Strobe Review: Scubalamp D-Max and Retra Pro Flash

by adamhanlon Sunday, April 25th, 2021

Real-world impressions

Scubalamp D-Max

We tested the D-Max on five dives in the La Paz area. The strobes feel great and perform very well. The quality of light is good, with an excellent uniformity (especially when used with the D100 diffuser) and pleasing colors. The texture and tone of the images look great. The fast recycle time allows for rapid shooting of fast-moving subjects, greatly increasing the user’s chances of catching the peak of the action. Usability is very good, and during the five dives, the strobes worked as expected.

The high maximum power helps a lot in high contrast situations, like when the sun is behind the subject and the aperture needs to be closed. Overall they are a big step up from something like Sea&Sea’s YS-D2Js.

Sea fan taken with two Scubalamp D-Max. Nikon D500, Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye @ 10mm, 1/250th, f/20, ISO125

Coral head taken with two Scubalamp D-Max. Sony A6300, Sigma 19mm f/2.8, Nauticam WWL-1, 1/160th, f/11, ISO320

Octopus taken with two Scubalamp D-Max. Sony A6300, Sigma 19mm f/2.8, Nauticam WWL-1, 1/160th, f/10, ISO250

Retra Flash Pro

Hannes has been able to shoot the Retra Flash Pro for the better part of a year now. The quality of light is exceptional to the point where using diffusers seems unnecessary most of the time. They are really only necessary in very close-focus situations or when an even warmer color temperature is desirable. The standard color temperature of 4900K is ideal in the kind of blue water we get here in La Paz during most of the year and during the very best months, the warming diffusers help bring out that rich blue even better. In terms of usability, the strobes are excellent and a huge upgrade over Hannes’ previous Inon Z-240 strobes. The different lengths of the dials allow for simply feeling for the right one without looking even without any muscle memory. They could click in place a little better though as it is possible to leave the dial between two positions. The Retra Flash Pro is plenty powerful even for bright daylight shooting in shallow waters, as is often the case in the waters around the Baja California peninsula. Starting out without the Supercharger the limitations in recycle time and battery autonomy became very apparent. Using the Supercharger, however, has improved things to a very acceptable level, even when being surrounded by playful sea lions that move at lightning speed.

Starry grouper taken with two Retra Flash Pro. Nikon D500, Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye @ 17mm, 1/125th, f/10, ISO200

Sea fans taken with two Retra Flash Pro. Nikon D500, Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye @ 10mm, 1/250th, f/20, ISO160

All in all the Retra Flash Pro is a fantastic device. The quality of light is outstanding. The amount of light produced is remarkable given its small size and when using the Supercharger recycle times are reasonable even at higher power. Innovative new features set these strobes apart from the crowd and make them feel more like something produced in the smartphone age. To get a more powerful upgrade to this strobe one has to pay almost double the price so as far as value for money goes the Retras is easy to recommend.

Sea turtle taken with two Retra Flash Pro. Nikon D500, Tokina 10-17mm Fisheye @ 14mm, 1/250th, f/10, ISO320

Comparison

We have also produced a couple of similar images over the course of two days to provide a more “apples-to-apples” comparison between the two strobes. While the Retra Flash Pro does provide a slightly more pleasing light, the D-Max is not far off and does produce beautiful illumination as well. It does, however, produce slightly less pleasing water colors than the Retra.

Side-by-side comparison: Two D-Max strobes with D100 diffusers (left) vs. two Retra Flash Pro with wide-angle diffusers (right). Taken 24 hours apart.

Two D-Max with D100 diffusers. (top), Two Retra Flash Pro with wide-angle diffusers (bottom). Taken 24 hours apart.

Conclusions

We have reviewed and compared two exciting new additions to the underwater flash market: the Retra Flash Pro and the D-Max from Scubalamp.

