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Here is and interesting YouTube video which overlays a 3d scan of both the Mkii and Mkiii so that you can visualize the size changes. Also, this short shows how the viewfinder top is larger and my interfer with other housings. Ben

Thailand Northern Andaman Sea diving Richelieu Rock and the Similan Islands. Richelieu was really amazing I've been diving a long time and this site is definitely in my top five spots ever. I Used a GoPro 11 and two Backscatter video lights. Comments and constructive criticism always welcome I'm here to learn.

Many thanks @DreiFish. Beat me to it :) Still no one in my community has bought one yet and I might be the first one to purchase it as well. What I suppose is that if you order only the tray from Nauticam there will not even be a dremel work which is really interesting as they completely designed a new housing for the R6 III. I also saw that the joystick is a bit more sticking out. How was the joystick usage? Was there any movement not being registered by the camera or was it firmer? As this also occasionally happens underwater, maybe, it being firmer, will be an accidental benefit.

Yeah, really good. Such a clear explanation. At the end of the day, it's about compromises......

Macro Compact Lenses and accessories -$160 USD (Retail is $310 USD + tax) Nauticam M67 Flip Diopter Holder for NA-LX100, NA-LX100II & NA-RX100VI Standard Port https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-M67-Flip-Diopter-Holder-for-NA-LX100-Stan - $300 USD (Retail is $470 USD + tax) Nauticam Compact Macro Converter 1 CMC­1 https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-Compact-Macro-Converter-1-CMC-1-45x-Magni - $150 USD (retails is $280 USD + tax) Nauticam N50 Short Port with M67 Threads https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-Short-Flat-Port-N50 You can have all three for $575 USD

3300 USD for WACP Extension Ring 25 with lock is available too for $300 USD if it works for your set here is the port chart FS: Nauticam WACP-1 - link to existing price of $4832 + tax at Backscatter - Nauticam WACP-1Padded carrying bag - Nauticam 25mm Extension Ring 25 II - Canon EF 28-70 f3.5-4.5 II + zoom gear Items are located in Vancouver Canada, I can ship anywhere in North America and to US from Washington if needed. If you are looking internationally please contact me. Can share additional photos. The manta was shot recently in Maldives. WACP has 70 dives on it.

This is the Gen 1 version of the WWL, the lens is flawless, not scratches. $900 USD + Shipping Oiginally paid $1400 USD for the WWL + M67 Byonet Mount Converter & Float Collar for the WWL - The Gen 2 version will cost you $1820 USD The WWL provides 130 degrees of glorious wide angle coverage, and even a bit wider if your camera system allows it! This is a field of view that sits between the popular full-frame fisheye lenses (180 degrees diagonal) and ultra-wide (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) (weitwinkel) rectilinear zooms (approximately 110 degrees). This coverage angle was targeted from the very beginning as an ideal coverage angle for a wide variety of underwater imaging scenarios. Big animals, close focus wide angle shots of reef-dwelling creatures, and even mid-range fish portraits are all within the range of WWL https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-WWL-1B-Wet-Wide-Lens 00 USD

@Kiliii Yuyan well done sir!

I share all of my designs and will post the Retra knobs soon. I am going to complete the set with a Power Level knob and will share them after a few more test dives. Can anyone share the height and diameter of the Pro Max knobs? I want to know if they are the same. Some of the older Retra models have smaller knobs.

I have the HF-1 and the Atom and will make those comparisons. Thanks for sharing your ideas for evaluating these similar strobes.

Hi and thanks for the welcome, @humu9679 !!!

