What Olympus DSLR set-up would you recommend for me?

Hi Mark,

Don't mean to make things even more difficult for you, but I am sure most of those in this fourm would recommend using U/W strobes over any land strobe in a housing. For the cost of the FL-20 and housing you could have a quailty U/W strobe, with a much higher guide number which will fire by wire or by fiber optics in TTL or maunal. In the case of the E-410 housing from Olympus the strobes can be fired either way.

Phil Rudin

I haven't even looked into strobes to understand the difference between them & housed flashes, if any at all, other than strobes being all-in-one, ready to go items.

I did spot that Olympus have their own UFL-1, which has a GN of 14.

It's listed by Olympus as a "slave flash" - does this mean it isn't really suitable as a primary UW flash/strobe?

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/198_UFL-...water_Flash.htm

Olympus' blurb doesn't say if that GN14 means feet or metres, but their blurb for the FL-20 says: "The FL-20 flash has a maximum guide number of 20 feet at ISO 100...", so should I assume that te UFL-1's GN14 equates to 14ft or 14m (46ft), as alluded to in this shop's blurb on the UFL-1:

http://www.videodirect.com/Merchant2/merch...;Category_Code=

That price (€205) is magic! Cheapest € price I've seen (just this morning) is €352 fron digitalwonderworld.de

It'd be romantically nice to have an all-one-brand set-up, but I'm aware that mixing brands/products would probably prove "better".

Can I ask what strobes (other than the UFL-1) should I be looking at?

What other brands can be used with Olympus' PT-E03 with the minimum of fuss (and expense)?

Can someone point me to an article or explain to me the how the connectivity of flashes/strobes works UW?

IIUC, TTL only works between some products with certain combinations or convertors/adaptors?

Why have a primary (master?) & a smaller slave - why not have two the same?

Thanks,

Mark

hi mark

the videodirect website wont let you purchase from them unless your credit/debit cards are registered

in the USA .

its fine if you know someone in the USA but not if you dont

there housings are really cheap too , nearly the same price in $ as in £

a real bummer we really get stung over this side of the pond.

your opening another can of worms when you start talking about strobes

i will look forward to the replies as i am looking at a similar sort of set up to what you are

it also depends on how much you want to spend

its worth looking at firing your strobe/s with an optical cord, i hope !

from what i have read on this forum ppl are getting good results from this

i was looking at going with a TTL converter and synch cords but i would have to but a new strobe

i have the inon D2000 which doesn't work of synch cords

again its back to personnel preference and chosing a set up and going with it

i think thats the way i am gonna go at the moment , mainly because

i have the camera , lenses, ports one strobe just need to sort the housing out now

vinny

hi mark

 

the videodirect website wont let you purchase from them unless your credit/debit cards are registered

in the USA .

its fine if you know someone in the USA but not if you dont

Check: brother in law in Texas.

it also depends on how much you want to spend

Want to spend? LOADS! Have available to spend? Pittence. I'm looking for the cheapest new useable underwater DSLR set-up I can get.

its worth looking at firing your strobe/s with an optical cord, i hope !

from what i have read on this forum ppl are getting good results from this

i was looking at going with a TTL converter and synch cords but i would have to but a new strobe

Apparently Olympus' UFL-1 strobe will operate in slave mode, allowing TTL, without any cable (I take this to mean "wireless"), triggered by the camera's built-in flash, which can be popped-up inside the housing.

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/198_UFL-...water_Flash.htm

Mark

HI MARK,

The Olympus UFL-1 strobe guide number of 14 is expressed in meters at ISO 100 on land. In comparison to many other U/W strobes this is a low number, but then so is the price. The strobe does not have a port for a Hard wire cord, like the Nikonos V, five pin cord. The strobe is designed to be fired by a fiber optic cord or by slave. The PT-E03 housing is the first Oly DSLR housing that allows the pop-up flash on the E-410 to be fully raised inside the housing. When the strobe inside the housing is fired the UFL-1 will mimic that strobe, turning on and off at the same time via the fiber optic. In TTL this should cause a proper exposure all things being equal. If the pop-up flash is set to manual the UFL-1 will give a full dump of its power. Several other strobes from Sea & Sea and Inon will do the same thing, at a higher cost and with a higher guide number. I would say that the UFL-1 is still a better place to start than to house a land strobe, you could have a pair and still spend less than you would for most U/W land strobe housings. Digitaldiver.net has a guide to strobes which containes information on how U/W strobes work and will allow you to compare the UFL-1 to other brands. The UFL-1 strobe will also work with existing ULCS & TLC parts for Sea & Sea strobes, I.E. mounting adapter. At ISO 100 the E-410 sensitivity in reality is ISO 125, (see dpreview.com review of the E-410) which would alter the guide number to the plus side for all strobes at ISO 100, with the E-410.

