JohnD

A few thoughts: I think the Retra products are great. The strobes are not the smallest but not overly huge. I don't think the Maxis are larger in diameter than the Pro Max, as I can use the same diffusers and macro rings on both of them. The Maxis are about as large as the Pro Max with boosters on the Pro Max, but the Pro Max are shorter than the Maxis if not using the boosters. I don't like the Maxis much for wide angle unless I use a dome diffuser, mostly because the color temp is not as nice, but the pro max are fine without. With diffusers, the Maxis are fine for wide angle and good for macro without needing diffusers, and a good price. I got those because I want to experiment a bit with some video and did not want to get dedicated video lights. I can't say how many shots I get with the Pro Max, but they easily get me through 2-3 dives and would probably go at least one more. With boosters on, I have gone six dives without a battery change, but I shoot fewer pictures on each dive than a lot of people seem to. Extensive snooting or or full power would probably not allow that many dives. Generally, when I charge the batteries, they seem to only be about 50-60% discharged. I have a trip in the Caribbean in a few weeks and am not going to take the boosters as I will only be doing 2-3 dives a day and don't expect to be running the strobes very hard. Note that ordering from Retra to the USA means using DHL shipping and when I got my Pro Max strobes, DHL hit me with something like $300 in customs duties and related fees, that I believe was a dramatic overcharge, so when I bought my Maxis, I bought them from Reef Photo. The Pro Max II are just too expensive for me to justify. I have lights and strobes using lithium batteries, including the Maxis, and there are benefits to these, but I also see a distinct benefit in using AA batteries. Airlines are beginning to crack down on lithiums, including not allowing them in overhead compartments and limiting the number carried, and these restrictions may increase. Resorts and liveaboards are placing restrictions on charging lithiums other than in locations and at times when they can be monitored. Strobes with AA batteries don't have those issues. Self promotion: I have a pair of very clean and lightly used Prime strobes with boosters I have been thinking I should sell, but have not gotten around to it. Let me know if interested and I can figure out a price.

Makes sense. One other thought is that perhaps lenses with high undesirable distortion when used in air could benefit from mitigation of the that distortion, or simply the lessened visual impact of it, when used in water. Maybe not? I shoot pictures and know very little about designing lenses.

I am suggesting this as a thought, not a position I am taking... Could it be that some lenses, due to their optical design, degrade less than others and some lenses that are "superior" on land may be more more degraded underwater and thus the "lesser" lens on land is superior underwater. (If that word salad makes sense) To me, shooting underwater is somewhat like shooting through a dirty-ish window on land. Even if we can correct for how light is transmitted underwater and deal with water-caused distortion, seawater is not clear, especially when we are more than inches away. But anyway, I wonder if a lesser lens might, in some cases hold up better underwater and thus be the better lens than alternatives, and the inherent detrimental effects of seawater also mask some of the lens' shortcomings?

In fairness, and unlike the sometimes silly airline carry-on weight and size limitations, lithium batteries are a risk and none of us has any way to know what kind of cheap or damaged or over-discharged batteries our fellow travelers might be carrying. I have done a fair bit of traveling recently and dive resorts and liveaboards are also imposing lots of restrictions. No charging batts in cabin or room unless you are present, no overnight charging anywhere, etc. I have mostly stopped taking power banks because of the limitations and have stopped leaving batteries in devices in checked bags, even AA batts,. Although technically legal, I beleive that was the cause of my bags being pulled and inspected twice and I don't want to increase the risk of bag delays, theft, etc. I have been a good boy and take lithium batteries in proper containers and if in devices, they are fully charged and blocked from being activated, but we are all subject to the consequences of others' carelessness or bad decisions. Unfortunately this is all happening at the same time light and strobe manufactures are using more lithium batteries in the equipment. I purchased a dive light online recently and was disappointed to see it came with an unprotected, no-name battery and protected batteries are too long to work in the light. I understand and appreciate the benefits of the lithium technology, and am fine with exercising proper precautions myself, but it may put us in a bit of a conflict with increasing airline, boat and resort rules, as fires and other issues ramp up, due in no small part to careless behavior by others. Of course there is nothing new in that.

I don't know the details because I have never used it, but I believe there are ways to use the 12-50 lens in a 65 port without the expensive gear. Also deepshots in the UK offers a gear for that lens under $100, although I am unsure what it can do. I suspect others here can explain all of this. I have always heard far more enthusiasm for the Panasonic 14-42 mega (not the collapsing PZ) with the wwl than any of the other lenses for this purpose, but I have not compared them. That lens requires the 35 flat port. That port, with either a 10mm or 30mm extension ring then works with the various 30, 45 and 60mm macro lenses for the M43 system. In other words, with just the 35 port and the 30mm ER, you could shoot with the WWL or the 45 macro or 60 macro, saving a bit of $ on ports and less to pack for travel. Just something to think about.

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.

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.

