RogerC

Yeah. If you are playing the multi--shot game, with any strobe, you must find an exposure that works at lowest power, and even then, you are probably going to get a limited set. Also easier on the wildlife you are photographing. And more importantly: even if the strobe can keep firing, you gotta give it a rest or you risk overheat. At some point, it's a better game to play with video lights.

excellent call, I totally forgot that. Yes, for blackwater, I had set up exposure bracketing, 3 fast shots in a row. I had that on during the dive, got in the water with that on, so that's exactly why the strobes immediately failed on that dive. But I probably was hitting them pretty fast, more than one time in a second, during some testing, to see if they would fire consistently. Man, that should be in the manual, the manual does not go into much detail on how the strobe learns the trigger sequence. It doesn't mention the 1 second, all it says is: Depending on the camera model or settings, the camera’s built-in flash will flash once or multiple times for every photo. The MF-1 will analyze your camera’s flash and automatically synchronize after the first test flash. First power on the strobe and select any power level from 1-6 and take a single test photo. The MF-1 will analyze this test flash and memorize the proper setting for your camera. If you change cameras or flash settings on your camera, simply power off the MF-1, power on and take another test photo to synchronize with your new camera or camera settings.

Update, my strobes are working, backscatter sent some helpful info. It was pilot error. As I said, the strobes learn your camera's flash sequence on the first trigger. What I didn't know is that they are watching for the full first second for the strobe sequence, so I must have jumped in the water excited, fired my strobes several times in less than a second, probably to test exposure, and they learned a crazy trigger sequence. And then from then on, because I was trouble shooting and testing, I'd probably fire a bunch of times in the first second again, and there you go. Pilot error as root cause, which is why both failed. Thanks for all the help. ChrisRoss, thanks, changing the internal strobe is a good suggestion, but I didn't bring it, it cycles slower and runs down the camera battery, the nauticam trigger is self powered and always ready. DaveHicks, what problems have you had, anything to avoid? Hopefully they have quietly made revisions that will make them more robust, I do really like these things. Yesterday I was holding one free handed, with a snoot on, and I was able to turn the power dial while holding it free hand to adjust the brightness. Such a pleasure to use these things.

So I'm in the Philippines right now, hopped in the water last night on my first blackwater dive, and both my backscatter mini flash strobes failed. They will fire like 1 time in 10, sometimes 1 time in 3, it’s random. Never every time. And rarely do they both fire at once. Both failing makes it seem like a camera or housing issue, but I don't think so. These things have brains that analyze the camera's flash trigger sequence, and this is the second time I've had a failure with them. Anyone know how to do a factory reset on them? The other time I had an issue I had to return the strobe, I had asked about doing a factory reset of the brain, they asked what battery I had, and then told me to send it in. Cryptic, but makes me think there may be a reset that could help me. I've emailed backscatter, but no response yet, time zone issues. I have powered them off and on many times, that should reset the strobe triggering sequence, no luck. I have put charged batteries in the strobes. The modeling light works, the powers and ready light works. I have swapped sync cords. I am using an oly OM 1 in a nauticam housing and a nauticam flash trigger. I put new batteries in the trigger, no change. I can see the red light from it at the end of both cords. I really thought that was the issue, since both strobes failed, but no luck. The trigger fires every single time without fail. I have not yet tried them on another housing, there is only one other shooter here (typhoon season) and he hasn't been in the camera room. Any other suggestions? thanks.

my wife would tell me to sew it myself, and I can (look up "quick stitch sewing awl", they are great for thick neoprene, web belts, BC material, etc) any anyway, neoprene also works well with neoprene cement. Trouble is old neoprene and unfinished neoprene edges shed a lot of cloth and rubber shrapnel, my older dome covers are making a mess, but that is a good idea. Neoprene cement to close the end of the sleeve, and aqua seal on any open edges to try to tack down the nylon shell and keep it from shedding. The SeaFrogs thing looks great, thanks. I've never seen their housings before, nice price and they have a vacuum port.

Does anyone make a protective case for the PT-059 or some other small housing, or has anyone found a neoprene bag that will fit it? I have some large neoprene bags for lenses, but none big enough. I keep the camera and housing in a small soft cooler now, but the cooler is getting worn, absorbs water, and takes a long time to dry out. thanks.

Hi. Have you tried the subject tracking underwater? I'm curious if any of the subject tracking (bird or maybe face) with lock focus on fish, particularly really small active midwater fish. Bird mode does a great job on birds in flight and a small fluttering fish may look similar enough that subject tracking might work on it. thanks.

Thanks, everyone. The smallest size I've tried is: #006 ID:1/8" x OD:1/4" CS:1/16" and it's damn small and hard to get on, but still too big. Mine are hard, though, 70 durometer, maybe something softer would mash flat and make it into the bore. The 007 is a size bigger, guess I'll try a 005. Hey Bill... if there is one fundamental truth in rocket science, it's getting the right size oring, believe me.

