Architeuthis

Eizo coloredge is probably the best, but also the most expensive... I cannot compare to other high quality monitors for photographers since this is my first monitor of this kind, but my BenQ SW270c does what is expected from a monitor in this class. Approx. 1 year ago the monitor failed and I had to send it in for repair. It turned out repair is too elaborated (more or less a total loss), but they send me a refurbished replacement monitor (same model) for free on goodwill basis, although the warranty was already over since > 3 years. I can recommend this brand... Wolfgang

With the 2x TC the 8-15mm fisheye will become a 16-30mm fisheye (not 50mm)... According to calculations for equisolid fisheye, 16-30mm will be 170° - 85° diagonal angle of view (AOV). According to Nauticam's portcharts, the FCP-1 with Sony 28-60mm will give 170° - 74°, i.e. pretty similar AOVs... => I would say that the Canon 8-15mm & 2x Sony TC is some kind of "poor mans FCP" (it does not seem from the reviews, however, that FCP provides better IQ) Wolfgang

Interesting that both are nominally 4500K. In your side by side photo the Retra looks clearly cooler (but maybe the Kelvin designation refers to the output at the end and the spectrum of the Retra strobe is different to the HF-1)...

The flat diffuser from Backscatter that is on the Retra strobe seems to be the 4500K one. What color temperature does the Retra dome diffuser, mounted to the HF-1, have?

Can you please give a link to the second review/comparison of the retra Maxi strobe (I cannot find it via google)? Thanks, Wolfgang

Did someone test out the maximum possible, blackout free, fps rate when the HF-1 is in HSS mode? Thanks, Wolfgang

I have a naive question on HSS generally: When camera and flash are operating in HSS mode, but one selects a shutter speed slower than the fastest flash sync. speed possible, is the maximal flash output still reduced, compared to manual mode?

Hi Michi, I normally use the Nauticam 35.5mm N100/N120 adapter plus the 25mm&35mm N120 extensions (totally 60mm) for the Nauticam 140mm domeport. When 8-15mm fisheye alone, I take just the 30mm N120 extension... User Dreifish made careful testing for ideal positioning with regard to entrance pupil and recommends 5mm more. I tested this also, but did not find a noticeable difference in IQ and often the raw files showed vignetting, probably due to sensor IS and unstable holding of the setup...

Hi Michael, I used Sony 1.4x, 2x, Kenko 1.4x HD Pro and Kenko 2x TCs with the Canon 8-15mm. One can use them all... It is difficult to predict how a WA fisheye lens will perform with a TC, as all TC were not designed for this use... I got best results, regarding IQ, with Sony 2x and Kenko 1.4x HD Pro, the other two TCs performed less good. Surprisingly, Sony 1.4x performed not better (maybe even a bit worse) compared to Sony 2x... With Kenko 1.4x HD Pro the extension is the same as with Sony 2x, so you can use the same zoomgear (at least one can use the same 3D printed extension ring for the "regular" Nauticam zoom gear, that I am using)... Wolfgang P.S.: I have both WACP-C/28-60mm and Canon 8-15mm with and w/o Sony 2xTC. On my last two trips WACP-C was left at home (Subjectively, I find IQ pretty comparable and prefer the 180° diagonal over the 130° of WACP-C (the Canon 8-15mm w/o TC can also be used on some dives and clearly performs optically better than both WACP-C or 8-15mm&2xTC variants (but is, of course, less flexible)))

A sachet of baking soda is easy to include in an emergency kit...

Thank you all again for this great advice...👍 I will take the fiberglass stick plus isopropylalcohol as first treatment and, if this is not enough, antioxidant cleaner and even coca cola... (I should add that Backscatter definitely does not recommend to use contacts cleaner and/ore coke, but what can we do when the milder treatments fail (Sevag from BS service department writes: "...I would strongly advise against using Coca Cola or anything other than either pure fresh water or isopropyl alcohol on any strobe equipment...")?)... The DeOxid Gold, recommended by Dave, is very expensive here in Europe (about 50 Euros), I found a cheaper product (produced in EU), I hope that it will work equally well: https://www.amazon.de/Kontakt-Chemie-KONTAKT-70004-AA-Kontaktreiniger/dp/B004SGL2T0/ref=ast_sto_dp_puis

It seems to be a great lens, but it will remain a "nice" product, useful only for Canon mirrorless users... It is really a pity that it comes in the mirrorless RF mount. The old Canon EF mount was, besides beeing the mount for Canon, some kind of "universal" mount, easily adaptaple to RF, Sony FE, MFT and even to Nikon Z. One could see a lot of EF lenses on camera bodies other than Canon... (beeing a user of Canon 8-15mm f/4 EF on Sony, I have no urge to switch, at present, to another lens with similar properties, even if it would be compatible (RF is certainly not))...

Hi Warmuth, Is this observed decrease in IQ, when you compare the lens behind flatport to the lens in air? Or does IQ decrease when using domeport and compare to IQ with planport? Or is it MFO-1 & planport vs. plain planport? Thanks, Wolfgang

As far as I understand, the MFO-1 lens corrects for the optical aberrations introduced by using macrolenses behind planports and should have similar IQ to a macrolens behind domeport (?). For longer focal length (e.g. 90mm on FF), however, these aberrations are pretty small and neglectible. For shorter focal length (e.g. 50mm or smaller for FF), a domeport may increase IQ noticeably... Anyone can confirm this from real life experience? P.S.: I am using Sony 20-70mm (FF) and was using Zuiko 12-40m (MFT) behind Zen DP170 domeport (not for real macro, but for fishportrait). At the short end IQ is very good and certainly better compared to planport, but I am not shure whether the domeport brings improvement at the long end...

So far I never did experience problems with corrosion of electrodes, but on my recent trip to Mafia Island/Tansania in November, two HF-1 strobes almost simultaneaously let me down for most of the time of the stay (it turned out later the reason was corrosion of the electrodes)... I was using them for approx. 2 years, never flooded them and cannot remember that I ever dropped a single drop of (salt)water into the battery compartment. I fear that this problem will come again and plan to put together some kind of "emergency kit" that I can use when I am abroad. The strobes had the electrodes replaced at Backscatter (kind, quick and labour as a goodwill case), are now on their way back and I asked Sevag (the Service Manager), what components he would suggest for such a kit. I think his suggestion may be of interest also for others here: "...The best tools to have with you are some alcohol wipes, liquid isopropyl alcohol if possible (90-99% is best), a brush to help reach the contacts at the base of the strobe, and a fiberglass cleaning tool like one of these: https://www.backscatter.com/Hama-Contact-Cleaner-CAUTION-Fiberglass ..." What is the opinion of UW- photographers, who have had problems in the past with strobe electrodes, about such a "kit"? How did you deal with corroded electrodes? Any additional suggestions? Thanks for the input, Wolfgang