Fixed: Fantasea FA-2 LED trigger doesn't fit the new FA6500 v2 housing

[aussie_bubbles 1]

I just got my new FA6500 v2 housing which comes with a vacuum safety system (awesome Fantasea!).  I was using the original Fantasea FA6500 for about 2.5 years.  I wanted to service my old one and also get a vacuum system, but it was cheap enough to just buy another one (and have a backup housing).  I rely on the LEG trigger because Sony A6500/A6300 has no manual internal flash control and the recycle time is pants.  Using the internal flash to trigger the strobes is ok if you take 30 pics on a dive, but useless for those situations when you're in a feeding frenzy of activity and need to take lots of shots in a short period of time to get a good one.

I read that Fantasea are bringing out the FA-3 LED trigger which is compatible with the new housing,  so far it is not available yet in Australia.  Besides, I was bummed but the idea of having to spend another $300 for an item I already own that is now useless to me.  At first it appears to fit, but when testing I noticed that the addition of the vaccum system inside the housing (when closed) is pushing against the LED trigger and moving the camera slightly forwards in the housing, which meant that some of the controls weren't working.

Fortunately I had a spare FA-2 trigger that was giving me problems to experiment with.   Fantasea had kindly send me a replacement a year or two ago because I think I just got one with a factory defect.  I decided to try modifying the LED casing to make it fit.  First I removed the electrics and sanded down the back, removing about 1mm of the plastic.  This didn't work.  So using blue-tak, I worked out where the vacuum valve was pushing against the trigger's casing. (Should have done this step first!)

Turns out it is just above the on/off switch on the trigger.

So using a carpet knife and sandpaper, I removed some more of the casing.  After testing, I covered the hole with electrical tape to provide a barrier to dust and reseal it.  Works perfectly now.  FYI, you don't have to remove the electrics for this procedure, just remove the top cover.

 

[Joss 12]

Well done!