Dave_Hicks

The WACP-C port is big enough with that float that it would probably make more sense to replicate the Nauticam design with a spring clip on the inside. But I would likely need the port to do it. Unless it has identical dimensions to the WWL-C, which I have.

A cap needs to hold on to the port. My standard rubber design grabs the overhang of port with bungees. I would need the outside diameter of the port and distance from the tallest leaf of the shade to the underhang. And a photo of the original shade.

I think that will work just fine.

Result: 1/8th power is pretty stable at 10fps with only slight shifting left (darker) of the histograms over a 15-20 shot sequence. One click higher shows significant shifting darker.

I will see if i can try that soon. Currently diving at Gods Pocket through Friday. Maybe I can knock it out tonight after diving is done. I brought both the Maxi's and HF-1 strobes, today i rigged the HF-1s to try out a new float design.

Why 10 fps? Why not 3 or 5 which are more achievable by the most capable strobes?

Very complete analysis and you pointed out many legitimate issues. Some issues with formatting the charts - the legends are not showing which line belongs to which product. One other thing to highlight that might be worth noting. The numbers for Backscatters strobes all seem to align well with the manufacturer reported specs. GN brightness and Color temperature for example. I suspect this a "methodology bias" where BS is using the same measurement method as their marketing department. The numbers might be valid, but the consistency works in their own favor. Similarly with Isotta Red64 discrepancies. You can be sure that Backscatter did not allow any such oddities with their own strobes. They should correct the outliers to avoid the perception of bias. I hope that Backscatter makes some quick revisions to their test report.

Pretty beefy!

I think this was a massive amount of effort that Backscatter put into this report. It would be amazing if they kept adding new strobes to the matrix and turn this in a standing comparison tool. As of now they don't compare or contrast features like video lights, battery type, battery life, flood alerts, and price. These would be useful additions to complete the picture.

Maybe a photo?

I've just spent some time looking over this in some detail. Lots of high quality data - Zero conclusions. Backscatter is in the business of selling all of these strobes so it is no surprise that they are not making any editorial comments. I think that their data matched up pretty well with what I generated in my review of the Retra Maxi with comparisons to the Backscatter HF-1. My take aways from the Backscatter data: Look no further than the Retra Maxi and Backscatter HF-1 if you want a wide angle capable strobe Beam Pattern, smoothness, and brightness of the Maxi and HF-1 are pretty much neck and neck. All other strobes are dimmer and less wide, sometimes with inconsistent patterns. The HF-1 is the champion in fast recycle time with the shortest interval between flashes as any target power level. The HF-1 is about 2-3 times faster at cycling to the next flash at the target GN. The Maxi stomps every other strobe in the Buoyancy / Weight ratio making it very easy to handle in the water. One surprise was that most strobes had a big mismatch between their stated color temperatures and the measured temperature. All of the Backscatter strobes (HF-1, Atom, MF-3) had accurate temperatures along with the Kraken S160 and S&S 250. Every other strobe had significant measured variances, including the Retra Maxi and Max/Max-II models. My Review: 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.

The intent is to build or modify a custom snoot around the part.

This is common. Straight, corkscrew, beads, all sorts of plankton, algae, and similar critters.

Do you have a real photo? Some strobes like Retra really require a 90deg connector.

That's a rather extreme stance. I'm all for excluding generative AI, but masking is not creating or altering any pixels. It's simply automation of something that that is otherwise tedious.

I prototyped a similar Snoot-Iris about a year ago, but didn't finish it as I just don't find changing aperture of the snoot all that useful. 95% of the time I use the widest openings anyway, and I didn't want issues with binding of the moving parts in an Iris. Then I got the Backscatter OS-3 snoot, which uses a rotating disk/cartridge instead of a card. It's is pretty much the same effect as an Iris but a lot simpler. I did make an adapter so I can use the Backscatter snoot on either the HF-1 or Retra strobes.

Partially plastic, not that there is anything wrong with that! The front end is aluminum and acts as a heat sink. The rest of the body is very tough plastic that does not scratch and dent like aluminum body strobes do.

The Maxi video light mode is exclusive of the Flash. Pretty sure the HF-1 is the same.

WWL-C is more compact than the WWL-1 units. Burping is not required once you are a few meters underwater. I have not burped it dozens of times and never noticed. Shallow or snorkeling is not advised however. And i would never plan to remove and swap out the WWL during a dive, the lenses in question just don't merit using diopters.

This is when the WWL setups excel. They are pretty compact and can shoot macro to wide with very good quality possible. Not the best wide or macro solution but competent at both.