Dave_Hicks

I think you are correct, in general. However, the Retra Maxi strobe is actually bulkier than their past strobes and than similar HF-1. That size and displacement leaves it just a few grams negative in the water. It seems to me they optimized for a buoyancy target more than minimum size of the package.

Float for Backscatter Atom Strobe Add 140 grams buoyancy! The Backscatter Atom strobe is great strobes for underwater photography. Small, light, and versatile. Its biggest drawback is how much it weighs in water. The Atom is 150 grams (5.3 oz) negative in water with batteries. This 3D printed float will add 140 grams of buoyancy leaving it just 10 grams negative. (0.35 oz) You don't want to have the strobe be positively buoyant. Slightly negative is easier to handle and balance the overall system. Balancing your rig is important. If you need to add additional buoyancy to your camera rig, I suggest using float arms or Stix jumbo floats on the arm segment closest to your housing. Leave the second arm connected to the Atom strobe without additional buoyancy. Attach Float to the Atom: The float has anchor points that will allow you to thread 1/8 inch (3 mm) bungee cord. Many divers keep 1/8 bungee on hand as it is so useful. It can be bought in bulk online or at any dive shop. Tie a simple overhand knot at each end of the bungee to keep it from slipping thru the anchor. It should be just slightly taught with plenty of elasticity to pull over the strobe and keep it snug. Note before printing: This is a technical and exacting print. It requires very specific and exact filament and printing parameters. If you ignore or change the defined print profile and settings it is very likely that your float will not work. [And YES - You can make watertight and pressure resistant 3D printed objects with no added sealants or post processing!]

Float for Backscatter HF-1 Strobe Add 220 grams buoyancy! https://makerworld.com/en/models/2877582-float-for-backscatter-hf-1-strobe-220g-buoyancy The Backscatter HF-1 is one of the best strobes for underwater photography, but its biggest drawback is how much it weighs in water. The HF-1 is 250 grams (8.8 oz) negative in water with batteries. This 3D printed float will add 220 grams of buoyancy leaving it just 30 grams negative. (1 oz) You don't want to have the strobe be positively buoyant. Slightly negative is easier to handle and balance the overall system. Balancing your rig is important. If you need to add additional buoyancy to your camera rig, I suggest using float arms or Stix jumbo floats on the arm segment closest to your housing. Leave the second arm connected to the HF-1 without additional buoyancy. Attach Float to the HF-1: The float has anchor points that will allow you to thread 1/8 inch (3 mm) bungee cord. Many divers keep 1/8 bungee on hand as it is so useful. It can be bought in bulk online or at any dive shop. Tie a simple overhand knot at each end of the bungee to keep it from slipping thru the anchor. It should be just slightly taught with plenty of elasticity to pull over the strobe and keep it snug. I have tested to depths of 130ft/40m, but it may survive greater depths. As these floats are completely external to the strobe and housing, there is no risk to your equipment should they fail. Note before printing: This is a technical and exacting print. It requires very specific and exact filament and printing parameters. If you ignore or change the defined print profile and settings it is very likely that your float will not work. [And YES - You can make watertight and pressure resistant 3D printed objects with no added sealants or post processing!]

I tested the "final" versions of the HF-1 and Atom strobe floats. They worked great and were easy to use without getting in the way. I have a couple of dive-tested pre-final HF-1 floats if anyone want them. Message me if you want them for the cost of shipping.

This assumption what 3d printed objects can't be watertight is disproven by the fact that I and others have made very successful watertight and pressure resistant objects. It is completely possible. No sealants or post processing is needed if you design and print the objects with the right recipe of material and parameters. Some of my macro port floats have been used for two years and over a hundred dives without failing. Often to depths beyond 30 meters. More recently I am also diving with 3D printed port extension rings on my Nauticam housing. An integral component of housing's pressure vessel. They are completely waterproof and incredibly strong. ABS, ASA, or PETG filament right off the printer with no additional sealants. Actually, sealants are a false solution as they DO fail, fade, and flake off. I experimented with epoxy resin before I learned how to print properly, and I did have leaks when the sealants cracked and failed.

Someone forgot to clear the lint trap filter? This is a very common cause of fires!

Why not look at a Nikon Z5-II system? If you don't want FF drop it into DX mode. You can use your Nikon lenses and leave open FF for when it might have value https://www.bluewaterphotostore.com/all-articles/nikon-z5-ii-underwater-review/.

The Backscatter HF-1 Float is done. I've done several test dives on a pair of floats and they worked well. I am making another pair now that drops about 20 more grams of buoyancy. This morning I designed the Atom float and sized them to provide 140 grams of buoyancy against the 160 grams weight of the Atom's in water. Leaving it 20 grams negative. The draft print came out great. I trimmed it bit more after the draft to fine tune the target buoyancy. Atom Float +140 grams:

I dove today with two HF-1s and the floats. They both worked well and retained integrity. The overall rig was basically neutral and just slightly negative. However, with the two strobes extended forward of the port, the system wanted to roll backwards. With neutral floats and my ULCS float arms, the extended arms were a bit too floaty and torqued upward. With the strobes in-line with the housing it was balanced. I am going to make another change and make the floats a little smaller and less buoyant by about 25 grams each. I think that will result in just a little better balance.

