Dave_Hicks

I snapped up a second one a few months ago myself! I use one for my 140mm dome with 8-15mm and the other on a 60+20 macro port. I didn't want to have to move the 20mm extension back and forth.

Have you seen what Nauticam is charging for these nowadays? ☹️

I have not yet tried either the Atom or Ecko strobes, but I did read the manuals and product pages. A few observations: Ecko: AA powered (pro for battery availability, con for battery life) No spotting light so no Snoot option (big CON) Optical fiber only, broad TTL features Cold temp at 5700k, no warming diffuser available (big CON) Atom: 18650 Lithium battery ( pro for battery life, con for some who still prefer AA) Has a spotting light (1000 lumen) and a Snoot option Optical Fiber only, RC TTL Even Colder temp at 6500k, but 5500k and 4500k diffusers are available My take is that the Atom does cost about $250 more but is a far more capable strobe.

Digging through the drawers of my workshop, I found a handful of fully functional, prototype printed parts. In the spirit of the holidays, I will offer them up to any takers for just the cost of shipping! (sorry, USA only) These are all parts that I completed, tested, and then made minor tweaks in the final versions. Speak up if you want any of these items! I will mail them to you at cost. Typically 5-10 dollars from USPS. The current versions for all of these designs and more are available to print out yourself at: https://makerworld.com/en/collections/16165730-uw-photography-by-dave-hicks https://makerworld.com/en/collections/16165676-scuba-designs-by-dave-hicks Item 1: Zoom Gear for Nikon 8-15mm lens for Nauticam Item 2: Reduction and Macro ring for HF-1 strobe, with Bumper (Quantity 2) Item3: Protective lens hood for Nauticam MFO-1 (Quantity 3)

The White balance setting in camera is sort of irrelevant in RAW workflow as you can set it in post processing. You are likely to be changing depth and direction from the sun frequently so you would need to be continually changing the WB. Too much effort for my taste. What I found works well is to get a sequence of images taken in the same setting and bulk change them to a good WB setting. Edit one to your liking and sync it to the rest of the batch.

I have had a similar experience with Thresher sharks in the Philippines. No strobes allowed. What worked for me was: Wide zoom lens - WWL-C with 24-50mm High ISO of 500-1000 Shutter speed of 1/60th or maybe higher, as the sharks can make fast movements Be careful to adjust for background exposure, tweaking shutter and ISO Aperture around f10-13 base on depth and lighting Try to fill the frame with one or more sharks, use DX mode if they are not coming in close Postprocessing will be required. Work on white balance, mask the sharks and reduce saturation to remove color cast, adjust contrast and clarity Lightroom's AI Denoise is a champ to clean up the ISO noise

Sure, that sounds interesting! I'd love to give them a try and share a review. I will send you a message on the subject. Thanks for the opportunity. The top image is the Pro Max II? I think I can see the booster. It looks like it has a slightly broader spread and a warmer color temperature.

Looks like Retra is finally, about 13 months later, going to ship the Maxi strobe. Retra UWTRetra Maxi Underwater StrobeORDER NOW AND SECURE EXCLUSIVE PRICING ON THE RETRA MAXI WITH THE VIDEO LIGHT - AVAILABLE ONLY UNTIL DECEMBER 20TH. NOW SHIPPING! Current dispatch time is approximately 2 to 3 weeks. If you have a divPreviously had straight xenon flash elements, now has a circular tube Previously advertised it at $880 with the 6000 lumen video light, now it's $1250 The Backscatter HF-1 was previously $800 or 850, now it's $999 The Maxi is also available without the video light for $1100 Backscatter added the Atom strobe without a video light for $800 It's great to see Retra finally getting to market with a faster strobe with a modern lithium-ion battery source at a lower price point than the ridiculous Pro Max II's at $1969 with the required boosters. Also nice to see that they decided to launch with their traditional circular flash tubes, hopefully getting closer to the Retra style output. However, they seem have given up on competing on price with Backscatter. At least they priced it in the same ballpark as the HF-1. I'll be curious to see some real-world reviews of these new strobes and how they compare to the Pro Max II's and HF-1s. I'll bet there is going to be some buyer's remorse from the Pro Max II early adopters.

