Hello friends, I am still in Egypt with my new Olympus C 5050 in the PT 15 Housing and I owned the Ikelite DS 50 Strobe with extra TTL Sensor. I did the first dives today and all Pics are to dark. It seems that the Flash comes to late or not strong enough. I covered the Flashwindows on the Housing with Aluminium foil. I let the sensor look directly onto the flashed Aluminium. I tried different settings on the Flash, TTL or Manuell, I switched the Sensor from soft to hard. The Kamera is in Auto Mode with Flash on, I also powered the internal Flash up. But all Pictures look like the one shown. Im here for another 6 days and hope to get some nice Pictures. Can anybody help me immediately?
Many Thanks, Heiko
www.cometome.de
Try taking a few picture topside to understand what is going on. Put the camera in Manual Mode and set it to something like f8, 1/1000. Force the internal flash on and see what kind of exposure you get by first using the internal flash, then blocking the internal flash and using the DS50. This should help you figure out what is happening because the camera settings will reduce the effect of ambient light. You might also try setting the camera to slave flash mode and seeing what the results are with the strobe.
When you say you switched the sensor from soft to hard, what do you mean? Did you adjust the sensitivity (MIN-MAX) or open up the controller and move the switch inside? If you open up the battery door of the sensor, there is a switch. With the sensor held so that the Min-Max switch is above the battery opening, look at the switch. the right position gives a brighter preflash, causing the main flash to be less intense. The left switch position gives a shorter preflash, meaning the main flash will be brighter. (My sensors have the internal switch in the right switch position). You might try both settings topside to see if one works better. With my DS-125s, I find that I need to adjust the camera's internal flash exposure compensation to +0.7 to +1.3 to get good exposures.
Keep us posted.
Mike
MikeO suggestions are correct. Hope you have a current grey color DS-50 and digital sensor; strobes made even one year ago may not operate properly with the newest digital cameras. This is even true for above water strobes with the new exotic digital slr cameras like Nikon D100 which require new above water TTL strobes.
Sensor must be aimed at the camera strobe as you are doing. Things to try:
Set ISO = 64
Use diffuser on the DS50 strobe
Set flash exposure compensation to +1 or +1.3
Use "A" mode or "M" mode, with aperture of perhaps f/5.8 or f/8 as a starting point
Previous postings in these forums have valuable information. Following links provide some suggestions:
Don't know if this would help, have U tried setting camera flash to slave mode (only available if camera switched to "A" or "M" mode. I have same problem cause I am using an old analog SUNPAK marine flash triggered by only slave sensor window at side of flash.
May be due to pre-flash problem.
Hope it could be of any help.
Fred Kwok
Olym C-5050, sunpak marine 32.
Many thanks to you guys, it works now. I use the A-Mode with f= 1.8 or a little bit higher. ISO 200. The internal Flash exposure compensation is on +2, normal mode. See the Picture for example. More examples when I finish my holiday.
Still in Egypt, yours Heiko
Wow! Yes, it's working well in that photo, good work. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Egypt.
Ahhh... it's so good to see the community work so well.