The down side to use of the pop-up flash is that recycle times may not be as fast as the exetrnal strobe. Vinny has also advised me that his digican housing at times fogged from the internal heat caused by the pop-up flash.

Not sure if all this applies to the Olympus E-400 offered in the U K as that camera never was released in the U.S.

Phil Rudin

looking at this strobe it says about a 3 second recycle time ( 2 second on 1 website )

and the camera flash recycle time is 3 seconds

that seems a long time for a DSLR camera

i am still trying to decide, i have gone from a compact camera , which is the one i fog on every dive

using the fibre optic to trigger my strobe ( they do call me vinnyson where i dive i take a lot of photo's )

it also seems that it doesn't need an optical cable to trigger it ( the UFL-1 strobe)

so i presume its gonna fire both the internal and strobe at the same time which correct me if i am wrong

will give problems with backscatter from the internal strobe ?

https://emporium.olympus.com/innards/empPro...?sku=202116-410

ok for Macro unless you have to mask off the internal strobe like you do with the Inon

i feel going into DSLR as i have at the moment it seems a shame to get a half decent camera then not compliment it with at least a decent strobe

i noticed how much using an Inon strobe on my compact and add on lenses made a huge difference

to the pictures

you have me thinking now to say bugger it and go the whole hog and get a TTL converter and an Inon Z240

and try to get the best out of the camera i can

also a decent strobe can always be used on any set up or sold on if its not the way to go

too much to think about again

vinny

Vinny,

This is one option from Athena for blocking the light from the pop-up flash. Several other are and will be released going forward including some from Inon. On the PT-E03 housing the UFL-1 is designed to be used with fiber optic cable. Slave in TTL is for use as a second off camera strobe. I agree that if you have the means the Inon Z-240 would be a much better investment. It has a much wider beam, more power, can be fired by cable or fiber optics, etc. Recycle times are not an exact science. In TTL the more power you us the longer the recycle time. At ISO 100 all things being equal any strobe is going to take longer to recycle if you make a flash exposer at F-16 compared to say F-5.6.

Phil

multi fiber bracket

product number B/MFB−PTE03

open price

adapted camera housing

OLYMPUS PT-E03

It is the all-around and high-class system bracket.

So you can attach the optical cable "not yet determined" of OLYMPUS's flash UFL-1 in water only,

all kinds of optical slave code such as INON S&S Athna ring flash.

You can load the target light, TTL distributor TTL synchro converter above accessory shoe.

adapted optical machine "mounting location"

*S&S L type fiber cable "right and left in bottom"

*INON optical D cable cap set "center in upper "

*Athena ring flash optical cable code "center in up and down"

phil

i think you have just been reading my mind there

i literally have just e-mailed Athena about the fibre bracket and TTL synchro converter

for prices on them

the website is a little heavy going trying to work things out but got there in the end

asking you another ( yet more ?'s ) question

do you find using TTL underwater you get good exposures most of the time and it works well for us novices

because as i think about using the D2000 with an optical cord i remembered that it used to have a few problems with say lionfish in darker places because of the difference in black and white on their markings with choosing the correct exposure ( or strength of flash ), usually metering off the white ( i think) and taking time to work it out

also just one more

i cant seem to find which synch cables athena recommends to use ?

is it the 5 pin olympus to s&s /inon type?

and after all the thinking i think i will get the old credit card out and plunge into the TTL pond

just because thinking about the old fogging up issues and how many times i got to the end of a dive and missed a lot of good picture opportunities and usually in the shallows so the light was better too

i think i need to count to 10 between photo's

so just to let ppl know who might be reading this and thinking fogging up all the time

that is relevant to me and maybe other ppl don't have this problem

vinny

Vinny,

TTL is a great tool to get you in the ball park exposure wise. It works better with some strobe/camera combos than with others, I think Inon is one of the best. This makes TTL a great tool for all skill levels, however I think you will get a better education regarding how proper exposures are achieved with manual and using the histogram to review. The histogram seems a better teaching tool.

The cord used with the TTL converser is the five pin S&S/Inon Nikonos style and can be used with any Nikonos type bulkhead as well.

Getting large numbers of images on a dive is not always the best way to get the best images. Sometimes it helps to slow down and think about what is going on with the exposure rather than to just let the auto functions do all the work.

i totally agree with you about the ammount of photos

to take, one really good one is better than 10 ok ones

the trouble was i was trying to learn about photography but underwater

i have never used a camera before diving

also i was trying to use a camera with limitations, not much control on manual settings

and no idea how to use the settings

i think thats why these forums and meeting other divers helps us amateurs so much

you can learn more in 5 minutes with someone telling you or showing you than many books

i think with DSLR it will be another learning curve but the tools to learn are better and more capable of getting the results i am looking for

its just deciding which tools to take

looking at many of the photo's of other ppl's on this site makes you also think that

everybody has a different idea how they want the photo to be or how they want it illuminated

so at the end of the day a lot is down to personal choice and 95% luck on the dives!

