coolpix5000 strobe q's

I'm in the process of purchasing a CP5000 and plan to go with the Ikelite housing. I'm now doing research on strobe selection, and have been reading through lots of interesting threads. As I'm new to digital photography and U/W photog., I've got a few questions...

1) if using TTL hardwired, do you need to leave the preflash on? I'm guessing yes, b/c my understanding is that the preflash is what provides the input for the TTL to function. However, it seemed to be a big thing that the new firmware allowed turning off the preflash....only useful if NOT doing TTL?

2) when the preflash is going off, is the strobe firing as well? (I'm envisioning sending lots of fish into epileptic seizures...)

3) when using two strobes, does the 2nd one slave off of the first, or does it get it's own cable?

4) if using TTL hardwired, with this camera/housing is it possible to use any of the strobes out there (Nikon, S&S, Ike) and throw the "support of digital flash systems" factor out the window? Or, to put it another way, would the "special circuitry" of the DS125 be unused in this rig? (The strobe sounds great on other merits - size, recharge, coverage, etc, just trying to determine if I need to factor in the smarts that normally go with the slave sensor usage etc).

That's enough for now.

Oh, except should I get the DS125 or the YS90DX? ("duck and cover...")

Hi J,

Lots of questions! That's no sweat, there are quite a few people here who use or have used the CP5000. Start by doing a search here on "Coolpix Preflash" or something like that to read past threads.

) if using TTL hardwired, do you need to leave the preflash on? I'm guessing yes, b/c my understanding is that the preflash is what provides the input for the TTL to function. However, it seemed to be a big thing that the new firmware allowed turning off the preflash....only useful if NOT doing TTL?

Let me just start by saying that the preflash on the Coolpix 5000 does NOTHING for your exposure. Forget about it - just consider it a nuisance. Turn it off if you can. So hook up a sync cord to your housing and just turn the preflash off. Also understand that the "TTL" on the Coolpix meters the flash DURING the shot and the PREFLASH is before the shot.

2) when the preflash is going off, is the strobe firing as well? (I'm envisioning sending lots of fish into epileptic seizures...)

No, see above.

3) when using two strobes, does the 2nd one slave off of the first, or does it get it's own cable?

When using two strobes, the second one does what you tell it to do. You decide. If you use a dual sync cord then both of the strobes will receive TTL commands from the camera. This is the ultimate way to go. You can use your second strobe as a slave off of your primary strobe, but that is not as reliable as using a dual cord.

4) if using TTL hardwired, with this camera/housing is it possible to use any of the strobes out there (Nikon, S&S, Ike) and throw the "support of digital flash systems" factor out the window? Or, to put it another way, would the "special circuitry" of the DS125 be unused in this rig? (The strobe sounds great on other merits - size, recharge, coverage, etc, just trying to determine if I need to factor in the smarts that normally go with the slave sensor usage etc).

Yep, you can use literally any strobe out there with this camera system. You don't need any special circuitry - because that stuff is designed to make a strobe a digital TTL slave. Besides, that circuitry is built in to the Ike digital TTL sensor. The DS125 is a darned good strobe when used with a sync cord. Do you already own a strobe? If not then consider what you will need to get good pix with your camera. If you will be shooting with the wideangle lens you will need one WIDE strobe or two smaller ones to get well-lit shots. If you plan on starting with macro then you can get by with one smaller strobe.

HTH

James

James, can you get two dives with the nikon battery? with AF and monitor on?

Karl

That would depend on what sleep mode your camera was set to and how many shots you take.

I think that two dives may be pushing it, assuming the two dives are about 1 hour each.

James - thanks very much for the enlightening post!

I currently own NADA U/W photo gear. I know people who know people etc that may have some older gear they would part with for less $$ than brand new stuff. Not that I'm using price as an only factor, but it is still a factor.

I dive mostly in the PNW (Seattle area and God's Pocket in Port Hardy, BC), with occasional trips to the warm water spots (once every 2-3 years). It seems that most of the photo hounds in our God's Pocket group shoot both macro and close wide angle (people harassing crabs, playing with wolf eels and octopus, etc), so I would expect to be doing the same.

My main goal with gear selection is to get the learning curve as short as possible - ie find the quickest route to getting at least some decent shots. Once there I can then start tweaking etc. I figure if you're good enough, anyone can get great shots with almost any rig - but some rigs will make it much harder to get equivalent results! Why make it harder than it needs to be (especially when starting green field on the equipment front)?

Any advice is definately welcome!

--Jason

I see you have not bought a housing yet. There is an Aquatica A5000 housing on EBAY right now. Not mine and I do not know them. Just in case you were looking.

ps I too love the Port Hardy area for pictures and diving.

I would be curious as to your thoughts on God's pocket. I have only done liveaboards in that area.

I can sell you the whole set! Camera / housing and strobe

My advice would be to buy the WHOLE setup at once, used (whichever one you decide on). This will save you a little $ and a lot of headache.