TimG

i can't help with specific dimensions, but the spacers with my UWT board (for a Subal housing) can be no more than 3mm thick. They are not threaded and, as you say, they are just to help the board sit evenly on the housing and avoid contact between any of the board components/electronics and the housing. I think you could almost fabricate a couple from cardboard.

Hey dimsak I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice on the qualities of each. I'd like to give you a different perspective: My experience has been that a fisheye and a macro are the essentials - anything else is marginal and I'm not convinced by the need for something mid-range. The fisheye covers the vast majority of wide-angle stuff unless you are determined to use a rectilinear lens. Then a macro lens covers the majority of the fish portrait and macro type images. You have the excellent Sigma 15mm; and are planning the macro. The only potential use for a mid-range, for me, is maybe pelagic that won't come close. But even then, really marginal use I've found it better to plan the dive setup for macro or fisheye and then search for subjects that fit that criteria. Mid-range is very much neither here nor there. My advice: save your cash.

Recovering Wetpixelers are most welcome! Great to have you with us.

I know we've been over the ground before, but I find the Retras with, as necessary, the Booster work really well with AAs. Taking 32 AA batteries is no big deal when you consider just how much gear we are lugging around. And, worst comes to the worst with chargers, AAs are so easily obtainable. I agree with Oskar.

Here's pic of the tool that works well for the Subal viewfinder. You can see the two pins that go into the two holes on the retaining ring. I'd imagine other viewfinders have a broadly similar arrangement.

No, you're not missing anything. The USD price is the tax-free price that Retra charge. On the website it explains that import taxes and the like are not included in the price; and that for EU sales, VAT is added at checkout. God knows what the US duties/taxes might be. That seems to vary by the day. Or hour. I guess that will be charged by the US-based handling agent for the shipper: DHL usually for Retra, I think

Hi Jeanie! A warm welcome to Waterpixels. Great to have you with us. We hope you really enjoy the forum.

Ahhhh, sorry Floris: I was thinking some sort of software linkage. Doh.

We seem to be having something of a Spam Attack going on at the moment. Many thanks to members who alerted us to the first intruders. Just to let you know that the team are monitoring the situation and are whacking moles as necessary.

Yeah, as Bill suggests, a lot depends on where you live. Home insurance can work and, for the UK, there is a specialist dive gear insurer - but rates are pricey. I'd suggest talking to your home insurer and get a clear steer on whether dive gear - and what elements of it - would be covered by a home policy or by an add-on policy or addition.

Hi canislupus I use a Subal 45-degree viewfinder on a Subal housing with a D500. On that system there is a threaded ring which screws on to the viewfinder when it’s pushed into the housing. A pair of o-rings on the part of the viewfinder that pushes through the housing provides the water seal. It’s very simple but effective. I do remove the viewfinder for traveling as it’s otherwise an awkward shape in my Pelican case. It’s a 2-3 minute job to install or remove it using a very simple tool. Once you’ve done it once or twice, I’m sure you’ll be comfortable with the process.

Sure, it was the “automatic “ I was thinking of.

I can't say I've heard of a camera adjusting aperture in coordination with a flash EV setting other than, I guess if you use TTL and Auto settings. But would you really want to do that? I would have thought it simpler and more controllable just to use the aperture setting as part of the Manual exposure to mange DOF and then the strobe setting dial to increase or decrease power.

Hey Lennie! Great to have you with us and a warm welcome to Waterpixels. We hope you really enjoy the forum. Best wishes Tim

The difference is so small in real terms, does it really matter?

Yeah, that was my thought too.

As Davide says, WOW!

For sale: 2x Ultralight 12” (300mm) arms with 2.5 pieces of Stix Jumbo foam - €60/£50 each 2x Ultralight clamps - €30/£26 each Price Includes shipping in the EU or UK Both arms and both clamps = €170/£145 including shipping in the EU or UK. For a UK buyer, I can arrange to mail the goods in the UK with a slight delay. In perfect condition. Rarely used. You only need to buy arm and clamps system once. By the best! ULCS.

John, for the relatively small difference in size compared to the whole setup, why not use just one Retra?

Woah! They don’t look good. I’m using EBL USB chargers all the time for my Eneloops - Pro and White. Had all the batteries for some years and no issues at all.

Interesting images in your tests, Hugues. I can only say I’ve never noticed any reflections or anomalies underwater that have had a noticeable impact on images. Some images of course are rubbish but that’s more likely my fault rather than the gear. I’d suggest that the underwater environment is much more almost forgiving in the way potential anomalies appear. There are so many other issues which impact that they rarely (never?) show up in the final image. I wouldn’t worry too much over what your tests are showing. (But maybe that’s just my suck it and see approach!) Get the snoot in the water, shoot some images and see what you’ve got. The only “technical” issue I’ve experienced is that of aligning the focus light with snoot output. That was very difficult with the Inons but not an issue with the Retras. After that I’ve always felt anything else was down to the guy pressing the shutter. 😉

I’m not sure I can suggest a best distance. I do find it’s more a case of “suck it and see”. So much depends on the size of the subject, its background and what you’re trying to not light - and how you want to light: from above, from the side, from behind. What works for me is to have the snooted strobe on my left hand with the clamps set so that the snoot can be adjusted relatively easily. Right hand on the shutter release. I take a couple of images, check exposure, decide if I’m using the right mask, the angle of lighting - and then work the subject adjusting angle and distance. Then apologise to the subject for possibly blinding it. I’m using a D500 and either a 60mm or 105mm lens. I do find that from time to time checking the results on the LCD screen, I lose the subject! Especially with the 105mm. And I do keep thinking how nice it would be to have a mirrorless body with on-screen replay. But that’s not an “investment “ I currently want to make. Perhaps locking the snoot strobe arm to a distance might help a bit with that. However in my earlier snooting days, I tried a locked snoot, partly in desperation (!) but found it just didn’t work. I do think flexibility is the way to go. Experiment. A lot of the time the image isn’t quite right. But the Bingos! can be fabulous. On reflections, are you thinking reflections from parts of the background? I’ve never seen reflections resulting from the snoot itself. Background ones are sometimes unavoidable but generally really careful composition (yeah, not always possible) and mask choice can overcome that.

Tom, can you see distortion on the old battery? The magnetic contacts are not perfectly aligned on the same plane so the magnets won’t stick? Our experience is that is the issue, not rusting (although rust is present) and I’ve seen a few examples of that.

Hey Hugues A fun project…… I use a snoot a lot for the majority of my macro shots. Generally I find soft edges work best. This gets away from the “spotlight look” and is closer to highlighting the subject in a more subtle way. Of course once a while a spotlight is the ideal lighting style but, for me anyway, this is much less often. To an extent though I’ve found you can vary a hard/soft edge by moving the snoot closer or nearer to the subject - and using a mask to fine-tune the width of the light. The closer to the subject, the more sharp the edge; the further away, the less sharp.