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When I was using Eneloop cells, i would buy a new set every year. I was doing about 100 dives a year at the time. I used two sets of 8, so replaced one of the sets every year. A few years on now, most of my old Eneloops won't consistently charge anymore even for use around the house in remotes, thermostats, etc

Dave, thanks for the tips on USB powered chargers, I like that approach and will follow it Tom, I believe the same issues are happening to mine, thanks for the data point. I think that I may have isolated one issue. I found two cells that were completely dead and couldn’t be revived. Although the charger is supposed to take any number of cells at any state of charge, and bring them all to 100% independently, maybe it’s not so smart and maybe one bad one in the mix stumped it. I’ve now got enough good cells to proceed thankfully. My next trip to the land of Amazon will give me a chance to update it all.

Note that, according to Ikelite, the menu item for accessories should not be set to FCON-02 if it is being used because it will stop a flash from firing.

Just wondering, has anyone tried taking a picture with the x5? I see from the spec sheet that it does 72mp and was wondering how good (or bad) that is. The reason I'm asking is because I'm building some 360 virtual tours for some resorts and I'm wondering if this might be an acceptable way (image quality-wise) to produce 360° equirectangular images. I was hoping a combination of the x5 + pro housing + dive buddy could be an easy solution to take 360 images underwater - if the quality is good enough. Otherwise I'll be embarking on a really complicated journey on finding a way to build a rig with an 8mm fisheye, rotating at the nadir point, shoot 6-18 images and stitch them together.

I have been using 8-cell Power-X chargers for many years. My 4th copy is black whereas the 3 older are grey. I am looking at the tiny label on the bottom of the black one now - It has MH-C801D in the name but no mention of smart. Mine all came with AC adapters for US current that connect with a DIN type plug. The only issue I have had is that segments of the LCD display seem to fail after a while (years). This happened to one unit of my first two bought (close to 2 decades ago) so bought #3 and more recently #4. The now 2 units with a semi-functional LCD still charge but hard to tell with missing segments. It is a good idea to have 2 of any type of charger so one can swap them out or have two to charge more batts (16 at a time is minimal for Retras). A possible issue on boats is unreliable electricity. This was a problem on a research vessel I have been on. So all computers were plugged into UPS units. On one cruise it was reported that one UPS unit caught fire as a result of the ship's poor power (a 1960s vintage vessel) on the previous cruise. I would not be surprised if the longevity of power adapters is much less when used on boats. Possibly with portable generators as well.

So much for the conventional wisdom that AA batteries are superior to LiOn because you can buy them anywhere... For what it worth, i used a pair of 4XAA chargers that are USB-C PD powered. Redundancy and no issues with local power supply. Carry a 60W USB brick and run all chargers off of that

Thanks for the ideas. I have checked all of those things and yes I’ve been using this charger here for a year without issue. Since my first post, I’ve now had two batches of cells complete the full charging cycle and one batch not complete. I checked voltages to confirm. It’s clear that the charger is working only intermittently. I did manage to find a cheap 4-cell charger that is very slow. (And just by the way, the only replacement rechargeable Energizer AAs here are USD 8 per cell!). I will just have to limp along and hope for the best on this trip.

It sounds like lights come on the charger but it doesn't charge, is that correct? I assume you have tried unplugging the charger and plugging it back in. Try unplugging the barrel jack to the charging cradle and clean that too. Try charging only a 2 or 4 batteries at a time and if that doesn't work, swap them to different slots. Have you used this charger in Fiji before? The back of the charger will be stamped with the charger input AC requirements. It should say something like 100–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz. This is most likely not the problem but worth checking. According to the internet the outlets in Fiji are 240 V/50 Hz so if the charger is only for 120V/60Hz, that would be an issue.

I also lost a shakle from the Nauticam clamp and bought later another shakle at the hardware store, but in the meantine during ten diving vacation a keyring that I had with me was also fine...

Good advice in general, for sure. But not the cause of my current (!) problem.

To satisfy my curiosity regarding the CFWA abilities with 50mm total extension rings + N100-N120 35.5 adapter, I set up this very basic test scenario. (Sony a1, Sony 2x TC, Metabones V, Canon 8-15) (NA-a1, N100 30 Extension, N100-N120 35.5, N120 20 Extension, Nauticam 140 done) The figure is sitting with basically the nose to the glass dome with fast, solid focus. Lens was zoomed out to wide 8mm. In short, excellent close focus capability and no vignette with the shade installed.

I wonder if this would be true of the ULM laser trigger as well

Marelux Macroview 60 wet conversion lens is now shipping and it looks like this. The mount is 67mm and can be used with a flip adapter, direct 67mm adapter or with the bayonet adapter shown on the macro port photo for the Sony 100mm macro lens. The bayonet mount adapter ship's with the lens and can also be used with the Marelux Macroview closeup lenses. Installed the 100mm 24 degree AOV becomes A 60mm 40 degree AOV. More information can be found in the products section on the Marelux.co website.

I have found that sometimes the battery end contacts form an oxide layer that increases resistance. Spinning them in the charger will help them to make better contact and complete a cycle.

I have a large inventory of AA Eneloops of varying age and the Powerex 8 cell “smart” charger. In preparation for a liveaboard trip this weekend I set out to charge them since I’ve not been in the water for a month. Something has gone wrong as the batteries never complete the charge cycle, whether a normal fast charge, a soft charge, or a reconditioning cycle. I’m guessing it’s the charger, since this is happening regardless of the age of the batteries. Does anyone know how to test the charger, or if this is a known issue with (hopefully!) a known remedy? I am in Fiji and can only find super cheap 2-cell chargers which would not be ideal, I’m out of time to order a replacement, and I would hate to have to buy and pack 96 alkaline batteries at $4 a pop!

Welcome!

Hey Tora! A warm welcome to Waterpixels. Great to have you with us. We don’t have many members in China so you’re extra welcome! We hope you enjoy the forum. Best wishes

Hi everyone! I’m Tora from Shanghai, China. I shoot with a Sony A7RV in Nauticam system. I’ve mainly been focused on macro in the past, but recently I’ve been branching out into more wide‑angle shooting and marine mammal photography. Looking forward to connecting with you all and discussing shooting and gear info here😊

It looks to be a neat solution. I like the try-it-and-see approach for zoom fisheye lenses combined with teleconverters noting that if the fisheye lens can focus close enough to the dome then it is advantageous for CFWA to have the extension as short as possible irrespective of vignetting.

@Chris Ross Here are the non-scientific, “try-it-and-see” results. The housing was placed in the same position on all tests. Details are on each image. Note “16mm” is 8mm plus the 2x TC. There is also an image of the actual 50mm extension setup to validate. The dome is the Nauticam 140 dome with the removable shade attached. The zoom gear used is the Nauticam C815-Z+1.4 The knob on the N100-N120 35.5 adapter controls the zoom gear. Note - the tripod mount on the Metabones V needed to be removed as it was blocked by the lock mechanism in the N100 30 Extension. Remember, this was not intended to be a test of a compelling image or focus chart. It was simply to see what works and does not. I am not interested in math equations regarding perceived optimal lens placement. I just wanted to see the trial and error results. Hopefully this is helpful info.