I was using the overall buoyancy setup i use with the Retra Maxi strobes. So it would be pretty negative with the Backscatters. The HF-1 float fully negated the weight of that strobe so the rig ended up much lighter. I loosened the arm and it would float around freely. The Atom was still negative by 150grams or so and and the rig was noticably unbalanced. I will print a second float for the 2nd HF-1 and do another dive with the balanced setup.

I dove today with an HF-1 + Float and Atom with Snoot. The HF-1 was weightless and the Atom was negative. Guess I need a float for that now. The float seemed to work well with no obvious water intrusion. I'll weigh it in the morning after its dried out more to be sure. Sporting a 105mm macro lens I came across a big GPO out in the open: I shot from about 1.5 meters back and opened up to f5 iso400 to get something more than an eyeball in frame!

I doubt overheating will be an issue. The radiators are more than half uncovered, and even where the float wraps around one side it is not tight. But it will get tested shortly. There is no reason I can't make an Atom version as well and will consider that if there once this project is wrapped up.

The final draft is looking good. Filled in a few more interior gaps to make it conform better to the strobe and moved the bungee anchors to better locations to grip the strobe. Time to print a functional version now with ASA. 10-hour print time!

I'll take it! If it tests out okay, I will upload the design to Makerworld, as I do with all my designs, for anyone to download for free. It will require an enclosed printer that can print ABS or ASA preferably with a heated chamber. Printing watertight pressure resistant bodies is tricky business.

This is still a draft print, maybe one more iteration before a functional waterproof version. I will plan to dive it this weekend for a test run. The draft print is less dense than the final article so it is positively buoyant. I intend for the pair to be slightly negative, around 20 grams. Versus 250 grams negative for the HF-1 itself.

I sort of designed a HF-1 form fitting float today that leaves the strobe about 20 grams negative in the water, adding ~230 grams buoyancy. Much less janky than foam blocks.

Thanks for the feedback. +1 for Turtle. The UL&M trigger doesn't support HSS or Rear Curtain either and it does not seem to have a Nikon/Nauticam option, only Aquatica. Strange.

The Nauticam manual flash trigger included with their Nikon housing is very basic. It does not support HSS or Rear Curtain features. I would like to enable these features, so I need to get a new flash trigger. I'd like it to work with both Retra and BS strobes. The TRT i-Turtle SMART 3 MANUAL trigger explicitly calls out that it supports these features with Nikon including support for Backscatter and Retra strobes. No support for TTL. The UW-Technics 11032-HSS-TTL trigger also calls out support for Backscatter and Retra, but includes TTL for over $240 more. Except TTL doesn't work with Backscatter. I don't need or want TTL, so I am inclined to try out the Turtle trigger at a better price. Does anyone have some experience with this or similar Turtle trigger? Are there other products I should consider?

I'll send you printed one for the cost of postage. If you are brave enough to try it! I want more testers. Pull a vacuum for a few days and give it a dive without the camera to build confidence. Run it over with your car, whatever. Anyway, I've been using a 40mm for the last month on about 20 dives, several past 100 feet. Another diver has been using a 20mm successfully as well. Plus you can choose black, white, or blue! :)

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I saw someone with something like this, maybe on a Kraken strobe? A molded HD foam attachment for the strobe. But I think you can do just as well with some Jumbo Stix floats on the outer arms. When I put on the Retra Maxi strobes to replace my HF-1s, the rig was out of balance and too buoyant. I removed two Jumbo Stix blocks and everything was back in balance. While the HF-1s are more negative for sure, it's not that big a difference or difficult to balance out.

What are you camera are coming from? Sony is not in the only player on the field, or necessarily the best one.

I use a little printed memory card wallet to store 10 numbered SD Cards. I put a big 500gb CFExpress card in my camera as primary and a 128 or 64gb SD Card as secondary. I swap in a new SD Card at the end of each day and download from that. The SD Cards act as a backup should the camera or laptop be lost. Many modern cameras have two slots, so this should be easy to do for most people. It would be smart to leave this in a dry-bag/go-bag on the deck or camera station of a liveaboard. I think I'll add this to my liveaboard routine!

A shocking experience! Thanks for sharing the cautionary tale to use all.

I updated the Backscatter HF-1 Reduction Rings to use a bayonet style connection and use the new filters. This allows the ring to be a lot slimmer and not bulk up the HF-1 as much. The length remains the same, so the ring's light cone does not change. The new one can't be used with the OEM HF-1 filters or diffusers and instead uses this custom one. I'll keep both versions available.