Nemrod

I did not clean, lube or pull the O-ring off on this particular occasion as I describe how I normally would have. What I think happened is that the FIX S90 housing is a clam shell type. When I opened the housing the door with O-ring rubbed across the room table I was working from. The room cleaning lady did have curly black hair (like a perm) so I think it likely hers from cleaning the room and wiping the table down as part of her duties. I am not blaming her, I was the one who deviated from my normal routine and did not inspect the O-ring for FOD. FOD can come from all sorts of places. I think that is how the hair got on the O-ring. Many times I have found sand and debris on the door O-rings and down in the groove after a dive and upon opening the housing. The OP asked what other people do. I explained my routine. "So, it got me to wondering what other folks do:" I did not say it was necessary or required. I remove, clean and lube with each opening and I answered the original question.

I remove the Nauticam door O-ring (both housings are clamshell type) with each opening. I clean the groove, look for debris, sand, hairs, Q-tip fuzz etc. Same with my strobes, I remove the Inon strobe O-rings with each opening, clean and lube. The only flood I have had was a FIX housing for my S90. I changed the battery in a rush, went diving, flooded. Afterwards I found a tiny, black hair on the O-ring wrapped around it. Neither me nor my wife have black hair.

In the more than two decades I have owned a set of Inon D2000 strobes I have never cleaned them, flooded them or seen any sort of corrosion on them. My new S220 strobes are clean as can be, maybe in another twenty years I will give them a good cleaning. If I am still around to do so.

Maybe some day in a distant and alternative universe, OM Systems will get their head out of their wazoo and give us a TG Pro. Full manual controls, actual f stops, pancake 24-75 with macro zoom lens, 1.0+ inches sensor. Video capable for those who do such, not me, and then we will have a replacement at long last for the legendary Nikonos III. I will buy three and a nauticam housing to put it in. In yet another alternative world, Nauticam et al could take the guts out of a Canon R50 or similar and install it in a housing as an integrated, updatable platform, work with Canon, Nikon, whoever to provide the electronics. We are stuck since the passing of the Nikonos in this buy a box and then buy a camera and then stick the camera in the box thinking. What we need is an actual underwater camera, not a box with a land camera inside. And it does not need to be FF.

I am not clear here. Did Backscatter state the specific reason the strobes quit working was "stained" contacts and that there is no other malfunction involved?

They look like rebranded Marelux housings?

That should be a good set up. The Atom strobes might be overkill for a TG but they should work fine since they do have the RC control and they would be plenty of power for any system you move up to for all but this most demanding wide angle stuff, maybe even then. I have been studying these, they do not have a standard mimic type TTL thus will not work in TTL with either my Sony or Canon, but I shoot mostly manual anyways and the size, power and price are good. I am just worried about reliability being new on the market.

My several dive buddies who shoot with the TG find the RC useful (Backscatter MF-2) and from my observing their photos I think they are getting very good results. What I am not sure about is that the results are really any better than with standard mimic TTL. But they like it and are sold on it. And best I can tell the Echo strobes do support the RC-TTL. One of my regular buddies uses a Backscatter MF-2 in RC mode to slave an older YS-D2 non RC strobe. And it works! His rig is not shielded so the YS strobe fires on mine backlighting my subject, at times useful, other times (most times) quite annoying 😁. This wide angle photo (of me) taken with the Ikelite Echo strobes, Ikelite housed R100, TTL (D.Haas), clearly they suffice!

The Inon S220 strobes (75w/s, GN22) are considerably stronger than the Ikelite Echo strobes (50 w/s, GN15). However, the Echos will support the Olympus RC for TTL control and several of my dive buddies use the RC control to their advantage with the YS-D3 Duo, even stronger (GN33?) and the TG cameras. I have a set of the Inon S220 strobes and I can see that they are stronger than the Ikelite DS50 (now Echo with the added optical functions) and nearly as strong as the YS-D3 with the diffuser installed. And they are reliable and cost effective, so RC be darned, I would go with the S220 strobes. I pair mine with a NA-6400 and a NA-R50 systems. The Echos are good little strobes and while I know I just said I prefer the S220, if RC is an important function to the OP and if they are for certain verified functional with the TG RC then I can see that be a good combo. I think two of them would pair well with a TG, especially for macro and fish pics.

Just a couple of months ago I forgot to put the cap on and went in the water. Got to about 30 feet and realized my error, NA-R50 housing. Fortunately I did not flood. However, salt crystals formed despite my effort to wash it out. Two days later I had a problem pulling vacuum. The green light would come on but I would quickly get the flashing red light while I was at breakfast. I thought perhaps some salt crystals or debris had formed on the internal seal surface. I pulled a vacuum as best I could and quickly put distilled water in the cavity and pressed the release button several times. I repeated several times. I had placed a microfiber cloth inside to ensure no water got anywhere inside the housing. I completed the trip and have had no further issues and just recently did a pool dive, all functioned normally. If I could stay home long enough I would like to take it apart. Too expensive to replace but if I cannot then I guess off to Reef Photo it goes. YRMV. Edit to add, I forgot, after forcing the distilled water flush through the valve I used an air gun to gently dry it including pressing the release while allowing air to flow through it. It functioned the remainder of dives and is still seemingly fine. I too would like to know how to disassemble the valve.

Steady red light is a low battery. If a fresh battery does not cure the problem something is possibly amiss with the circuit. Pull a vacuum and let it sit over night. Then release the vacuum, do you hear the valve equalizing? If so there is probably not a leak. If no vacuum, then I guess there is a leak. Change port and door O-rings perhaps, inspect the sealing surfaces.

Please, no. I hve not entered a contest ever but I apprecite looking at the photos you folks put up and the skill and luck and chance and dedication. AI will ruin photography because real photographs can never be perfect. I understand using some tools to get white balance, remove backscatter perhaps but at what point is it no longer your photo but something else.

With the Canon 18-45 lens you will want the WWL-1 not the WWL-1C if getting the full 130 degree FOV is important. The WWL-1C will only get about 116 degrees with a base 18mm APS-C lens. The WWL-1 was designed for 28mm equivalent lenses and the WWL-1C was intended for 24mm equivalent lenses. The WWL-1 does have a lanyard attach point. The WWL-1 and I imagine the WWL-1C are too large to use the flip adapters. Alignment is critical to prevent vignetting. I do not consider it practical to switch out between the CMC lenses and the WWL underwater. Simply too large and heavy and expensive. You can quickly switch out on the boat and go from one to the other. I do have a bayonet slot on my rigs to temporarily park the WWL for flat port work but no way I would leave that expensive and fragile piece of kit anywhere for long but on my port.

Well, okay, none of us are expert on this strobe. Per Backscatter it is smaller than the HF-1 considerably and has a UW GN28 which is equivalent to the HF-1 at max power until you set the +1 or +2 settings which I think are GN34 and GN40 respectively. Per Backscatter and the strobe operator manuals, the Backscatter MF-1/2/3, Atom and HF-1 will only shoot TTL with the Backscatter trigger. If this is not true, explain how this is not the case because I might like to purchase a set but I want to run off my UWT board or the pop up strobe for TTL. Manual of course is no issue with the UWT trigger or the pop up flash but TTL?

Yes, that is the problem. I would wish for "classic" or what I am calling mimic TTL mode for the Atom flash that will sync with either the pop up flash or the UWT trigger board when set for TTL operation without a proprietary board that will not work with many existing cameras and housings.