TimG

Great to have you with us, Oskar. You and Retra are most welcome. 

2 hours ago, Cerianthus said:

Hi,

I picked the same nick as on wetpixel.  I see there are at least some that stuck with their names....

I am a 50+ diver in the Netherlands. I dive mostly locally and in the past have really enjoyed diving around Scotland. Every couple years I can escape to destinations a bit further away.

I'm using what most would call budget equipment, a canon 70D in ikelite stuff.

 

Gerard

Welkom, buurman! Great to have you with us, Gerard.

Local diving? Scotland diving? Man, you must have in-built central heating...... 🥶

Just picking up Wolfgang's point, moderating on "Another Website", I did see an awful lot of issues surrounding Sea&Sea strobes.

I know you've had a good experience with yours, Landvogt, but I'd be a bit wary of them if I was in the market for new strobes. Rarely read of an problem with Inons and Retra.

10 hours ago, Ido said:

Yep. No mantas all week... 
 

Get your money back! 🤯

Very cool! I dived 'statia from SXM and really enjoyed it. 

I can well imagine on those cold waters. Brrrrr.......

Hey Crittermad27

Well done on the Retras. Yeah, cool eh?

Assuming you have the Max, Pro or Prime X models: Pilot light - just push the button in the centre of the coloured illuminator. Press it once for pilot light to be on 50%, twice for 100%, 3 times for Off. 

Bumpers: yep, they need a bit of a push but that's deliberate of course to stop them sliding off. Try a bit of silicone grease or even soap to help get them on. I think Retra recommend you take them off after dives to clean the strobe. I'm a neat-freak with my gear and soak everything after dives but must admit I did not take the bumpers off at all over 250 dives - and the strobes still looked as good as new when I sold them a few weeks ago - to help finance Pro Maxs....... 

I LOVE the LSD snoot and on the Retras with the aiming light, the learning curve isn't too great.

Super idea, Gary:

Alex M?

Chris Ross?

You guys up for that??

Hey Ruud! Great to have you with us. Underwater archaeology (had to type that slowly to avoid typos!) How cool is that?! Where in the Caribbean?

Enjoy those cooler Oz waters......

Thanks, Ian. Big sense of relief, I have to say.... we were determined not to lose the community that is so fantastic.

Welcome, Michael - underwater weddings....... hmmmm.....   great to have you with us!

So hard to define "better".  

I moved from Inon Z240 strobes. I find the Retras easier to use, controls are clearer, instructions (hardly needed) are WAY clearer. I really like the quality of the light (even, gentle, good colour), the various accessories (for me snoot and reflector); I REALLY like the HSS capability and use it a lot for the sunburst type shots. Compared to the Inons, the snoot/aiming light line-up is pretty much perfect.

After that, travel with just AAs and no additional chargers, very good battery life with Supercharger, quality build product, outstanding customer service.....

Yeah, they are sure not cheap, but, for me at least, I think they are worth it. And I don't lie awake at night thinking, "...wish I'd bought those Retras...."

6 minutes ago, Troporobo said:

Hi admins - A couple of days ago I made two posts and added one image to this thread.  I know they were successful because Ben replied. Now they’ve disappeared.  Wondering if I’m not doing something correctly in this new environment?  
 

https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/297-clownfish-eggs-in-amed-bali-lumix-lx10/#comment-420

That is odd. I'm sure I remember seeing your reply too.  We'll investigate.

Hey Floris - great to see you here. Welcome.

Impressive how the nail varnish stands out in the dark! 😆

Hey Puccio! Welcome - great to have you with us.

What about writing a piece on tips for using a GoPro? We're keen to cover action cameras and are looking for people who have good experience and results with them.

Great to have you with us. Welcome!

Thanks Ben and Buddha. Yep, know what you mean about how Scubaboard do it. We'll discuss. 

No worries. Let us know how you get on and maybe post some before and after shots? The comparisons would be interesting.

Generally I think the problem of images appearing flat is indeed that the lighting is too centred and shadows are removed. Oddly, I reckon this is more likely to happen with two strobe users rather than with a single strobe.  With two strobes there is a tendency to balance the strobe positions to mirror one another. You can't do this if you only have one strobe - although, if you have the strobe along the central axis of the lens, you are likely to create the same effect.

I'd suggest trying to angle the lighting in such a way that it casts a slight shadow on one side of the subject. Try 45-60 degrees. This should help create a bit of depth and, if you carry it to almost extremes (120 degrees?), you could "Rembrandt light" the critter!

Great to have you with us, Crayfish. Welcome!

10 hours ago, frase said:

Former Brit now Canadian/British, living and diving on the BC coast. Progressed from a GoPro to Sony full frame this year and looking to learn as much as possible. 

Thanks Mods and Admins for setting this site up! Long may she live. 

Best,

Fraser. 

Great to have you with us, Fraser.

How about an article of how you found moving from a GoPro to Sony FF? I'm sure lots of members would find that interesting.

Great to have you with us, Mark

Old? We not OLD, Mark. We are just getting wiser..... more distinguished......

8 hours ago, Tom Kline said:

It took a bunch of tries with 2 different computers but finallly got logged on! Admin you can ignore my quick note. Same person from wetpixel.

Good to have you with us, Tom. Welcome!

Hey Ray

Welcome aboard! I dived Ningaloo some years ago whilst living in Oz. Loved it. WAY better I thought than the BGR. 

Thanks on the book link, wicked!