Info Backscatter Hybrid Flash HF-01: preliminary review

[doubleender]

I am ... hopeful.

I have many photos of sharks where my strobe power was set well for the shark to be 6 - 8 feet away from me. Then I get lucky and instead of veering off, I have one that swims within 1 - 2 feet of the camera. And I end up with it being blown out because my strobes were set too bright for such a close distance.

If I can use TTL to solve that problem, it will be fantastic.

Of course, it will be dependent on the camera, too. The camera will need to have some suitable metering mode to work worth a crap.

My Sony has a Spot metering mode. And it has an option to lock metering to the focus spot.

I think that means I should be able to lock focus on a shark's eye (for example) and let the camera track focus as the shark moves towards me, then meter the shark's eye and give me a strobe flash that results in a good exposure on the area of the shark's eye, no matter what distance it is (presuming within strobe range, of course).

I speculate that other cameras might not have exactly the same options for metering. If not that or something similar, TTL might not be as useful.

Where have you seen that backscatter is making an olympus TTL trigger?

 

[BoltSnap]

I am ... hopeful.

I have many photos of sharks where my strobe power was set well for the shark to be 6 - 8 feet away from me. Then I get lucky and instead of veering off, I have one that swims within 1 - 2 feet of the camera. And I end up with it being blown out because my strobes were set too bright for such a close distance.

If I can use TTL to solve that problem, it will be fantastic.

Of course, it will be dependent on the camera, too. The camera will need to have some suitable metering mode to work worth a crap.

My Sony has a Spot metering mode. And it has an option to lock metering to the focus spot.

I think that means I should be able to lock focus on a shark's eye (for example) and let the camera track focus as the shark moves towards me, then meter the shark's eye and give me a strobe flash that results in a good exposure on the area of the shark's eye, no matter what distance it is (presuming within strobe range, of course).

I speculate that other cameras might not have exactly the same options for metering. If not that or something similar, TTL might not be as useful.

You go ahead and get all of that and tell me all about it Seriously, I await your reports.

 

[davehicks]

One other thought about these. For @Backscatter::Jim, but mentioning here so the rest of you can chime in agree or disagree.

These strobes take 2 x 21700 batteries each. So, normal daily usage means charging 4 strobe batteries every night.

Backscatter is not offering a 4-bay charger. Because of that, I ordered batteries with my strobes, but no charger.

I have now ordered separately a 4-bay charger that can do 4 x 21700 at a time. An Xtar VC4SL.

I really would have rather ordered 4 x batteries AND a 4-bay charger from Backscatter along with the rest of my order.


And, before somebody chimes in with "I'd rather have 2 x 2-bay, in case one dies during a trip", let me add this:

I've been changing over my cordless lights to ones that use 21700 batteries, too. My normal daily process needs to accommodate possibly charging 4 x 21700 for these strobes and at least one additional 21700 for a light. And, there is always the chance a strobe itself will die and I will fall back to my z330s, which use 8 x AA batteries.

So, on a big trip, I would be inclined to carry 2 x 4-bay chargers. On trips up to now, I have been taking a Gyrfalcon 8-bay charger and also an Xtar 4-bay. Unfortunately, the chargers I have won't accommodate the length of a 21700.

Having 2 x 4-bays that will work for 21700s will let me charge all my normal stuff at one time and give the redundancy for a charger OR a strobe failure. And, yes, I will need to order a second charger to achieve that. But, I'm going to wait until I have the first charger and the strobes and make sure everything really plays nicely together first.

TL;DR Backscatter, please add a 4-bay 21700 charger to your offerings!

My HF-1s are supposed to be delivered today. I hope to have a couple of dives with them on Friday and Saturday and will share first impressions.

I included 2 pairs of the recommended 21700's with my order. I look forward to seeing how well the strobe holds up with three-four dives a day. I just returned from Palau and most days I managed 250-350 shots a day. At God's Pocket in April with 3 dives/day I hit 400 a couple of times. Never full power, so I'm optimistic they will deliver a full days work.

(BTW shooting a Z8 in Palau one day I shot over 800 frames on a single battery (most without strobes) and ended with 21% in the camera battery. We can put to bed the worries about Z8 battery life!)

I've been using a Nitecore 4 cell charger that supports 21700s since I got the BS MF-2 strobe. It's USB-C powered which is great since almost all my dive/camera chargers are USB powered now. I drive all the chargers with a compact 65w USB source.

 

[stuartv]

I drive all the chargers with a compact 65w USB source.

Link?

 

[stuartv]

Where have you seen that backscatter is making an olympus TTL trigger?

