched the glass, maybe the compounds have chemically combined with components in the glass. Apparently BK7 glass (a common optical glass) only has moderate chemical resistance. This topic has been raised many times and reports are dissolving the spots doesn't work and they require polish to remove. Whatever the mechanism, the cause is still allowing water to evaporate on the glass and the prevention is blowing off or wiping dry so evaporation doesn't occur. Apparently cerium oxide is slightly softer than BK7 glass and can polish without causing micro scratches.

If you are a photographer and want no bubbles in your photos go very early as the wreck is a bubble machine by mid am. They flow up thru the structure all day . The other note is shoot the fish in the shallows as divers buy the score go over you wanting to swim thru stuff and never notice the life out front.Many fish are in the shallows under the mast or to the east (to your left at entry point) in the shallows where there is nice coral as well. We have dove this area for years and its not as well traveled.

Lovely photo. The first image was a bit diferent to the normal high quality goby photos I see with nice color contrasts to the sea squirt and the green dots. Lovely composition.

Beautiful film :)

Not the documentary you want to see before a blackwater dive 😀

I think you are correct, in general. However, the Retra Maxi strobe is actually bulkier than their past strobes and than similar HF-1. That size and displacement leaves it just a few grams negative in the water. It seems to me they optimized for a buoyancy target more than minimum size of the package.

This is very cool solution. But I do wonder why UW camera manufacturers make very compact and very dense equipment, I get the point of staying small and travel‑friendly. But I realized once you add all the floats needed to make the rig neutrally buoyant, the system ends up being nearly the same size as a mirrorless kit (say if you’re coming from a compact camera setup). At that point, the advantage of going compact feels lost — you might as well start with bulkier gear that’s already close to neutral in the water.

Welcome Don, great you joined. Looking very much forward to your posts and thoughts and contributions! ..especially first hand reports in the OPP thread.

@atus After diving blackwater in a number of locations there are some best practices that can be borrowed from some of the better operators. 1. Placing a light on top of the ball is okay, but suboptimal, as if it is a light shining up into the night sky it will be visible part of the time but may not be visible from all angles. The best practice is to create a small hole in the bottom of you buoy and place the light inside - you can create a gasket around the light so the entire buoy doesn't fill up with water. The buoy itself will glow with a light inside of it, making it visible for both you and all other boat traffic to see. 2. Others have suggested you study the bottom - if the water is deep and the area has life (it's not a barren part of the sea) then you will find life coming near the surface. You will end up trying a number of different locations before finding a few that are productive. One idea that hasn't been shared here is to talk to people studying marine science at your local university. If they have done research (or trawled) the local area they may be able to tell you what kind of life you can expect.

Float for Backscatter Atom Strobe Add 140 grams buoyancy! The Backscatter Atom strobe is great strobes for underwater photography. Small, light, and versatile. Its biggest drawback is how much it weighs in water. The Atom is 150 grams (5.3 oz) negative in water with batteries. This 3D printed float will add 140 grams of buoyancy leaving it just 10 grams negative. (0.35 oz) You don't want to have the strobe be positively buoyant. Slightly negative is easier to handle and balance the overall system. Balancing your rig is important. If you need to add additional buoyancy to your camera rig, I suggest using float arms or Stix jumbo floats on the arm segment closest to your housing. Leave the second arm connected to the Atom strobe without additional buoyancy. Attach Float to the Atom: The float has anchor points that will allow you to thread 1/8 inch (3 mm) bungee cord. Many divers keep 1/8 bungee on hand as it is so useful. It can be bought in bulk online or at any dive shop. Tie a simple overhand knot at each end of the bungee to keep it from slipping thru the anchor. It should be just slightly taught with plenty of elasticity to pull over the strobe and keep it snug. Note before printing: This is a technical and exacting print. It requires very specific and exact filament and printing parameters. If you ignore or change the defined print profile and settings it is very likely that your float will not work. [And YES - You can make watertight and pressure resistant 3D printed objects with no added sealants or post processing!]

Float for Backscatter HF-1 Strobe Add 220 grams buoyancy! https://makerworld.com/en/models/2877582-float-for-backscatter-hf-1-strobe-220g-buoyancy The Backscatter HF-1 is one of the best strobes for underwater photography, but its biggest drawback is how much it weighs in water. The HF-1 is 250 grams (8.8 oz) negative in water with batteries. This 3D printed float will add 220 grams of buoyancy leaving it just 30 grams negative. (1 oz) You don't want to have the strobe be positively buoyant. Slightly negative is easier to handle and balance the overall system. Balancing your rig is important. If you need to add additional buoyancy to your camera rig, I suggest using float arms or Stix jumbo floats on the arm segment closest to your housing. Leave the second arm connected to the HF-1 without additional buoyancy. Attach Float to the HF-1: The float has anchor points that will allow you to thread 1/8 inch (3 mm) bungee cord. Many divers keep 1/8 bungee on hand as it is so useful. It can be bought in bulk online or at any dive shop. Tie a simple overhand knot at each end of the bungee to keep it from slipping thru the anchor. It should be just slightly taught with plenty of elasticity to pull over the strobe and keep it snug. I have tested to depths of 130ft/40m, but it may survive greater depths. As these floats are completely external to the strobe and housing, there is no risk to your equipment should they fail. Note before printing: This is a technical and exacting print. It requires very specific and exact filament and printing parameters. If you ignore or change the defined print profile and settings it is very likely that your float will not work. [And YES - You can make watertight and pressure resistant 3D printed objects with no added sealants or post processing!]

Thank you for sharing. What fantastic, and creepy, creatures!

Sounds good - not sure how far you can go or how boat traffic is at night but the area between Ibiza and Formentera looks it forms a channel which could worth checking out. Let us know how it goes!

This is fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing! Looking forward to meeting and hopefully working with Simon in July!

Fixed the link - thanks for letting me know!

Purchased M10 single ball mount from @Lauren Wang Fabulous and straightforward exchange! Mounting ball was exactly as pictured and described, shipping was fast, communication was excellent!