Nemrod

Just returned. I think Roatan no different, no better, no worse, from the rest of the Caribbean basin at large. Everything has suffered from the scd, bleaching and overly warm water. Notice all the floaty stuff generating backscatter, supposedly not typical? Lots of rays and turtles, good number of fish, corals typical. (Nauticam Canon NA-R50, WWL-1, dual Marelux Apollo strobes)

I have been to Cozumel many times including just this past July, twice the year before and usually at least once annually. Over the last trips I have been asked how many cameras I have and I answered one. Now, to be complete, I have not gotten the red button on my last trips. This is flying into Cozumel. If you do the bag drag from Cancun, who knows. Cozumel, you should be okay with one camera. Put the camera in the housing. Tools, yes, my Nauticam Allen keys were taken from the carry-on camera case. Despite having carried them through multiple times.

I love my two S220 strobes. I had been using D2000 strobes until they went TU. The S220 is much stronger and nearly as strong as a pair of Z240s I had borrowed and they do throw a wide beam. The thing I run into is flash fill against a sun lit background (sun balls, shallow water, bright sand) is that I run out of sync speed on my Sony (1/160 though I can get it to 1/200 with the UWT trigger). Thus needing to use the aperture/ISO to help control the background exposure and the little S220 (D2000, Z240 et al) quickly run out of power. Yes, going to a lower ISO and aperture works until I run out of strobe power. Just playing in the pool, what needs f5.6 with the S220 (GN22) I can do at f8 with the Marelux Apollo (GN33) and just a wild guess maybe with something like the HF-1 (GN40) at f11? I am not putting this photo up as an example of great photography ;), but here two S220 strobes did allow me to get a decent exposure of the turtle at the Salt Pier against a bright background, WWL-1, S220 strobes with warming diffusers, NA-6400, f8, 1/200, ISO 200.

It is true the S220 is much stronger than the S2000 series strobes. Maybe even encroaching on the old Z240. But I think you might be asking too much of them. Can you make do, well, maybe. Not ideal, I have used mine for wide angle and CFWA, but whale sharks in shallow, brightly lit ambient conditions will be over powering for them is my bet.

After experimenting with off loading my back up Peregrine to my strobe arms I decided I did not like that. It just got in the way so back on my arm it went. Putting the computer on the camera may be a good idea for some but it just did not work for me.

If I am using a towel I try to get a freshwater soaked towel. My usual resort in Cozumel has no water or rinse tanks on the pangas. But the DMs will usually wet me a towel down which I place in my cooler bag. I will also bring along a large bottle of water for a rinse. They place the camera back into the bag usually for me or sometime hold it as I climb aboard and I do so. They have always been good about being gentle. Of course a nice soak in freshwater once back. My new NA-R50 does seem to have a different finish but again, there are areas of discoloration already. This despite significant effort to prevent this from happening. But it does seem better. I think the anodizing is preventing damaging corrosion as long as the housing is rinsed well and properly. It is more of an aesthetic issue. Here is the NA-6400 after return from service summer before last and just prior to a month nearly of submersion in the Red Sea. Just doing some test set ups before the trip. So, yes, it was pretty again but not like new. And a photo of the NA-6400 in action just a few weeks ago in Roatan (D.Haas).

That housing was sent for service at three years as I stated. It looked much better but was not anything like new. That photo was prior to service. Have you sent a housing to Nauticam, not to a repair facility authorized by Nauticam but actually to Nauticam? I do use a wet towel when nothing is available, wet with fresh water. I also will carry a bottle of water to rinse the housing best I can before placing in the wet towel. I also often use a cooler bag and will pour freshwater in it or the wet towel if no water is available. All of that is easier said than done in a tossing boat or a rented Jeep at a place known for theft (of even wet towels) or a beach entry that needs a half mile walk or a pickup truck ride through desert heat to and from. My FIX housing has had the same use for many years and has little discoloration, Nauticam seem particularly good at turning white. If you want to defend Nauticam or place the blame on operator error I understand that POV but it is my opinion based upon ownership of several aluminum housings that Nauticam could improve their coatings for the cost of their housings.

