JohnD

I don't typically remove the housing O ring either during dive trips, I was thinking more of dive and focus lights and such, where the o rings are smaller and have to be slid over threads or pinched hard or stretched.

Let me know if you have either of these and would like to move them along to a new home.

I have traditionally maintained O rings by removing them, inspecting and cleaning if warranted, lightly greasing, and replacing. I have tried to be careful about stretching the o rings or damaging them on nearby screw threads and sharp edges. In general, this has worked fine for me for many years. Recently, though, I saw a maintenance comment from Retra that suggested leaving the o rings in place on the battery cap, and just greasing the visible portion. I asked Retra about this and the response that removal or leaving them in place was fine with the caveat not to stretch or damage the o rings during removal. Similarly, my dive computer mfr warns that in removing o rings from the battery cover, remove the O rings from one side only, avoiding the threaded portion of the battery cap so as to minimize the risk of damaging the O ring. I also have a couple of lights for which removal of the O rings is difficult and I worry about damage and/or stretching, and I have considered just lubing them in place absent some evidence of grit or dirt. So, it got me to wondering what other folks do: Are you a take-it-off person or a leave-it-there to lube it person or does it depend on the O ring and equipment in question for you?

Perhaps it because uses a battery module instead of bare batteries and that makes a difference? Perhaps better quality contacts? Maybe luck? I have lithium-powered lights on which I have never cleaned the contacts and the manufacturers don't say anything about that, but they are expensive lights and other items intended for hard use and not used underwater and mostly made in the USA, Germany or Japan. Maybe manufacturing quality matters? I believe the RGBlue stuff is/was well made, no? Maybe the relatively low power of the light and the absence of strobe functions? Just speculating

This has been an educational discussion. I guess Sealife is ahead of the curve and if using high power strobes and lights with lithium batteries, take q-tips and isopropyl alcohol and wipe the contacts with every battery change. Luckily, isopropyl alcohol can be carried on planes (under 3.4 oz). and is readily available. Wondering what Oskar from Retra thinks about this, now that the maxi strobes have gone over to the dark side (Lithium). By the way, when I comment on lithiums, it is in large part because one of my sons is an engineer working in forensics, and travels within the U.S. and internationally investigating fires, explosions, train wrecks, boat fires, etc. Earlier in his career he was employed as an engineer by Panasonic, working primarily on battery technology and testing, and has set fire to, exploded, crushed and otherwise abused a large number of lithium batteries. I have numerous lithium battery devices and will undoubtedly have more, but am aware of their downsides including significant fire risk. Take a look at what Backscatter warns about their lithium battery devices: Never do the following: Never charge batteries in unattended areas. Never charge while sleeping. Never charge below decks of a boat. Never store batteries below decks of a boat. Never store batteries in the light below decks of a boat. Never use batteries without protection circuitry. Never dispose of batteries in the garbage or trash. Never put batteries in checked baggage when traveling. Never walk around with bare batteries in your pocket, especially with other metal objects than can easily bridge battery contacts. Always do the following: Only charge batteries in common areas where and when others are around. Always remove the battery from the Macro Wide 4300 light when not in use. Only use batteries designed for end use by consumers with safety protection circuitry. Only store batteries in a battery box designed for 21700 batteries. Always travel with batteries in cabin baggage.

Good points. Several years ago I ordered a set of "scratch brush" electrical contact cleaners and carry a couple of those with me on dive trips. I only had to use them once on another person's strobe, but they can clean contacts that suffer some corrosion or other issues. They are cheap, light and small and can be purchased on Amazon and at other places. May be worth sticking in your gear somewhere, in case Coke or contact cleaner or alcohol isn't available after a leak? As far as preventative maintenance goes, I know Sealife warns that: 1. IMPORTANT UPDATE – Clean battery contacts every time before charging Applies to all Sea Dragon lights with 1200+ lumens and Fluoro-Dual Beam models. Clean the gold-plated contacts on battery and inside battery compartment EVERY TIME before charging the battery. Use a clean cotton cloth moistened with isopropyl alcohol to thoroughly clean contacts. Not cleaning the contacts will permanently damage the gold plating and result in the device not powering on. DO NOT store the device with battery installed. Remove battery before storage. Left contact shows black spots resulting from not cleaning the contacts. Kind of boosts my appreciation of my old Inon lights with their AA batteries. But I know Lithium and massive lumens are the future.

