Barmaglot

If it's that important, you could use solid foam to make float jackets for the strobes? It probably wouldn't work for models with side-mounted controls, such as Ikelite DS160/200/213, or the optical receivers on Marelux Apollo III, but for either Retra or Kraken strobes it shouldn't be an issue. Me, I just mount my floats on the outer arm segments, close to the strobes, and it doesn't seem to be an issue. I haven't seen those size limits on small items enforced nearly as rigorously as carryon weight limits. As long as it fits under the seat in front of you, it should be fine.

My last trip, I just hand-carried my housing, on a tray, with the camera inside, as my 'small item' and it didn't present any issues. The Etihad check-in agent in Bangkok did pooh-pooh my overweight carryon, which contained, among other things, the strobes and the batteries, so next time I'm flying, I'm going to mount the strobes, superchargers attached and batteries inserted, right on the tray handles.

Seems like AOI is branching out from Olympus/OM Systems into Sony now? As I understand it they used to partner with Fantasea, but I haven't seen any new releases from that company in a while now, so maybe it's no more? https://www.aoi-uw.com/products/housings/aoi-uh-a7iv.html Looks very interesting and relatively very affordable - Backscatter already has it listed for $1599, and that includes a vacuum system, and a TTL- and HSS-capable flash trigger, which would typically be quite pricey add-ons. A SeaFrogs A7 IV NG housing lists for $677, but add a ~$300 s-TURTLE, a ~$300 Leak Sentinel, and a ~$100 tray, and gets into the same ballpark. The built-in depth gauge is also a nice feature - not quite the same as mounting a full dive computer on the camera, but still quite handy, especially for blackwater dives. Controls layout looks well thought out. There doesn't seem to be an option for an add-on viewfinder, but there are inexpensive LCD magnifier hoods, including a 90-degree one for macro/muck diving. Cordless flash trigger connection (there is a unit that installs on camera hot shoe with contact pads that mate with contacts in the housing) should save on wear and tear on the famously complicated Sony multi-interface shoe connector, as you don't need to disconnect it every time you remove the camera from the housing. As far as downsides go, the photos and drawings don't show any bulkhead connections, so no option to run it with an external monitor other than maybe a housed phone over WiFi. Also, the only domes offered are 160mm and 220mm acrylics - no option for a fisheye minidome for CFWA; I wonder if Zen will make a DP-100 in AOI's new AX mount. I also don't see any zoom gears yet, but I'm sure those are coming.

Are you sure it was water intrusion from the outside? I've had batteries leak electrolyte inside my strobe - granted, those were NiMH AAs, but Li-Ion cells can do it as well.

I was browsing Divervision looking for something unrelated, when I came across this: https://www.divervision.com/collections/strobes/products/ikelite-ds-200-ttl-strobe-40622 Looks like they're clearing some old stock - Ikelite DS200 is discontinued, heavy, bulky, and only takes electrical sync (although optical adapters are available), but unless the battery packs have degraded beyond usable capacity, $249 for a 200 W/s strobe is still a tremendously good deal.

It doesn't. On my A6700/UWT combination, going above 1/160s automatically engages HSS (the appropriate symbol is shown on screen), which requires the strobes to also be in HSS mode, or they will fire out of sync and not expose the image at all. With a simple SeaFrogs trigger, HSS mode is not engaged, and it syncs at up to 1/250s - the narrow black band on top of the image appears at 1/320s. No tricks are needed to exceed the shutter speed.

I use Sea & Sea cables with a UWT trigger and Retra Pro strobes. They were recommended to me for being sturdier than most. They're fairly pricey (I got them from divervision.com), but I haven't had any issues with them thus far.

613-core is what you should be looking for. A fair few years ago, I found myself in Cebu City, about to get on a 10-day liveaboard, with my camera, housing and strobes, but without the tray, arms, clamps and fiber optic cables which were in a checked bag that got delayed. Fortunately, Stride and Stroke shop in Ayala Mall had everything that I needed. This won't help you while you're in Malapascua (although since you have a few days there, you might be able to get stuff delivered), but I assume you'll be passing through Cebu City on your way to Puerto Princesa.

That's already accomplished by the flash compensation menu in the camera and, on most strobes, the power knob.

That's the difference between regular flash and HSS. The flickering mode of HSS produces significant reduction in flash power by itself, before higher shutter speeds bleed it further.

Yes, you will experience decreased strobe power at faster shutter speeds. Here's a quick test that I did - shooting a white wall from about two feet away, single Retra Pro on full power ISO 100, f/36 to exaggerate the effect. The 1/160s shot is in normal mode, the rest are in HSS.

Japanese manufacture is not a guarantee of quality. June 2021, I bought an Inon LF800-n torch from Divervision for use on blackwater dives. November, I took it on a test dive at Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand, and it immediately flooded. Shipped it back to Divervision, and a month later, I had a replacement. Took it on a liveaboard trip, and first dive, it floods again. Three more Eneloop Pros into the trash bin, another shipping fee, but this time I ask Divervision to test the replacement before shipping it out. They had two on hand, tested both, and both flooded. Three months later, Divervision gets a new shipment from Inon, I confirm my address, but then they forget to ship it out - the person handling the case thinks it's been shipped, while in fact it hasn't been. Two more months pass before they straighten it out and ship the replacement, but it's missing the battery holder. Takes another week to get than handled, and finally, by late June 2022, I have a working torch.