PRICE DROP: £1850 + shipping

Does anyone have any experience with waterproof colour checkers? I'm looking for something that is accurate to industry standards (i.e. 'Macbeth' colorchecker, later manufactured by X-Rite, then Calibrite) but I have concerns about waterproof options. Keldan offer an X-Rite checker that is encased in resin (this one), but it is possibly too small for my intended use and I'm worried that the resin may interfere with the colour space. I've also only found it at £165.00. A company called gwbcolourcard offer a waterproof card for £27.99, but I've seen claims that they're not very accurate to the colour space due to the way they are printed rather than using solid pigments like the industry standards. Does anyone know about the accuracy of cheaper waterproof alternatives or the Keldan checker that uses resin? Alternatively, has anyone tried taking an accurate colour chart and laminating it yourself? Unfortunately I can't just go for a 'close enough' approach for colour correction because I'm looking into computer vision applications that will require accuracy. Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks, Henry

First, let me thank heartfelt all the testers, who do this thankless task of thoroughly testing and comparing strobes - so that we consumers have a clearer picture before acquiring the expensive equipment... Just my uninvolved remarks on strobe comparison: I fully agree that in any comparison with the new Retra Maxi, the HF-1 is very important to include. This is the reference strobe that Maxi was made to compete with... Another important strobe to compare with is the recent Retra top strobe (I think it is called the MaxII), since this is the strobe that top UW-photographers rate as the very best ones with respect to quality of the light (even distribution and color temperature). Not a direct competitor of Maxi or HF-1, but one would like to know what one is giving up, when acquiring the power models... Maybe also the new AOI P1 strobes is a strong competitor, it seems to be something in the middle between HF-1 and Retra Maxi (some people here wrote that the backscatter strobes are made by AOI; indeed the chassis looks very similar, but it has a circular tube like the maxi)... (I think that comparison of the Maxi with e.g. Z330 or even MF-3 does not make much sense - these strobes are in different niches)

???? N5 connectors/cables are yes, bulky, very bulky. However TTL is way much reliable and acurate... And in 30 years of UW Photography, i never ever had a single problem with N5 cables or bulkhead.... which is not the case with Fiber optic cables. Yet, i am using fiber optic cable today. With th exception of my Subtronic strobes... (that i use with 14mm or Fisheye lens)... without TTL. Funny

Hi @Kiliii Yuyan - “Retra the best… f*** the rest?” 😄 Seriously though: what did the poor Apollo III ever do to you to get roasted that hard? Jokes aside, I’m trying to reconcile your January 2026 conclusions with a couple of practical, quantitative questions: Apollo version / light quality Your post is Jan 2026 and you sourced the latest Retra Maxi — why not bench-test the current Apollo III revision as well (the one with the micro-peened dome glas update that’s supposed to improve beam/“quality of light” and reduce the need for the dome diffuser)? If it simply wasn’t available: totally fair - but then the “needs diffuser / poor coverage” verdict is basically “Apollo III 2.0 as tested”, not necessarily “Apollo III today”, right? Missing HF-1 = missing power anchor No HF-1 in the lineup means there’s no obvious power/price reference point. Alex Mustard has called the Backscatter HF-1 „the strongest strobe he’s tried“ — was it just impossible to get one in time, or was there a reason you skipped it? Retra Maxi burst: what’s the real ceiling without drama? 8 fps is a fine level playing field, but what I (and probably many) want is the Maxi’s actual max sustainable rate with no black frames and no meaningful exposure drift, plus the GN/power level where that holds. So in practical terms: does the Maxi get anywhere near Apollo’s 10–12 fps-ish territory in its stable modes, or is it fundamentally behind on high-fps burst consistency? Context: I already own HF-1 (brightest) + Apollo III 2.0 (fastest). I’m trying to figure out whether the Maxi adds a new capability or mostly overlaps. Thanks in advance — genuinely curious, and I appreciate the effort you put into measuring this stuff. PS: I’m not allergic to Retra winning - I just want any comparison to include the actual monsters in the room.

Hi Dave, would you share the 3D/CAD files of the knobs. I also sometimes mix up the power and mode knob due to almost same design (only length is differnt). I was thinking to design a clip-on knop. But if your design solves also the "salt problem"👍😃. To be honest, I hadn't figured out the salt problem until today. Will later remove a knop on my strobe to get an idea how much salt stuck there. Br Markus

I've also got a N85 65mm port. Purchased incorrect port, never seen water.