Key Features​

• ƒ40 Guide Number
• 5,000 Lumen Video Light
• Spot, Wide, and Red Lights
• Selectable Angle of Coverage, with Included Flat Diffuser and Optional Dome Diffuser—120°, 140°, 160°
• Selectable Color Temperature with Optional Filters—6500K, 5500K, 4500K
• Smart Control Automatic TTL Flash Power for Sony, Olympus, and OM System Cameras

From:

Backscatter Hybrid Flash Underwater Strobe & Video Light Review - Underwater Photography - Backscatter

With the introduction of the Backscatter Hybrid Flash HF-1, underwater photographers can now capture stunning stills and video with a single versatile tool. The Hybrid is the most powerful strobe and video light combination ever created. The Hybrid Flash is able to light up the biggest scene...

www.backscatter.com

 

[stuartv]

I'm a bit surprised that they are supporting Olympus/OM before Nikon or Canon. But, they sell the gear, so I guess they know what cameras they provide the most other support for...

If I were buying new, FF would still be Sony, and if I wanted something smaller than FF, it would probably be an OM m43, so I guess I shouldn't feel so surprised.

 

[davehicks]

Link?

The one I have isn't available anymore, but this is a similar and higher watt product from a good brand.

 

[Backscatter::Jim]

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

Sorry, not sure what you mean by unbiased? The photos of the wall chart in the pool are unedited from the camera.

 

[Backscatter::Jim]

I have just ordered a set of these. I guess my z330s will get demoted to backup status and my z240s might finally get offered to a new home.

I am hoping to have them in time for the North Carolina Wreck Shark Shootout, July 8-13.

It would be even better if I got them and the Sony TTL trigger by then, but it sounds like the trigger is definitely not going to be available by then and I might not even get the strobes themselves in time.

10 fps and solid TTL control should really improve my # of keepers on the shark photos.

Fingers crossed!

Just be aware you won't get 10fps and TTL together. TTL has preflashes for metering which slow the whole process down. This is true of any flash with TTL, topside or underwater.

You also have to be aware of the power output the strobe. If the TTL is at the upper end of the output range for the scene you are shooting then it will be slower and conversely if the scene doesn't need a ton of strobe light, then the recycle will be faster.

If you really need to shoot fast, then do manual. If you want TTL to move faster then up your ISO and shutter speed.

 

[Backscatter::Jim]

One other thought about these. For @Backscatter::Jim, but mentioning here so the rest of you can chime in agree or disagree.

These strobes take 2 x 21700 batteries each. So, normal daily usage means charging 4 strobe batteries every night.

Backscatter is not offering a 4-bay charger. Because of that, I ordered batteries with my strobes, but no charger.

I have now ordered separately a 4-bay charger that can do 4 x 21700 at a time. An Xtar VC4SL.

I really would have rather ordered 4 x batteries AND a 4-bay charger from Backscatter along with the rest of my order.


And, before somebody chimes in with "I'd rather have 2 x 2-bay, in case one dies during a trip", let me add this:

I've been changing over my cordless lights to ones that use 21700 batteries, too. My normal daily process needs to accommodate possibly charging 4 x 21700 for these strobes and at least one additional 21700 for a light. And, there is always the chance a strobe itself will die and I will fall back to my z330s, which use 8 x AA batteries.

So, on a big trip, I would be inclined to carry 2 x 4-bay chargers. On trips up to now, I have been taking a Gyrfalcon 8-bay charger and also an Xtar 4-bay. Unfortunately, the chargers I have won't accommodate the length of a 21700.

Having 2 x 4-bays that will work for 21700s will let me charge all my normal stuff at one time and give the redundancy for a charger OR a strobe failure. And, yes, I will need to order a second charger to achieve that. But, I'm going to wait until I have the first charger and the strobes and make sure everything really plays nicely together first.

TL;DR Backscatter, please add a 4-bay 21700 charger to your offerings!

Others have already posted about the benefits of multiple chargers for backup so I won't go there but just to say I've seen things go sideways in the field that was no fault of the charger.

The reason we sell the specific XTAR 2 bay charger at Backscatter is we pair it with the QC3.0 USB power brick so that it will perform at the maximum charge rate. It's 2A in each slot and if you just charge 1 battery in 1 slot it's 3A. To keep the math simple that means it charges a 6000mah battery from dead in 3 hours for 2 batteries in 2 slots, and 2 hours with 1 battery in 1 slot with the other left open. Most 4 bay chargers will charge between .5 and 1A, meaning 6 or 12 hours. There is a 4 bay charger that can do 2A in 2 slots and 3A in 1 slot if the others are left empty, but then you are back in the same boat (pardon the pun) as the 2 slot charger, plus that charger has to be manually set up to do that.