I have that problem with the Retra LSD 😉

I have been following the progress of the maxis and the recent updates have been very timely for me. I recently became interested in trying some video and have been trying to figure out the best way to deal with the lighting requirements. I have looked at a number of products and the maxis look interesting. However, I will not be purchasing these at least until a USA retailer can supply them. On my last Retra purchase, DHL charged me duty and miscellaneous fees that was 17% of the price of the strobes, even though underwater strobes should be exempt from duty under U.S. laws, or at most subject to a minor duty of about 5%, if mis-characterized under the tariff schedule. Assuming DHL did that again, that would be a $425 additional charge on the Maxi, making it the same price or less to buy locally. When this happened previously, and I tried to discuss it with DHL, they simply told me to pay up within something like 48 hours or they would ship the strobes back to Retra. More recently, I ordered a product from a reputable store in the Netherlands. It was shipped via DHL and simply disappeared in transit and DHL was useless as they have no real USA customer service program. Seller suffered the loss. So, I avoid DHL whenever possible and especially on a $2500 purchase. Okay, well, rant over and I don't blame Retra for any of the DHL issues and I like their products. So, I am anxiously awaiting more testing and product availability in the USA for possible future purchase. I guess the real question is if I were to take the Maxi strobes/lights on a trip, would I miss the the Pro Max and if so how much? I bet Retra could make a killer of a small, bright video/focus light....

Yes, this was with the Z8, so the 60mm stayed home this time. I rarely used a 105 on the D500, but on FF, the 105 with the MFO-3 is a nice combo, as it would be with the 60 on DX.

I just got back from a couple weeks in the Philippines. Using a 105 on a Nikon, I also took the MFO-1 and MFO-3. I have only done casual macro before and doing nothing but macro all day, every day, was an experience. Anyway, I used the MFO-3 on a flip and loved it. It is a bit heavy on land and fairly long when on the lens, but easy enough to carry around flipped off the lens. I loved the MFO-3 as I often found critters or scenes too large for the 105 and in an instant could cut the focal length in half. For something like blackwater, I would probably just take a shorter lens, assuming I wanted to travel with he extra lens and port, and a M43 30mm port are pretty small, but otherwise, I am having a hard time envisioning diving with the 105 and not having the MFO-3

I like the idea. I may have to try that when I get back from this trip. Why is your LSD wearing a sweater (jumper in UK speak)?

The LSD is fairly large. I do have a pocket it will fit in. I think it will be a mix of mostly macro and some snoot, but not sure.

I agree completely with Dave. If, however, you want a rectilinear instead of the distortion inherent in the 8-15 and WWL, AND are willing to deal with a large or huge dome port and long extension ring, the 14-24 is OK, the 16-35 F mount is, I think a bit better, but will have to use the FTZ. Not sure if your 14-24 is a Z or F but am guessing it is a Z mount. I have heard good things about the Z14-30 and it is smaller and lighter than the 14-24. But I never use any of my wide rectilinear lenses. 8-15 or WWL is it. I think the image quality is a bit better in the 8-15 in a 140 dome, but WWL is more versatile. (Great shot, Dave)

As I am about to head out on a dive trip and will be snooting for the first time, a question occurred to me. Do you folks with snoot experience usually carry the snoot in a pocket and affix it for a subject then stow until needed again, or leave it on for much or all of the dive? I found and bought a suitable pocket to hold the LSD (thank you for the suggestions with that), so that is taken care of. I sort of suspect it makes more sense to carry it in the pocket and attach when needed, but I am curious about what others do. Thank you for suggestions. JD

I suppose that makes more sense, I know the 8-15 is still available used but Nauticam seems to be trimming their products a fair bit and I would guess things that work only with discontinued lenses would be high on the list of of things to cut. But that is just guesswork. Back when I was shooting M43 I was strongly considering getting the bits together to use the Canon 8-15, but then I moved to APS-C and a Nikon 8-15.

Considering the current/old adapter does not fit on the OM-1, and there is no longer production of the EM-1, perhaps the adapter is discontinued pending release of a new version that does fit? I have no idea if there is sufficient demand. On the other hand, the Canon 8-15 is also discontinued, so perhaps the whole concept is pretty much at a dead end from nauticam's perspective.

