Tom_Kline

I know how HSS works but am rather skeptical that the strobe recycles between individual flashes within a shot, more like a small amount of the charge is depleted for each flash and the capacitor gets refilled after the frame. We are talking about tens (maybe not even tens) of micro seconds per flash. 1/1000 is one millisecond or 1000 microseconds so 1/8000 is a bit more than 100 microseconds so 10 flashes of 10ms each would just about fit. Alex mentioned in his video (months ago) that the flash tubes used in the new Retras enable this teeny weeny flashing, but I am clueless about the Seacam 160D (it is also not a full circular tube like the Retras). Is there any power control (strobe output) in HSS mode? E.g., is it set by the shutter speed alone.

I am not asking about a full power dump but, e.g. 1/64, see above query from me. For example in your above pix done with the 160D you indicate that the pix were shot at f/22 or f/16. Using these small apertures may have required a higher manual power setting. Recycling (i.e. recharging the capacitor(s)) may have taken you a few seconds - you do not say. What if you had shot at f/2.8 instead? Would the recycling time have sped up say to less than one second - this would be useful to know. If the the recycling time is fixed regardless of power used then HSS may not be all that useful, IMHO. Maybe the Retras are better???? BTW I have not used HSS with my Canon version 60D but I am not expecting much with four AA batteries inside. As well I am more likely to use HSS with an RS lens (therefore N rather than C) as they seem to do much better at larger apertures. I was shooting salmon by remote control which also uses an S6 connector however only 3 wires are actually used. I know this for a fact because I installed the S6 bulkhead on the housing myself and know the 3 extra wires are dangling disconnected inside the housing. Nikon has used 5 wires since TTL flash started - I have no idea (other than possible use for the slave strobe when hooked up with a special circuit they make - see box on p.24 on the manual and other D model strobe instructions) what Seacam does with the "spare" wire of the S6. I was guessing that they could use this fact as a way of detecting brand. The instructions would be far more useful if they mentioned in the line I quoted that this is a user adjustable parameter with a page reference so that if the wrong brand is displayed one would know what to do. Also what the blazes is meant by flash type (also in the quoted line)? Maybe they mean flash mode such as TTL. Again a page reference to see where is can be changed would be very useful here.

It must recycle at some point. Are you saying the strobe is dead after an HSS shot? As for blurring. I got a blurred salmon a few days ago when shooting at 1/500th - an ambient light shot

I read this in the instructions: "When switching ON the unit you first see a 3 part battery symbol indicating the battery capacity status and the flash type followed by the NIKON or CANON identification." which I took to mean the strobe knew the details (identification) of the camera when it is powered up. Maybe they need better clarity. Nikon has 5 contacts in the hotshoe and so has 5 wires. Hence the Nikonos-derived N5 bulkhead designation.

Could you be more specific about how much output is reduced. Also the number of flashes per charge. If one is using an ISO value in the thousands (which I regularly do) and HSS at 1/64 (or the lowest setting on the 160D) what kind of frame rate is possible and how many shots on a battery charge? For now just one flash. I would expect that ambient light would do most of the exposure. The strobe is simply to fill in a bit of the shadow which might include the whitish bottom half of a shark (so reflective).

There just one model of the Seaflash 160D and it does both N or C unlike previous Seacam D flashes - I know as I have both N and C versions of the 150D. Apparently the strobe is "smart" enough to be able to detect which brand of camera it is attached to. One hint may be due to N using 5 wires whereas C uses 6.

I recall shooting f/11 with 70mm Ektachrome 200 Pro film - brings back memories especially the hassle of special ordering the film. Using one or two 150 W-S strobes. The whole rig with two strobes (EL housing) was quite the monster, around 50 pounds in air. On the plus side one can sync at 1/500 due to the leaf shutter.

I guess the black one was added. Do you have a volt-ohm meter aka multimeter? You can use one to test the conductivity between the plugs and bulkheads.

The two housing rear sections shared the same front section. He simply has to replace the standard flat port with the correction port - this may already be done. There is another lens that goes on the front of the Biogon lens of the SWC. The two (port and this other lens) correction lenses work as a unit.

I was wondering about this. The prism fitting on the 500C is much longer than the top of a SWC.

Redundancy. The Hasselblad lenses that are needed are the ones with Compur shutters in the lens. There is a PC post on the lens to plug the wire into. To use two strobes one will need a Y type synch cord - two strobes plugged into one fitting. There are both cabled (wired) as well as fiber optic cords of the Y type. The Sea and Sea model is no longer made but can be found on the auction site and maybe here.

I used the Subsea strobes as well as the Ike 150 back in the day with my Hasselblad system and used the EO plug on the housing (for the EL). These were 150 watt-second units. EO is a bit out of fashion with current strobes. Better off adapting to a bulkhead or fiber optic. With the blue housings it may be possible to swap out bulkheads - possibly a reduction fitting will have to be added as those old bulkheads appear to have used a larger diameter hole than the 14mm being used these days. I would be interested in knowing if Devon can do this.

