TmxDiver

It is sad to see a US manufacturer close (and they are relatively "in my backyard" especially when I lived in the Bay Area) but I have to agree with Davide on this. I used L&M lights for a while but had consistent problems with their switch mechanism. They were always very responsive and always fixed or replaced the lights, but it was a consistent problem (especially at depths > 40m or so) and I switched to other light manufacturers over 10 years ago. Regardless, they will be missed and it is sad to hear about the closure. - brett

I've spent some time this year working with an Insta360 inside wrecks. I've done quite a few dives inside the Yukon here in Southern California trying to figure out lighting and other factors. Here is a link to one of the videos I made going from the engine room through to the bow. Note that if you are on a mobile device and have the YouTube app, you can actually move the video point-of-view by moving your device. Otherwise, you can use a mouse to move it. You can actually move it to look back at me shooting the video, look up, look down, etc. One of my projects in 2025 is to figure out how to make it more immersive. I've got some cave & mine diving in Budapest scheduled in early 2025 and plan to bring my Insta360 with case, etc. I need to buy a VR headset at some point for testing but don't want to pay what Apple charges (and I think I saw somewhere that they discontinued the device) and I don't want to buy the FB device so I'm a bit "stuck" at the moment but open to suggestions. Regards, - brett

As a quick follow-up, Backscatter does stock them, they just don't appear to be on their website. For reference, the part number they use is "rt-pro-o-ring Retra Spare O-ring for the Pro / Prime Strobe - EPDM70 Ø40x2,5mm" Regards, - brett

I figured out the difference. Retra recommends EPDM 70 O-Rings (not Buna-N 70 Duro) and I'm not even sure what the difference is? When you look up the EPDM 70 version of the O-Rings on the website, the minimum buy quantity is 273: https://www.theoringstore.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=368_2278_2284&products_id=46227 Again, I don't know the technical difference between EPDM 70 and Buna-N 70, but if Retra says EPDM, then I'm going to do my best to buy that kind. IMHO, it would be much, much easier and foolproof to just have a place in the US that sold the Retra O-Ring kits. Regards, - brett

Thanks! Very strange. That is the exact place I checked over the weekend and, at that time, the minimum quantity was 273 and now it looks like it is twenty. Odd. In the meantime, I had found another on-line store that had lower minimum quantities so I bought them. Thanks, - brett Thanks, Oskar! - brett

Yep. I sent an email to Backscatter but will call them in the AM. Thanks, - brett

Thanks. I'm a bit leery ordering o-rings off EBay, especially with two expensive strobes at risk. I found another o-ring store, but it lists the dimensions of a "040 x 2.5mm" o-ring as "4mm ID x 45mm OD x 2.5mm C/S" and I just want to make sure that is the correct o-ring. It seems very strange that the actual dimensions don't match. I guess the "40" refers to the ID while the 45mm OD is the sum of the ID + the 2 x 2.5mm measurements. Confusing at best. It is hard to believe that US Retra dealers don't just stock the Retra o-rings. Maybe my search kung-fu is just really limited. - brett

I'm trying to buy, in the US, new O-Rings for my Retra Pro X strobes. The Retra website has them for sale but shipping is something like $32 to the US which is crazy given the cost of the o-rings themselves. The Retra website says "you can buy them at your local o-ring store" (40 x 2.5mm EPDM 70) but I'm a bit wary of doing that and when I checked www.theoringstore.com, the minimum buy quantity (believe it or not), it was 273. I don't need 273 of them. 🙂 Backscatter only seems to have o-rings for the first gen strobe (or my searches are just ineffective). I can't believe that it should be this hard to get o-rings. Any ideas? Thanks, - brett

I hadn't but just read that. Very interesting. - brett

Great video. I'm sure there were safety divers in the water, but it is interesting that she didn't have a tether line. I know that it is a possibly entanglement hazard, but I would have thought she would trail a line to the surface. - brett

Does anybody know if there is an AOI lens that is compatible with the Isotta housing for the GoPro 9-12? https://www.isotecnic.it/en/products/action-cam-housings/gopro-eng/gopro-hero9-black-eng Regards, - brett

Thanks Davide! I'm off to the Solomons to dive the wrecks in Iron Bottom Sound. 🙂 - brett

Thanks, @Chris Ross. I've been signed up since the beginning of Waterpixels but have been busy with a bunch of other projects so I haven't been actively participating. 🙂

I have a love/hate relationship with scooters. If I'm not taking photos, they are great; however, as you note, combining a scooter and camera can be tough. I tend to dive deep wrecks and having a scooter is really a safety tool. I also dive in locations that can have quite a strong current so, once again, a scooter is a necessary evil. I was on the HMHS Britannic last year and with a rebreather, multiple bailout tanks and a strong current with a full frame camera, it really was a "must." I generally see three ways to combine a scooter and a camera (in increasing complexity): (1) Use the scooter for transport to the site. For example, on the Britannic, use the scooter to get down and then to the place you want to be on the wreck for photos. Stow the scooter and then pick it back up. I also often use this technique when we are searching for a new wreck. I tie off to the downline, use a scooter to look around, when I find what I'm looking for, I drop it off. (2) Use the scooter as transport but don't leave it. This works on large wrecks like the Britannic when you want to get around to different areas and don't want to take the time to remove & re-attach the scooter. It is a bit hard and I tend to rest my camera on top of the scooter when moving and then drop the scooter (which is about neutral in trim) and then take photos, pick it back up, move to the next spot. (3) Attach the camera to the scooter. I have a few friends who do this but I haven't yet worked on it. The idea is that if the scooter is trimmed natural and the camera is trimmed neutral, then you can just attach the camera and scoot around and take pictures. For my friends who have this setup, it works very well. They have the camera on a mount system that only takes a few seconds to mount/unmount. I'm sure there are endless variations, but I've used the top 2 and seen friends effectively use the third. The real key is practice on "benign" dives before relying on any given system for a serious dive. - brett

I guess I have to do an introduction post before I can reply to topics? Anyway, I live in Southern California and dive almost exclusively on wrecks. I currently shoot a Sony a6400 and a7rIV both in Nauticam housings. I've been spending the past 3-4 years working on building my photogrammetry and wreck photography skills. I work with a couple other people and we have found about 15 new wrecks here in Southern California in the past 3-4 years and documented them on my website: http://wreckedinmyrevo.com/ - brett