Dave_Hicks

FYI, the MF-2 power knob modification also works on the MF-1. The power knob is identical on both strobes. The HF-1 is a different size.

I have posted the Backscatter MF-1 and MF-2 strobe power knob modification on MakerWorld. https://makerworld.com/en/models/612317#profileId-535510

I have posted the HF-1 power knob modification on MakerWorld. https://makerworld.com/en/models/610783#profileId-533907

The 10 knobs I made cost 91 cents of materials. 🙂

I did two dives with the improved power knobs on my HF-1 strobes. Coldwater in Puget Sound, down to 112 feet @ 50F, wearing dry gloves. The modification worked Great! So much easier to turn the knobs and it's easy to tell by feel what the level is set at. The vertical paddle of the knob is set at 1/4 power which you can consider the "home base" as it is vertically aligned with the strobe itself. Every two clicks are another 1/4 power +/-. I poked at the slip-on knobs at depth, and they are nice and snug. Water pressure holds them on tightly. Not going anywhere on a dive but are still simple to remove out of the water. I printed this first batch with White PLA+ for visibility and sprayed on some clear coat to protect from UV a bit better. I chose white for visibility at night. PLA is not the best material for outdoor gear, but it was the only white filament that I have. Some other PLA+ prints I use underwater have held up well, but I will likely get some White PETG for the next set I print. I'm going to make a similar knob for the MF-2 strobe next.

I am in Seattle. I will PM.

I have 3 Inon 330s and now that I am using HF-1s primarily, I suppose I don't need 3 spares. I'd be willing to sell one of my 330s. Maybe $375 usd. With accessories. Mount, diffusers.

I am still using my old 1:1 45deg Nauticam viewfinder on my new Z8. The Z8 has an option to make the viewfinder display slightly smaller which allows it to work just fine with the older models. That's $1700 you do not need to spend! I am sure the new models work slightly better, but not that much better.

Better flip your camera over so the pictures come out right side up!

Give aways only. I made some extra to share, and will share the design soon.

The Backscatter HF-1 strobe has been out for a couple of months now, and a number of divers are using it with great success. The reviews have been largely positive as well, and it seems to be a great product. I've done about 20 dives with the HF-1s and I'm really pleased with it. The power level, recycle time, battery life, and actually useful videos lights add up to very compelling product. When compared to other strobes with fewer features at almost twice the price, it's a killer deal. All that said, when I've talked to other UW photographers about it, I've really only had one criticism related to the controls and ergonomics. The Power Level Knob is terrible. The Power Level Knob is too difficult to turn while wearing gloves and worse, you can't tell By Feel what power level position it is in. There is a tiny white dot on the knob indicating its position which you can't see unless you point the strobe's back right into your face. Personally, I use long arms and rarely have the strobes pointed straight forward so I have to reposition the strobes just to change the power level. At night this is even worse as you also need to point a light at it. This design is very problematic, and I hope Backscatter will fix it in later production. In the meantime, I have come up with a solution. I made a new knob that slips right on top of the existing one. This simple 3d-printed part slips snuggly over the existing knob, aligned with the existing white dot. It is much simpler to turn with glove on or off, and you can easily tell it's position by feel. The knob turns freely in the full range of settings. It was just as easy to print out 10 as 2, so I made a big batch to share with others who might be interested. I still need to do a few more test dives with it before I declare it to be finished, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. I'll publicly share the 3D STL design files once I've tested it a bit more.

Not all scratches/dents will polish out. If the hit is hard enough the flaw goes deeper than the surface in the acrylic. I've polished many of my dome ports successfully. However, I have a Kraken Wet/Wide KRL-09s and had a "scratch" that would not polish out. Like the OP, I ended up sending it for a replacement of the acrylic element for a reasonable cost.

I installed this update yesterday on my PC with an Nvidia 4070 GPU. I used the Enhance/Denoise feature on a couple of photos and it seemed to be significantly faster. Used to take about 10 seconds and now a few seconds quicker. If anyone has not installed it yet, it would be interesting to do some stopwatch benchmarks.

I looked in the popular libraries, but nothing for S&S. Nauticam is a lot more common.

Welcome Stephen!

I may have one in pieces. I will try to dig it up.

I left that job to another guy. This ray was first seen a few days prior and the Diver touched it! Got shocked Real Good! More than once too.

It's Six-Gill shark season in Puget Sound, and lots of divers hit the local shore dive "Redondo Beach" just south of Seattle for a rare glimpse of one. I went diving last night and found an even more rare and elusive creature, the Pacific Electric Ray. They are not generally seen in the PNW, so this was a real treat. These rays are documented to be about 4.6 feet (1.4m) long and this one was at least that if not a bit more. More impressively it was really thick, like a pitcher's mound. [Nikon Z8 w/24-50mm, WWL-C, f7.1, 1/60s, iso500, Pair of Backscatter HF-1 strobes]

I'm surprised you needed supports for this. What orientation did you print in?

Yes, some strobes have notoriously weak sensors, especially S&S. The Backscatter MF-1 was not super strong either. I think the latest Retra firmware update had a fix to improve sensitivity. So this is a common issue. If what you are using works then you are set. If you ever have problems, you know what to do.

The 613 fiber is a better transmitter of more light and it has a tighter bend radius so it won't be damaged as easily. This allows for longer cables, support for less sensitive strobes, and protocols like ttl that need more signal. Cheap toslink cable is nearly as good but more fragile. The 3mm stuff is probably not glass and is not great for strobes like S&S.

They don't scam all or even any of the bags on exit from the terminal. Just a few randomly or if they see a juicy pelican.

Pack your cameras in a suitcase. Put dive gear in a pelican. They will zero in on the pelicans and bypass the suitcases.

I made a custom nauticam focus gear for my friends similar LensBaby manual focus lens a few months ago. I could probably make one for this lens with a few measurements. (assuming nauticam)

What a great set! Amazing work.