I bought some arms and clamps from SMY from this ad: https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/66375-fs-arms-and-clamps/ They arrived promptly from Germany in great shape and very well packed. I would buy from SMY again. Thank you!!

This is a bayonet filter that Nikon used with several other lenses such as the 16mm fisheye: https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/lens-filters/39mm-bayonet-l37c-uv-haze-filter.html Probably easier to find the filter for sale than to make one. Keep in mind that it needs to be aligned perpendicular to the optical axis.

The Laowa 24mm macro probe is amphibious up to the USB socket. It has a flat port which I suspect is why it is less sharp away from the optical axis. It does not seem all that sharp at infinity possibly due to the small aperture range (I have this lens). I am interested in hearing about the mirror gadget, which you have, before forking over the money for one.... f/2.8 is the MAXIMUM aperture of the Nikon and Canon macro 105 or 100mm lenses. It is interesting that the aperture of the prime lens is conserved. I have a vintage fisheye conversion lens made by Kenko (bought it in the 70's) that has an effective aperture that is dependent on the focal length of the prime lens. I bought it with a Bay50 adapter to use on the Hasselblad 80mm lens - I recall the effective max aperture with that as being rather slow like f/11 (have not used it in decades). I have a shot done with the Laowa lens on my site, found two actually: https://www.salmonography.com/Northeast-Pacific/Portraits-of-Boreal-Pacific-Fish/i-nwFh99w/A https://www.salmonography.com/Northeast-Pacific/Portraits-of-Boreal-Pacific-Fish/i-cJTD6j3/A NOT a salmonid so in the different place on my site. Note that this species is also found in Europe. These shots were taken right at the edge of a lake, in just a couple of cm of water. Would the mirror help with the angle? I was positioned on land so had to point the rig at a downward angle which limited me quite a bit. T PS - just looked at the exif data - it is just one shot - the one looking downward - file with Z6 in the name.

I use this plug-in after reading about here on Wetpixel a few years ago. The app was broken for much of 2019 but was fixed in time for me to post my Xmas card in December. I posted a pic using it just a few days ago. FYI, it is set to post pix at 640 pixels.

The Canon 8-15 has been my "go-to" lens for salmon since it came out; have two copies of it so I can deploy two cameras with the same lens model. One is now dedicated to the last Canon APSH camera, the 1D4, with a mini dome for extreme shallow water shots. I have missed a number of salmon spawning opportunities in the past because the redd (salmon nest) was too shallow. With the Nikkor joining the other two I can deploy three with the same focal length range! Already had the 10.5 and 16mm Nikkors when I got the 8-15. The 10.5 was my most used lens when I was shooting APSC (D2X). I am most curious how the Nikkor will work at 8mm for Aurora shots since it is a hair faster at f/3.5. Been waiting form the right Aurora...

I have been enjoying this series. It might cost me.....

I have not tried my 8-15 on my Z6 yet but I suspect the AF works fairly well as the AF in the 300PF does. These two lenses are of the E type which is the latest version of the F mount. So the main improvements from a Z mount fisheye lens might include a smaller size (smaller than the 8-15 plus FTZ) and better optical performance (maybe less of a blue circle at 8mm?). I was ready to get the new 24-200 for travel but initial reports suggest it is not much of a performer on full frame so rather disappointed. The 24-70 kit lens (an S type) is quite good so left it on the camera (with a polarizer) on my last Hawaii diving trip for topside pix (last year :-<<<, sadly will not be able to go in 2020). The planned shorter focal length macro is not listed as an S lens so I fear it might be as poor a performer as the new 24-200 which is not an S lens. I fear the non-S lenses will be substandard. Really too bad, IMHO.

First, you should make sure your camera is working correctly by shooting some images outside of the housing. Make sure to also test at reasonably low light levels such as those corresponding to those pix that failed. I would shoot in single shot AF mode so that you can observe the AF points. As well, turn on the beep. You may also turn on focus priority. Are your pix still out of focus?

No, if one is using full frame as the 85mm Micro Nikkor is a DX lens.

Looks like a synch problem. Try using longer than 1/200 shutter speeds. Like 1/100 or 1/60.

I just did a quick test - just over a second at 1/4 power (25%) and about one second at 12%. I said one thousand to do the timing. Used black Eneloops. There are 2 power settings for the aiming light.

Good luck!!

There might very well be a leak in your evacuation device. It probably has a check valve to keep the atmosphere from leaking in that leaks just a bit. I would disconnect it and close up the evac. port on the housing like you would for diving and remeasure after a day and see if the pressure goes up as you have noted. It is going up and not down. The 10 on the gauge in inches is actually -10 or about 1/3 of an atmosphere down from starting pressure. So what is left in the housing is about 2/3 of an atmosphere absolute. If it also leaks with the evac device disconnected then it will be time to consider were the leak might be in the housing starting with the main o-ring and the port o-ring -- one at a time using a process of elimination.