Dave_Hicks

Is this a language / word choice problem? Picture of a level below. Just check if the hood is parallel to the base of the dome. Put the level on top of the hood. If the hood is not taller than the dome, put the dome upside down with the hood on two equal sized block. Put the level on the base of the dome. Check to see if it's out of line.

My review of the Retra Maxi strobe is now available at Inside Scuba as part of issue #66. I started this review with some initial previews here on WaterPixels and really appreciate the input and ideas from everyone here. As I worked on this I decided that a long term review was the direction I wanted to take. Not just a few dives or a single trip, but experience with it over months and over 100 dives and very diverse environments. In the end I shot with the Maxi's from Dec 2025 to the end of June 2026 when I wrote the review in early July. Then a few weeks of editing and revision followed by a couple more getting it ready for publishing by Inside Scuba. Thanks to Andy Deitsch & Byron Conroy for agreeing to publish the article! Inside ScubaLong Term Review of the Retra Maxi StrobeDave Hicks tests the Retra Maxi strobe across 100+ dives in Raja Ampat and the Pacific Northwest, comparing it head-to-head with the Backscatter HF-1.

I don't have this issue with the 140fe on my Nikon 8-15 setup, with or without 1.4 tc. Can you examine your hood carefully, perhaps using a bubble level? It could be misaligned. A good hit might have altered it.

Someone broke their OS-1 snoot card clips and was looking for replacement parts. So I made some. https://makerworld.com/en/models/3145830-replacement-card-clips-for-backscatter-os-1-snoot You can find more of my designs here: UW Photo: https://makerworld.com/collections/16165730 ` Scuba: https://makerworld.com/collections/16165676

I dove last night for Six Gill sharks. The camera is still set up with my 8-15+1.4tc configuration.

When i first tried the Retra Maxis my rig was too buoyant. I didn't remove any float arms as their length is more about strobe positioning. But I did remove two Jumbo Stix float blocks to get things rebalanced. I then made the HF-1 and Atom floats because without those extra Stix floats the rig was too negative by far. Putting the floatation on the strobe enabled me to quickly move between Maxi, HF-1, and Atom strobes without the difficulty of moving Stix blocks around.

I removed my strobes and arms but kept a single arm with stix floats configured as a cross-bar on top of the housing anchored at each side. Do a few buoyancy checks in a sink, pool, etc. Be sure to have a good lanyard and some place to attach it.

I agree that Retra really did a good job making the Maxi neutrally buoyant and it's a big advantage of their design. However, adding floats to the HF-1 does level the playing field a bit. Below is a set of photos with the Maxi strobe vs the HF-1 with my float design. As you can see, they are not wildly different. The HF-1 is about 12mm wider at the maximum, but shorter overall. With a float installed buoyancy of the two strobes is about the same. There might be an opportunity to make the HF-1 floats a bit taller and less wide with the same buoyancy.

Top to Bottom: Backscatter Atom, Backscatter HF-1, Retra Maxi. The Maxi is the biggest, but also the by far the lightest in the water - nearly neutrally buoyant.

I start to get shakes and twitches if I haven't been diving in more than 7 days. They say a cold plunge is good to promote longevity, so I'm going to roll with that advice.

I never had a problem with half-press shutter (Nauticam housings) even with heavy dry gloves and liners. I've done it for so long that it is entirely natural. When I dive warm water with no gloves I don't notice a difference or need to make a conscious adjustment. It just works.