Chris Ross

Backscatter seems to be the retailer selling the most of them but don't list it. The OM-5 II is listed as new on the AOI website. Maybe give Backscatter a call and see if they will be stocking it? I also see on Backscatter that the Isotta housing is less than $300 more than the AOI, might be worth considering?

I'm having trouble following. Is the issue only in HSS that the flash is not firing? Also to be clear are you saying the flash is not firing or is it not syncing? From what I can see the sequence is: Set the UWT dial to position 7 in camera menu set to Auto FP in the flash sync speed menu Set the retra strobe to the HSS setting. The manual doesn't mention using dial position zero in conjunction with HSS sync mode on the Retra. The Retra is in manual mode with when it receives HSS signals, there's no TTL with HSS. You can adjust flash intensity with the power knob on the strobe.

This post might be helpful, talks about how to make 3D printed parts waterproof:

My old EM-1 MkII Nauticam housing was 6 years old and did around 290 dives, it's treatment was a long soak after each diving session, drained and blown dry in crvices etc and wiped down to dry with microfibre towel. It's got wear marks from shore dive entries but it's still black, just some slight discolouration - like a gloss differential more so than a colour change. Probably helps that Sydney Tap water is quite soft? My new OM-1 housing has a different sort of Satin finish compared to the older OM-1, be interesting to see how it lasts.. One thing I see though is the white paint used for labelling the controls disappears quite quickly. Not sure I'd want to be playing with mineral oils around plastics though.

this site allows side by side comparisons so you can compare models: https://cameradecision.com/compare/Sony-Alpha-A7S-III-vs-Sony-Alpha-A7R-V They have to be very close not only in layout but items like body depth from front to back so the buttons can engage with housing controls and dial grips will work. There have been posts where people have modified the camera plates to allow similar models to work. If you take the pice from camera comparison you can cut and paste one on top of the other to get something like this: You can see the controls are out a little while the Sony A1 vs A7SIII are a perfect match apart from the top panel dials to left of the viewfinder on the A1: The camera plate change is needed to deal with the change in camera depth front to back with these models.

it's up to you, the main point is you need full range for the MFO3 to work properly. I typically set my macro lens for full range and mount the MFO3 whenever I want to shoot something larger. I'm not sure how the SMC-1 would be used instead of the MFO3 as they have completely different purposes. Have you tried pre-setting the lens for close operation before approaching your subjects? I'm not familiar with the 90mm/A7RIV combination, I've heard the new bodies have better AF with the 90mm lens. As you generally don't have access to macro range switches during a dive it needs to be set to allow infinity focus, I don't see much point in setting the switch to 0.5m to infinity on a dive where you are wanting to do macro and use the MFO3 - you lose the ability to get close for small things and potentially limit what you can do with the MFO3. As for blackwater, max magnification with MFO3 is 0.8x and the subject would be touching the front element So I think you'll need the full range to shoot small things? For subjects as greater distances the macro lens is operating at 2m to infinity range where most macro lenses will AF better.

You want the full focus range on the lens in all circumstances with the MFO3. Infinity focus on the lens corresponds with an object about 1.5m away so if you engage the focus limiter you will be restricted to a few cm from the lens. You could use 0.5 to infinity quite likely but you can't get 1:1 if you take the MFO3 off. If you are diving and taking the MFO3 on and off you want to be in full range (unless you are able to change focus limiter while UW ) .

Subal housings are powder coated I believe, so I expect the paint is not subject to etching like anodizing is. I believe Rome has hard water, however I don't believe the white look is a deposit, if it was it could be removed. Salt and hard water are both alkaline and become more so as the water evaporates and this etches the coating. But deposit or etching the prevention is the same, don't let water evaporate to dryness on the housing, even after rinsing. Aluminium is somewhat soluble in alkaline solutions and also acidic solutions. A coating of aluminium oxide forms on the surface however this can be porous and subject to attack eventually. Anodizing improves resistance but is not perfect and with strong enough alkali it is soluble as well.

Pavel the issue as far as I can tell is that the at higher powers on the YS-D3 flash the frame is black, the strobes go off but there is no flash exposure. To me this indicates that the pre-flash is firing and draining the capacitor enough that it won't fire on the main signal. Setting to double lightning bolt on the strobe fixes this as the strobe ignores the pre-flash. It is working with the camera set to ETTL as the strobe ignores the pre-flash in double bolt manual.

A further update, looking at these images back on my desktop, where I have EXIF reading apps, the focus distance is an easy way to pick that you used the MFO3. Recorded distance on the lens was between 2.5m and infinty, for example the trumpetfish above had focal distance recorded as infinty. The Rhinopias - 3.9m, the clownfish 5.8m. Easy to distinguish between the MFO3 and the bare 60mm.