Thank you. For some reason, when I search, your post that you linked does not come up, although the thread does, so I did not see your description of the two places. When I searched before I did see a variety of posts about Anilao and about Mike Bartick/Crystal Blue and Photo Academy doing blackwater dives, but did not find, and was hoping for, some additional comparisons between the resorts I am considering. I did not check the old site, although I should have, I guess. Being one of those who was booked on the infamous Red Sea trip to nowhere, the website reminds me of that whole mess and I try to stay away, despite the wealth of accumulated knowledge to be found in the forums.

Thanks for your response. I am actually surprised more people did not have opinions on this, considering the popularity of Anilao.

Yes, we did, but I had some additional info and a link to a much less expensive scratch brush than Backscatter is selling, so I thought that merited a direct response.

For travel, I have a fiberglass scratch pen https://www.amazon.com/TAURISH-Fiberglass-Electronic-Applications-Corrosion/dp/B0DT9P7C62/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2V0ITNPSAKKGQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iQBCYi28DSmpLll6MvLJFJKIJ6ZCCW_ZiI-0WBcvdVj9F68Cv_CDYmKPUaPg7nTs6TEp5oQqQ-ij72dMbUV6-ML96Met5HW1jH9Eqlg8yV0apjNrmnNMt3iEVkM1y3US49AdqT9YuQkg1N0qslVNv4SVQxiA6ljDEwSDJX48xlVTy3CxqZA_kDIfwuVAMq2T_mPKLK0lon0hVmo4D60CzPvCahNgLA-_1bm-FHkwLTU.l035Urp2_-K0k6uiyXU0mtBZkI873uouugTlQRRclCU&dib_tag=se&keywords=scratch+brush&qid=1770322388&sprefix=scratch+brush%2Caps%2C257&sr=8-4 and some 6" bamboo cotton swabs (like long Q tips) and small bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol. They fit in a baggy and weigh very little, and I have started doing a quick alcohol wipe of contacts when changing batteries or if on a small boat, later when back in room or whatever. Maybe overkill to clean that often, but it only takes a minute. Scratch pen would get used for a problem instead of precautionary. If the compartment had leaked water or a battery leaked, cola or water and baking soda would probably be needed. Only recently did I learn that especially with lithium ion batteries we now use, frequent cleaning of contacts is prudent https://www.sealife-cameras.com/troubleshooting-and-product-updates/sea-dragon-lights-updates/ https://thebw-100.com/the-importance-of-cleaning-electrical-contacts-to-prevent-corrosion/

Planning a trip to Anilao and looking at Buceo Anilao or Crystal Blue. Never been to either place and looking for input, especially but not only anyone who can compare the two. Thank you

No longer seeking the N85 macro port 65

Do you use a viewfinder or back-of-camera lcd screen?

Purchased a port from @Grantmac and it was as described and delivered promptly. Would do business with him again. 👍

Having now used this for a while (but have not tested getting it wet) I have found it very useful. I have mostly been on little boats and bangkas so have not used it on a boat yet, but really handy for topping off battery between dives or over lunch without having to open housing and swap batteries.

Like Tim said, other than dawn, dusk and night dives, I never needed a focus light with D500 and 60mm macro, but with 105mm on the D500 or Z8, a focus light is useful far more often, as I recently found out. There is a wide range of sizes, features and power available and ulcs has some lightweight mounts that fit almost anything. Not what I use, but I just threw this 120g thing together together to illustrate how small one can go: Orcatorch D560 700 lumen 3.5" light with 14500 battery on a ULCS ball mount. To paraphrase a credit card commercial, What's in your housing cold shoe?

Just to wrap this up, I only took macro stuff and except for just a little bit on APO island, did not miss the wide angle. Unlikely that I would have ever used it. Going back there I would again not take anything but macro stuff. But the MFO-3 was very useful.

Thanks. I believe I have sourced one from another member here.

Out of curiosity I looked at the dome on the Divervision page. It appears to me that the length of the port is greater than the Nauticam and The length of the dome may be such that you don't need an extension ring, as is required for the same port from Nauticam, potentially resulting in even greater savings. I could certainly be wrong about that.

Considering the cost of the Nauticam dome, I would probably go that route myself.

How is your Chinese? https://www.facebook.com/groups/cghdivephoto/ I am not sure Howshot is even a real "brand" as we in the West would think of it, as opposed to a product line by some unidentified manufacturer in China. I have never seen a Howshot port chart. I have purchased from Divervision from time to time over a number of years and never had a problem. For all I know, Howshot domes are the exact same glass domes used by Nauticam or other well-known companies. They claim to be BK7 optical glass but I have no idea where they are made.... https://www.vyoptics.com/portfolio/china-optical-glass-hemispherical-dome-port-bk7-glass-dome-lens/ https://www.saidaglasses.com/glass-bk7/ https://www.chinax.com/optical-glasslenses/pz7645a13-optically-clear-bk7-glass-optical-dome-for-underwater-camera-housings.html

Divervision should be able to answer your questions and typically respond fairly quickly.

I should have just reached out to reefnet to begin with. They sent a photo of the handle