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Thought i'd posted this before but i don't think i did. A slightly-too-long compilation of 3 days of Oceanic Mantas at Black Rock in the Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar. Very unusual trip in that (i) lots of mantas there and (ii) the visibility wasnt 5m of green for once! Underwater shot with a Canon EOS70D with and without a magic filter. I know there are frame rate stutter issues in places. No sound track as i dont actually have any music stored locally to put onto the footage.

OK the new board finally arrived, was duly changed but same issue- nothing happens. Must be a failure battery unit side. So far in the 9 months or so ive owned the light, its been broken for 5 of them.

A few things ive noticed. It depends on your strobe design. If you have a type with a long, straight tube which is relatively small (Inons etc) but id say yes you're likely to need one to spread the light. If you have strobes with big, circular tubes like Ikelites then possibly not so much. I have DS160s for example. Personally i find i get significantly more backscatter with diffusers vs none (and dome diffusers take it to another level...) so in silty/messy waters such as myanmar i pretty much never use diffusers. If im doing CFWA or just "really close" then i do use them pretty much always.

Yup its not the button unfortunately. I contacted them and they instantly said they'd sent me a new board and links to videos of how to change it myself (which leads me to believe maybe this isnt a rare problem!) Does mean ive had to go and buy a soldering iron. I like the light but not overly impressed by the fact i got 2 months use, it broke, lost it for 2 months for a repair and now its happened again...

Not sure if anyone can offer advice here or if ive had yet another breakage on one... Ive got a Scubalamp V6K that simply wont turn on at all. Battery is showing 3 x solid red LEDs which it normally does when charged. However when trying to turn the lamp on nothing happens at all, no flashing of the button, no head flash, nothing. Ive tried the holding the button in to get it out of hibernation mode but the same problem - nothing happens. So any suggestions as to what to try next? Not too happy with this light - i bought it in March, had about 2 months use before the head died and had to go back for 6 weeks for repair. Ive had a little bit of use out of it, stored it for 2 months and now it seems dead again. (I know the dealer i got it from has stopped stocking Supe as well they said due to reliability issues).

Glad of that! I thought it would - as i said, the only reason i didn't bother myself is because i upgraded the housing. That and the last time i tried to do it myself on another port i own i made such a mess of it i had to send it to a professional to do properly! I still get nervous selling anything with a "defect" no matter how hard you try to highlight it to potential buyers! Also a bump, the other items are still available and as an added bonus, they dont need micro-mesh!

Update.. The MINI DOME has now been sold. The 8" dome and flat port remain available.

The issue is i already have 1 x V6K (non pro) so just need one extra. I found the pro significantly heavier and bulkier for travel and hard to fit with my already excessive baggage.

Ive upgraded my housing so have some older Ikelite stuff to sell. Please note these are all for the FL (Four Lock) system NOT the newer mechanisms. All of which have been used for several years or more, all of which work. Reason for selling is i went for Nauticam. All items are located in the UK. First item:- Ikelite 8" Dome #5510.45 (https://www.ikelite.com/products/modular-8-dome-for-dlm-and-fl-port-systems) Bought in roughly 2009, saw use for 3 or 4 years before being retired and replaced with a minidome. Used semi-occasionally for split shots since then but otherwise gathering dust. It comes with the neoprene cover. Also included is the Ikelite extension port #5510.22 ( https://www.ikelite.com/products/fl-port-extension-for-lenses-up-to-4-125-inches) for Nikon 12-24 / Canon 10-22 and similar zooms The dome itself has the usual cosmetic marks consistent with use. The exterior has a few small marks on the acrylic as expected but these do not show on the images or videos. Normal surface wear only. Looking for £200gbp or rough equivalent for the dome, extension and cover Item 2:- Ikelite Flat Port Next up is a Ikelite FL flat port #5502.41 (https://www.ikelite.com/products/fl-flat-port-for-lenses-up-to-4-1-inches) for macro lenses up to about 60mm Again shows marks and some dust as per use. Optically no issues or marks at all on the surface. Does NOT have a neoprene cover Looking for £75gbp or equivalent. Item 3: 5" precision minidome for Tokina 10-17 This is a 5" precision mini-dome designed by UWCamera stuff solely for the Tokina 10-17 lens. Part number:- Prec-5in-Tok-ike It can be seen here:- http://www.uwcamerastuff.com/precision_5_dome.htm This was my go-to dome and used for 95%+ of my photography. As a result it shows signs of usage. (The photos also show dust from the cupboard). [/img] [/img] Please note the above photo:- It DOES have a scratch on the front which IS visible in photos and video, particularly areas of blue water etc. Its not that bad (i used it for months like that) but to get rid of it you'd need some nova polish/wet and dry and do the standard acrylic port polishing to remove it. I didn't bother because i could live with it and had no source of materials to polish it where i was based. Please be aware of this - i've gone out of my way to highlight it as much as possible in this image. All of these are exterior surface, internal is fine and has no markings. It comes with the neoprene port cover, shade and so on. It has the Ikelite 5510.11 port extension with it to fit the Tokina 10-17. Looking in the region of £100gbp for it or equivalent. All items are located in the UK, postage can be calculated if needed depending on where the buyer is. I will sell separately or as a package. If you want all 3 i can charge less. Also, not listed but if anyone is interested in a well used Ikelite 70D housing to go with these let me know - i have that too and can work something out.

