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Not in this case. RC is part of the MFT consortium open source stuff, not reverse engineered because there is no need to. It's why you are seeing so many strobes have RC if even no other TTL at all... anyhow. That said, Ikelite had to make a different and specific version of the RC TTL reciever for use with the AOI LED flash triggers vs the one that works when on camera flash is used. That seems to point to some issues with the output of LED vs flash to make the RC protocol work properly (https://www.ikelite.com/products/rc1-olympus-ttl-receiver-for-aoi-led-flash-trigger-and-ds-strobes?_pos=41&_sid=0ac781af2&_ss=r) I would think for folks with an AOI or other LED trigger for RC, check the trigger manuf and strobe manuf and make sure they play nice with each other before buying, even if same brand trigger and strobe.

Promised packed images, measured at the heighest spot without compressing (just a bit compressed easy 19cm) - so or so, no problems at all to fit into the 22cm rule.

Having finally gotten my OM-1, AOI UH-OM1II housing, and dual Atom Flash strobes, I can verify that HSS does, in fact, work in RC/SC mode. You just switch FP on in the camera, leave the strobes on SC, and you can increase shutter speed to your heart's content (or until full power isn't enough from the strobes, at which point they beep). This is true on a tabletop, not yet in the water, though.

I'd have to test it with reflective material, but I don't have anything suitable here at the moment. In the meantime, I've taken the snoot adapter with me on a few dives. Sony 90mm Macro and Nauticam MFO-3, Snoot Sony 90mm Macro and Nauticam MFO-1, Snoot Sony 90mm Macro and Nauticam MFO-3, Snoot Sony 90mm Macro, and Weefine WFL05S +13, Snoot myDocuments.cannedSearch.zip

Hi guys, first post asking one advice… 🍻 I’ve recently buyed a Nauticam wwl1 lens.. . 👍 not b or c versions… the original that if I’m not wrong is optically identical to the B version but with the foam buoyancy collar… I’ve an old but good oly em1mk2 and I’m trying to figure out which m4/3 lens is better with the wwl1….😅🤷🏻‍♂️ As now I’ve the little Panasonic 12-32 already with Nauticam zoom gear… I need the flat port and the bayonet adapter for it… someone have used this combo(wwl1+12-32)?? Or there is something definitely better? Thanks a lot.. Fabio

Thank you. I am going to book Crystal Blue. I agree on the house reef point. I often have some new technique or piece of gear I want to learn or experiment with or some photo skill I want to learn or practice and being able to go out and on a shore dive and take my time doing that is easier than on a boat dive while the guide is finding fascinating stuff and/or I don't want to hold back the other divers. Of course, despite what I just said, I then often suffer FOMO and cannot pass on the boat dive. Living in a landlocked area, I cannot really do that stuff except on dive trips, so I am conflicted.

I like that the YS130 retains standard TTL capability. Not sure about the size of the thing and that digital panel, I would rather just have a dial with numbers. Are these made in Japan?

Ikelite Strobes: Have 4 Ikelite DS125 strobes (without battery) and 1 Ikelite DS50. All work and tested. Cost is $250 (USD) for each of the DS125 and $50 (USD) for the DS51. Freight is not included.

And the text that goes with it Bluewater PhotoSea & Sea YS-D130R Underwater Strobe ReviewSea & Sea's newest flagship strobe, the YS-D130R, is a powerful 130 ws wide angle strobe with a recycle time of 0.8 seconds at full power. This strobe is a Bluewater staff pick. I would love to see see quality of light compared (beam evenness) to the Retra Maxi and Max II, as well as tests that are from users.

@JohnD Having been to both (albeit 5x to Crystal Blue, and 1x to Buceo) I prefer Crystal Blue. Buceo is a larger (more spread out) resort with a little more on "flat" land, however if the reason you're diving Anilao is to shoot, then Crystal Blue runs a slightly better operation (starting with the camera room)., and then there is only one Mike Bartick, so Crystal Blue has that going for it as well. The house reef in front of Crystal Bliue is significantly better (other dive resorts dive it by boat regularly), and the dive operation runs very well. The food can be a bit repetitive, but you won't go hungry. The house reef discussion is an interesting one - when you're diving 3x by boat during the day, and then adding in either a night dive or blackwater dive, it's hard to squeeze in a house reef dive as well. I wouldn't miss a blackwater dive for diving the house reef (for example).

Out of the 2, I found Buceo to be nicer - better location, larger bungalows, and definitely more of a holiday feeling due to the space and location. Buceo's location is also great for Secret Bay though that's not a big differentiator. CBR has comfier rooms and very nice staff. Mike wasn't around when I was there. They have a nice classroom. Both are very well run dive operations. The food got old very quickly at CBR. To me this was, by far, the major downside of the resort. They tried to make it nice (soup, starter, mains, dessert etc), but it was just bland and uninspiring and I doubt I'll return because of that. Buceo had more options though you don't travel there specifically for the food either. Neither are great for vegetarians (I'm not but my partner is). Buceo was a bit more expensive, if my memory serves well.

I reused my old extension ring which was used for my WACP-C, the N100 30mm extension. 1.4x was also recommended but I wanted the 2x Sony TC to use for my Africa safari trip hence went with the 2x instead of buying both. I should've bought the used stuff from you haha. Joking aside I was able to get the 8-15 and metabones V second hand for quite cheap. In my case I wanted wider than WACP-C after going to Halmahera and not being able to fit in that giant school of barracudas. I was going to try 8-15 with no TC on the whale shark dive but forgot I don't have the zoom ring for this set up. Luckily it was wide enough even with 2x TC!

