Chris Ross

I now take a padded cooler bag which is collapsible on my trips, just how feasible it will be really depends on the boat I think and how much space it has, I just bought a cheap one from a K-Mart and it seems to work fine, collapsed down it's the top layer in my dive gear bag. I used it two ways depending on the trip, when we were on the tender going out to sites I carried the rig in it, no water in it and it provided protection on the tender where there wasn't anywhere good to store it, used an old towel to cover the rig after I got out out from the dive. Coming back to the main boat I used the rinse tank there briefly and transferred to the cooler bag. After the last dive I filled the cooler with water and left the rig to soak and got my gear and myself sorted before coming back to deal with changing batteries etc. You won't be able to carry the cooler bag full of water I don't think and it's unlikely there will be a water supply on any dive tender to fill it. On another land based trip we went out daily on mid sized boats. There were less rigs so I used the rinse tank there and transferred it to my cooler bag on a shelf again covering the rig with a towel. Used the cooler bag to soak at the end of the day. The one I have is a cheapy so picking it up and moving it full of water is not feasible plus it would weight 30-40kg when full. Always watch your rig like a hawk and cover the dome with your dome cover to protect it and stop it drying out till you can properly rinse it. I use a damp towel to stop everything drying out completely. So take the bag with you and sort out how you can get it to fit into the routine on the boats on site.

I'd contact him again to let him know the retailer was not helpful and see if he will confirm that this requires a return.

If this is the case it seems the HF-1 has built in protection circuits probably a low voltage cutout as the voltage will drop as the charging circuit tries to draw in 20A. This would be protect you from drawing too much current from the battery. I had a look at the link for the lishen battery at Lion wholesale and the the only 20A plus rated 21700 battery listed was specced at 3700 mAhr and out of stock. The actual battery linked was a 9.6A which is not suitable for these high draw flashes. I agree better to go with a known good battery. Also agree that mAhr figure is probably not relevant, the quoted figures are probably a little rubbery.

I'd suggest to PM Pavel, he's on this forum.

It depends on the details, part of fast charging is having a battery with low internal resistance and the other half is the resistance of the charging circuit itself. Unless some sort of protection is put in place, the circuit will try to draw the current it is designed for, it may not achieve the current draw the strobe was designed for, but could quite possibly draw more current than the battery was designed for. This can lead to battery overheating. This might activate the thermal cutout in the battery management in the cell if it has one. If it doesn't have a BMS then potential to damage the battery. With high drain devices I would suggest you always want a battery with a protection circuit. You might find that the cells will work fine when lightly loaded taking single shots at low power like 1/16 or lower as the high current is drawn very briefly but when you switch up to near full power and continuous shooting, they won't perform. A 15A rated battery might work OK, but the 8A model listed before might not and the over-discharge protection might activate. It seems to me the safest advice is to use the cells recommended/tested, there are quite a few dodgy batteries being being sold and buying a known good battery from a reputable vendor is cheap insurance.

This seems a little ambiguous, the recommended batteries are 5000, 5300 and 6000 mAhr rating and either 20A or 25 A rated and they state to only use the models they list (which can be purchased from many outlets). It seems what they are saying is the mAhr rating doesn't matter much and should be rated for at least 20A. Of course the problem is that other brands may claim they are 20A capable but they may have just bought a label to stick on their cheap cells. It might seem like a lower amp rated battery might be OK, but electrically the circuit will try to draw what it needs and overload a lesser battery that is not rated to supply the needed amps.

This converter from Retra might work, particularly if you are using a Retra strobe: Retra UWTE-Opto converterThe E-Opto converter is a simple and reliable optical trigger that generates optical signals from electric input. The E-Opto converter comes with pre-installed batteries that will last for more than 1You would need to confirm your Nikonos is wired the same way , it should work with other strobes on manual, but as you will note it is not guaranteed to work with strobes other than Retra.

Yes with the Retras, they have very good light quality and an even beam without diffusers. For something like the YS-D3 I think I would want the diffusers on as they seem to rely on them for a good beam. For a DIY reduction ring you could probably 3D print a press fit ring, I expect a ring of wetsuit material which was a tight fit over the strobe would also work.

If they are for the HF-1, Backscatter are quite specific on what models will work with that strobe as it has a very high current draw . Cheap batteries are always a risk. see this link, quite interesting, it's for 18650 batteries but same risks with the bigger cells: 18650 batteries flaws

Reduction rings are probably what you are looking for, they seem to make a big difference, My Retras have their reduction rings on for all my Sydney diving, it was night and day on backscatter compared to my old Z240s. Basically just an opaque ring that extends about 15-20mm beyond the strobe front lens. There's probably a few ways you could make some yourself.

I'd forgotten about that option, I only checked Backscatter's website and it appears they don't sell Marelux. For the OP it might be difficult to use with the Tokina lens as it appears it would need a 10mm extension (with their 140mm dome) that is not offered by Marelux. Adapting the 4.33" port is also a no go as the adapter Marelux sell has 20mm extension which is too much for the 4.33" dome which seems like it would need no extension. It could be used with the 8-15 with their 140mm dome and 30mm extension.

The second part of the question is if you have a guide who can find tiny subjects for you. I know I'm not the best at finding tiny subjects.

Is your question around whether it can be used with Nauticam wet optics? with a Nikon Z50?

Backscatter will send them to you if they have them, though freight might be expensive. I think they have gone back to NiMH throughout. Ikelite would probably send to you as well? Did you check Ikelite website, they list a dealer in Tokyo. Here is the thread on doing the re-pack - it's fiddly and you need to spot weld the connectors between the batteries. There are operations around which will do this work for you as well, but you may not be able to find one locally. My Ikelite Strobe Battery Rebuild - Tutorials, How-Tos, DIY - WaterPixels

Exactly what I would suggest doing, this is the applicable part of the RF N100 port chart: You then use the 4.33" dome and the applicable zoom gear with that from the EF N120 port chart. And yes you just add the needed extension to use the Canon 8-15 and the appropriate extension and zoom rings. If you use the 4.33" port with the 8-15 it needs 10mm less extension than the 140mm dome port. As far as an ikelite battery goes sourcing one out of the US might be required. Backscatter have them listed on their website, seems that the same pack is used on all strobes?? There are also videos floating around with instructions on how to re-pack them with NiMH cells.