As above, interested in a V6K non-pro ideally but will consider pro otherwise. I already have one and am after a second. Currently im in the UK but will be back in Asia in a month or so.

I do label the inside of the housing but the outside would be handy (im not even sure people would know how to equalise then open my housing for example!). Also occasionally there are multiple housings of the same type in the same place.

Actually not. In most places worldwide you're going to find the Alfa flag has protection and guidelines whereas the USN one does not. Especially in terms of incident fault, insurance and so on. Its something the US exported worldwide but isnt a full international standard. You see it in lots of places purely because of US marketing/customerbase and so on - its recognised by customers. Either way, im buying stickers (and dive gear!) without the thing!

Thanks for those, i'll try one or maybe both listed to see which works best. Going to email to customise because ive got an irrational hatred of the USN dive flag (i wish they'd use legally recognised standard A flag like everyone else!). More importantly, i might need 2 sets as i want my name and email/phone number on stickers.

This is stretching the definition of photo gear so mods feel free to move if needed... Does anyone know of a source (ideally UK or fast uk delivery) of labels that i can use to stick on the *outside* of my housing (nauticam) with my name and email and/or phone number so i can identify it (as well as other people)? Ive seen people with all kinds of dive gear including houses labelled with small, seemingly tough, sticky printed labels about the size of the old school Dymo machines but my google-fu has failed me and i cant find them. I guess im searching for the wrong term or something. Im looking for thin, smallish strips that are printed with my details i can stick onto the housing in places that obviously wont come off or fade the second they're immersed.

A few observations with mine. I often prepare in a 20c room then dive in water 28 to 31c after that. I also sometimes have the housing (accidentally) in direct sun in the tropics. I've never had the vacuum fail or a warning when going to or from these environments. It is very sensitive though. It picked up a hair on an O ring in about 20 mins and triggered after a few hours when my electrically connected ikelite strobe minus the battery (which was charging) created a tiny leak path through the cable and strobe. So I think the circuit may well be temperature compensated or similar. It seems to behave with environmental changes but still very sensitive to actual leaks. Sent from my BTV-DL09 using Tapatalk

A work colleague of mine had one die after 20 dives 2 weeks. Just refuses to fire but looks like it is (charging whine, LEDs etc) I think his replacement when he eventually sourced one is ok. Sent from my BTV-DL09 using Tapatalk

Slight not so good update? The V6K has died after a few months. It went off mid dive (on the lowest variable power). Battery is fine, charger is fine. Turning it on the button LED comes on but the light doesn't. Pressing to select the power gives the usual green light around the button but no light emerges from the head. So sadly I've had to take it back to KL who then send it away to the manufacturer to see if it's a warranty item out not. Which means no video for the remainder of the dive season here. I know random failures can happen to any device but it's disappointing none-the-less. I'm hoping they honour the warranty at it's only about 4 months old (and not flooded etc). Sent from my BTV-DL09 using Tapatalk