Yes, very pleased to find that, it was around half way between Bitung and Nudi Falls

Thanks ! 😃 I'm using OM-1 with 60mm macro, Retra strobes and of course the newly purchased MFO3 for some shots. Nauticam housing.

Spent a week at Diver's Lodge Lembeh last month. This is a family run resort located at the SW end of Lembeh Strait, the accommodation is in Bungalows of various sizes, layouts and price points - they are basic but comfortable. Some bungalows have air conditioning, others like mine have fans, I found them quite comfortable and temperatures were quite mild for the tropics. Food was plentiful and freshly prepared, staff were very friendly and helpful. The Owner and his family are often around the lounge/dining area and often eat their meals there. I found the prices for diving/accommodation very reasonable. They have a no-deposit required policy - just forward them a copy of your airline ticket to hold the room and pay for your accommodation/diving at the end of your stay. You pay with cash or bank transfer (no cards) I used Wize for the transfers and is was trouble free. I booked direct with the lodge. Conditions when I was there included a couple of quite windy days, apparently due to a typhoon passing through the Phillipines and Taiwan drawing in a lot of air even though it passed 1500-2500 km to the north. Other days were more typical with fairly flat conditions and a mix of sunny and cloudy days. Not a lot of rain. Water temperature 28° on all dives, some shallow parts were 29°C. The diving was as it is at many resorts on Lembeh strait, up to 5 dives a day, Nitrox is available and they will go to any of the dive sites in the straits. They have a fairly unique arrangement in that the pricing is split between boat hire and dive charges. You can have a private boat if you like or share with other divers there and split the costs. Diver:guide ratio is 2:1. You can of course request critters you are keen to see (though of course can't be guaranteed) or dive sites you would like to attend or you can let the guides choose based on what has been found recently and conditions. Wind may make some sites less comfortable and some sites are impacted by tides a little, for example we had some current in the deeper part of Nudi Falls divesite, but it wasn't noticeable in the shallower sections. My dives were all in the 60-70 minute range starting deep and heading shallow as air ran down. Diving is from smaller boats with capacities from 4 to about 8 or so divers, entry by backward roll and they put a ladder over to get out. They look after all your gear and will carry everything back and forth to the boat. On the final day gear was washed and delivered to the bungalow dry to be packed. You can have lunch on the boat with a typical schedule of 2 morning dives with surface intervals, lunch then an afternoon dive. Dusk or night dives also offered, the dusk dive for Mandarin fish which is found on the house reef. The house reef can be accessed from shore where they launch the boats. Lembeh of course is well known for muck diving, but it does have a lot of sites with corals in the shallows. We experienced visibility up to around 10-15m there. A great many critters were photographed including some not so common species, with something new coming up constantly. There is a lot of fish life to found around the coral sections and there's a great many anemones and plentiful anemone fish, which are always entertaining to shoot. On my trip I managed to photograph seven different species of anemonefish. I shot with an OM-1/Nauticam with Retra strobes, 60mm macro for all dives and I had the MFO-3 for wider views on larger critters. Some shots from the trip: Peacock Mantis shrimp Lacey Rhinopias Porcelain Crab Juvenile Warty Frogfish False Clown Anemonefish Painted Frogfish and (well fed) Hairy frogfish Whip Coral Goby with a Whip coral shrimp . Disclaimer - I booked and paid for this trip myself.

To me the problem seems to be that Nauticam has too many port systems. The N85 is a bit too small for many of the newer wide angle Micro43 optics and there a lot you need to mount from the front after installing a port adapter. If they condensed their line to only N100 and N120 it would be easier to have a full range of extensions and ports in both systems. With the Sony and now Nikon/Canon APS-C mirrorless housings all using N100 port system, it would be nice to have a full range of ports and accessories.

If that's what is happening the camera is emitting a pre-flash in both situations. The double lightning bolt is setup to ignore the first flash and only fire when the main flash trigger comes through.

If you get a set that works line them up and draw a line across them with a marking pen. I always keep my eneloops in sets of 4 from new - they come out of the strobe into the charger next to each other and are removed either back into a strobe or a carrying case. the second set can have two lines etc. That way they are all the same age. I use MAHA chargers for mine, seems to work well.

