Backscatter HF-1 Strobe Review

Last year, retailer Backscatter released their latest strobe, the HF-1. It arrived with quite a loud bang, as the spec list read like someone had gathered all the most desirable features you could want in a single strobe and simply released it. The guide number was a staggering 40, and the "HF" stood for Hybrid Flash—the strobe includes a built-in 5,000-lumen video light, allowing users to switch between video and stills seamlessly in seconds. The strobe also offers unparalleled recycle time, thanks to the lithium battery and straight-tube design.

Recently, I was on a trip to Cuba and managed to get my hands on a pair of these strobes to test out. They are aimed squarely at serious wide-angle shooters, and Cuba was the perfect destination to put them through their paces—shooting reefs and big sharks in bright, sunny conditions where strobe power and fast recycle time are imperative.

Technical specifications

As I said, the technical specifications of these strobes are quite something. They offer TTL shooting, which is great for beginner photographers and for those who simply don’t want the hassle of manually adjusting strobes for every shot. I personally only used the strobes in manual mode, as I have no need for TTL, but I think it’s nice that it’s available for those who wish to use it. It also makes the product appealing to a wider range of people.

The standout specifications for me, however, were the guide number (GN) rating of 40—putting it higher than almost any other strobe on the market—and the ability to shoot at high frame rates of up to 10 frames per second when using intermediate power settings. The strobe beam angle is 120 degrees out of the box, extends to 140 degrees with a diffuser, and reaches 160 degrees when adding a dome diffuser. This is very important, as high power is of little use if the beam is narrow and harsh. We are always aiming for soft, even light when shooting wide-angle subjects. The HF-1 uses a straight flash tube, not the circular flash tube I’ve become used to over recent years, but it’s the straight flash tube that allows for the increased power and faster recycle time.

The video light is 5,000 lumens, powered by an LED array that offers a 90-degree beam. This is a great addition to a strobe and marks the first strobe offering a truly usable video light feature.

The testing locations

I’ve used these strobes in three locations, each offering a very different style of diving, photographic opportunities, and conditions: the warm, clear Caribbean waters of Cuba; the macro wonderland of Lembeh in Indonesia; and my local diving in the frigid waters of Iceland. This allowed me to test them in water temperatures ranging from 1°C to 30°C (34°F to 86°F) and in visibility from 5 to 100 meters (16 to 328 feet).

These varied environments also gave me the chance to try the strobes on a wide range of subjects and conditions—from fisheye shark shots and macro photography to cold-water diver portraits—letting me evaluate how they performed across the board.

How powerful are they?

On paper, this strobe offers the biggest numbers on the market, and that was the first thing I was keen to test. Contrary to what most people assume, you actually need the most power when conditions are the brightest—because you're competing with the ambient light produced by the sun. One of my favorite ways to shoot is directly into the sun, but to do this effectively, you often need to shoot at f/22 and ISO 50, using your fastest sync speeds to control sunballs or prevent the blues from blowing out. To get enough light on your subject under those conditions, you need an extraordinary amount of strobe power.

The power dial on the HF-1 has an interesting setup: full power is indicated by "F," and then there’s a +1 and +2, giving you two additional power settings—almost like a power boost. When I cranked it up to +2, I was shooting directly upwards into the sunlight, waiting for sharks to pass overhead so I could light their underbellies against the sunball above. The strobe managed to illuminate the shark—even though it wasn’t particularly close to the lens. As you can see in the image, the shark is a few meters from the camera yet is well lit with soft, even coverage, despite the challenging camera settings of f/22 and ISO 50.

I’ve shot my Retra strobes on full power plenty of times—and often do. The HF-1s are definitely more powerful, no doubt about it. It’s great to have that kind of output available when you need it for extreme situations, like the image I mentioned earlier. I’ve also done a lot of wreck photography, where you’re lighting a very large scene—such as the bow of a ship—and need to shoot from a greater distance. The HF-1s are excellent for those kinds of shots, which are difficult to achieve with most other strobes.

I also found the HF-1s great for lighting large scenes like schooling reef fish, where you again need to shoot from a bit further back due to the size of the school. I was even able to light an entire coral bommie from above, along with all the sharks surrounding it. Having that kind of power available when you need it makes a real difference. These are, without doubt, the most powerful strobes I’ve ever used.

The light quality

As they say, with great power comes great responsibility—and there’s little point in blasting your images with a bunch of ugly light. When I was in Cuba—a dream holiday for me and a chance to shoot reef sharks on a reef in perfect conditions—I had my tried-and-true strobes with me. When the opportunity to try the HF-1s came up, I was initially hesitant to leave my usual setup behind. I figured I’d give them a go for just one dive. But I ended up using them for the remaining three days. For this kind of shooting, I was satisfied with the softness of the light and genuinely impressed by the power and recycle times.

The light isn’t quite as soft as what you get from a circular flash tube, and the spread without a diffuser isn’t as wide. These are definitely strobes that benefit from using a diffuser to soften the light and increase beam width. But with the diffusers in place, I was happy with the light quality. It was very even across the frame, with no noticeable hotspots or shadows. Of course, using a diffuser also knocks down some of that magical power the strobe offers. In certain situations, I chose to go without the diffuser to retain maximum output.

The diffusers are easy to attach and remove underwater, and they come with a small tether—similar to the ones on the MF-2 for anyone familiar with that system. That means you can just let them hang when not in use, without the hassle of holding onto them or trying to stuff them into a pocket.

