Yorkie88

Those settings make sense to me! I don't think I've ever seen that message come up, the pins can be tricky in the Sony hotshoe but it sounds like you've already cleaned them up etc. If you reach out to UWTechnics I'm sure he'll help you troubleshoot and confirm any issue if it might be the trigger board. I've asked him a couple of questions before and he's always been helpful and quick to reply 🙂 If it's the Pro but not the Pro Max, maybe the TTL is different - Pavel will know! But I don't think that error message should be popping up either way.

Welcome to the forums 🙂 Have you set the dial on the UWT trigger to the relevant setting for your strobe? And I think for TTL you'd need to make sure "WL" is off in the camera settings too. I think option 7 is for retra pro max, I'm assuming it will be the same for the pro but not certain!

I got the NL2160HP for my MF-2's, they haven't run out on a dive yet, but they are also physically a bit longer than normal 21700's so they just don't fit in my liitokala charger, they fit in the nitecore Q2 without issue though (luckily the guy I bought my strobes from threw the charger in as a bonus!) I'd recommend them, but double check the dimensions vs your charger before buying 6!

It's such a minefield with all the different options available! Along with the proprietary triggers and TTL formats etc Camera makers don't really help either when they don't give you control to disable pre flash, or in the case of Sony - they don't even let you turn the flash off from the camera in any mode except Auto, which always seemed odd and causes even more fiddling around. When I used the A6400 + seafrogs housing I had a really old D2000 and just used s-TTL mode with the pop up flash - that worked great for me, I wasn't (and still aren't) advanced enough to know how to use anything else anyway. I'm only using manual strobes now because that's the only option for my gear 😂

Would the Backscatter "learning mode" be an option to get around the pre flash not being able to be turned off? I haven't done any research on the Marelux strobes but perhaps they have something similar - if not then I guess that would rule them out for all of the Sony cameras with pop up flashes, which could be an extra opportunity for more sales.

I went to Bali 3 weeks ago and had no issues with customs or anything, other than the x-ray machine operator wondering what my MF-2's were on the return trip........they do have a bit of a gun shape to them I suppose 🙄 I think there is some wording around the $500 limit in the entry paperwork, but I think there was a footnote or something that said it didn't apply for "temporary" imports, i.e it's going back with you and not staying in Indonesia

Thanks Chris! Yep I am limited to manual only as the MF-2's only do TTL for Olympus. Even the newer MF-3 model only does Sony TTL with their own trigger.......and I'm not buying a 3rd trigger 😁 I re-read the manual and I think I'm going to go with this an option: Underwater Strobe Manual Mode (set by underwater strobe dial switch): Set underwater strobe dial switch to M mode without pre-flashes. Adjust strobe light intensity by the dial switch on the strobe body. Shooting in this mode, it is strongly recommended to set TTL-Converter also to M mode (by camera menu “WL” command), to exclude Pre-flashes in system (for energy saving). So I'll keep WL on in the camera so the trigger is in no pre flash mode, M on the strobe and manually adjust the power on the strobe. If I feel the need to try HSS then I'll switch the strobe to HSS mode and set a faster shutter speed on the camera. I just tested it out in a dark room and it seems to sync up and capture the strobe in the test shots, the only difference I could see between HSS and M on the strobe when using bon HSS speeds was the brightness, but I assume that is because HSS won't go below power level 4 as per the strobe manual, so I think I'll just use M by default and switch to HSS mode if needed.....which is unlikely really 😁 I will use trigger mode 0 and avoid HSS as a fallback option if the above doesn't work! Cheers!

I've just booked a last minute trip to Amed, Bali in a week so I thought I'd better start getting my gear ready - but I had some issues with my strobes last year in the Philippines, and I haven't got around to figuring it out properly yet........so I wondered if one of the more experienced folks would be able to point me in the right direction 😁 All of my issues last year were user error/incompetence - due to me having no clue about manual strobes and getting everything together last minute (there's a pattern emerging)! I've just got a Macro setup at the moment so I'll be taking: Sony A7RV + 90mm + (Subsee+10/Inon UCL-165) 2 x Backscatter MF-2 UWT 11075 Trigger I've previously been in touch with Pavel, who said that setting the dial to 7 (Retra Pro Max) works for the MF-2 too, so that's straight forward - the thing I'm not 100% sure on is the camera settings. Should the settings be something like this: MF-2 in Manual mode, camera in Fill-flash with WL OFF for non-HSS speeds MF-2 in HSS mode, camera in Fill-flash with WL ON for HSS speeds Or, seeing as there is no TTL at play, should I just leave WL ON in the camera all the time, and just flick between Manual and HSS on the MF-2 when changing shutter speeds? Do I need to be aware of anything specific to the MF-2's around the learning function and any potential pre-flashes from the trigger? I was thinking WL ON might mean no pre-flash, so it might be easier to keep WL ON all the time, so the MF-2 would just learn no pre-flash everytime anyway? Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks! Attached some of the luckier (and quite edited) shots from last year to try and make it more interesting than a wall of text 😁

That looks great! I'd been trying to design it with the ball mount parallel to the base.....but your design made me realise it can just stick up and still fit in the drawer, and that means it's a smaller footprint for the grids too! And the buttons having their own holes will stop it rotating in the holder. What do you use for the modelling? I need to learn how to do the basics and get my drawer tidied up 😁

Have you got any tips for making the trays? I've been trying to make one for an MF-2 for a while but I'm hopeless with the 3D models and designing 🤦🏻‍♂️ I measured up and drew the outline, ready to use https://www.tooltrace.ai/ but I can never quite get it right

Ah, thanks! Think I'd probably be a bit nervous to put that on an expensive body..... although I guess the normal ports are just an o-ring too, but less vintage Cheers

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but how does it all seal up? Is there glass in the nauticam adaptor (I can't tell from the pictures 😁)? So the camera is in the housing as usual, but with no lens attached, then the adaptor is fitted as a normal port would be and the lens just connects on the wet side by bayonet? Or is there no glass in the adaptor, but a seal between lens and adaptor? (Not planning on getting anything like this but just curious) Thanks!

Maybe have a look at submitting it for festivals like the ocean film festival in Australia! Looks like it's too late for this year (as it's in March) but maybe you could submit it for next year? https://filmfreeway.com/OceanFilmFestivalWorldTour

I think the 11075 is the one recommended for the A7RV - not sure of the actual difference though, if they're both Sony then maybe they are interchangeable. @Pavel Kolpakov may have some insight on the differences 🙂 Have you tried the "0" setting on the trigger so it's not doing anything too fancy and is just in manual mode? And are you using multicore fibre optics? Also maybe check the flash compensation setting in the camera, if you are in manual mode for the trigger, or if you have WL on in the camera settings, then setting that compensation to a + number might make the led brighter.

I got some of the cheap ones (BGNing) to try out and they seemed ok to me - not that I had anything to compare to! I think I used 2 x 5 inch and 2 x 8 inch, with those long clamps with the hole for a shackle to keep them far enough apart to fold up together. I haven't used them all that much so can't really comment on the long term usage, or quality - but they did the job and didn't leak in the week that I used them (20 something dives in Dumaguete). They look to have a threaded rod all the way through to stop the end popping off.....but I haven't taken them apart to confirm! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003127674881.html I do think I might need even more lift though so might need to reconfigure things a bit! The stix collars look good for the 90mm port 🤔 The clamps I used were these but nauticam do ones with shackle holes too (handy for lanyards): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006060100346.html The required bow shackles were quite small, I think an m3 or m4 shaft from what I can remember.