Nemrod

It requires a double push to activate the auto-off feature in any mode. LOL, I have to read the instructions every time I use the darn thing. But I like my Kraken 1800FSR Focus Light and it works good. Or maybe it was a single quick push, darn it!

The auto off feature is important to me. Both my older Inons and my new Retra strobes have an auto off feature and my Kraken 1800 and former 1500 light that rides atop my housing also has an auto-off mode. I find it not required to hook an optical cable to the Kraken, it sees the strobes flash just fine. The purpose/use of the auto off is to prevent backscatter illumination. Most noticeable when I use the focus light mounted in the cold shoe on my Nauticam, especially at night. For integral strobe focus lights perhaps less useful since anything the focus light illuminates will be illuminated by the strobe light as well, not so with a focus light mounted over the lens port.

Sea Grape.

Like any tool or technique, it is useful when it is and not when it is not.

The ball mount does not come installed. They were in a separate bag with the grease and spares and an Allen key. My recommendation is to remove the ball mount for transport to conserve on space and to remove the ball mount after a dive trip so that trapped saltwater there will not seize the threads or cause corrosion. A little dab of silicone grease will help as an anti-seize. This is not a fault or defect nor a complaint, just normal maintenance on an expensive item you will want to enjoy for many years.

There is a single screw through the middle of the ball mount that goes into a sturdy thread in the strobe case. There is a plastic gasket to isolate (for corrosion) and an anti-rotation pin. Very solid mounting.

Thank you, excellent review. I too had the problem on my second dive that one of my strobes would not turn off, the focus light was on but the strobe would not flash. I thought it had leaked and I rushed back to the boat, pulled the batteries. No leak! Reinstalled batteries and the strobe functioned normally. Upon getting back to the resort I emailed Retra and within an hour they answered assuring me there was no problem and to reload my software to 1.0. My eyes rolled back because I am NOT and computer person and I figured this would be an ordeal! Nope! Connected to the Retra App, downloaded the software, easy! Problem solved. There is a learning curve with the Maxi due to their power and ultra wide beam especially with the diffuser. I have to put the strobes further out, turn them outward more and sweep them further back (behind the dome) to keep them and reflections out of my dome or even the more narrow FOV of the WWL. Also, unlike with previous strobes I have owned, borrowed, whatever, this is the first time I kept turning them down, down. The Maxi strobes just do not feel large in the water, I got used to them quickly and was able to remove an outer float arm and replace that float arm with a plain arm. The XStar 5000 batteries I am using just go and go and go! Pool day prep for the NA-R50 for upcoming Maldives trip.

Here is another thought, just trying to trouble shoot. If you camera requires a tray to slide in as many do, is any wiggle noticeable with the camera into place? Such that the lens zoom or focus gear could be pushing the camera aside?

Just a thought, but does your camera have IBIS or the lens have stabilization? Turn it off. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems sometimes I see a corner in a RAW file and the jpeg is clean. I managed to trick myself into thinking my Nauticam was leaking. I was in Fort Lauderdale so dropped by Reef to have them check it over. I also mentioned I thought the camera off center. The service tech pressure checked and found no fault and said he made an adjustment and handed it back to me. Since they did not charge me anything for the checkover and adjustment I did not ask what it was he adjusted.

What if you had been asleep? That is what scares me. Everyone in their cabins asleep. They need Halon flood systems installed on these boats in the engine rooms and fuel handling areas. This cannot possibly be lithium ion batteries burning all these boats up! God bless.

Dave, do you find with the floats on the HF-1 strobes you can dispense with one of the float arms? Just curious. The HF-1 were on my short list and the Atoms until I realized that they have no TTL with Canon or Sony (or Nikon etc.). I bet UW Technics will eventually reverse engineer a program for his triggers for the Backscatter protocols. Correct me if wrong but I do not think the HSS works but with OM Systems and with their proprietary Sony trigger?

A little camera and a little housing just makes more room for what is really important, powerful strobes 🤣. The Maxi is smaller than the HF-1 with floats. And, since the Maxi is neutral, you may be able to use only a single float arm instead of dual float arms on each side. On another note, the Inon S220 strobes are essentially the same power as the older Z240. They are very close. And they are tiny, tiny.

I have my Sony set up for BBF and it locks. My Canon does not seem to have that capability but I do have BBF without focus lock. I find BBF more useful for macro than WA. But BBF can be a game changer. Just do not forget to focus!

In the beginning, God said, let there be light. And Retra complied, and there was. And it was good!

Yes, HSS and occasionally some triggers may allow you to trick the camera to a higher sync speed. My UWT trigger allows me to get to 1/200 though the native sync is 1/160. But, it is fussy. There is simply no way I will ever purchase another high dollars underwater rig that does not have at least 1/250 sync speed. Unlike land photography, nearly every shot we make underwater is with strobes. And really, I would like headroom to 1/500 without resorting to HSS. Anything Matt and Alex say about compensating for 1/160 or 1/200 sync limit can be applied to a camera with a 1/250 sync speed for even better results. For macro shooters, okay, not a problem perhaps but for wide angle, that darn sun seems to hang out right where I want to take a shot.

Isn't the Z5II another camera with only a 1/200 sync speed vs 1/250.