The circlips are generic parts and easy to source, as are the orings. Circlips are also integral to holding the housing together. I don't know that the springs actually wear out at all, and they are not going to impact the integrity of the housing. I don't think they are something you should put any energy to replacing if you are DIYing the job. Now a proper service center is going to have all these parts on hand, so yes of course they should replace the springs, rubber tips, etc. It's what you are (over) paying for.

I remove the circlips with a chopstick. Just push it off the shaft. I recommend getting new clips and don't reuse the old ones. They can bend and deform when removed and might not hold as securely upon reuse.

I can easily design one. Do you have the lens? If so message me and I'll ask you for a couple of dimensions and send you a model to try. I like flushing out my collection so I can share these gears to the community.

Is it actually loosing vacuum or is the indicator broken? Pop the latches and see if the back comes off. It won't if there is still a vacuum.

Sucks to be you!

You can create the seal by sucking the air out with your lips! The electronics are just a visual indicator with additional functionality of a leak alarm. No contraptions necessary.

I have a cursed Nauticam Vacuum circuit as well. The battery lasts just a few sessions. I was constantly replacing the batteries and actually bought some rechargeable 2032 cells. So at least I am not throwing them away constantly. I never had this with my D800 or D850 housings, but the vacuum in the newer Z8 is just plagued. I was on a trip recently and I just gave up turning the circuit on. I pumped it and made sure the back would not come off releasing the latches after a few hours to test the negativity. The idiot light was just not that necessary. I bought a replacement vacuum circuit, but I have not gotten around to installing it. The rechargeable batteries are doing the trick, but I have a replace them after just a few days of diving. And I dive 2 or 3 days a week.

I think maybe they rolled all of the tariff charges onto this one obscure item that they expected nobody to ever buy!

$11,100 USD?!? Is it diamond encrusted or made from meteoric iron?

It really depends on how well you treat your housing and keep it clean. If you are meticulous about soaking and drying most housings can go a long time before needed a full service. However, in some areas the water available is very hard and full of minerals. This can leave ugly residues and calcium build up that probably is not great for the o-ring channels. If you have this situation, make sure to blow dry your housing to get as much of that water off before it dries. Just like with regulators, be wary of post-service hijinks. A buddy recently sent their housing to Ikelite for service, and it came back completely unusable. Controls installed improperly, broken hot shoe, etc. Years ago, I sent my Nauticam D800 housing to Reef Photo for service and while they did a good job, they missed fully inserting a c-clip. The error nearly cost me the use of my camera during a trip. The c-clip popped off and came inches from being lost forever. I called them up and asked for a supply of spare clips and parts to make up for it!

Looking forward to some pictures!

I use my original 45deg viewfinder with a Z8 which has the same warning about size and clipping the EVF. However the Z8 had a "shrink EVF" option that reduces it slightly. With this setting the EVF if fully viewable with the old 45. Some Sony models have a similar option. Look it up for your camera. No doubt the newer model is better, but is it $2000 better?

You can buy a 3d printer for what Nauticam is charging for Zoom Gears these days! If you have access to a printer (say your local library or a friend), you can make one for nothing. If you don't have a printer, let me know and I'd be happy to send you a 24-50z zoom gear. https://makerworld.com/en/models/612361-nauticam-zoom-gear-for-nikon-24-50mm-z-mount-lens#profileId-1820683

Don't pay $450 for a 24-50z. They go for about $250 on the secondary market in excellent shape. I buy lenses from KEH.com whenever possible.

I move between the WWL-C (w/Nikon 24-50z) and the 140mm/8-15fe combo quite a bit. The WWL is more versatile for sure with the ability to shoot near-macro. The 8-15 is great for big, close pelagic animals and for CFWA. Even small or medium fish can be shot. (see below) You need to be more careful lighting the 8-15fe especially in murky waters, but the impact of a fisheye image can make up for the difficulty. Nikon Z8 w/8-15mm Fisheye lens, f13@1/60s iso500, Pair of Backscatter HF-1 strobes

WWL-C Lanyard - Fixed it! Just replaced the rubber grip with a printed TPU rubber version with a couple of loops built it. I made this after my original grip got cut somehow and I added loops to design of my replacement. https://makerworld.com/en/models/637896-nauticam-wwl-c-collar-replacement-with-loops#profileId-563389

I just went to Magdalena Bay in mid-November with Nautilus. Highly recommended to book with them. They are the best and most reliable. I think the peak season is October to February if I recall. We had amazing action and adventure during my week.