I hope I am not breaking a rule, fuss at me if I am, here is a link to a gentleman and his business that repairs UW camera housings and equipment. Scroll down to the video of a recent repair of a Nauticam. http://oceaninventions.com Here is my NA-6400. Purchased around January of 2020 and has about 500-600 dives on it. I had it serviced in 2023 prior to a Red Sea trip just to make sure I had no issues on the trip, peace of mind. You can see the white-ish discoloration compared to the less used 4.33 dome. This housing has not been abused. I am OCD. But what RIB has a tank of freshwater? What beach on Bonaire has a freshwater soak tank and water hose to fill it of which would not be stolen out of your rented vehicle? The complaint here is that these housings cost $$$$$$$ and Nauticam could provide an improved coating that does not turn white in normal, real world use. The good is that there appears to be no degradation of functionality, just aesthetics, at least for mine. It is nonetheless quite annoying. When I go all OCD and clean it up it does not look so bad. And, again, I do a Balistol wipe down and it looks pretty from 10 feet. So I just do not get closer than 10 feet so as not to trip into a nervous breakdown 🤣. Notice that my (2009) FIX/Canon S90 housing is clean and shows little white discoloration and has tons of dives on it. It clearly has a better anodize process. I wonder if Cerakote could be applied as an additional protection at considerable expense?

I think the whitish discoloration is inevitable on a Nauticam and just a sign of use. I have religiously rinsed, dried, blow dried, used distilled water, rain water, kept my rig in a container or bag full of fresh water, wiped dry with soft micro fiber cloths and still the places that tend to hold water will eventually turn white and in time the entire surface of the housing will take on the white discoloration. I now use Balistol on a micro fiber cloth and cotton swabs. I do not spray the housing but just the rag or swabs. I do not get the Balistol on the ports or windows or down in the controls or O-rings, just a surface wipe. After application I allow to dry and then gently wipe any excess away. This leaves a resistant coating that will last several dives. For as much as a Nauticam housing costs they need a better corrosion proof finish, maybe epoxy paint over the anodize or a more durable anodize :(.

Right here, set strobe control to M and there should be no preflash. If set to ETTL there will be a preflash always.

The mystery to me is why would a Canon R5 be emitting a pre-flash with the (in the menu) Flash Control settings chosen to Manual flash? Some Sony cameras do not have a Manual strobe setting and always fire a pre-flash even with the camera in Manual mode. This of course allows TTL during an exposure with manual f-stop and shutter speed. However, my little Canon R50 and S90 does have a Manual flash control setting in the menu under Flash Control settings which most definitely only fires a single flash. I think the OP needs to explore the Flash Control settings and see what is enabled because a Canon R5 should have a Manual strobe setting with no pre-flash. My (old) UWT TTL trigger does have a setting for no-preflash, it is setting 0 on my board. This for my Sony.

😊 My trigger was purchased about five years ago, there are no position for any HSS but for Retra. I was just recalling from memory which switch position on mine is Retra.

I do not know. I do not see any difference in my limited trials turning that power knob in HSS using the Retra board switch position. I do see that the Backscatter HF-1 only has one power setting in HSS and I suspect the same here with the Apollo S, excerpt from HF-1 manual attached. I have the Apollo manual and I do not see this addressed therein. I think I am beginning to understand HSS.

The reason I am asking about power control in HSS is that I do not see any change between full and minimum settings. From that I concluded that the power knob is not functional in HSS mode on the Apollo S strobe? In a couple of weeks I can get in the water and play with HSS. Thanks.

Thanks, I am just going to try it in a couple of weeks in Roatan and see what goes. I am using (borrowing) Apollo S strobes. They are impressive kit for sure. How did you control the Apollo S strobe output in HSS?