Hi @Adventurer , I believe you have Apollo III 2.0 strobes based on your previous posts, the data from @DreiFish mentions Apollo III, not Apollo III 2.0 - is this referring to the same model strobes?

Hi Dreifish, I think your Apollo III units where not functioning OK or your test setup was faulty in some way. I cannot confirm the way you trashed that strobe, having now shot this and the HF-1 for two years. I bought the HF-1 because of your disruptive Excel sheet back in the days. In fact my HF-1 does not deliver the power you claimed at high frame rates and does many blackout frames and light variation. You may want to reach out to your dealer or Marelux to get your strobes replaced.

Review of somesorts from Bluewater. I havent watched it yet.

with or without strobes? I use AWB and it's generally pretty close when shooting with strobes. I've shot a few subjects purely with ambient and also used AWB as I recall, it wasn't perfect but provided a good starting point for adjusting the raw files.

I ran the test you're describing 2 years ago between the HF-1 and Apollo III (basically, normalized power output after the initial dimming period) to see what the max power each strobe could achieve in a continuous shooting scenario at 3fps, 6fps and 12fps was. Here's the results (also in the shared google spreadsheet that's pinned at the top of this forum). My results were that in actuality the HF-1 puts out more power at each frame rate than the Marelux Apollo 3 despite the latter marketing its MTL feature heavily. (I have no incentive to make this up -- I own the Marelux Apollo 3 and have been trying to sell my 2 units since.. 2 years ago :)) Strobe GN @ 3fps GN @ 6fps GN @ 12fps Backscatter HF-1 16 11 8.5 Backscatter MF-2 13 2.8 2.8 Supe D-Pro 13 10 8 Marelux Apollo 3 11 7.1 6.3 Ikelite DS230 11 0 0 Inon S-220 10 5.6 5 Sea & Sea YS-D3 9 4.5 4.5 Seacam 160D Retra Pro Max

A fellow WaterPixel user asked me if it would be possible to make a hard dome port cap for a new port. They were not comfortable with the provided neoprene cover and wanted something that would provide more protection in and out of the water. I considered it for a bit and came up with the following design for a "universal" dome port cap. It's a parametric model so a port cap can be generated from just a couple of dimensions, providing it's for a conventional dome port style. I prototyped it for a Nauticam 140mm dome port and made another version of the users 6-inch dome. I printed this in a very tough TPU with a 68-shore hardness. It's flexible but quite rigid. I used an open face grid design to avoid the typical resistance that makes removing port caps harder than necessary. A pair of clips hold the cap in place, with bungees for a more secure connection. What do folks think of this design? I've not tested it in the water yet but will soon. Nauticam 140mm and 6-inch dome: (the smaller part in the photos is incomplete...)

For sale a never been wet Big Blue VTL2600 P (in pink) with 2 batteries and charger. The batteries are NOT the Big Blue ones, my Big Blue battery refuses to charge. Great light 2600 lumens wide, 1000 lumen spot + red. New this was $439, for sale $225 shipped in the U.S. Bill

Updated the Lens descriptions to better describe the lenses: AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED (**This ultra wide-angle lens, designed exclusively for use with Nikon’s DX-format, provides a versatile wide-angle zoom perspective.) AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Tokina AT-X Fisheye DX 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 Kenko N-AF 1.4X Teleplus Pro 300 Teleconverter AF-S DX Nikkor 55-200 f/4-5.6G ED VR (for topside photos) (**Big versatility. Compact design.Powerful DX-format 3.6x zoom lensThe AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 55–200mm f/4-5.6G ED offers compact versatility with a powerful focal length range of 55-200mm designed exclusively for Nikon DX-format DSLRs. It’s an ideal 3.6x zoom lens for portraiture, sports or wildlife photography and an excellent companion to the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18–55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED.) ** These statements came from the nikonusa.com website

Going diving in 10 days and will see if i can analyze. The hose is stiff. Will provide more feedback as I troubleshoot the issue.

Yep, we stayed at Buceo but way back in December 2017. Black sand diving, definitely macro, accommodation was arranged up a steep hill, all boat diving with no house reef. Thats about the best I can do!

Good points. Thank you. If Tim does not chime in, I may send him a message. I can see that both are solid choices. Do you feel the shore dives on the house reefs are more-or-less equal or is one of them "better." Not sure I wold spend much time there given the number of boat locations available, but curious.

No worries. One thing I didn’t mention before is the amount of open space at each place. Crystal Blue essentially takes up the slope with buildings and decks and has little in the way of gardens around it. Buceo is much more open feeling with lots of green. They are not so far apart so there is no difference in access or travel time to dive sites. Maybe Tim will chime in too about Buceo, I know he liked it very much. Both are nicely done in their own way and I don’t think you can go wrong at either. Being around Mike and his vast experience and enthusiasm for a week should be factored into the decision as well.

Guys, Just to let you know, if someone contemplates replacing the front glass element of a Subal macro port with the curved front element of the Zen WA-100 EP port, it will not work. The front glass element of the Subal port is about 99.9 mm, whilst the one on the Zen WA-100 EP port is about 103.8 mm. I was led to believe their sizes were the same, but it turned out they are not.