fiber optic cable

I am looking for an fiber optic cable that is not spiral wound like the Fantasea. I also need one that transfers a stronger light signal, since I have not had good reliability with the Fantasea system.

I have been using 2 Nikon SB-800 strobes with the Fantasea Housings, but I have found that the slave strobe fails to fire most of the time. Also, the velcro like attachment used to connect the 2 stobes falls off regularly.

Where can I get this seven strand optic cable: http://www.marcfurth.com/new_page_2.htm

This seems like a better setup.

buzo

I am looking for an fiber optic cable that is not spiral wound like the Fantasea. I also need one that transfers a stronger light signal, since I have not had good reliability with the Fantasea system.

 

I have been using 2 Nikon SB-800 strobes with the Fantasea Housings, but I have found that the slave strobe fails to fire most of the time. Also, the velcro like attachment used to connect the 2 stobes falls off regularly.

 

Where can I get this seven strand optic cable: http://www.marcfurth.com/new_page_2.htm

This seems like a better setup.

 

buzo

I have also experienced poor results with Fantasea cable. In my use of two SB800s I made up my own mount which positioned a single strand fibre optic cable directly facing the strobe light source

http://www.gans.co.nz/dive/SB800_Dual/image3.htm

and on the other side directly facing the remote strobe sensor.

http://www.gans.co.nz/dive/SB800_Dual/image2.htm

This worked fine; I don't think it would make much difference were spiral cable to be used.

Colin

I do not like the spiral cable because it catches on everything. I would prefer to tie wrap a stright cable to my arms.

I used the velcro attachment strips that came with the cable, but they were continually falling off.

I beleive that the amount on light transmitted through the Fantasea cable is not strong enough to be reliable, especially in murky waters where I do most of my photography.

I lost my cable on my last outing, so I need to buy another one, but do not plan to get another Fantasea.

Anybody?

Thanks,

buzo

I do not like the spiral cable because it catches on everything. I would prefer to tie wrap a stright cable to my arms.

 

I used the velcro attachment strips that came with the cable, but they were continually falling off.

 

I beleive that the amount on light transmitted through the Fantasea cable is not strong enough to be reliable, especially in murky waters where I do most of my photography.

 

I lost my cable on my last outing, so I need to buy another one, but do not plan to get another Fantasea.

 

Anybody?

 

Thanks,

 

buzo

I agree that a thicker cable may be more manageable underwater. The thinner cables should however transmit sufficient light - poor viz should have no effect since the light transmission is via the cable, not through the water column.

Jacketed Endglow Fiber is probably what you are looking for:

http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Jacketed.htm

Great gob Colin, what item you used as the receiving item?

I couldn't locate it in catalogs, probably because I didn't know what to look for.

Great gob Colin, what item you used as the receiving item?

I couldn't locate it in catalogs, probably because I didn't know what to look for.

Arnon, sorry but I'm not sure if I understand your question. By "receiving item" do you mean the mount for the remote housing cable? If so, the mount which I have had success with is an item which I made rather than purchased. I can provide more detail if this what you require.

Cheers, Colin

Colin,

As I'm faced with the similar dilemma of a strobe not firing off of a housed, flat port strobe via fiber optic cable, I'm wondering if you could elaborate about the connection a little about your homemade connection.

Colin,

As I'm faced with the similar dilemma of a strobe not firing off of a housed, flat port strobe via fiber optic cable, I'm wondering if you could elaborate about the connection a little about your homemade connection.

Sure!

I've uploaded some images which should give you a fairly good idea of what I did. See:

http://www.gans.co.nz/dive/SB800_Dual/MoreImages/index.htm

I found that fixing self adhesive velcro to a plastic board (I used an old diving slate) gave sufficient firmness to stop the cable from moving too much. I sanded down the top of the plastic nut once it was firmly mounted to make it flush.

Cheers, Colin

Sure!

 

I've uploaded some images which should give you a fairly good idea of what I did. See:

 

http://www.gans.co.nz/dive/SB800_Dual/MoreImages/index.htm

 

I found that fixing self adhesive velcro to a plastic board (I used an old diving slate) gave sufficient firmness to stop the cable from moving too much. I sanded down the top of the plastic nut once it was firmly mounted to make it flush.

