Info Backscatter Hybrid Flash HF-01: preliminary review

[stuartv]

Yeah, but a test shot is a trivial thing that catches a lot of potential problems. You may have forgotten to take off the lens cap, or attach the trigger shoe (I've done that once), one or more batteries may be discharged/flat and require charging/replacement, some part may have failed, hell, one may have forgotten to put the camera into the housing in the first place. Vacuum green + test shot where you can see the strobes reflecting off a wall nearly guarantee that your camera will perform properly on the next dive, and if either of those checks fail, that's a sign to investigate.

I’m not saying don’t take a test shot.

I’m saying that I take a test shot every time… except when I don’t. I’m human. Stuff happens. Every now and then I don’t do “that thing” that I’m supposed to always do.

Having an on/off switch on my trigger would just make it that tiny little bit more likely that I would have a problem in the water that can’t be fixed in the water. I like eliminating even tiny little chances when I can and it doesn’t “cost” too much.

 

[WS007]

Yeah, this is my only concern about getting these—weight. Per the Backscatter website, with batteries and ball attachment, each strobe weighs 1100 grams in air. Compare that to the YA-D2s which, with batteries and ball attachment, weigh 780 grams or so. So 2 of these new flashes you’re talking more than 600 grams heavier. But, since I’ll be losing 2 Kraken 5000s, which together weigh about 1150, if I get these I’ll come out ahead (about 500 grams lighter) and with less stuff on the rig, less stuff to pack, 2 fewer chargers to carry. Seems like a good trade to me.

One kg more on the surface to carry is not a real problem for me, since I feel still young
. It is the weight in the water that makes the problem. Here a table from the data available in the internet. The extra flotation needed for two strobes, with Z330s as a reference (these were my previous strobes), is listed at the bottom of the table:

I hope that I can get the problem of rear heaviness under control by better distributing the floats. So far I was putting as much floats as possible to the inner arms to have the flotation as close as possible to the housing. This worked very well for the Z330 (and YS-D2s), but the HF-1 weight too much in water and create a strong torque towards rear heaviness, when the strobes are pulled backwards. Next time I will put more floats on the outer arms, as close as possible to the strobes. I hope this will solve the problem...


Wolfgang

 

[WS007]

I’m not saying don’t take a test shot.

I’m saying that I take a test shot every time… except when I don’t. I’m human. Stuff happens. Every now and then I don’t do “that thing” that I’m supposed to always do.

That is exactly how I was doing in the beginning. The few occasions were I did not take a test shot and I had a dive without strobes, or photography at all, educated me. Since then I never miss the obligatory test shot on the surface (I had occasional dives were I jumped into the water with the bottle closed, but never missed this test shot - too important the UW photography is)...

 

[VsubT]

My routine is to set up the camera and strobes for expected conditions, then test each strobe individually, then both together.

The test shot is also a great time to get your contact information into memory. I shoot at least one image of my business card.

Lance

 

[Barmaglot]

Next time I will put more floats on the outer arms, as close as possible to the strobes. I hope this will solve the problem...

I've seen some people shooting with very heavy video lights cut out foam blocks to proper shape and mount them directly on the lights - HF-1 doesn't have any side-mounted controls (unlike, say, Ikelike or Marelux strobes), so this can get the strobes fully neutral without inducing any torque.

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

@Barmaglot can you pls expand on/explain this further? Are we talking about zip-tying chunks of foam to the strobes? What about pool noodle material? Maybe a 3/4 circle would be perfect? Thanks.

 

[Barmaglot]

@Barmaglot can you pls expand on/explain this further? Are we talking about zip-tying chunks of foam to the strobes? What about pool noodle material? Maybe a 3/4 circle would be perfect? Thanks.

Pool noodle material is useless as it will compress under pressure and lose its buoyancy; you need hard, closed-cell foam like divinycell.

Zip-tying chunks of foam could, of course, work, but if you prefer to avoid the ghetto look, you could carve out something like this: Buoyancy Control Accessories

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Lol. Thanks!

 

[tcherna]

I had a similar experience when I switched to using Kelvin 4X video lights. Fortunately, they later came out with some buoyancy ring collars which resolved the issue (basically it is the same water weight difference as the HF-1). Hopefully backscatter can make something like that.

OK - hilarious, I just noticed the above link is to those very same Keldan floats.

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Lol.