I know it's an age old question but thought I'd bring it up again... Basically, with murky water, do strobe diffusers make backscatter worse or better? I've been trying to work it out and test myself with no clear answer. I'm using 2 X DS160 ikelites so are fairly powerful and also have a nice, big, circular flash bulb unlike some of the others. Shooting WA with a 10-17 tokina. Ultimately I am finding I get far more backscatter around the edges with diffusers than I do without. The obvious downside is the trickier positioning needed to not leave centre shadows. When I put the supplied manufacturers diffusers on the edge backscatter seems to increase. I also lose over 2 stops of light which means I need a near full power dump for a diver sized subject located a metre away (I know, get closer but divers don't always allow it!). I assume edge lighting drastically reduces the light put on the subject? I've also got the ikelite dome diffusers but finding backscatter is even worse with these. Using standard 9-3 or 10-2 strobes with the head roughly in line with the handles. Positioned straight ahead (or out slightly if close) and arms about the subject to dome distance apart. Subjects roughly 1m or less from the camera. So I'm just wondering what are people views for diffuser Vs non diffuser for murkier water? Is my technique drastically wrong to be getting more scatter on the edges with them or not? Or more in general what are peoples recommendations for wide angle in murky water? (I have to dive Myanmar a lot where 2-3m of dark, green, sediment full water is the norm) I've done hundreds of dives experimenting here but still have issues. I'm finding none is better, everything I'm reading online says the opposite so possibly is a technique problem. The 2+ stops light loss is an issue too preventing multiple shots in a short time. Any thoughts? Sent from my BTV-DL09 using Tapatalk

Was just about to post this but got beaten to it. Its a limited study (seahorses only) but does dispel a lot of the myths surrounding it and the non-scientific approach to lighting bans. It does tend to support my theory that a lot of the bans (such as Malapascua Thresher Shark dives) have no basis in real world fact or science and are simply made up. Ive been looking (without success) to find any research providing justification for the Malapascua ban (and the unofficial Mola limitations imposed by dive centres in Lembongan etc).

Thats all well and good but if you're over a few metres depth then typically a correctly white balanced photo or video means the water column loses most of its blue colour so looks washed out if you arent using a filter.

I think it varies with strobes at least. From my experience, most marine life seems to see and hate a bright video light in their face. Pretty much all the subjects i point one at visibly recoil or shy away (i dont do macro though). With strobes its a little different, im fairly sure some types of marine life cant actually see the flash because its so fast and theres no reaction at all whereas others clearly do and do blink or recoil. For example Cephalopods such as Octopus and Cuttlefish visibly blink and sometimes recoil when a strobe fires. Turtles also. Whereas Triggerfish Lionfish, Parrotfish, Lobster and other reef fish seem to have no reaction what-so-ever. Edit:- just noticed the year. I thought this thread was a few months old not a year and a few months!

Agreed. I think photographers (i mean proper ones, who know and understand the concepts, NOT the GoPro on a 5ft selfie stick people) are generally less damaging than normal divers. Yes we have some idiots among us and yes some arent as ethical as we like but as a whole i say its above average awareness. I work on liveaboards and its depressing every day to see the sheer amount of bad divers cause damage and allowed to do so by equally as bad guides. I see knee protectors, most wearing gloves, people walking across the bottom, zero awareness of fins and so on. I see large chunks of remaining coral kicked and snapped off in real time on a regular basis. So while yes, a code of conduct and ethics for photos is fine, unfortunately i think its a tiny issue compared with the absolte battering the reefs in asia are getting on a daily basis from huge numbers of inept divers escorted by equally as inept "guides". Theres also the national parks issue allowing gloves, knee pads, divers at OW level or a small number of dives etc into the park in the first place. That said, some so called advanced with 400 divers are worse than a 4 dive OW diver at times. Ive got a growing collection of images and videos as a wall-of-shame type gallery but no way can i make it public as im fairly sure i wouldnt be able to work in this town any more!

Depends if you want desktop or laptop. You can get a much higher spec desktop for the same price but the obvious downside is its not portable. Generally speaking for decent editing you're going to want a decent i7 or higher CPU (8th gen or newer for h265), 16gb or more of ram and a nice big, fast SSD. In addition a good quality screen and colour calibrator (dont bother with touch or 4k, gimmicks and not useful for video editing). A dedicated graphics card is helpful, especially if you're dealing with effects as well. If not, its mainly CPU used for actual rendering so although nice its not the most important thing. Most gaming laptops will meet those requirements as the actual demands aren't all that different. I used to use a 2016 15" Alienware R3 laptop and it handled everything without issue. I managed to kill that so now using a Dell XPS15 which also handles it well with the added benefit of being MUCH smaller and lighter with significantly better battery life. I put a 1TB SSD into it instead of the supplied smaller one. Flies through both HD editing from my DSLR and 4k from my drone. Personally i wouldn't touch apple as you don't get a lot of value for money regarding the spec (you can get a better spec PC for less money). And its the same software (Da Vinci, Premiere, Lightroom, After Effects, Photoshop etc) unless for some reason you insist on FCP.

Thats interesting - tell me more. I cant see any mention on dealers websites etc.