 

Cheers, Colin

Thanks for the info Colin. I think that I will buy several of the different thickness cables to do some experimenting.

So far my experience with the SB-800's has been very frustrating. Exposures are not accurate, and they recycle very slow,even though I shoot at f2.8 and f4.0 most of the time.

I find that Fantasea dropped the ball with their housing when they did not make room for the 5th battery. They should have made the housing big enough to fit a small battery pack with the strobe.

Underwater lighting sucks up a great deal of light.

Not to get to far of subject, but will the SB-800 sync to an INON 240 using the TTL feature on both strobes and shooting a Nikon D 2X?

buzo

Let us know how you get on with differing thicknesses of cable. I would guess that a thicker multi-strand cable will be more flexible and would be interested to hear how it goes.

I've been using a single housed SB800 for a while and have got a relatively good hit rate on exposure using iTTL - good for close up / macro although the light is a little cold.

I don't believe that iTTL will work with an SB800 / Inon Z240 combination as the strobes need to be configured as master / remote and talk on specific channels using iTTL protocol. The Z240 cannot be configured in this manner. I'm not sure about setting the SB800 to traditional TTL but think not.

I'm looking forward to seeing results from the Ike iTTL converter.

Colin

Arnon, sorry but I'm not sure if I understand your question. By "receiving item" do you mean the mount for the remote housing cable? If so, the mount which I have had success with is an item which I made rather than purchased. I can provide more detail if this what you require.

Cheers, Colin

Thanks, I meant the connection and you gave the answer to ce4jesus.

Hi Buzo and Colin,

Thank you for your input regarding the double FSB-800 Flash Housings setting, as your experience is an inseparable part of Fantasea's product development process. In the future please also feel free to contact us directly with any technical question at info@fantasea.com, since we are very familiar with any of our products settings, and in most cases we are capable of offering easy and successful solutions.

As for the fiber optic cable being used to connect between two Fantasea FSB-800 Flash Housings, this setting was successfully established before. The fiber optic cable being spiral has no effect on it's capability of transmitting the light, as long as both ends of the fiber optic cable are exposed and properly positioned in front of the main flash's light and the slave's sensor. In order to ensure the optimal light transmission, it's best to install the fiber optic cable so the end of it is vertically facing the flash output, or the slave sensor, on the other end. You can do this by simply establishing a connection similar to what Colin has done with his system (http://www.gans.co.nz/dive/SB800_Dual/index.htm), although we might offer such a simple ready made solution in the future. This way or another, light transmission isn't affected by visibility or other water and light conditions, since the light is transmitted directly through the optic cable, without having to do nothing with the water surrounding the system. Our experience had taught us that it's best to place the fiber optic cable below the flash bulb on the main flash housing (facing down), so it recognizes the light without blocking it, and in front of the slave sensor on the slave flash housing. If the fiber optic cable gets in the way when using your underwater system, it is possible to wrap it around the arm the flash housing is mounted on. As long as it doesn't damage the fiber optic cable, this does not interfere with light transmission results.

Also, In some cases, after using the fiber optic cable frequently or for a long period, you might encounter a decrease in performance. You can easily solve this problem by cutting 1 cm/0.3 inch off the fiber optic cable's ends, using a sharp tool and performing a very straight angled cut. This way you remove any worn ends, and expose a new portion of the cable.

Our fiber optic cables are designed and used with a wide variety of lighting systems, from smart digital camera systems to DSLR's. We have also recently introduced the new Nano Flash Adaptor, which makes it possible to directly attach the fiber optic cable to the Fantasea Nano Flash in a vertical position, and we are very pleased with the results. We hope to come up with more of these easy and effective solutions in the future.

http://www.fantasea.com/product_details.asp?id=359

For further information please don't hesitate to contact us at info@fantasea.com

Best Regards,

Sharon Rainis

Fantasea Line Technical Customer Service

http://www.fantasea.com

See our Product Catalogue

http://www.fantasea.com/catalogues/fantasea_customers.pdf