Dave_Hicks

I never used diffusers on my Inon-330s and did not have that issue. I also rarely shoot in "10-2" strobe positions as I find that tends to yield flat images with little shadow or texture on the subject.

Even light spread is only important if you are shooting flat white walls in a dark room. I challenge anyone to identify an even vs uneven light source in an actual underwater environment. The truth is that most strobes (a similar power levels) are pretty similar. What makes a real difference is how the photographer uses their equipment and composes an interesting subject.

Placebo Effect. A strobe that works reliably, has sufficient battery life, power, and the sync speed you require is as good as any other. I think "quality of light" is feeling not a feature. Many people are putting a filter on their strobes, at which point the light spread is near identical to every other strobe and the light temperature is defined by the filter not the strobe.

An article that I wrote for Dive Photo Guide was just published today! Check it out! Underwater Photography with a Rebreather

Very nice. Upload it to MakerWorld or Thingiverse. I have a Nikon / Nauticam 8-15 zoom gear on MakerWorld. https://makerworld.com/en/models/612332

Look up Boeing 787 lithium ion battery fires. They grounded the planes for quite some time. Or Samsung Phone fires. Etc...

This is already a problem for airlines. I doubt if a few strobe batteries in bags are going move the needle vs. the millions of phones flying. Phones and other lithium-ion powered devices ignite on planes from time to time. Recently you may have noticed a new announcement on flights, especially for planes with first class. "If you drop your phone behind the seat, don't try to retrieve it. Call the flight attendants." These airline seats are motorized, and they can pinch, fold, and mangle the lost phone, causing a fire. The planes all have battery containment gear now:

Yes, I think you are missing something. A strobe with AA batteries can't include a "video quality" light. Retra needed to add an external battery extender to get competitive & acceptable flash counts. With lithium-ion batteries, you can have it all without compromising the design. AA batteries may be simple but have downsides as well. Low power density and high failure rates. Alkaline cells will leak eventually nearly 100% of the time and ruin the device. Higher quality AA batteries exist with less risk of leaking, just like higher quality lithium-ion cells exist with less risk of burning up. And the higher quality AA batteries are actually not that widely available outside of specially stores.

It is crystal clear that the days of the AA battery powered strobe are over. Done. There are better power options available with LiOn batteries today and they open up better feature sets and utility. While you may be satisfied with your current products, it's highly unlikely that future iterations will keep using AA power cells.

You can keep using your existing 105 if you go with Nikon, plus any other lenses you own. You might replace the Tokina with a WWL-C and the low cost 24-50z, which is an amazing combo. The WACP-C won't deliver much if any value over the WWL-C. I would look into the option of a Z8 refurb body, this camera is amazing and will be familiar at the same time. The Cost of a Sony is not going to be cheaper in most cases, plus you will be buying all new lenses. Sony macro lenses have fewer great options versus Nikon's 60mm & 105mm. Nikon has a 105z mount lens but since you have an F-mount stick with that, it's 99% as good.

I used a 60mm macro lens to shoot Thresher Sharks in the Philippines with great success. The sharks did not come close enough to fill the frame at 35mm so I switched to a 60mm and got some great pictures. That was a very specific scenario, but its not unheard of for me to shoot a big octopus or crab that comes along when I have a macro lens mounted. That will require getting more like 1-2meters back.

The Nikon 60mm macro will focus at damn near 0cm range behind a flat port. No diopter required. From what I am reading, the SubSea+5 on a Nikon 105mm does about the same thing this MFO-1 does, at about 1/2 the price. It reduces the MFD from about 25cm to maybe 10.

Do you already have an Smc-1? I am curious what hole or need this fills for you? Isn't it the same magnification as the Smc-1? I have the Subsee +5 & +10, but rarely use the +10. It's 3.5x magnification is just too tiny for my tastes most of the time.

You should plan on it. It is truly one of the best dive destinations in the world.

Inon controls have some design issues to be sure. I made this thing to address the major issues on the Inon 330 strobe: Inon 330 UW Strobe - Button Lock by AwkwardSwine - Thingiverse This Thing is a solution to a common problem experienced with the Inon 330 Underwater Strobe. The Inon 330 has a pre-flash control button that must be pushed down and turned to lock when used on cameras that down use preflash. (most DSLR/Mirrorless cameras) The button has a tendency to pop up if accidentally bumped, which can easily occur when adjusting the strobe power (eV) knob. Another issue with the 330 can occur if you inadvertently bump the Power/Mode knob from its usual Manual position to the Full mode. Both of these problems will spoil your photos. The Button Lock think aims to resolve both of these problems in an unobtrusive manner. A cylinder protects the Pre-flash button from being altered. A spring arm adds some resistance to the Power/Mode switch when it is in the Manual mode. The object is held down by the cap to the electrical sync connector.

Did you 3d print the aluminum? That's my point. Printed plastic is not strong enough for a functional strobe arm. You didn't print the ball or arm. Printing the floatation is relatively easy.

I doubt you could print an arm that would be strong enough. You need an aluminum arm and ball at the center for sure. I just built around the ULCS arms i already have. As i mentioned, I just didn't find that a printed arm would be better than Stix floats, and not as robust. My arm floats had more buoyancy but weighed more, and were more fragile. Stix are cheap too, but that was never the point. The port floats didn't have a better alternative, and seemed like a better solution than what could be purchased.

Are you asking about the port floats or ulcs arm floats? Parameters were very simple. Used a .4mm nozzle & .2mm layers, 4 walls, 8 top/bottom layers, and 8% grid infill. On my P1S I get super clean prints with ABS and it weighs less than pla or petg. Brushing with acetone seals it well, and a coat of epoxy resin protects it further. I had success with just the acetone but I think adding the epoxy will be more durable.

Seal it in the AC car when possible. Maybe have someone blow in dry tank air with a nozzle as you seal it if fogging becomes a problem. I dive in similar conditions often (50f water and humid boat cabin when i seal) and never have trouble with fogging. I do vacuum seal the housing which may also help.

Very nice. I like that clear TPU! Maybe add a lanyard loop?

Did Interceptor leave the board? He was really aggressive on many occasions and probably got tired of people not automatically agreeing with his opinions. Just my speculation. It's too bad because he has a lot of knowledge and experience to share. I know from years in Type-A dominated workplaces that learning how to effectively communicate with others is a common weakness for some of the smartest peole.

Why do this in camera with jpg when you can get the same effect cropping with a raw file? You can upsize using topaz or adobe with impressive results.

Do you have any insight on why they discontinued the z330 so far in advance of a replacement? I get not wanting to undercut the current model by announcing a new one, but it seems like they miscalculated the timing.

You also should also get a pack of MicroMesh wet sandpaper. This works better on acrylic domes than Novus in my experience for substantial scratches. Novus is good to finish after sanding. https://a.co/d/bsMyxhb