TimC

I think the batteries weren't fully charged so the lights weren't at the fullest.

It is possible that it is not getting brighter than 0 to reduce heat in the air. I'll try in a water environment.

The video lights seem great. The more yellow photo is from Keldan Luna 4. I don’t see much change of brightness over +0 but I’ll play some more. If there are other good tests to do let me know.

It's true, it's a confusing domain. I've used Inon Z240s for years with the Panasonic mini flash on a GH-5, and only last year did I switch to a TRT turtle trigger, and now with the Retras. With the TRT you do have a setting for each strobe type, but I'm not quite sure what the sauce they are adding per strobe. With the HF-1, you have backscatter's sauce in the strobe and depending on the trigger (an actual mini flash, backscatter's trigger or the TRT one there are few points for issues. In any case, for the most part I'm seeing good exposures with the Retras in TTL, although I do dial down the power a bit because they shoot brighter than my Inons. Also this test was on land so it's not quite real world.

Well, I picked up a pair of Maxis that I had ordered way back in December 2024. I did a short use test against the HF-1 and decided the Maxis would be a better choice, plus I got the original launch price (pre-tarrifs too). I've been doing some TTL tests using a GH6 and the TRT O Smart 3 trigger and I'm pretty happy with the results. One thing that I like on the Retras over the HF-1 is that the retras let you adjust the strobe power up and down in TTL (which is nice for some creative shots). My old Inons could do this too. Another thing that is nice is multiple levels of video lights compared to the HF-1 and finally the extra buoyancy from the Retras. To be honest, I didn't get a chance to do detailed tests of the RC mode ("wireless) using the TRT and the HF-1. Conceptually I understand what it is doing differently than the mimic TTL I'm just not quite sure how that works in practice. I'll be diving with these in April so I'll have some more details.

Came here to ask the same question. Currently shooting with Panasonic GH7 and Inon Z240/Keldan 4 series, and I'm really interested in simplifying with a hybrid strobe. The options are the HF-1 or the Maxi, and I'm leaning towards the maxi but I'd love to hear some TTL experience since that's how I generally shoot.

Ya I checked the Backscatter documentation -- it will only do TTL with the HF using RC, not with the Inons using mimic. The TRT can work on both. Not sure about the UWT but I don't think they do RC mode yet.

A big question is what strobe(s) are you looking at. I recently switched from a Panasonic GH5 to GH7 which required a new trigger. I picked the o-Turtle Smart 2 to pair with my Inon Z240s and it worked very well. The Smart 3 looks like a great upgrade and supports the RC modes (and now Panasonic WIRELESS). I think the backscatter only does manual and RC but not 100% sure.

one thing that is really nice (I just got my housing) is that the power switch motion is blocked and protected from moving too far and breaking the power switch on the camera (this happened to mine and a friend's GH5)

Coming back to this... and I wanted to thank Balazs for his communication. As I a said, the issue I was having with my GH5 was I wasn't pushing the trigger in far enough. I've been testing with a new GH7 (the trigger slides on much easier) and I'm getting great results with my Inon z240s. I'm in the market for some hybrid strobes so I'm hoping that there will be a model / solution for some good compatibility there. Thanks!

yes, that is correct. MF is only Olympus RC.

Mine is also here! Ooof, Nauticam raised their prices Jan 1

ok, this might be a bit of user error on my side. The GH5 has some contacts on the edges of the shoe which make a really tight fit. It looks like some extra force is needed to seat the trigger properly and then I can see the Manual/TTL settings. I'll do some tests with my Inons to see how they fair.

Still preliminary but it looks like the turtle is not fitting perfectly into the Panasonic hot shoe. Updates as they happen.

I mean't that I can see if the second curtain change makes sense, and it is a good suggestion for testing. In any case, Balazs is going to get back to me.