The o-rings on my fiber optic cable rotted and fell off. I replaced them with the smallest, thinnest, o-rings I had, but no luck: the new o-rings are so large or so stiff that I can't get them inserted anymore. I took the o-rings off, but now they are really loose and just falling out. I hold them in with blue tape, hair ties, whatever I can find. Nothing works well. Any tips? I think I need to find a source for really small o-rings with a really soft durometer.

Regarding using spray silicone on housings and buttons, 2 issues: I've heard that it can cause a problem with lexan housings, it can permanently fog or distort the surface. Not sure if that's true and I can't find any reference on it right now. It's too thin and runny. Yeah, that can help it get down the shaft to the oring, but you want a thick grease that stays in place, not a thin runny product that can evaporate. It's like replacing the axle grease on your car's wheel bearings with wd40. It's just not gonna last that long, and it will dissolve the thicker grease if you ever try to go back to the good stuff, so you'll have to clean the thin stuff off if you want to get the thick stuff to stick. So how do you get the thick grease to migrate on the button shaft and get to the oring? Warm up your housing. Not hot, just warm. Soak it in warm water. I've had a lot of housings over the years. Ikelite, olympus, nauticam, gates, light & motion, sealife... for me a sticky button is just a sign that the button needs service, the lube has worn off. Sounds like a more serious issue for others if it's happening right after a service. When I'm on a trip and need a quick and dirty fix, what I do to service them is to mop some oring lube onto the button shaft on the inside. Warm up the housing, push the button in, and on the inside of the housing, mop some silicon grease onto the shaft and then push the button about a million times until the grease migrates up the shaft onto the oring. I use the edge of a business card to get the lube onto the shaft as close to the hole as possible. I use a lot, I try to build up a fillet of grease all around the hole so the shaft will drag it in as it works. It makes a mess. I clean it up after with a q tip. When I'm home, I just remove the e-clip with a pair of bent needles nose pliers, remove the button and the rings, clean and grease everything, and re-assemble. DO NOT DO THIS THE NIGHT BEFORE A TRIP. DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT TIME TO GET SPARE E-CLIPS AND ORINGS. YOU WILL LOSE ONE. I CANNOT SAY THIS LOUDLY ENOUGH: YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LOSE AN E-CLIP EVERY TIME YOU TRY TO DO THIS. DONT DO THIS WITHOUT SPARES ON HAND, OR WITHOUT THE TIME TO ORDER A REPLACEMENT CLIP. These tiny parts jump around and get lost, I don't care how careful you are. The e-clips get bent, sometimes you can bend them back into shape, not always. Some say they should always be replaced. If you are going to try this, you are going to need to have spares on hand. Either order some e-clip and oring kits, or measure what size you need and order a bunch of them. Look on amazon for e-clip kits and oring kits. They have e-clip tools, I've always gotten by with small needle nose and heavy tweezers. McMaster-Carr has a good page (as usual) on e-clips, with dimensions of the clips and shafts, so you can easily figure out which size you need: https://www.mcmaster.com/#e-clips/=15n0fsf

on my housing, the anodes are on the bottom. One on the door and one on the body. I use lanocote (lanolin) on fasteners that I want to be able to remove later. It works well, but it is like a heavy pasty grease. I worry about it migrating on to optics and orings and places I don't want it.

my nauticam housing for the omd em5 mark 1 has an anode.

As long as the lens fits through the hole in the housing, I'm optimistic that nauticam will find a solution. I am looking forward to it, I really prefer a rectilinear wide angle lens, the zoom out to 14/28 is nice for shy subjects, and 2.8 sure is nice. the f1.8 8mm fisheye probably makes more sense, though. Easier to swim with and will probably have sharper corners, too.

A lot of old Oly gear for sale, not sure what to price it at so I went for eBay auctions. Starting price may be high, not sure what this stuff is worth anymore. if that's true, they'll be lower next time or PM me with an offer. PT-015 housing for C5050 PT-E02 housing (E330 housing) PT-E05 housing (E520 housing) PPO-EO2 flat port for 14-54mm PPO-E04 dome port for 8mm (or 7-14mm with extension) Athena flat port for 50mm lens, with 67mm front thread PER-E01 port extension PER-E02 port extension Oly bodies: E1, E330, E520, Pen E-PM1 Tetra flat port Ikelite DS125 Ikelite EV Controller Ikelite extension cord http://www.ebay.com/sch/jollyroj/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

I'm looking for a video light, and really like the completely sealed Solas... but I rented a fix neo, and really like the display of run time remaining and the ability to change output by smaller increments when needed. Has anyone had any flooding issues with them? If I never, ever opened it, would it be as "factory sealed" as a sola? would there be any salt water trapped in the mating surfaces that would build corrosion or mineral deposits and cause trouble down the road? thanks.