PT-015 and SB-105

Hi,

Been reading though many posts but not sure I found the answer. I have a Nikonos V and a SB-105 strobe. I would like to convert over to digital. I have been looking at the Oly 5050Z with the Oly PT-015 housing. Can I use my SB-105 strobe? I know that I cannot use it in TTL mode, but the question is will it work at all?

I like the PT-015 housing because it is not very expensive and then I could afford the Wide Angle lens too! If I have to purchase a new strobe then I might be better off going to another housing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Marty

I just bought my wife a Nikonos V and SB-105. She's an old proven technology person who usually prefers 19th century technology. But I would also like to know if this strobe could be used with the C-5050 that I just bought for myself.

Hello TedJ

I had hoped that there would be many more posts (like other threads in the group). Do not know if we are the only people with this issue…

If you have a C5050Z and an SB-105 can you try a few things? Maybe we can help others too. Please setup the camera to have the Pre-Flash turned off and the main flash turned on. Place the SB-105 within a foot or so and in slave mode. Please take a couple of pictures to see if they come out (correct exposure).

If this works then we could probably use fiber optics to channel the main flash to the slave input on the SB-105. This is an approach used for other strobes.

I do not know if the slave input will turn off the strobe when it no longer sees main flash. If it does not, I am not sure how to adjust flash intensity.

Another option is to try to modify the underwater housing and interface the Hot shoe to the strobe. Not sure how this will work.

If anyone else has any comments on this test (or other solutions) please post your comments.

Thanks

Marty

Hi Marty,

I'll give it a try, we're thinking along the same lines. As to modifying the housing, I think I saw an ad from Oceanbrite (?) where they adapt (i.e. drill through) the housing to use a pair of Epoque strobes. I don't want anything to do with drilling, it's too much like going to the dentist. Reading throught the SB-105 manual there are several statements about the strobe going off "accidently" if there is a bright flash from another diver when it is set in slave mode. I just bought the flash for my wife and it will be a month or so before I go to Grand Cayman so I can't do anything underwater but I may try in the house. I'll let you know what happens.

Ted

Hi Again Marty

Well I satisfied myself that the C-5050 will indeed fire the SB-105 when it's in slave mode. But I think the problem we're going to have is controlling the amount of flash as we only have a couple settings. I'm not sure I can get set up to really test for that right now but I'll try. Ted

Hi!

There's only one advantage when wiring the stobe to the housing. You're the only one setting off your strobe. It'll be in manual mode only.

Olympus has a completly different system in controlling strobe intensity (TTL metering) so using the SB-105 means manual mode only. You either set the f-stop and flash intensity manually or you use a dedicated strobe (which currently [AFAIK] doesn't exist for the Olympus).

I'm working on a setting with a strobe housing (using the original Olympus flash or the Metz MZ54) that is able to feature full TTL functionality. It will attach to the hot shoe so you need a 5 pin connector in the camera housing.

Up to now I've done some experiments on cable length and connectors.

Further tests will follow in the next few weeks.

Helge ;-)=)

Hello Helge,

Thanks for the information. Is it really that big of a deal NOT having TTL? Do you know if a slave strobe stops the flash when the main flash stops or is it a trigger and the slave strobe dumps all charge?

I am not sure I understood your last comment. Are you trying to develop a wired interface to the 5050? One that attaches to the hot-shoe?

Interested to hear more.

Thanks for the help.

Marty

Hi!

Generations survived without TTL. It's just convenient. It's what some expect to work because it does nicely on land. It's an aid in getting some shoots right the first time.

Digital TTL works through pre-flash in most cases. These short flashes are metered and then the main flash is fired at the (hopefully) correct amount of light.

Most slaves trigger and dump the whole load. There's one strobe by Ikelite (AFAIK) that is able to fire and stop in pace with a built-in strobe.

I'm building a wired interface to the E20. If the 5050 uses the same contacts (Oly FL-40 compatible) it should work with the 5050 too. It's just a short cable with a hot shoe attached to a 5 pin connector built into the housing.

The flash housing is a tube, more or less. Straighten the flash, slide it in, hotshoe with connector in the rear lid. That's it basically.

I did a few tests with connectors and a temporatry ot shoe contact on dry land. So far very promising. More tests will be done in the next few weeks.

Helge ;-)=)