Dear guys,

Maybe someone shooting the Z8 can help out - I have a problem…

Today I went the first time with the Z8 and a macro setup underwater. I shoot in a Nauticam housing with the uw technics title-adaptor. My strobes are older Retra pro which I also used with my old setup (D850 in Nauticam, also with the uw technics ttl converter).

I was snooting and set the lighting: Strobes on 25 %, f16, 1/200th and ISO 640. lighting was ok to start with. Then I went to f18/f20 and above and wanted to go to 50 % strobe power - but the images were just black. I went down with the strobe power to 25% and the aperture f16 and the images were ok again. Tested with my second strobe: same result.

Is there something I set wrong in camera? Did somebody experience the same? All ideas welcome.

Thanks,

Michael

Hi Michael, it sounds like your camera and UW Technics converter are emitting a TTL signal (multiple pulses, including pre-flash and main flash) while the strobe is expecting a single pulse that is required for manual power settings. Effectively the strobe is now flashing multiple times which reduces it's light output and increases the power consumption. This is a very common problem that even the most experienced photographers get caught on (don't ask me how I know).

The UW Technics converter can usually be set to position 0 on the small rotary dial on the board, and it should emit only single pulses. Once set check that you are getting strong light on the image at 100% strobe power. This is the best solution if you mainly use the strobe in manual mode.

For information on how to successfully control and switch between TTL mode and single pulse mode in your camera menu it will be necessary to get the user manual for your UW Technics converter and check how it works combination with your specific camera.

Oh dear… Thanks Oscar! It was - of course - a classic id10t mistake… the camera has so many different menu-points from the D850 that I forgot the easy settings: just needed to alter Menu e1 to 1/250s - it’s working again 🙈

(And the uw technics on Number 7 for the Retras).

Sometimes it just needs a hint and a pint and then one has the solution 👍