Info Backscatter Hybrid Flash HF-01: preliminary review

[Backscatter::Jim]

Planned shipping is "end of May" - this would be just now, according to my calendar...

Did anyone already receive their HF-1 (I ordered two and am waiting)?


Wolfgang

Shipping is imminent. Talking days away, not weeks for the first ones to get out the door. With shipping time I would think most will arrive to their destinations late next week and the next 2 weeks after if they are already on order. Thanks for your patience on this first batch run as I can't nail down specific days for delivery yet--we're working on it!

 

[BalekFekete]

Shipping is imminent. Talking days away, not weeks for the first ones to get out the door. With shipping time I would think most will arrive to their destinations late next week and the next 2 weeks after if they are already on order.

Crosses fingers his arrives before the Invasion!

 

[Double.Ender]

Shipping is imminent. Talking days away, not weeks for the first ones to get out the door. With shipping time I would think most will arrive to their destinations late next week and the next 2 weeks after if they are already on order. Thanks for your patience on this first batch run as I can't nail down specific days for delivery yet--we're working on it!

Anxiously refreshing my banking app to check if its been processed

 

[Backscatter::Jim]

Anxiously refreshing my banking app to check if its been processed

Shipping from Backscatter is starting today. Not all orders will be filled today, but will continue on in the next week or 2. If someone ordered through one of our authorized dealers, please check in with them as some dealers are already starting to receive shipments or will be very soon.

Here is a link to our support page that includes the instruction manual and informational and how to videos:

backscatter.com/HF-1-SUPPORT

Thanks for all the support from Scubaboard and let us know if you have any questions!

 

[Double.Ender]

Sound the alarm

Order notification came through!

 

[BoltSnap]

The 6000mah batteries are relatively new so we are testing them right now. The 6000mah have more capacity which would mean longer run time. That is what we are testing.

Let me know if you guys have any more questions, happy to try and answer!

What's new with the 6000mah battery testing? Any decisions from your end if they are usable and worth it instead of the 5300mah batteries please?

 

[Backscatter::Jim]

What's new with the 6000mah battery testing? Any decisions from your end if they are usable and worth it instead of the 5300mah batteries please?

It is usable and works fine, but it doesn't really boost longevity that much.

The simple math is 6000 is about 13% more than 5300. However we did not see a 13% increase in performance. We found that the extension in the battery life is coming at low voltage at the end of the charge of the battery. It had no effect on the LED light longevity except for when the Hybrid is in its low power mode at the end of the charge compared to the 5300. The number of flashes at max power increased by about 5% over the 5300. This is less than 20 flashes.

The downside to the 6000 is that the battery is physically bigger. It does not fit nicely into any 21700 protective battery cases for travel that we've tried. It does not fit in our Macro Wide 4300 video light. It does fit in the Mini Flash 2 and Hybrid.

So the bottom line is that it will fit and work in the Hybrid but will just have a paltry increase in longevity. If you just have to have it because "This one goes to 11!" they by all means it can be used.

 

[tcherna]

Regarding the TTL functionality, is there any way this would work with a Panasonic camera and is that planned?

 

[Backscatter::Jim]

Regarding the TTL functionality, is there any way this would work with a Panasonic camera and is that planned?

The RC mode of Panasonic bodies and lenses is different than the OM/Olympus RC mode. I don't have a timeline for when we would be doing Panasonic specifically.

 

[WS007]

The RC mode of Panasonic bodies and lenses is different than the OM/Olympus RC mode. I don't have a timeline for when we would be doing Panasonic specifically.

Hi Jim,

I have a question regarding your strobe testing: in some videos (reviews of different strobes) you show the brightness distribution of the strobe (with and w/o diffusers) UW on a test chart.

=> Is it possible that you could provide the unprocessed RAW files of these test photos, at least from the HF-1 strobe (preferentially also from other strobes, e.g. Retra, Seacam, YS-D3), so that one could view and analyse these photos completely unbiased.


I would greatly appreciate this, thanks, Wolfgang