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Atleast you can make the trip with borrowed strobes. So Backscatter strobes are just rebranded AOI ones?

I was running the Atom Flashes in manual, not TTL. It wouldn't recognize the pre-flash in manual and they confirmed that. You're right, their strobes are only for Oly and Sony TTL, so I edited my last post because it is incorrect.

I am surprised Backscatter does not know and understand that none of their namesake strobes will support simple standard optical TTL using the camera flash as trigger. The Atom will support manual with and without a preflash but cannot run TTL. TTL is only possible with Oly RC mode or Sony WL Command. Which is sort of chintzy and disappointing and my current hang up with buying a pair. Unless I am reading the manuals wrong.

So I bought two Atom Flashes about a month ago after one of my YS-01s died. When I set them up with my rig (LX-10 with nauticam housing), they would fire/not fire seemingly at random when on manual with the camera flash. After troubleshooting over the phone for about two weeks with Backscatter staff (which included getting two new optical cords), I ended up sending in my housing, camera, and the strobes back to their store in CA to verify that the strobes had some type of incompatibility with my camera. Once received, the Backscatter staff determined that Atom Flash was having difficulty reading the LX-10 preflash, causing all of the misfires. Unfortunately, I leave for a dive trip in a week, so Backscatter is doing me right by sending back a pair of rental strobes along with my housing and camera (which is currently in route). I was told that they're going to work with AOI to determine if there is some type of algorithm change to provide LX-10 compatibility, but they're not sure if that's possible. Otherwise, they're going to warranty the strobes and provide a refund. I was really hoping these would work with my current rig - the specifications and snoot seemed ideal for my use. I'll see what happens with AOI attempting to fix the incompatibility. I wasn't planning on buying new strobes anytime soon, but I was basically forced when the one underpowered YS-01 crapped out. I've been looking at a MFT for a while, but didn't want to spend the money on it. Maybe this is my forcing function to get that MFT and keep the Atom Flashes. So lesson learned is: If you have a Panasonic, call Backscatter and ask if they've tested compatibility with your camera's TTL.

Anyone tried RF 20mm 1.4 on water?

Browning Pass is absolutely mind blowing. The diving North Vancouver Island is so rich and full of life. The currents can be pretty intense though haha. There are a few other dive operators other than God's Pocket up there aswell and a few muuuch cheaper. Hit me up if you need more info! Thanks for watching!

If it is coming at an ultra humongous price, I am afraid. It will be interesting (but also a very slim chance) if we can combine it with RF1.4x and RF2.0x teleconverters. Let‘s also pray that Canon will keep the MFD ultra low and the entrance pupil in the front as on our beloved EF 8-15 fisheye.

I lost my cap for the Nauticam USB-C (see picture below) bulkhead. If you have by chance a faulty USB-C bulkhead connector with the cap and it just collects dust I would buy it for a reasonable price. I live in Germany, so it only makes sense to post it from Europe.

Tambien decirte que los packs de idiving se pueden desmontar por el usuario y cambiar las celdas,,los originales de subtronic vienen sellados para que nadie puede abrirlos sin romperlo todo,,podrías adapatar un portapilas especial dentro del tubito idiving de tal manera que pudieras cambiar tu mísmo las 18650 que hoy en día ya las hay de 50A de descarga......

It won't short. I've tested it unintentionally, so it's not just waterproof but also your camera is protected in case of leakage (which is highly unlikely if you screw back the cap properly).

Hola,sí,es correcto,lo siento no se escribir bien en inglés pero hoy en día todo esto se traduce automáticamente a cualquier idioma,,las baterías idiving cuestan 120E si le entregas el cable usado de subtronic y si le pides a Arturo que te las ponga de más capacidad,,por ej 3500mah no hay problema,,tu idea de poder desmontar y cambiar elementos en un minuto es buena pero todo lo que sea abrir cosas en el mar o en barcos es motivo de posible fallo,,con llevar un par de packs por flash seria suficiente para 4 inmersiones día que es lo que solemos hacer cuando viajamos,no tanto cuando buceamos en casa...tampoco me gusta nada tener un cable de corriente por ahí pero es la parte mala que tienen los subtronic 160 pro,lo demás tu bien lo sabes,son ventajas,Wolfgang Tick sigue en activo revisando subtronic pero lo malo es que ha dejado de fabricar unidades nuevas o eso entendí la ultima vez que hablé con él,...tambien dispone de packs de 9ah o más pero son muy aparatosos...,,lástima que no haya espacio dentro del flash para adaptar un pack 8.4v 4ah,,sería lo suyo pero no cabe y un pack de litio polímero sería demasiado peligroso....,hoy en dia hay celdas de 5ah un poco más gordas 21mm y de igual longitud,,tal vez con eso sería suficiente...muchas gracias por compartir tus conocimientos,esto siempre sirve de mucha ayuda...

Update: Hopefully I'll get an update från S&S within a month. If I don't outright forget about it I'll post about it here.

In case it’s not popped up in your research yet, one thing to be aware of is the length of the boat ride to the dive sites. Most are about an hour from the dock. I didn’t mind at all, because the trip through the Rock Islands is so stunningly beautiful. I found the ride to be a highlight, not a problem.

Some good ideas there. I might experiment with more range and a gray card.