Lately, I’ve been shooting with the HF-1s in Iceland, in conditions I know well. I find that the strobes produce results very similar to what I’m used to in terms of light spread.

Battery life and recycle speed

One of the standout features for me was the battery life. The HF-1 claims it can fire up to 1,000 full-power shots (375 at F+2) on a single charge using two 21700 lithium-ion batteries. On a heavy-shooting trip like Cuba—four dives a day, all with high-power wide-angle setups—this was a game changer. I’m used to changing batteries at least every other dive, so this extended performance was incredibly useful in the real world. It also meant I didn’t need to carry a spare set of batteries for each strobe like I usually do; I could simply recharge the same set each evening. That said, I would still always travel with a spare set, just in case.

This battery capacity also enables fast recycle times and the advertised ability to shoot up to 10 frames per second. While underwater shooting is usually done at slower frame rates, we've all had moments when the strobe didn’t recycle fast enough—and of course, the frame it missed was the best one. You fire too early in excitement, then miss the peak of the action at the end. So having this kind of speed is genuinely practical in the field.

To test this, I switched my camera from its usual single-shot mode to high-speed continuous. With the strobes set to 50% power, I swam up to a good friend, shoved the camera in his face, and held the shutter down. The effect was like a machine gun—the strobes just kept firing. I racked up 80 frames of my buddy before I even realized it. The series was so fast it could be used like an old-school animation flip-book. At this power setting, the output remained consistent. The strobe is designed to drop power by two steps if it can’t recycle in time, but at half power, it kept up without issue.

After the success of this comedy test, I applied the same technique in a real shoot with fast-moving sharks. While the HF-1 won’t sustain full power at that speed, it does fire faster than any other strobe I’ve used at full output—and it won’t completely fail to fire. Instead, it intelligently drops to the highest manageable power level. In real-world scenarios where you’re shooting at high speed, aiming for around 50% power is ideal. Raising the ISO slightly and lowering the strobe power is the way to make it work.

Macro shooting

Let’s be clear—these strobes are not primarily designed for macro work. Backscatter already produces the hugely popular MF-2 for dedicated macro shooters. The HF-1 has been engineered for those aiming to shoot expansive wide-angle scenes. However, if you own a pair of these, you’re unlikely to also carry a separate set of macro strobes, so it's important that they can still perform adequately for macro photography.

Macro shooting is often the opposite of Caribbean reef work in terms of ambient light. Visibility may be poor, and conditions are typically darker and more confined, which means you frequently use strobes at very low power. One of the first things I tested was how the HF-1 performed at its lowest power setting—and even then, it’s still quite strong. I’d actually like to see the addition of effective -1 and -2 power settings, just like the strobe already provides on the higher end of its output range.

That said, the strobes still performed well for macro. I was able to control the high output using camera and strobe settings, and I didn’t encounter any shots I couldn’t take because of the strobe’s power.

The strobes come with excellent accessories for wide-angle shooting, but at the time of testing, the dedicated snoot for the HF-1 had not yet been released. Once available, it will significantly improve the HF-1’s versatility for macro. I’d also like to see some beam restrictors developed. I personally enjoy using beam restrictors in macro to create a harder-edged light—essentially the opposite of what’s needed for wide-angle scenes.

One feature I really appreciated in macro use was the ability to quickly flip over to macro video for short bursts. Macro often revolves around behavior and movement, so being able to capture brief video clips added a fun dimension to each dive. The 5,000 lumens of video light power is more than sufficient for illuminating small scenes.

Overall, I find the HF-1 to be a capable macro strobe—one that will only get better over time as more accessories become available. A firmware update to enable lower power settings for macro would be a welcome improvement. That said, for photographers primarily focused on macro, the HF-1 offers far more power than necessary, and they’d likely be better served with Backscatter’s purpose-built MF-2.

Ergonomics and value  

The strobes are relatively large, but not as big as you might expect given the power they deliver. This is thanks to the use of a straight flash tube and Lithium 21700 batteries, which help keep the form factor more compact. While the strobes are heavy on land (1.1 kg / 2.5 lbs), I really liked the size-to-performance ratio and found them to be well-balanced underwater—they’re not overly negative, weighing in at just 0.5 lbs (about 0.23 kg) negative in water.

The control dials on the back are intuitive and clearly marked. Once I got a feel for them, I could adjust power levels without needing to look directly at the dial settings. That said, back home in Iceland, where I dive with thick dry gloves, the dials became more cumbersome to operate. The cold conditions and bulkier gloves make fine adjustments more difficult. Fortunately, a few people in the community have already created 3D-printed overlays that fit over the existing dials to improve usability in cold water—an elegant and practical solution.

The battery compartment is particularly well designed. It features dual O-rings, a sand gasket, and a hard mechanical stop when tightened fully, removing any ambiguity about whether the seal is secure. I found it both reliable and reassuring. The strobe also includes a simple three-color LED system—green, amber, and red—to indicate battery status at a glance. In practice, however, this feature became almost unnecessary, as even during heavy-use days, I rarely saw the battery indicator drop below amber due to the exceptional longevity of the batteries.

At $999 USD, the HF-1 strobes are priced very competitively. Backscatter, already a major player in underwater imaging retail, has clearly leveraged its market insights to offer something both powerful and affordable. Given the feature set—and the fact that these strobes fill a previously unmet niche—the price point is highly attractive. It has already prompted some competing manufacturers to reevaluate their own development pipelines, which is a positive sign for the industry as a whole.