Oskar

Forum username: oskar (personal), Oskar@RetraUWT / oskarretrauwt (company)
Real name: Oskar Zupancic (also referenced as Oskar Marko Music in early articles)
Posts: 563 combined (396 as “oskar” + 167 as “oskarretrauwt”)
Active years: 2007–2024
Primary forums: Photography Gear and Technique, Lights/Strobes/Lighting
Specialization: DIY electronics, strobe triggering, compact/mirrorless camera systems, lighting innovation
Location: Slovenia
Affiliation: Founder and Managing Director of Retra Underwater Technology

Biography

Oskar Zupancic is a Slovenian underwater photographer and entrepreneur who participated on the Wetpixel forums for 17 years, initially as an enthusiast photographer and later as the founder of Retra Underwater Technology, one of the most innovative lighting companies in the underwater photography industry.

His forum career reveals a fascinating trajectory: from a compact camera user troubleshooting Sea & Sea equipment in 2007, through a DIY electronics tinkerer building LED flash triggers in 2009, to the inventor of the Light Shaping Device (LSD) snoot and founder of a strobe manufacturing company that would challenge established players like Inon and Sea & Sea.

Community Role as Photographer (2007–2014)

Under the username “oskar,” Zupancic was an active and technically curious forum contributor with 396 posts and an unusually high number of threads started (80) — indicating he frequently initiated discussions rather than just responding. His early posts focused on compact camera systems and strobe compatibility issues.

Sea & Sea DX-1G and Strobe Issues

His first notable thread (2008) reported misfiring problems with a Sea & Sea YS-110 strobe paired with a DX-1G compact camera. This practical frustration with strobe triggering reliability appears to have been a seed for his later innovations. (^[1])

DIY LED Trigger Flash

In August 2009, Oskar started a technically significant 32-reply thread proposing the use of a small LED slave trigger in the hot shoe of a camera instead of relying on the built-in flash to trigger external strobes. He reasoned that this would eliminate flash recycle delays and reduce battery drain. The idea drew interest from cheungydiver (David), who had independently built several LED trigger circuits and reported that Zillion Housings used infrared flash triggers internally. The thread documented a community-wide interest in solving strobe triggering bottlenecks — a problem that Oskar would later address commercially through Retra’s products. (^[2])

Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Nauticam Setup

His most-discussed thread (46 replies, 2013) explored using the Olympus Zuiko 9-18mm wide-angle zoom lens behind a Nauticam 4.33-inch dome with extension rings on the Olympus OM-D E-M5. He engaged in detailed technical discussion about dome port radius matching, extension ring stacking, and close-focus limitations — demonstrating the engineering mindset that would inform his product design. (^[3])

RX100 Strobe Recycle Time

A 2012 thread about the Sony RX100’s internal strobe recycle time when used as a trigger for external strobes drew 24 replies and a detailed testing response from spp, who ran systematic tests with an Inon Z-240. Oskar’s post included a prescient note: “It would have been such an easy tiny little firmware fix to add a low level strobe mode to only do a minimal power flash” — foreshadowing the kind of lighting engineering improvements Retra would later bring to market. (^[4])

Other Technical Discussions

• Canon G1X evaluation for underwater use (2012) (^[5])
• Warming strobe filters, focus lights that black out when the strobe fires, wet wide-angle lens angle of view calculations
• Nauticam housing modifications, dome port adapters, and compact camera housing comparisons

Inventor of the LSD and Founder of Retra (2010–present)

In 2010, at approximately twenty years of age, Zupancic contacted Slovenian underwater photographer Borut Furlan with an idea for projecting shaped light underwater from a distance using optics rather than reductive tube snoots. He had already filed for patent protection. The two independently developed prototype Light Shaping Devices on Seacam strobes, completing them by late October 2010. (^[6])

The LSD represented a fundamental departure from conventional snoots. Rather than blocking most strobe output to create a small spotlight, it collected light through a collector, passed it through interchangeable aperture plates, and projected it through a coated lens — functioning as a miniature underwater light projector. This produced a collimated beam with less light loss than tube snoots. (^[7])

Zupancic founded Retra Underwater Technology with co-founders Jure Novak and Luka Mali. The company was formally introduced to the international community through Alex Mustard’s 2013 review of the LSD Prime, which noted that Retra LSD snoots were “dominating the podiums of Fotosub contests” and had won gold at the CMAS World Championship of Underwater Photography (photographer: Rok Kovacic). (^[8])

Alex Mustard personally met Oskar at the EUDI show in Milan in February 2013. (^[9])

Transition to Company Account

Starting around 2015, Zupancic began posting under the “oskarretrauwt” / “Oskar@RetraUWT” username, reflecting his shift from community photographer to manufacturer representative. Under this account he made 167 posts and left 33 comments on articles — primarily providing product support, answering technical questions about Retra strobes, and engaging with reviews and customer feedback. (^[10])

Major Product Milestones

• 2011: LSD (Light Shaping Device) snoot launched — reviewed by Borut Furlan for Wetpixel (^[11])
• 2013: LSD Prime (lower-cost version) released — reviewed by Alex Mustard (^[12])
• 2017: Retra Flash announced and shipped — the company’s first strobe, 100W/s, designed as an upgrade from Inon Z-240 / Sea & Sea D1/D2 class (^[13], ^[14])
• 2020: Retra Flash Prime and Pro (circular flash tube, Bluetooth connectivity, leak detection) (^[15])
• 2020: Supercharger external battery pack (^[16], ^[17])
• 2021: Retra celebrated 10 years; Zupancic appeared on Wetpixel Live with Adam Hanlon (^[18])
• 2021: Warranty extension and firmware update program (^[19])

Note on name: Early articles (2011, 2013) refer to “Oskar Marko Music” while later articles (2017, 2021) consistently use “Oskar Zupancic.” The Retra company page identifies both names as the same person. The surname change may reflect a legal name change or the use of different names in different contexts.

Activity Profile

• First post (oskar): January 10, 2007
• Last post (oskar): August 7, 2024
• First post (oskarretrauwt): November 29, 2015
• Last post (oskarretrauwt): December 11, 2023
• Combined threads started: 80 (oskar account)
• Combined article comments: 33 (oskarretrauwt account)
• Article mentions: 5 (as Retra founder)
• Primary gear (personal): Sea & Sea DX-1G, Canon G1X, Olympus OM-D E-M5 in Nauticam housing, various Inon and Sea & Sea strobes (early), Retra products (later)