JayceeB

I tried this and ran several more tests. I was unable to recreate the issue. Will report back after a few dives. Thank you, @Oskar - Retra UWT :)

I tried to recreate it on land. The first try, I attached the cable and began shooting every couple of seconds and observed the optic cable end for the red actuation light. The first 10 or so firings worked fine, but after that, it would stop flashing. If I waited a bit and fired a couple of more test shots, it would start working again for a few times, then stop again. The second try, I attached the cable again and began shooting. It never stopped working. I tried a few more combinations of turning the camera off, removing and replacing the cable, wiggling the cable, pulling it just a mm or so off the shoe, etc. I was not able to reproduce intermittent failures again. Not exactly what I was expecting. As I am not sure of the what caused the issue, I'm not confident that it won't pop up again. Here are the contacts on my camera hot shoe and cable.

I'll check. My camera is impeccably clean as I only use it within the housing, and have never had a drop of water ingress.

Hello Waterpixelers, Yesterday part way through a dive, my strobes stopped flashing consistently. If I'd take a break, sometimes it would work for a few shots, then stop working. I figured I just needed to change the batteries on my UW Technics trigger. I went out again today, with new batteries and started getting intermittent failure again part way through the dive. The issue is for both strobes, so I ruled out the cables and strobes. When the strobe's are failing, i took the cable off one strobe and there is no red light pulsing out the end. When it is working, I can see the light pulse. I am assuming it is the UW Technics TTL Converter, but wanted to ask folks if there is anything else I should try to troubleshoot before sending it for service. The UW Technics is 1.5 years old and is the Canon version. Thank you for any advice :) -Jaycee

Nicely written article. Very interesting lens selection. If he's using EF-S lenses, I'm assuming he's shooting his R5 in 1.6 crop mode? I take it the RF-mount lens he's waiting for is a RF 50mm macro?

You may be able to shoot the 85 macro in the 230mm dome too if you wanted to defer purchase of a dedicated flat port. Perhaps someone on this thread can comment.

Have any MFO users compared focus hunting with the (limiter switch on) vs (limiter switch off + MFO)? I ask, for those considering the MFO where the primary benefit they are hoping for is to improve focus hunting.

That's 3 similar HF-1 floods on this thread.

2). At home, I use both the 8-15mm fisheye in a 140mm dome and 14-35mm rectilinear in a 230mm dome. I recently traveled to Malapascua for Threshers and wanted more reach than the 8-15mm provided, but did not want to lug along my heavy 230mm dome. Instead, I used the 14-35mm in the 140mm dome with the extension I normally use for my 230mm dome (thanks for the recommendation on this, @Chris Ross ). I am not as conscious of edge sharpness as many folks, so opinions will vary, but I was happy with the results. Here is a sequence with that setup at different focal lengths. (35mm, 27mm, 23mm, 17mm, 14mm) 35mm 27mm 23mm 17mm 14mm (slight interference from dome sun shade required cropping afterwards in post)

I'm not positive on this one. I thought it was due to the risk of corrosion, but @cerich 's response makes sense too. I can say that after the leak and cleaning out the strobe and drying it, that the battery cap was still functional for another 10 days.

Perhaps @MatthewSullivan is onto something. I had an HF-1 flood 2 weeks ago in Anilao. The strobe worked the entire dive and I left the batteries in overnight as I had not taken many shots. I turned the strobe on in the morning with no power. Opened it up and found some salt water and corroded batteries. Rinsed with fresh water, dried, rubbing alcohol, dried. Left it a day to sit. Next day it powered up and continued working for another 10 days, but started to fail after that. It would power up at the surface, but then at depth, it would not power on. I tested again on the surface and it powered on. FYI: I contacted Backscatter, and they will repair the flooded strobe and replace the battery cap for $235. Strobe is now out for repair.

Attached are two images. Not class-leading sharpness, but not horrible. Looks like B+W makes a 43mm +3. null

@Adventurer , I took your advice and purchased an inexpensive diopter lens kit (Vivitar 43mm Close Up Macro Lens Kit - $13). It came with +1, +2, +4 and +10 diopter lenses. I tried the +1, +2 and +4 on the lens within the housing above water. The +1 was the only one that would focus to infinity above water. I naively thought this would be the one to try. I tested it on a dive, and the experience was completely different than above water. Minimum focus distance was 30” with the +1. Much improved compared to no diopter, but still not acceptable. Next, I tried the +2. Minimum focus distance was 18” underwater. This weekend I tried the +4. The lens focuses right up to the dome port glass as well as to infinity. I’m in the early learning stages regarding lens optics, so forgive me for not considering the impact of water in the equation. I can’t believe how spot-on accurate you were in your recommendation, and thank you so much for helping me out on this. My setup is a Canon R5 + RF 50mm f/1.8 + Vivitar 43mm +4 diopter in a Marelux housing with 140mm fisheye dome (no extension). I would highly recommend this setup for anyone interested in this focal length.

I always cover ports in/out of the boat, or to/fro shore entry. Just be careful not to lose the cap...they're $132 to replace...don't ask me how I know that 🙂

Thanks, @Adventurer. Let me ponder on the +4 diopter suggestion. Not sure how far I want to pursue this option as I was looking for a lightweight travel setup for Malapascua Thresher Sharks. I have tested the 140mm dome + RF 14-35mm successfully at the 35mm end. I think that will likely be my choice, as AF is fast and reliable. I'll utilize the 50mm for above water use only.