bvanant

In my computerized discharge tests (designed to mimic the Z240 charging circuit), I see the pro versions have about 23% more capacity (Inon suggest about 33% more) when fully charged. Inon also suggests the pros charge faster but I can't test that easily and you shouldn't count on when the red light goes on on the strobe, it probably is only 80% charged. Bill

Certainly the Nauticam LED trigger is not robust in the sense that you can use it with most flashes but only if you use a multi-core fiber. With multi-core it works with Inon, S&S (D1 and D2J), Kraken, and the new Backscatter mini. Bill

IF each bend is bigger than the minimum bend radius you will not keep getting losses, the overall transmission is what is important. Clearly there is no "information" in the pulse from a flash other than intensity. BUT that being said, if your cable is not optimal it just won't trigger your strobe. I have some single core cables that will trigger a Z240 with ease but will not trigger a YSD1 at all if I am using an LED trigger on the camera. Nothing happens, the strobe just doesn't fire. If I use the same system but with a multi-core fiber then the strobe fires. A lot depends on the sensitivity of the optical probe on the strobe and also on what you are using on the camera. If I use the Olympus flash, then things are good with all types of FO cables, but not so much with the Nauticam LED trigger. I would like to believe that 9% loss is not important for most things, but of course there are all kinds of tolerance stack ups that you need to think about, and in some cases 9% or 10% loss is enough to make things not work. Bill

The minimum bend radius is for something like the Asahi 1 mm fiber is 30 mm which is quite large. For the ESKA single 1 mm fiber it is 5 mm (for a 0.5 dB loss). It is relatively easy to show that the ESKA materials have about a 9% loss on coiling, while the 613 core fibers show less than 1 % (on my homemade coils). I think the point is that if you get a kink in a fiber, the multi-core will survive while the single core won't. A 0.5dB loss means you only get 94.something percent transmission, not that it goes to zero. Bill

In my hands at least, if you are shooting with an onboard flash then single core might be OK. If you are shooting with an LED trigger though, and using S&S strobes, multi-core is the way to go, my single core fibers will not trigger my YSd1 with the Nauticam LED trigger. It is easy and quite cheap to build your own multi-core fibers. If you look at the specs for 1 mm single core fiber its bend radius to get a 0.5 dB loss is like 20 mm while the multi-core stuff Is 1 mm. So a sharp.bend might leave your single core fiber in not so good shape. Bill

For sale is a used Micro 4/3 system based on an Olympus OM-D EM-1, Mark 1 camera and a Nauticam housing. The camera system comes with both the Leica/Panasonic 45 mm macro lens and port as well as the Olympus 14-42 lens (with gear) and the semi-dome Nauticam port for that lens. The EM-1 housing was $1870 new, the camera was $1000. The camera comes with 4 batteries and a dual battery charger. Complete system is $900. A second body is yours for an additional $250. Bill

I am looking for someone to modify an old HD camera housing to allow for putting in a 4k Camera. The camera fits but the software in the housing will need to be updated. Anyone know of a custom shop that could do something like this. thanks Billl

looking for a Nauticam OM-D EM-1 Mark II housing. Just the housing, I have ports and arms and mostly everything else. Bill

If you can get to the connectors that go to the LED you could cut one of them? Bill

If you use the multi-core fiber and coil it carefully you will not see any appreciable transmission loss. The multicore fibers have bend radii of 1 mm or so, and no one will try to coil it with that kind of radius. At 1 mm bend the transmission loss of the 613 core fibers is < 0.5 dB or 6 % loss (if I remember how to convert dB to %). If you use the Toslink or other single core fibers then the bend radius (Asahi) is 30 mm for the same 0.5 dB loss so you will definitely see some loss for tightly wound cables. Bill

In general, with optical TTl the camera flash sends out a signal, that sends out a strobe pre-flash. The camera metering system reads that flash and then sends the appropriate length flash to the strobe which fires the same length strobe flash. Some strobes can do TTL via a slave function, a light sensor on the strobe looks at the scene then sets the strobe power (actually pulse length). Here is a good tutorial http://www.inon.jp/technicalguide/sttl-auto.html The TTL board understands the Sony protocols for making flash strength choices and controls a dumb strobe correctly. Unlike film era or electrical sync TTL, of course Optical TTL has only a one-way connection, the strobe can listen to the camera but not talk to it. Bill

You can buy directly from Kraken. BVA

The ball end of the Howshot is the same size as most other gear (ULCS, Inon etc.) Most of their stuff is fine, but I don't think there is a US distributor. You should take a look at the Kraken stuff as well, Jack at Optical Ocean sells them and they are pretty inexpensive. Bill

If they are more than 5 years old they are single core fibers. As for ends, if you buy the Divervision ones, you can put any o-ring on them you want, the ones they come with are too tight for me. Bill

or you can make your own multi-core cables as well. Avoid the real cheap AliExpress version ($16). They claim 613 core but my microscope thinks otherwise. Bill

In general, yes, BUT acrylic is way more easier to fix if you scratch it. The optical quality is typically much better with glass than acrylic but only you know if that difference is worth the $. Bill

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For Sale is a brand new, never been wet, Aditech Mangrove Housing for the Sony AX700 with the camera. The camera is amazing but the system is just a bit too large for what my wife wants to do with it. Our loss is your gain. New the system is $2300 for the housing and $1900 for the camera. Yours for a significant discount. Bill

It works fine IF you have the right fiber optic cable. You need one of the multi-core versions Bill

We just returned from 10 days of diving with Spice Island Divers. The resort is the previous Maluku Divers and is pretty much the same as before with some staff remaining (the chef had pictures of us from 5 years ago on his phone). The bungalows are quite nice, aircon worked fine and hot water was plentiful. The dive shop hasn't changed but there is a new compressor. Overall we thought Ronny and Benny did a good job with the diving crew (a few guides remain, notably Alan and Semuel) and we will be returning there. Overall I would give them two thumbs up. Bill

Had the same issue on our recent Villa Markisa trip, next dive I taped the flash with some electrical tape. No issues since, BUT I did have 3 or 4 times during the trip an issue where the camera froze up showing a scene in the EVF that wouldn't change and stayed on even after turning the camera off. Only solution was to take the battery out an replace it. Any ideas. BVA

I have always thought he was a Hasselblad guy, as for film I suspect he shot all of the BW films, from Tri-x to exacta Bill

Just to clarify a point. The YSD1 (at least mine) were made in Japan not in China and sourced using mostly Japanese components. As for comparing strobes to cameras, I suspect that there is at least an order of magnitude (probably a factor of 50) in terms of cameras made and strobes made. It is not clear to me that the D1s have major issues. Mine are at least 5 years old, and while there was a firmware upgrade for battery issues, mine are still going strong after more than 600 dives (probably 50k flashes). As for Ikelite, maybe I am an outlier but I do in fact know their service facility quite well. Bill

"Minor correction here, but that wouldn't be anywhere near 300DPI. It would be around half that. The 16MP sensor will do prints that size, but it will start to break down on the quality a bit. I've got the same sized sensor in my E-M5mkII and have printed large, but it definitely doesn't have the same detail as an 11x14 would. " There are a slew of good up-rezzing programs (Topaz for example) that can take your 16MP file and make it into 20x24 x 360 DPI with good results (a lot depends on the photo of course). Bill