TimG

Dave, we were on Harmoni last year. Brilliant! Best liveaboard we’ve done.

I'm with Chris. A Retra diffuser cunningly fitted to the Backscatter strobe. Fiendish.

Do extended fast bursts of high power flashes underwater cause migraines or trigger epilepsy episodes for marine creatures? Just askin' for a friend.

There were certainly a number of reports some years ago of issues around the Sea & Sea D2 strobes. At the time some users thought the D2J resolved the problems. I don’t think there have been an unusual number of problems reported with the D3.

Well greetings, old chap - and a jolly warm welcome to our august forum (another stereotypical greeting, eh 😉) Really great to have you with us, ubiquitous (there's a user name that takes some careful spelling.)

Hey JAM! Welcome to Waterpixels. It's good to have you with us. We hope you really enjoy the forum. Best wishes Tim

Hmmm, not sure I've seen anything I'd call strobe brand bashing. Well not since the old Sea & Sea issue anyway. Seems to me these are all perfectly good strobes we're talking about. We all have brand preferences based on personal experience, a specific feature or just their good looks. Producing truly accurate comparisons is incredibly difficult given the vagaries of environment, set up, batteries etc. Some amazing work has been posted here by folks who have put hours of work and thought into testing - for which, massive thanks. After that, yeah, I'm sure one can be tweaked slightly differently from another. But aren't we getting a bit beyond the point? Take your pictures and enjoy them. No matter how perfect the bit of gear might be, something underwater is going to lead to some sort of degradation in perfomance.

Big rabbit hole!

Yep, we stayed at Buceo but way back in December 2017. Black sand diving, definitely macro, accommodation was arranged up a steep hill, all boat diving with no house reef. Thats about the best I can do!

I think Bill sums it up nicely!

Hi Kristin Over the last 25 years I've bought and sold more housing/cameras than is sane. As Chris says, it's not a happy process even when, as in each case for me, the camera and housing were in perfect condition and even when only one generation old. If you get 40% of the original value, by my experience, you have done incredibly well. 25%-30% seemed the norm. But then maybe I'm a lousy salesman. I think there comes a point where no matter how good the technology, it is way better than an individual's ability to use it. I'm a very happy owner of a Nikon D500/Subal housing which I have been using since 2017. Old technology for sure but, I have to ask myself, is there anything that this system stops me from doing or frustrates me? Ideally, yes, I'd love to have in-viewfinder review which mirrorless provides (I shoot a lot of macro/snoot so not moving my eye from the viewfinder would be great). But the cost of that one small upgrade would be crazy: new body, new housing - I suspect new lenses: $10k. Really? I'm amongst the worst when it comes to a love of new, shiny toys. But there comes a point where my better angel screams, "you are kidding, right?"

Hi Jordan! A warm welcome to Waterpixels. Great to have you with us. I’m using the same system as you: Subal and a D500 since 2017. It’s a brilliant combination. You won’t be disappointed with it underwater.

“Better”? Define better. I’d suggest if you’re happy with the image quality of what you’re now doing , why chase nirvana? That can prove frustrating, expensive and often of nugatory gain.

Hmmmmm…….. any chance you could post a pic of you holding the camera in the housing in your usual vertical framing position? Doesn’t need to be underwater. I’m trying to figure out why the angles are a problem.

I’m intrigued by this. It’s an issue I’ve never noticed- although, I do occasionally find I have to tilt my head slightly to avoid blowing bubbles where they can be unhelpful. Annoying indeed. Assuming you're right handed, Jeanie, is your reg coming over your right shoulder? Kristin’s idea of adding a swivel is a neat one. And by my experience, there is no such thing as a dumb question. I’ve heard some dumb answers though…..

It'a bit like that classic dive saying: "I'd rather be up here wishing I was down there - than being down there wishing I was up here...... Yeah, really annoying if you don't have it when you need it. On the other hand, I find it depends on what lens you're using and the camera's low-light capability. I find with a Nikon D500 and a 60mm lens I very rarely need a light. However, switch to a 105mm and the usage gets a bit more.....

A warm welcome, sharknado4. Good to have you with us.

A quick translation: Hello, it would be interesting to return to this topic, unfortunately we can no longer access wetpixel to read those articles, my experience with the 160 pro (opto kit) at the moment is not being good, the person in charge of Subtronic is friendly and correct, shipments to Germany are expensive and repairs take a long time, it is a shame because the quality of construction is exceptional, small companies in the EU tend to disappear, the Chinese market absorbs everything, if you have any problem they send you directly a new flash, without protesting, while it is under warranty, then if it breaks you can throw it away directly since here in Spain it is almost impossible to find a General technician who repairs underwater flashes... very unfortunate but that's how the market is today.. the more electronics and components the more probability of failures,, I started with nikonos, that if they were good flashes that did not give problems,, the 105 was the star, and then the ys250 pro and the ys 300 of sea sea were wonderful,, tempus fujit as the king of the Bible said... this will never be the same anymore.....use and throw away, there is the business.... I'm sorry to be so fatalistic but it's been more than 40 years in the fotosub world and I've been through almost everything... greetings.

Yeah, really good. Such a clear explanation. At the end of the day, it's about compromises......

Hi HJL Great to have you with us. A warm welcome to Waterpixels. We hope you really enjoy the forum. Best wishes

Hey Richard! Great to have you with his. A warm welcome to Waterpixels. I love the idea of two homes, two sets of gear! Best wishes

Hey Robin! Great to have you with us. As an ol’ Wetpixel hand you’ll see lots of familiar names. Welcome!