The problem is not removing salt deposits, the problem is that the water you are soaking in has dissolved salts in it and you are adding to the salt by adding another type of salt. It will help dissolve scale, but the whitish buildup on housings etc is not a buildup of mineral scale. It is formed by allowing rinse water to dry out on the surface. As the water evaporates the salts become progressively more concentrated until they begin to etch the anodizing of the housing. Anodizing is just developing a thick adherent Aluminium oxide coating on the housing and the colour is from dyes incorporated into the coating. The coating resists corrosion , however strongly acidic or basic solutions can begin to dissolve it and may also react with the dyes. The solution - as Dave says - don't let water evaporate to dryness on the housing. Blow off droplets and wipe dry when most of the droplets are blown off. This can also remove excess water from inside the buttons and help prevent corrosion of the button/lever shafts and springs. No additives needed.

Send Oscar from Retra a message and ask him, there's probably a few things you can try and he's quite helpful. You can DM him from Waterpixels.. In the meantime have you looked at error section of the manual, the procedure for misfire might be worth trying if you haven't already.

When I got my Retras, set them up with the housing etc on the bench with the normal strobe position and did some test shots increasing the output till the exposure was corrrect using my usual shutter speed, aperture ISO. The basis was using the camera settings I usually do and getting the strobe output right. Distance was for an "average" subject. That was my starting power on the first dive and the exposures came out correct. Flash output only needs to change if you change distance at the same camera setting. In close shooting similar size subjects, the required exposure doesn't change much. I figure that changing camera settings to get the right exposure would be the tail wagging the dog. I have the Retra Pure which is lower power and basic starting point was 25 on the dial or 1/4 power or two stops off full. On the INON Z240 I was about 1.5 stops off full. The Retra PRO Max II is something like 1.5 stops more powerful than my strobes. I think if your photos are blowing you are certainly using more battery and the response should be to turn them down. Likewise HSS if it activates will use more strobe power - this should only happen if you are above the cameras max sync speed.

I recently got the MFO3 and quite like it, though carrying it is difficult as it is such a big lump. On my recent trip to Lembeh I carried it in the pocket of a pair of dive cargo shorts. Easy to extract but a bit fiddly to shove back in single handed. Attached using the Nauticam bayonet. It seems quite secure in there if pushed all the way in. I thought about a flip but using it to enter at my local shore dives - rocky and some swells put me off the idea, I've ordered a parking bayonet which I hope to try out when it arrives.

I don't know if the lever is adjustable, I've never looked into that. What I was referring was getting the grip handle closer to the housing to make it less of a stretch to reach. I can adjust my housing, but yours is an older model and I'm not sure how much adjustment it allows. This is my grip and you can see its easy to reach both levers, note the tight grip around the handle. The 5DIV housing is quite old now so they may have improved the layout a little, the centre line of the lever are about 85mm apart which probably helps. If you could turn your lever 180 deg it may be similar to this, but no idea if it is practical or even possible? and this is the housing to show the levers:

The standard approach to deal with this as I recall is adjusting the handle in and out to get to a comfortable setting. I don't have this particular housing to judge but the way you are holding it seems odd, probably just the way it has been photographed, typically I wrap by 3 non-index fingers around the handle, extend the index finger for the shutter lever and the BBF lever falls under my thumb. It looks like your palm is well back from the handle, mine is in tight contact- when holding for shooting. My hands aren't as supple as they once were so I vary my grip and periodically hold with my left hand while stretching my right and adopt a looser hold when travelling as opposed to shooting. To be it looks like if you gripped tighter with the palm tight to the handle you could reach more easily. Combine that a looser hold and resting stretching your right hand when not shooting would be my initial thoughts. Experiment with moving the handle in and out as well if our housing accommodates this.

Yes camera needs to be set to manual and the strobe the same, the pre-flash chews up too much flash power responding to pre-flash at higher powers meaning it can't fire the main flash. It's not a sync issue - you need the camera on manual flash when the strobe is on manual.

Nice work Ben, I saw their relatives in Lembeh a couple of weeks ago, indeed quite tiny. Impressive keeping it in focus during the swim.

TTL or manual? If it's manual it seems like perhaps you have the camera emitting a pre-flash and it takes some of the strobe power when it fires on the pre-flash and at higher powers there is not enough charge to fire the main flash. Which setting are you using on the strobe, see if it behaves differently in one lightning bolt vs 2 bolts setting. You can test is it is pre flashing if you can set second curtain sync in camera then take a test shot at a slow 1/2 - 1 sec shutter speed. If the camera allows this the preflash goes off at beginning of exposure and main flash goes off 1/2 - 1 second later at end of exposure. By using a slow enough shutter speed you can see both flashes . In manual you should only see a single flash, if it is being cancelled properly, This is only to test if the strobe is firing a pre-flash to assist with trouble shooting.