Any reason you wouldn't want to go with a pair of DS-125's?

I looked in the Inon's, Sea&Sea's, etc, but why would you want to go a route with fiber optic cords etc, when you get use a pair of Ikelite's and get full TTL ? ( Ikelite housings )

If you have the Oly housing, then your loosing the TTL, and shooting manual. I tried reading all the threads, but there were alot of responces!!

I'n my opioun, the Olympus strobe in the Olympus housing, is ok, but after spending all the money on a DSLR set up, why wouldn't you just go with dual strobes, and have no shadows, etc , ?

I just purchased a pair a Ds-125's for my new Ikelite housing, from somone here on the board ( Kory ) , and can't wait to see the results of the camera, with a pair of those puppies hanging from the sides!!

hi fltekdiver

this is prob gonna sound strange to you but i actually like the idea of using one strobe

there are a couple of reasons thou

one is that i dont know what i am doing and like the idea or shadows to get depth in the photos

the other main reason in my choices are that i cannot carry too much equipment when i go travelling because of a disability

so i have chosen small equipment like a small camera , housing and one strobe

which also helps once i am in the water

i think reading all the posts i can get TTL with this set up using a converter

i also like the Inon strobes cos the speed of recharge and battery life

also a lot of my pics will prob be macro i love the little stuff

vinny

hi fltekdiver

 

this is prob gonna sound strange to you but i actually like the idea of using one strobe

 

there are a couple of reasons thou

 

one is that i dont know what i am doing and like the idea or shadows to get depth in the photos

 

the other main reason in my choices are that i cannot carry too much equipment when i go travelling because of a disability

so i have chosen small equipment like a small camera , housing and one strobe

 

which also helps once i am in the water

 

i think reading all the posts i can get TTL with this set up using a converter

i also like the Inon strobes cos the speed of recharge and battery life

 

also a lot of my pics will prob be macro i love the little stuff

 

vinny

Sounds great Vinny, I'm sure you'll be happy with your choice. There are alot of great pictures being taken with single stobes.

Good luck with your set-up, let us know how it goes!!

Vinny

I too use one strobe generally. My left arm was severely injured in an accident a year ago and the nerves/muscles have not regenerated or were damaged. I cannot support a alot of weight as a result and consequently try to stick with on strobe, although I do own two. As an aside, in 30 minutes I am receiving 4 awards at a local photo contest all of which were taken with a single strobe including one which is an internal strobe in an Ikelite case no less (G7). I am not up to the standards of many members of Wetpixel but do well enough to get pleasing pictures for my wall and in this case, a local competition.

Good Luck!

Congradulations Islandbound, do you have any to share here we could see?

Let us know how your awards go!

hi island bound

just reading a thread by you about a woody's i like the look of them too

like flekdiver says it would be nice if you could put a link up to see some of those pics

flek let us know how you get on with the set up you have chosen also

mine wont be getting wet until september

i dont know your circumstances islandbound but once your in the water have you thought about using buoyancy

aids on your set up to make it a little lighter , dont know if it would help

my situation is a bit different i have the trouble getting the equipment there , i had an argument with a bus

whilst on a motorbike nearly 10 yrs ago now, i came off worse than the bus

minus 1 leg ! i did put a lovely dent in the bus thou

and b4 u ask no i don't go round in circles when i am diving !

vinny

Hi Vinny,

Just happens that I have a 100 mm Woody's that may interest you, if so drop my a line.

I have seen plenty of outstanding images including several books all dome with a single strobe, less can be more at times. I myself have used a white plastic slate to reflect light from a single strobe back to a macro subject many times creating a studio like effect.

Phil

hi phil

just PM'd you about that

also regarding a single strobe it is sometimes easier to squeeze into a space

i noticed going from a compact without a strobe to one with that you just can't

put the camera into small spaces or up underneath a rock formation

horses for courses i suppose

i also think lighting from one side gives perspective

vinny

Yes, one strobe can make things a little more simple in that regard. Many times in macro the strobe is above the lens port and more out of the way. A single strobe was the norm for many years both for macro and wide angle. Multi strobes create a studio like effect which can soften harsh shadows, create depth and more. They can also can add additional backscatter, create more drag while moving about and more.

U/W photography is a learning process. If you can become proficient with a single strobe it will allow you to better understanding what is going on with two or more strobes.

If not the Woody's perhaps some of these.

Phil

nice collection there phil

a pair for every occasion

also PM'd again about woody if you don't get msg let me know

vinny