Alex_Mustard

Thanks guys - Waterpixels got the obligatory plug as Website of the Year in our end of 2024 episode.

We’re closing in on the 100th episode of The Underwater Photography Show (2 to go)! Thought I’d do a post to check it out, if you haven’t already: https://www.youtube.com/@UWPhotoShow/videos Alex

Congrats guys!

I'd love to own one of these...

We all want to know if they finally replaced the B*stard Button with a switch! Alex

I have not tried the production version of the MFO yet. I think they have been in high demand and Nauticam haven't been able to supply one yet. However, I have had MFO prototypes since April and taken one on every trip as it is so useful. The production MFO is a little different to the prototypes - and I will wait to shoot it before posting a review (I obviously have lots of sample images and test images from the prototypes). What the Nauticam lenses always deliver is excellent sharpness across the frame. Some others are sharp in the centre and blurred in the corners.

Retra sent me an email with the specs last week and I was reading it to a couple of the guys on my Red Sea workshop, who commented it seemed engineered to beat the HF-1 in each department. One of them then quipped that Retra should have called it the Backscatter Xterminator! The guide number scale makes the difference seem much larger than it is. I've tested (only on land) it against the HF-1 and it is marginally brighter centre frame. But you have to look to see it. And that is with both without diffusers, which is not how you are going to normally use them. But I also understand why Retra have made this - because quite simply some of their customers or potential customers have said that this is what they want. While others, like me, prefer the philosophy of the Pro Max for my photos. And I think it is great news that there is now a wide variety of quality products out there offering people the chance to choose what they think is right for them.

This was very sad and, as always, scary news. I have never been on the boat, but always thought they were very nice people. It must have been terrifying for all on board, especially in such a remote location. We were moored next to MV Nouran at Deadalus on the day of their fire. We left at sunset, and the fire was later that night. We spent much of the day diving beneath their boat with the oceanic whitetip sharks. Waiting Not waiting! This is probably the last photo taken of MV Nouran (far right), as we left that evening:

I'd just say it does the same job as the SMC-1 (but is also optimised to work with the Sony 90mm as well as the 100/105mm lenses) and incorporates what Nauticam have learned about optics in the 10 years since the SMC-1 was introduced. If you have an SMC-1 and are happy there is no need to upgrade. If your SMC-1 is getting a bit tatty then this is a good reason to replace it. If you shoot Sony and regularly see the cut off with the SMC-1, then this gets rid of it. Alex

Good news for second hand values, though. Hype it up a bit and cash in!

I've been shooting it since May. Haven't used my SMC-1 since, although the performance is very, very similar. I like it very much, although the other products are more interesting to me.

Just a hat with "Don't forget your lens, Dummy!" written on it! Alex

There is a downside to Isaac's conversion (get well soon, Isaac). By dividing the lens into two parts (port and lens) it opens up the opportunity for dumb photographers to leave one part at home. In my case I am on a Komodo to Alor trip with the port, but the lens is in England. In my defence we're in the middle of moving house and everything is in boxes, which made packing much trickier than usual. Fortunately for us dummies, Sony cameras are so popular amongst UW folks that there are plenty of fisheyes on board to borrow!

Looks like it has flooded (they normally have air inside - who wants to try and compose a photo through oil!). I would not dive it like that. If you have the standard viewfinder or a friend has a spare viewfinder then use that.

The quick answers are: 1) No. I used the same camera WB for both. But I didn't do detailed testing - I just went out and shot. 2) No. But on the reef, reviewing between shots, I wasn't really shooting fast, I was getting compositions right, reviewing my shot, adjusting when needed. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5rH6q9Nqqv/ Longer answers for others, like OP, interested in these things. I wasn't doing an official review, but was testing for my own interest - so I didn't take notes or do specific comparison shots. That said I am very familiar with what exposure my normal settings and flash powers give, so I immediate notice the differences of different gear. I am lucky that I have access to all the good gear and I would always swap to better gear when it comes to market - so I always try and try good products. Anyway, I last used the Seacams back to back with the Retras when I was in Misool in March. Although that is not that long ago, I've done over 100 dives this then (with others strobes), so I don't remember all the details. But I clearly remember shooting the same settings with each (both power and exposure settings and using the same white balance I normally use - being a Sony user I shoot K WB mostly). The difference between them in light was very small - and both are very much to my taste. In back to back testing you might see a difference, but shooting real world subjects they give very similar light at the same power settings. Both recycle fine. But neither is as instant as the lithium powered strobes are at the highest powers. I don't remember ever waiting on either strobe (although I was shooting at a normal pace, composing carefully, reviewing etc - see video link above). As a general comment (for the benefit of others following), while recycling time is an easy stat to measure, I don't believe it is important for almost all UW photography. We usually review between shooting, it is not as if we have a (different) perfect photo opportunity several times each second. And I think taking a moment to carefully compose etc, is more valuable than spraying off extra frames. Most things in the ocean do not move super fast. There are not normally fast moving elements likes a bird's wings or eye-lids blinks which make or break a composition a nature composition on land. When I first got my Nikon D4 (in 2013, I think) I remember shooting mandarinffish in Lembeh one evening. I set the camera to higher ISO and shot 10 frames per second with my Inon Z240 strobes on a lower power. On that dive I had several hundred shots of mandarinffish pairs, I think over 90 in focus where their eggs were visible too - but despite all these good shots, I got nothing any better than if I had just taken one shot of each rise. It made me realise that much of the time the viscosity of water slows down behaviours underwater and shooting multiple frames often just means multiple similars, rather capturing than some lucky/magic moment. Alex