Dave_Hicks

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1892858-retra-strobe-protective-bumpers#profileId-2027790 Bumper Rings for Retra Strobes I was able to borrow a Retra strobe and was able to make a few mods for it including a set of Reduction & Macro Rings and these Bumper Rings. The Retra aluminum body gets scratched and dinged up pretty easily and really need some protection. These rubber Bumpers will do a great job of protecting the strobe and keeping them looking new. Just slip them over the front and back and go diving with confidence. Extra credit for cool colors other than black!

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1892627-reduction-ring-set-for-retra-strobes-w-macro-rings#profileId-2027518 I've had a design for Reduction and Macro rings for the Backscatter HF-1 Strobe for some time and they work great. I've continued to refine them over time and decided that I could easily adapt them for Retra Strobes as well. I borrowed a Retra from a buddy and went ahead and made the new models over the last week. There is a primary reduction ring that does not block the light path but slightly limits spread of the wide-angle beam. I've found this useful for reducing flare and glow with very wide-angle lens (fisheye, etc) in less than crystal clear water. You can add additional restrictors with 60mm and 38mm apertures. These are useful for macro scenes and help to limit illumination of background features. The rings are printed with PETG. There are TPU rubber gaskets that hold the rings in place. The base ring slots into the Retra bayonet fitting. Just align the arrow mark and turn counterclockwise. Two small rubber gaskets are stretched over the macro rings and provide enough friction to hold them in place securely. These should work on all current model Retra strobes up to and including the new Maxi and Max-2 strobes.

That is probably from hard water deposits. I don't have hard water where i do most of my diving and my housings don't seem to accumulate those deposits or discoloration.

Use an Lp inflation air blower on a tank to help dry stuff off.

I would not use that unless you had a seriously encrusted item, like something recovered from the ocean and allowed to dry out. Damage to orings and the finish would be my concern. Simple fresh water soak and lightly working the buttons is enough to keep a housing and other great in good shape.

No problems. I already had it enabled and pressurized. I was pressure testing the housing after fixing a likely short in the Reset switch wire on my vacuum sensor.

It wasn't a mystery novel, and no one got murdered. At best it was some mild smuggling, and it never went to trial. :)

High end credit cards include $10k travel insurance. It is a valuable perk and worth exploring. A camera rider on your home insurance may be best way to insure photo gear. I pay about $250 a year for $25k non-itemized coverage.

On my last visit I put dive gear in a big Pelican bag, and camera gear in a standard rolling suitcase. I took all the dive gear through the checkpoint, and my wife took the suitcases. The inspectors flocked to the Pelican bags and ignored the suitcases. So, a "Decoy strategy" might work for you too.

Yes, but then you have to put a dome on it. The extension would be huge. It is a 77mm filter size which is very broad to get in a port. As mentioned, this is not ideal for wet optics.

That is a very large lens for underwater use. I have never heard of anyone using the 24-70 in a housing and doubt if this one will be much different.

Thanks for the great trip report and excellent photos!

A few people have asked me for custom Nauticam Focus Gears recently. I designed and sent them a custom gear. As usual, I have shared the designs on MakerWorld: Nauticam Focus Gear for Nikon 60mm 2.8G Macro Lens https://makerworld.com/en/models/1824725-nauticam-focus-gear-for-nikon-60mm-2-8g-macro-lens#profileId-1947944 Nauticam Focus Gear for TTArtisan 100mm Z-mount https://makerworld.com/en/models/1804480-nauticam-focus-gear-for-ttartisan-100mm-z-mount#profileId-1924490

I have both of these and am not willing to sell! I think these are vastly undervalued. I see them selling for cheap quite often, but I think they are similar in quality and provide a more useful focal range than the Nauticam variants. The +10 is quite a big nugget of glass, however.

I have personally re-soldered broken connections on two other divers triggers during a trip. Maybe a soldering iron is a good alternative to a spare trigger?

I had to look that one up!

I like making Nauticam gears and adding to my collection. I have a bunch of designs on MakerWorld but not this one. I have the lens, so I can design and print a custom focus gear. It will save you a bundle. Message me if you are interested.

Lightroom is a real powerhouse these days in my opinion. It has vastly improved in the last 5 years. The AI feature that is most useful is not even generative like Remove. It is creating Masks. Masking a complex shape, like that Warbonnet, allows you to make adjustments to a target selection in an image. Brightness, clarity, sharpness, black level, etc. The recent addition on AI denoise is another big improvement. The are the types of AI we can all appreciate as they just make the tools you already used quicker and easier. Masking use to be a painful experience and now its effortless and powerful. Anyway, i feel like i get my money's worth. PS- I can't imagine handling 1000's of photos any more without Lightroom's tagging, triage, and organization capabilities. Shudder!

Maybe we can send you some Wolfeels!

With the amount of money underwater photo enthusiasts spend on lenses, ports, and strobes, etc an Adobe subscription is cheap by comparison. I'm still paying $120usd a year for Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, and it is a better enhancement to my photography than any lens, body, or port I have ever bought. In the distant past I used Nikon's apps (what was that called) and other photo editing tools over the years. Lightroom was an instant upgrade to my output and made my workflow so much easier. I have no qualms about paying a subscription for the best tools available. Meanwhile, I pay subscriptions for my News, TV, internet access, mobile phone service, amazon deliveries, Car (lease), health care, and a dozen other things. At least Adobe gets better over time, unlike most of this other crap that just stagnates or gets worse every year.

No, that's lunch! Wolfeels love urchins and the reefs are overrun with them since the Sunflower Star near-extinction even a dozen years ago. Wolfeels help to keep the urchins in check.