This is an as new EMWL setup. It has been in the water a grand total of 3 times. It was not for me. All pieces are as new, no marks anywhere. Set includes (listed prices are new prices in USD without tax or shipping): Focus unit 1 for Nikon ($1,700) Relay Lens ($2,200) 130mm Objective ($2,100) 100mm Objecte ($1,700) Strobe Mount ($330) Total new is US$8,030 Will sell at over 25% off US$5,999 includes postage. Pay by PayPal I will cover fees. Will work with buyer to help with any duties.

This is a complete ready to go professional level underwater camera setup. Includes housing, camera, ports, lenses, torch, strobe and more. AU$12,500 / ~US$8,500 / Euro 7,300) The Nikon D850 is the last of the great DSLR cameras, still focuses quicker and more accurately than most modern mirrorless cameras. The housing and ports are SeaCam, still the Rolls Royces of Housings. This includes everything you need to just hit the water for both wide angle and macro photography and video. The step up includes (prices next to items are new price in Euro not selling price): SeaCam D850 Housing (5750) SeaCam Super Dome (2245) SeaCam Wide Port (1010) SeaCam Macro Port (~400) SeaCam 50mm Ext (325) SeaCam 25mm Ext (285) SeaCam 180 Sportsfinder (1750) SeaCam GPRO Finder (430) SeaCam Close-up Wet Diopter (~400) SeaCam Focus Gear for 105 Macto (265) SeaCam Zoom Gear for Tokina 10 - 17 (265) Nikon D850 (2900) Nikon AF 16 - 35 F4 (1200) Nikon AF 105 ED Macro (900) Tokina 10 - 17 Lens (~600) Sola 3200LM Wide Angle Torch (400) Retra Flash Pro (Only ~1,000 shots) (1100) Retra Flash Booster (200) Retra Fibre Optic Trigger (150) Fibre Optic Cables (~200) 2 x Strobe Arms (~200) 3 x clamps (~200) New this setup would be 21,000 Euro. Everything is in perfect working order. The glass on all lenses, ports and viewfinder is unmarked. The housing looks almost unused. The camera has a few marks from use but perfect working order. Lenses look almost new. Setting a realistic price: AU$12,500 (approx US$8,500 / E7,300) Pay by PayPal for protection. I will cover international postage and work with you for any import duties. Prefer to sell as a package, but will discuss different options.

Likely won't work if your strobe is like this one. Zero gap under the knob and i use a powerful electric blower after a some hours in the sink. The knob ought to have a little space to drain, even if a small hole or slot at the bottom. There is a considerable hollow under the knob that retains a CC or two of water.

Firstly thanks to Dave and Kiliii for the comprehensive reviews. On the question of salt, it seems to me it is very difficult to get rid of this salt in crevices etc. Just soaking won't do it, there's very little driving force to exchange fresh and salt water. On my previous Z240 strobes I would find salt crystals between in the space between the o-ring and the edge of the cap. Capillary forces hold the water in there and even after a 2hour soak or longer there's still salt there. If I change the batteries I can taste it, if I don't salt crystals eventually form. This is a problem on any small crevice, the gap between the two halves of the housing, buttons and control knobs, below caps like vacuum caps etc. At least with housing buttons you can press the button a few times to get salt water to leave, you can turn the knobs - but this doesn't do a lot I don't think. I have taken to blasting each control with with a blower bulb ( I use a Giotto rocket blower, surprisingly effective) , you can get a squirt of water out on all the housing buttons. I have Retra pure strobes, I aim the the nozzle at the base of each knob and the light button and blast till no more water comes out. I've just ordered a rechargeable air duster which I'll try out after next dive.

Aloha and welcome Wahrmut!

UWTechnics External TTL Converter for Sony installation in M24 hole on Sea&Sea MDX-aU housings:

Price lowered to $1550