The Retra Maxi optical sensor is very sensitive. I am pretty sure a light tube in the port would trigger as long as it can see the master strobe. The build quality, light quality, speed, power, light spread are just amazing. And as powerful as they are they can be turned way down for a huge range of power. One thing, not a big deal to me since I do not shoot video, the TTL flash cancel (preflsh cancel learning mode) is shared with the video On/Off mode. So, you must use the Retra App to tell the strobe that you want TTL cancel or Video light. This really only becomes annoying for Sony shooters whose Sony camera is always on TTL mode and you want to shoot manual strobes (and video). And you decide you want to shoot a video mid dive. I am very happy with my Retra Maxi strobes. They are not all that big, they are neutral in the water, I think they are the most powerful current strobe in the market. Amazing strobes.

The Holy Trinity of underwater photography: Strobes Camera and housing Lens and accommodating ports (including water contact optics) Each is equally important. I think that sometimes strobes are like an afterthought. A lens that can accomplish your shooting style/vision and strobes that can light up the frame are at least as important as what camera body and housing and sensor size is chosen.

Yes, both the Max II and the Maxi have sealed battery compartments. They are both a premium strobes. The Pro Max II is about light quality, the Maxi is about power and speed. With the booster pack on the Pro Max there really is no size difference between them. In fact, the Maxi is just not all that big, no more than the HF-1 or those gigantic Ikelite strobes. Being a Canon/Sony shooter the Backscatter strobes like the HF-1, MF-2 and the new Atom do not support compatible TTL for my cameras. The Retra does. For an OM system if you are trying to be as small as possible and still have power and speed the Atom might be the ticket. In the box with my Retra Maxi, there was a card that simply said, "let there be light" and trust me on this if nothing else, there is LIGHT! I am prepping for the Maldives, heading to the scuba pool to do some testing, trying to decide if I take this Sony or my other Canon. Sorry for the couch potato pic but I am about to pack it in the bag for the pool. Two Retra Maxi, WWL, Nauticam NA-6400. Warming diffusers. So you can see what two Maxi strobes look like on an APS-C Nauticam.

If he is using Eneloops he has a Pro Max of some flavor. The Pro Max uses four AA batteries and a battery booster holding another four AA batteries for a total of eight AA batteries per strobe. The Retra Maxi uses two lithium ion cells and does not require an add on booster. I agree the Retra website is a little weird, I guess they are too busy building strobes to fix the website. They certainly could use a little more information to distinguish between the two products, the Pro Max II and the Maxi. They also need to introduce a set of bumpers. But no worries there because @Dave_Hicks has us Maxi users covered for bumpers and even some accessory knobs.

You may be able to find some exposed slide film, the tail or lead. Then place it over the camera flash. My Inons would trigger from the infrared.

If you are looking at HF-1s then the comparable Retra strobe is the Maxi, not the Pro Max II. I just went through all of this and the winner was the Maxi. Powerful, tremendous range from lowest to highest power, useful video lights if into that and a great focus light. Can shoot a week, hardly an exaggeration, fast recycle and despite being on the larger side are neutral or even positive in the water. I am keeping my Inon S220 strobes for backup. I have used quite a few different types of strobes. I had, I thought an issue with one of my new Retra Maxi. I sent an email to Retra, they answered within an hour with a solution. Turns out the newest software was corrupted on some loads and they set it up for me to revert both strobes back to an earlier software. Problem solved, perfect! I do not think there is any other strobe company that gives you friendly and personal support. Same with Nauticam, while you may not get answers to emails often, there is just huge support, parts and service available for what has become the premium brand. One thing, for an OM based system, I might would go with the Backscatter Atom. A little smaller than the HF-1, still quite powerful, cheaper and supports OM Systems RC control for TTL. The Retras have standard, universal mimic TTL which works fine IMO. I was concerned about the size of the Retra Maxi when I first began looking at a new strobe. The HF-1 support only for OM Systems RC TTL turned me off to the Backscatter products pronto. It really turns out, in actual use, the Retra Maxi is just not that big. In fact, it maneuvers well in the water due to being neutral, the lithium batteries shoot and shoot and shoot, and my systems still fit into my Sam's Club Members Mark insulated bag ($8) like it was made for them. Nothing I have encountered with my Maxi strobes thus far changes my opinion of them, they are quite amazing. For the HF-1 or Atom, you may need 3D printed float collars or an additional float arm. With the Maxi strobes I was able to remove my outer float arms and use bare arms instead due to their buoyant nature. This, even compared to the diminutive S220 strobes.

The issue I have with many Sony cameras is the slow sync speeds and always on TTL flash. The Sony A7cii has a 1/160 sync speed in FF and 1/200 in APS-C mode. Most Canon and OM seem to be 1/250 for flash sync. Owning both a Sony A6400 and a Canon R50, the sync speed difference is not huge but definitely an advantage to the faster little pocket rocket, that being the R50. And Canon color in jpeg and white balance is just better.

I suck at photos and in no way am I a pro. But, if I were to start over today, and have only one camera system instead of three, I would either get a Canon R7 in the Nauticam housing or the OM1 Mark II (the Mark III is to be released soon) and again with a Nauticam housing. IMO, OM Systems, thanks to the split from Olympus and Covid and other issues, lags a little behind Sony and Canon in auto focus and a few other parameters which will probably be addressed with the Mark III.

The current housings for the Canon R50 (and one of the newer Nikons) have a fixed port. They are designed to be simple camera systems for the kit lens utilizing the Nauticam/AOI water contact optics for zoom through wide angle and macro. Thus not needing to commit to a port system while you decide what you want and what you decide may be that you do not need a port system. Or not the one you think you want now. Water contact optics are viable alternatives.