The D-Max features a bright beam with a very good quality of light and excellent coverage. It has class-leading battery autonomy. Unfortunately, the global output power is not even close to what is being advertised but instead appears to fall a few Watt-seconds short of the Retra Flash Pro. Recycle times are very impressive, albeit not quite reaching the claimed values. The handling underwater is also good, with just some minor details like the upside-down labels that make reading the power level just a tad more awkward. The lack of pre-flash cancellation is a potentially severe shortcoming as could be the unsealed battery compartment. Overall it is a great first offering of a company that has previously only produced torches and can certainly be improved on significantly by accessories and in future iterations of the design. Warming diffusers or beam restrictors for example would make fantastic accessories.

In this comparison, however, the Retra Flash Pro emerges as the winner. It is an overall more mature product and really shows how much Retra has involved underwater photographers in the development of the product in both small details as well as its main features. The quality of light is gorgeous even without using diffusers and a whole range of accessories can be used to modify the light to suit the photographer’s vision. Light output is a big upgrade over previous generation strobes and the addition of HSS allows for even more creative use. The only weakness of this strobe is at the same time one of its strengths: the use of standard AA batteries. While it is comforting to know that wherever in the world you are, you will almost always be able to find a replacement should one fail, the power requirements of such a high-performance strobe really show the limitations of this type of battery. Recycle times are fairly slow and the number of flashes produced on a single charge falls far short of what the D-Max can offer. The Supercharger somewhat closes this gap and is a great improvement, but still won’t allow for similar battery performance. It should be noted that Retra has just announced an updated version of the Retra Flash: The Retra Flash Pro/Prime X, which features up to 25% faster recycle times and up to 20% more flashes per charge, thanks to an optimized flash triggering system. This is according to Retra of course, so time will tell if these claims can be verified. Nevertheless, any improvements of these two factors would be greatly appreciated and could lift this fantastic strobe to even higher levels of praise.

Thanks for the nice write up!!! I have some thoughts as well about the Retras.

I had years with both Inon and Sea&Sea flashes and finally last year I spent a big chunk on the Retra Pros.

First impression was that I could forget about using older Eneloops or other brands to charge them and shoot reliably on a dive. After some feedback I realized I had to use Eneloop Pros and buy them new.

I have now spent only about 30 dives with the Retra Pro (thank you Covid!).

As mentioned in the article, the flashes diffuse so well (even with an 8mm FE lens on M43) that I have passed on purchasing diffusers so far.

Coverage is now easier to achieve with the Fisheye lens and color quality and uniformity is way better than what I was used to. Huge improvement over Z240s.

Power is so strong that at full blast you have to make sure water is clear or you will get back white clouds (!). So I decided the new Reflector option on sale can be a good option to get the best water penetration for skittish animals that do not come close or other focused subjects further out in the blue. However if you buy the reflector you need to buy the reduction ring. Not sure why they did not design it to allow direct coupling to the flash (!). This is next on my wish list. Clearly most of the times you will not go over 50% of the power except for certain situations I describe later.

Ergonomics is generally great and the knobs are differentiated somewhat but they have the same shape and are both black. It would have been nicer a different shape and/or color knobs.

The Bluetooth wireless connection is great and it gives you a fantastic option to upgrades, total flash count, and voltage levels.

For protection I would rather use some self made neoprene (plenty of that at my place) with a cover that can be flipped out and back on the flash body with some velcro. Easier to use and cheaper.

The Supercharger is a good investment since after 2 dives flashes are already in the red zone. If you plan 2 dives or shooting well lit widest angles the 4 AAs Eneloop Pros may not make it. I think a new design may want to look into the Li-ion 18650s as a longer higher density battery. Also the Retra Pros will not work well with non-Eneloop batteries so the flexibility of using more popular AAs is really not there. These ones on my wish list as well (!).

One of the interesting feature I am now using successfully is the HSS (high speed sync). I bought the Turtle sync which has both HSS support for both manual and TTL modes. My camera shoots up to 1/4000 and gives some exciting creative choices underwater!. However this feature will use more power.

LSD options may also be worthwhile if you like some special snooting effects and attach directly to the Retras. This will also use more power I believe but have not tested it.

Overall a great new evolution and lots of interesting options. Power is where this flash has a bit of a weak point in my opinion. I think the optimal battery needs to be able to do 2 or 3 dives without having to worry whether it's going to get to the end of the day or not.

Andrea

Posted by Andrea Severino on 2021-04-26 09:51:51