Sea&Sea TTL still not working - Help needed

Good afternoon,

Long time has passed since I put posted a message here in Wetpixel. The reason is that for all this time I have been waiting for my S&S 350D housing to be fixed. Specifically, since I bought the housing, I have been having problems with the TTL. The strobes only fire whenever they feel like The housing went twice to Japan and now it finally came back. Problem is that it is still having the same s##t problem

Last trip I did to Bay Islands, before every dive I had to switch on and off and plug and unplug the cables for half an hour before it worked

Almost a year has passed and I feel it is time to find another solution. I am probably going to take my housing back to the store and find another solution.

Main issues at this moment for me are:

- I already spent a lot of money in lenses for my Canon.

- Want to use TTL (probably have to stick to Sea&Sea again for this)

- Size of new camera / housing

The solutions I see at the moment are:

1. Get a S&S 40D housing for Canon 40D (could keep all the lenses I have)

2. Get a S&S D300 for the Nikon D300 (need to sell all my lenses and buy new ones)

The issue with the S&S 40D is that I am afraid I am going to have problems with the TTL again...

From the people who check both cameras (40D and D300), could you please provide me with some guidance. Is the D300 worthwhile the change from Canon?

Also, does anyone have pics from the S&S housing for the 40D and D300 together with the housing for the Canon 350D or 400D in order to compare the size of the housing? I am also concerned about the size of the housing for travelling.

Thanks in advance

Hi,

It sounds like you had a hardware problem with your previous housing - as many other people have used that setup (350D + S&S TTL converter) with no problems. Perhaps there was a short somewhere or you had a bad chip...

Anyhow, if you want to stick with Canon (which makes the most sense) you have plenty of choices. You can go for the Ikelite housings which have a good TTL converter built in, or you can get another brand of housing and use a Heinrich's or Sea and Sea (built around Heinrichs) converter.

Based on the problems you experienced, I don't think switching to a D300 will help you at all.

HTH

James

Hi James,

Thanks for your quick reply.

The big problem here is that this is my second housing. I got a new one after the first one didn't work for two times after coming from repair. This time, the guys in Japan even had my camera with them. The issue is that the housing works for now most of the time. Only sometimes it doesn't work. But the problem is that last time it happened the same and at some stage it got so bad that it wouldn't work anymore. In terms of TTL converters, it is I believe the third or fourth TTL converter I got for this housing and always the same problem.

In terms of housings, I would probably still stick with Sea&Sea (looks crazy after all this trouble no?). I like th e quality of construction of the housing. The other solutions would be for example Subal but then I would have to use a S&S TTL and might get some problems again, but this time without any support from the LDS over here. Ikelite is too big of a housing for me and is not my favorite.

Regards,

Nuno Sanches e Silva

Nuno, hmmm... Not to say this is the same problem you have been having, but my S&S 350D housing and Canon TTL Converter are in Japan for inspection. But unlike your case, my 400D, S&S 350D housing, S&S TTL Converter, Inon Z240's had been working flawlessly for almost a year. On my last trip to Bali in Oct, something went wrong at the start of the trip. I don't know if water got inside the housing (the leak alarm never went off) but I did notice severe condensation inside the dome with large drops at the end of a 2nd dive. Now the strobes are not syncing with the camera's shutter and the strobes will occasional full dump without me touching any button. I suspect a short somewhere. Anyways, waiting to find out from S&S Japan what went wrong...

This hasn't turned me off completely from considering another S&S housing for my new 40D, but it does make the upcoming Seatool housing a better contender since that allows the use of fiber optics cables so we can eliminate nikonos cables/ TTL converter gremlins!!

D300 from the initial pre-reviews looks soo good... That new high res LCD sounds awesome vs the 40D's and the ability to use contrast AF via liveview looks promising. But like you, I've got too much of an investment in Canon lenses to make a switch to Nikon viable...

But, so far I've been real happy with the 40D topside... Loving the new 40D's AF system, fast n accurate; and the useable high ISO is impressive. (mind you this is just observations from someone who has upgraded from a 400D)

Back to S&S... One thing I don't know about, but so far I haven't seen anything in the Canon literature, is that the e-TTLII on the 40D hasn't been changed so I am presuming the S&S Canon TTL converter will continue to to worth with the 40D. But you never know until we can test it out...

I'll also be curious to see if S&S builds the TTL converter inside the housing like the new 400D housing (I really hope they don't!).

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your response. Indeed, I am afraid of going for the Canon 40D because of the TTL system. Experience was too bad with the 350D/400D in terms of S&S TTL converter. I would rather switch for something new. And the way I see it, this would be the perfect opportunity to switch to the Nikon D300. I read somewhere that the D300 does not have any cropping factor, but in other places I read it is still 1.5. But I s have to figure this one out. Getting new lenses is painful :/

I am going to send my housing and camera back to the store and see what happens.

