First External Strobe

hi there,

i am looking to take my first foray into the world of external strobes. i mainly shoot macro so lots of power is not an issue right now. although i may want to do wider shots later, the sea&sea rep said that a YS-25 is all i really need for macro stuff. since i don't have alot of money to spend, i'm leaning towards this strobe. although i have a few questions:

1. is there a way to get this strobe to work in TTL?

2. are there going to be difficulties with this strobe as a slave?

3. does anyone have any experience with this strobe and the c-7070?

4. is there another similar strobe that would be easier to use in TTL?

i looked at the the olympus strobes but am shying away because underwater strobe use seems to be an afterthought by olympus.

i look forward to your thoughts.

andy

considering my complete lack of knowledge and experience on this subject, i've decided to opt for the housed olympus strobe to allow for full TTL. every other option is just too pricey or not worth it. i'll let you know how it goes.

andy

hi there,

 

i am looking to take my first foray into the world of external strobes. i mainly shoot macro so lots of power is not an issue right now. although i may want to do wider shots later, the sea&sea rep said that a YS-25 is all i really need for macro stuff. since i don't have alot of money to spend, i'm leaning towards this strobe. although i have a few questions:

 

1. is there a way to get this strobe to work in TTL?

2. are there going to be difficulties with this strobe as a slave?

3. does anyone have any experience with this strobe and the c-7070?

4. is there another similar strobe that would be easier to use in TTL?

 

i looked at the the olympus strobes but am shying away because underwater strobe use seems to be an afterthought by olympus.

 

i look forward to your thoughts.

 

andy

Andy,

I use the SP-350 with the housed FL-20 flash. It puts out plenty of light for macro usage. I got the FL-20 flash and housing from Olympus on Ebay for around $200. I've since added a sunpak optically fired flash as a 2nd for larger reef scenes and shadow reduction. I would also recommend a focus light mounted to the "hotshoe" like adapter on your C7070 housing. Anyway, I don't think you could have went wrong with the Sea and Sea either. I heard there is now an adapter that allows for Sea and Sea to use Oly TTL. Pretty cool and not that expensive.

Someone had it posted on here just the other day. Take care and dive safe,

Gary

Even if you get a strobe that does digital TTL, learn to use it in manual mode.

This isn't the dark old days of slide photography. Where you had only 36 exposures, no feedback until the silde film was developed, and very unforgiving exposure latitude (correct exposure _or_ trash can). With digital, it's very easy to shoot with your strobe(s) and camera set in manual mode. (instant feedback, histograms, visual over-exposure warnings. All on the camera's LCD)

TTL can be fooled.

Assuming macro:

-Get in the pool with some stuff to shoot (small toy plastic lizards/frogs/insects) and a few different materials (a dark colored piece of cloth, the white pool bottom, something close to 18% gray) for backgrounds.

-bring a metal yard/meter stick with you (to eliminate guesstimation)

-Set strobe to manual full power

-Set shutter speed to the maximum sync. speed of the camera

-Set aperture to one stop below the smallest aperture setting (i.e., if smallest is f/32, set it to f/22)

-hold you camera at a fixed distance to the subject

-shoot a series of pictures: strobe at 1', 2', 3', 4' from the subject

(pay attention to the histogram, what the image looks like on the LCD, over-exposure warnings, etc.)

-shoot the same series again with the diffuser mounted on the strobe

(how did the exposures change? what happened to the shadows, detail, color saturation?)

-change backgrounds and shoot another series the same two sets again

-change subjects

-etc.

Latter

-play with lighting positions/angles

-composition

Housing terrestrial strobes is sometimes second-best, as although the electronic facilities are preserved, the strobe coverage, colour and power are not always well-matched to the underwater environment.

For true control in the difficult cases (which give the most dramatic results) manual control is best. I would unhesitatingly recommend an Inon strobe, which in addition to manual control offers a variety of connections and can be used with many different camera systems: I've used the same strobe with a Nikonos V, a compact digital and a D-SLR, using both fibre-optic, slave and electrical connections.

Have you looked at Ikelite strobes? They're pretty good, too. Sea & Sea are sometimes difficult to service, and I have had a few problems with older Sea & Sea stobes in the past. The one time that I have needed to service an Inon strobe was also a bit of a struggle. I have heard that Ike's service is first class.

Tim

B)

thanks for the replies. i'm going to look further into ikelite and inon strobes with a ttl converter for my oly housing.