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I might have to do some testing sometime, and also see if white PVC increases (or has less of a decrease) than black reduction rings.

I suspect you’d need an extremely powerful focussing light to overcome the output of 1 or 2 strobes and show a hotspot.

I can't help with the question, but the Kraken Hydras have auto on-off and can be connected with an optical fiber cable or just use light from the strobes. I have the discontinued 1500, and it's powered by a standard 21700 battery. https://krakensports.ca/product/hydra-1800wsr/

For macro I use a simple Weefine 800 focusing light, but the battery is losing its capacity. Annoyingly its proprietary battery, with both poles on one side, is not for sale anymore. A possible choice (with red light) at my local shop would be the Weefine 2600 which has the same attachment to the camera house. What makes me hesitate is that it needs an extra sync cable to enable 'auto-off' during flash activity. This construction with a cable is said to give a more robust auto-off, but an extra sync cable does not seem attractive. This made me wonder: how important auto-off is in macro photography anyway? (In case of the Weefine 2600: the light is 1500 lumen but that can be reduced).

I just used a diopter on that lens rather than the "macro" mode, worked better for me.

I was toying around today (dry) with the Oly 12-50 EZ lens. Disappointed to find out that I can trigger the extreme zoom positions from a camera button but NOT the macro mode. Nauticam has a port for that, but none for the plastic housing I have. Why, Olympus…. ? But then… I wonder: If I manually push it into Macro mode and then place it in the housing, would it not be similar to the 60 mm + MFO3 combo discussed here? I know the image quality will not be the same, but in practical terms. On land the lens can focus out to something like 1.2 m in macro mode. And of course, the MFO 3 can be taken off for stronger macro, which would require a diopter with the 12-50. But considering the price… any opinions?

I’m no scientist but general observation leads me to think, no they don’t. I use reduction rings with Retra strobes and can’t recall ever thinking I need to turn them down. My own experience, when using a snoot which is not dissimilar, is that more light is needed because of the way the light is blocked by the constrictions of the funnel. The same could be true even of reduction rings. But like I say, I’m no scientist and perhaps my subjective view is wrong 😜

Just wondering if reduction rings will incease the light intensity that hits the reduced area? I guess theoretically it should, but reduction rings weren't a thing way back when I was last doing underwater photography - but I guess we could have bodgered up something from some plumbing fittings if we had thought to.

Hello, It really annoyed me that the little rubber control knob fell off my AOI UIS strobe, so I quickly designed a replacement. If anyone else needs one, I’ve attached the file. Printed with a 0.2 mm nozzle using Bambu PETG at 0.08 mm layer height, it comes out perfectly. AOI Rotary switch.STL

I just tried to post an image on an other topic... the same ☹️

Hi @RichN It still don't working

Sad times. Looks like Chinese competition out-innovated them.

Thought it might possibly be a little long, the batteries though could probably be adapted as they are about 68mm long and the termination with pins could make attaching a cord to them somewhat easier than a battery pack?

Backscatter Atom Strobe to HF-1 Accessory Adapterhttps://makerworld.com/en/models/3178015-atom-strobe-to-hf-1-accessory-adapter Use HF-1 filters and the OS-3 snoot on your Atom StrobeThis useful adapter connects to the bayonet mount on your Atom strobe and allows HF-1 accessories to be attached. Use your diffusors or even the fantastic OS-3 snoot on the Atom strobe. Leverage your investment in HF-1 accessories to the Atom. The OS-3 snoot in particular is very useful. The smaller OS-2 Atom snoot is a compact solution, but the OS-3 is much better with ability to work with larger subjects. The power of the Atom is very effective with the OS-3. Related Models: Snoot Adapter OS-1 to Atom StrobeRetra ←→ HF-1 AccessoryAdaptersUnderwater Photography ModelsScuba Models

Sea Grape.

Very interesting product, thanks Chris. The mount plate is too large for my NA-A1 housing (max length is 77mm i order to close the housing), but this is a brilliant idea. The Anker Nano is build around a 21700 cell, but I'm looking into custom-made dual 18650 battery packs now, for a non-autoshutoff solution. If anyone is interested in using the space above the hotshoe in the Nauticam A1 housing, main size restriction is a 77mm length, 40mm width and a roughly 25mm height.

Wondering if this item might be a good solution for extra power in a housing: https://www.rubbermonkey.com.au/SmallRig-3168B-NP-F-Battery-Adapter-Mount-Plate-Advanced-Edition It takes NP-F batteries widely used for video cameras and outputs up to 36W through the USB-C port. One of the smaller NP-F batteries like a 2000 - 3000 mAhr I think would fit in the bulge area above the hotshoe on many housings and would be a lot more future proof than any type of powerbank as the powerbanks appear and disappear regularly, while replacement NP-F batteries are widely available. This is an example of an NP-F battery: https://www.rubbermonkey.com.au/Jupio-NP-F550-Lithium-Ion-Battery-Pack-7-2V-2350mAh?fromCategoryId=271 It would be the ideal battery for a housing manufacturer to provide an extended battery life option I think.

I visited CocoView in June.2026 and concur with SwiftFF5's assessment of the facilities and the staff. GREAT staff - very friendly and helpful. Divemasters and Captains were also great, and it was fun talking with the resident photographer. Accommodations are ok and clean but not fancy. Food is plentiful and lunch and dinner menu changes daily. Again, very good for the typical American palate, but not fancy. Dive boats are a type I'd not seen before (repurposed US Navy I was told). Rear giant stride entry and ladder for return assuming relatively calm water (which we had one day). The rest of the week we boarded post-dive in a mid-ship tunnel through the hull with a ladder. Very interesting and it worked pretty well in ~2m waves. I plan to visit Anthony's Key resort (on the other side of the island) in Sept.2026 and will follow up.

We were diving in Cenderawasih Bay last month and came upon this approximately six-foot reef shark which had become tightly bound to a barrel sponge, with at least a quarter-mile of heavy line snaking through the reef system. Our guide was able to cut the animal free, although he didn't remove the hook (six-foot shark). Other guides found several more smaller sharks further down the reef slope. Ironically, we had been told that the dive site had been named by Dr. Mark Erdman, Shark Conservation Director at Re:wild. These images seem, sadly, to fit this forum. We had not seen another bat for two days, and were well offshore--these animals surely would have died had we not happened on them.

GoPro reported sharp declines across all key metrics in its second-quarter results. Between April and June, camera shipments fell 38% year over year to roughly 291,000 units, revenue dropped 31% to $105 million, and the quarterly loss widened to $51 million, leaving cash reserves at $27.3 million. During the earnings call, CEO Nicholas Woodman stated that the process to evaluate a potential sale of the company is now in its later stages, while the company has also introduced a temporary $100 price cut on the Mission 1 line. CineDGoPro Says Its Sale Process Is in the Later Stages – Came...GoPro says its sale process is in the later stages, as results show camera sales down 38% and cash down to $27.3 million.

One of these days I will update our DIYpedia with the latest projects.