Hello, I did my first dIve with Inon UFL-GR140 pro ZD. I took stills and video footage in 8:7 format but while videos are ok the stills show little vignetting at the four borders. What do you think about that? I think vids dont show vignetting due to stabilization.

I currently use an AOI double flip holder for my diopters (CMC-1, AOI +6 mostly), and plan to use it with MFO3 when I make the jump to a rig with the Sony 100mm macro. The other flip holder will holder either a MFO1 or the AOI 12.5 (which is similar to the SMC1) The dual flip is bulky but really convenient. And if you ever get into blackwater divin, bayonet or not you don't really want to be handling lenses in the dark over deep water if possible. As a caveat, if you ever consider the cheaper AOI flip, make sure you get the small spacer adapter for Nauticam lenses (not the one which comes with the lenses, it's too large and doesn't fit), as these diopters cannot be used as is because of the protruding lens design, which is too long for the AOI holder and means the lens rear hits the port glass.

I'm using a bayonet holder for my MFO3, I'm on m43 so the magnification of the 60mm macro lens is sufficient and I don't use a diopter. So only taking the MFO3 on and off and not needing to park a diopter. Swapping them is fairly easy, the MFO3 is a heavy lump above water, but doesn't give me problems below water. I also used cargo shorts when diving in Lembeh, I only needed to fall off the boat so no issues with them falling down, not an option shore diving in Sydney where I use the bayonet. The bayonet holder is mounted on a strobe arm, when I'm entering/exiting the water I have the neoprene bag it is supplied with covering the lens. Getting washed into the rocks exiting is a common enough occurrence that some protection is needed. Once UW I remove and clip off the bag.

I really think the fundamental problem is the response curve of the camera. That's not a fault rather that is how they are designed. The way around I think is to reduce the exposure. Easiest is lowering the ISO if possible, but looks like you at ISO 50 already, so maybe place a grey card on the wall and measure brightness off that or double the strobe's distance from the wall. You might run into problems at the low power end, but within the limitations of equipment you have available seems like this might be the best solution. You would need separate sets of measurements for the high and low powers. Also as I understand it ISO 50 on the Z8 is extended ISO which is achieved by over exposing the image and pulling the exposure down which tends to blow highlights. Maybe for the Z8 base ISO might be a better option?

@g3cko Sent a DM

I’m a long time user of a Nauticam flip holder for a single wet diopter. Usually starting a macro trip with a +5 SubSee before switching to an SMC-1. The discussions about the MFO-3 make it sound like a great lens to have around when geared for macro (Nikon 105VR). I learned a long time ago that trying to screw lenses on and off underwater was NOT a task I favored. A double flip looks super bulky, appears to add a lot of front weight, is a bit $$$, and the length of the MFO-3 doesn't seem very amenable to a flip holder. I have reason to move to a Nauticam bayonet mounting system for other reasons. But - The pricey arm holders for extra lenses on bayonet look like they again add a lot of front loaded weight & bulk. I do have a large front velcro pocket on the waistband of my backplate/wing as an option to store the lenses when not in use. What are folks’ experiences with wet swapping lenses using the bayonet system from Nauticam? How do other folks carry around the various lenses for macro shooting while on a dive?

FYI: Photoshop also shows a mean average of luminosity. A small selection square on the target covers about 20,000 pixels and computes the brightness. Using that mean luminosity value (on a 0-255 scale) instead of the brightness (a 0-99 scale) reading does not meaningfully change any of the results. Your table reads from possibly different locations than I used and is based on an image down sampled from 8000px to about 100px. Converted from raw->>tiff->>jpg 500px->>pasted into Word->>screenshotted to PNG->>uploaded to forum. Not a great way to source data.

Like Tim said, other than dawn, dusk and night dives, I never needed a focus light with D500 and 60mm macro, but with 105mm on the D500 or Z8, a focus light is useful far more often, as I recently found out. There is a wide range of sizes, features and power available and ulcs has some lightweight mounts that fit almost anything. Not what I use, but I just threw this 120g thing together together to illustrate how small one can go: Orcatorch D560 700 lumen 3.5" light with 14500 battery on a ULCS ball mount. To paraphrase a credit card commercial, What's in your housing cold shoe?

The news I was waiting for so long!! Lets see how both will perform underwater!

Better in english, so anyone can understand. I have 4 Idiving batteries, are exactly the same than the Subtronic ones but smaller, nothing else. Subtronic sells batteries that works also as an arm (which I don't like) and they also have batteries with no balls, like the idiving ones, in order to put it in the side of the strobe in the neoprene protector. The difference between the Subtronic and the Idiving is only the size, Idiving is smaller and slightly cheaper. But both share the same issues. They need the Subtronic dedicated charger, when the cells become older you have to buy brand new batteries, 2 18650 good quality battery cells are 40 euros worth as much, the whole battery is 200 euros worth if Idiving and 250 euros if Subtronic. My batteries are absolutely different focused. My goal is manufacture a housing for batteries that I can change the cells in seconds, so when the cells are old I swap them by new ones for a few euros, I can use normal chargers and I double the number of cells, so I can make 4 dives with no changing battery. But I recognize that if I had to do again I would make a design for only two cells.

Make that three for curious.