OP: If I remember right, my first "real" underwater setup was and Olympus E330. I progressed over time to an Olympus EM1 and used that for several years. Focusing in lower light and fast moving subjects was not always ideal and dynamic range always seemed a bit limited to me. I shot mostly wide angle. I later moved to a Nikon D500 and was delighted with it, although I missed the small size of the Olympus. Over the past year I have decided to move to mirrorless camera and spent a lot of time agonizing over what to get, because I would have liked to move to a smaller setup if possible. What I found was that when considering housings and ports the weight and size differences between any of the full frame and crop sensor camera options is not very great, usually within an inch or so in any dimension, and weight differences were a max of 2 lbs. Once you add arms and strobes and focus lights, the differences get even smaller. The few crop sensor options out there involved compromises I did not want, for a small size and weight savings. I also love using my fisheye zoom lens and did not want to lose that, which affected my decision. The crop-sensor formats are great for underwater use, perhaps unless you intend to make really massive photo sizes, but the camera manufacturers seem to now view them as an entry-level camera format and are slow to release new stuff and often new lenses are aimed at a different market. I moved from the Nikon D500 to a Z8 primarily because my old eyes were having trouble seeing the LCD display clearly and I wanted to have an electronic viewfinder, otherwise, the D500 with an 85 or 60mm macro or the 8-15 fisheye did everything I wanted. Going full frame was a byproduct, not a goal. I considered going back to M43, since I still have many ports and lenses, but since that since the product line was taken over by OM, I feel that real improvements have been minimal and they have not really invested in the product line in a way I would want to see. I am sometimes unsure if the product line will continue, at least as a contender for underwater use. My comments are subjective and based on my skill and usage. Others will feel differently and some here do great work with the format. If I were in your situation and I heavily prioritized size and weight, I would get an OM system camera, probably the OM1 Mkii. There are some relatively less expensive housing options if desired, such as from AOI, although I am fond of Nauticam. If willing to consider greater size and cost for potentially improved quality (or maybe just it being easier to take better photos?), would look closely at the options from Sony, Canon and Nikon, balancing cost, size, weight, port and lens availability and size and, of course features sets. If you also want to do video, that can change things. In any case, pay attention to flash sync speed (I think 160 is too slow), and focus speed and accuracy, minimum focus distance of the lenses of interest and so on. Any system that does not do what you want is going to frustrate you. Figure out what lens(es) you will want for any camera you are considering and be sure you like the lenses and ports available in that system. As you can tell from some of the posts above, some lenses are well-regarded, and some not so much. Burst photo rates, massive ISO ranges and "creative" photo options are not important (to me). Battery life can also matter, as changing batteries at depth can be challenging. I have never used Ikelite housings, but I have never seen much enthusiasm for them on photo-centric forums like this, so make of that what you will. Also some housing systems are better supported on different continents, in case that matters. Good luck.

Funny about the tools. When I used to go to Cozumel often, airport security coming back to the USA would not allow ANY batteries other than those installed in things to be carried on...Lithium, Eneloops, Energizers...it did not mater. I learned this from having numerous eneloops and alkaline batteries taken away. Of course TSA in the U.S. did not allow lithiums in luggage and if I packed a bunch of eneloops in luggage, I had trouble staying under the allowed weight and my bags were frequently opened and inspected, which I worried about. So between myself and my wife and my son, I started taking about a dozen cheap flashlights or other battery-operated devices in carry-ons, all stuffed with batteries. Worked great and I still have the electronic Trojan horses around here somewhere. Then on one trip I asked my son to pack my tool kit for me, because I was close to the max weight. He put my tools in his carry-on. So much for my tool kit.... But I no longer go to Cozumel to dive due to the camera and lens scam. I just am not going to play that. Plenty of other locations where customs agents don't try to rob me. Frankly, the way airfare is now, I get to the Caymans, St. Maarten, Fiji, Tahiti or the Philippines for not much more than it costs to go to Cozumel, although it does take longer.

Thank you. That was all very valuable. I am sure we will do Apo island once and are not planning on Oslob. Since I will be also learning to use my Retra LSD and the MFO 3 while there, I think I will just stick with macro on this trip. I have traditionally done far more WA and CFWA than macro so it is time to immerse myself in macro for this trip, and learn some new techniques and gear.

Heading to Philippines in a few weeks. I anticipate primarily macro, of course, but keep wondering if it is worth taking a WWL or 8-15 along, perhaps for Apo island. This is my first trip there and hoping for some input. I have a suspicion I would not use either, and luggage restrictions and all that.... Thanks for any help. JD

Kristin: At the moment Reef Photo has what looks like a very slightly used R50 camera and lens, Nauticam housing tray and arms for $1728.00 It would need a different port or an add-on diopter or wwl or whatever, but otherwise, I think that cold be a good choice with room to grow and I think that is about $800 less than new retail. *I do a lot of business with reef but have no other connection with them or with that camera and housing.

Nauticam does list both 24-70 lens as usable with WACP and 180 domes. I agree with what is said above, not likely usable with WWL. The 24-70 f4 with a WACP-C might be an interesting choice. The 24-70 is surely a better lens than the 24-50 above water and might be so underwater.

Timely topic. After getting advice from some here, I have purchased an LSD, which has not shipped yet. I know that I will need some method to carry the thing during shore entries, on and off boats and perhaps when not "on" a subject. I have been looking for some pouch/pocket options to consider once I have the ting and can get accurate measurements. I think mesh might be best. Some I am considering (but not sure they will work) include: Zeagle Expandable Quick Pocket (probably too narrow) Scubapro S-Tek Expedition Thigh Pocket Apeks WTX Mesh Expansion Pocket Zeagle Tech Utility Pocket Zeagle Zena Utility Pocket Force6 9x3 pocket Since I don't have the LSD yet, theses are based on a lot of guesswork. I am not sure which Amazon product Tim chose, and when I looked there were a lot of possible options. Maybe the list above will help Chris and others and I would love any thoughts about what I am considering. They are mostly somewhat expensive for pockets and I don't want to have to buy and return a bunch of stuff.

I will post when i get everything and try it out.

I had not even thought about looking at the magnification differences. Being dense, I guess. Thank you for the explanation.