Does this actually work? For one thing, reading glasses are designed to be held a certain distance from the eye; putting them over a diving mask will increase that considerably. For another, refraction index of air and water is different, so lenses immersed in water will not behave the same way as they do in air. My best guess would be that in order to work, this will require considerably different lenses from what you'd use on land. I've seen one Israeli diver use a pair of pince-nez glasses inside a mask; haven't seen anyone else do that though.

Hasn't the PRO300 line been replaced by the new HD and HD PRO models? https://kenkoglobal.com/catalog/teleconverters/?p[34]=Nikon F

For what it's worth, I just checked my SeaFrogs trigger, which is dumb as a post - the only connections are the trigger pin in the middle and ground on the sides - on my Sony A6700. There are no shutter speed restrictions, and in fact it appears to sync at up to 1/250s - at 1/320s, there is a narrow dark strip at the top of the frame, gradually growing until it covers the whole frame at 1/2000s (at 1/1600s, there is still a narrow strip of light at the very bottom). I'm guessing it might be different on Olympus/OM Systems cameras?

Inon doesn't publish the watt-second rating for their strobes, but Z-240 was measured to use 52 joules per full-power flash, and it's rated for 240 full-power flashes on regular Eneloop batteries, whereas S-220 is rated for 380 full-power flashes on the same, which gives a watt-second rating of about 33. WFS07 is rated, by the manufacturer, at 60 watt-seconds.

AF works brilliantly on my A6700 with Metabones and EF-mount Tokina 10-17mm, with the caveat of shooting stills only - it's much more limited in video mode. Regarding F-mount Tokina 10-17mm on Nikon mirrorless, Monster Adapter has recently announced LA-FZ1 adapter that will support screw drive autofocus lenses. It is not, however, certain that the extra hump it has on the bottom will fit into every housing. https://nikonrumors.com/2025/02/28/monsteradapter-la-fz1-officially-announced-nikon-f-mount-lenses-to-nikon-z-mount-cameras-with-built-in-focus-and-aperture-motors.aspx/ However, you can use the 8-15mm fisheye on a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter (make sure to use the most recent Kenko HD PRO models) to gain a similar zoom range - on 2x, it's effectively a 16-30mm fisheye, covering almost 180 degrees diagonally on the wide end. Older 2x teleconverters had produced significant degradation in image quality, but on the most recent models it is almost imperceptible - see here for some tests: With this available, aside from lower costs, I don't see any reason to use a Tokina 10-17mm on a full-frame body.

Circular tube strobes tend to have a better beam spread without diffusers than straight tube ones, which leads to a lower GN rating, but better overall usability. For instance, Ikelite DS160s are rated at GN24, but you wouldn't dispute the massive difference in capability between them and S220s - they are, in fact, more powerful than GN33 Z330s.

I was just on a liveaboard with a diver who moved to a pair of Weefine WFS07s after one of his YS-D1s died. They're quite compact and have good power - here is one next to my Retra Pro and a YS-D3: I'm not very convinced by its method of closing the battery compartment though - the entire back panel is a separate unit that is clamped into place by a threaded annular piece of plastic, with about a dozen contact pads facilitating communications. On the upside, it keeps the fairly small back panel from getting cluttered by a battery compartment lid, which is normally just so much dead space, but on the downside, the sealing surface is quite big, and hidden from inspection by the clamping ring. On the gripping hand, the Li-ion cells provide enough charge for several days of diving, so you're not opening that lid too often.

I just looked up IATA guidance for NIMH batteries, and it seems pretty clear: Nickel-metal hydride batteries or nickel-metal hydride battery-powered devices, equipment or vehicles are not subject to these Regulations provided they are prepared for transport so as to prevent: a. a short circuit (e.g. in the case of batteries, by the effective insulation of exposed terminals; or, in the case of equipment, by disconnection of the battery and protection of exposed terminals); and b. unintentional activation. To me this reads that while batteries can be transported inside devices, you have to place insulation between their contacts and equipment terminals, as is common while shipping devices from vendor to consumer.

I thought regulations were to have batteries outside the devices when possible? I always have my batteries in dedicated plastic boxes and the strobes, torches, etc, empty.

Egypt is a very special case. September 2020, Taba crossing, they demanded I leave my entire rig at the customs shack, to be picked up within 30 days. Two years earlier, there was no issue, but now they wouldn't budge for love or money. I had three liveaboard booked back to back and had to turn around and go back to Israel. I will dive out of KSA before I set my foot in Egypt again.

I agree that it's a bit of a pain, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a couple small (albeit hefty) plastic boxes in the carryon. Well worth the faster recycle time and all-day endurance. The Li-ion cells in the new Maxi are a much better solution, no argument about that, but I'm not dropping the price of a liveaboard trip just on that convenience.

Superchargers in my case, I have a pair of Retra Pros from the first batch that shipped, and a pair of superchargers from very early in their availability. I don't remember last time I dived without them attached. Actually I think at least some of my Eneloop Pros are older than the strobes - I was using them with my previous set of SeaFrogs ST-100 Pros - but I added another set of 16 when I got the superchargers and probably another dozen here and there - I had two instances where they leaked; one when I contracted dengue fever and left the strobes loaded but turned off for two weeks, another during a dive, so those got thrown away. Recently I tested all that I had using LiitoKala Lii-500 chargers, binned those that lost a lot of capacity (some tested below 1000mAh) but kept those that tested good (>2000mAh) and they hadn't given me any issues on a recent liveaboard trip.

I'm still using Eneloop Pros I bought 4-5 years ago.