One question I still was not able to get an answer was whether the S&S housing for the 40D and for the 300D is much bigger than the one for the 400D. Anyone?

Thanks

Nuno

Hi Mike,

 

Thanks for your response. Indeed, I am afraid of going for the Canon 40D because of the TTL system. Experience was too bad with the 350D/400D in terms of S&S TTL converter. I would rather switch for something new. And the way I see it, this would be the perfect opportunity to switch to the Nikon D300. I read somewhere that the D300 does not have any cropping factor, but in other places I read it is still 1.5. But I s have to figure this one out. Getting new lenses is painful :/

 

I am going to send my housing and camera back to the store and see what happens.

One question I still was not able to get an answer was whether the S&S housing for the 40D and for the 300D is much bigger than the one for the 400D. Anyone?

 

Thanks

 

Nuno

THe D300 is still APS cropped sensor, the D3 will be the full frame version.

I went to check the pictures from the S&S housing for the D300 and 40D and tried to extrapolate the dimensions to real numbers by calculating the increasing factor based on the buttons of the housing.

From my calculations, it appears that the housing is more or less the same size as the one for the 400D. Can thi be possible?

From my calculations, it appears that the housing is more or less the same size as the one for the 400D. Can thi be possible?

I'm looking at a 40D sitting next to a 400D on my desk and there is a significant difference in size. Eyeballing it, the 40D looks 1" wider and slightly taller. And of course the grip sticks out further. But in terms of housing, you could be right that the housing size difference isn't that great.

ah, here are the actual dimensions from the canon website...

40D 145.5 x 107.8 x 73.5 mm

400D 126.5 x 94.2 x 65 mm

I went to check the pictures from the S&S housing for the D300 and 40D and tried to extrapolate the dimensions to real numbers by calculating the increasing factor based on the buttons of the housing.

 

From my calculations, it appears that the housing is more or less the same size as the one for the 400D. Can thi be possible?

Sea and Sea used an aluminum front and polycarbonate back for the 400D housing. They used the same body design for the D50, D80, and 400D, but put the buttons where they needed to be for each of those cameras. Sea and Sea are moving to an all new design milled from solid block aluminum for this new run of housings for next year. They had these on display at DEAM. This is why the 400D housing may look to be the same size as their 40D prototype. The 400D housing was much larger than it needed to be. Just look at how small the Seatool housings is for the Rebel.

Best regards,

Jim

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your feedback. That's good news if the housing is not substantially bigger. My concern is travelling (I used to put everything in a Lowepro Computrekker AW).

I spoke with the dealer and he has been providing a great service to me. If everything goes right with S&S Japan, I will give my housing back and will get a new model. I am probably going to take the risk and get the Nikkon D300. I will have to sell all my cameras and lenses though. Anyway, I will probably do that.

Cheers,

Nuno Sanches e Silva

Quick update.

I just got a new TTL converter for my housing and although almost everything works, the second strobe goes off almost every time I switch the camera off. I spoke with the store and they agreed that we should move on and find another alternative. So I am taking the whole rig back and they are going to give me a new set for the camera I want.

And the camera I want is the Nikon D300. I will have to sell all my lenses but I am very interested in the D300 and I think this is a good opportunity. I hope I am making good decision here...

So now it's time to look again for all lenses, ports, etc....

Cheers

Nuno

Nuno, not that this will change your mind, but what is wrong with the strobe firing every time you turn off the TTL. In the instructions that came with my S&S TTL III, it states the order that the equipment should be turned on and off. 1) TTL Converter ON, 2) Strobes ON, 3) Camera ON. To turn the system off do the afore mentioned in reverse order...camera, strobes, convertor.

If the convertor is turned off before the strobes, this action forces the strobes to dump.

I'm kind of late to the discussion, so please forgive me if this has already been discussed. Also, nothing wrong with a new D300!

Nuno, not that this will change your mind, but what is wrong with the strobe firing every time you turn off the TTL. In the instructions that came with my S&S TTL III, it states the order that the equipment should be turned on and off. 1) TTL Converter ON, 2) Strobes ON, 3) Camera ON. To turn the system off do the afore mentioned in reverse order...camera, strobes, convertor.

 

If the convertor is turned off before the strobes, this action forces the strobes to dump.

 

I'm kind of late to the discussion, so please forgive me if this has already been discussed. Also, nothing wrong with a new D300!

Hi,

I do what you say. I only switch off first the camera, then the strobes and then the convertor. At the time I switch off the second strobe, it always goes off.

You know...maybe mine do that too, but I've never viewed it as a problem. Humm? I'll have to check it out more closely.

there is something I'm not getting: why are you so confident changing the camera brand is the answer to a problem that is in the strobes ?

Or did sea & sea mention they are more confident they got nikon TTL more right then the canon one ??

there is something I'm not getting: why are you so confident changing the camera brand is the answer to a problem that is in the strobes ?

 

Or did sea & sea mention they are more confident they got nikon TTL more right then the canon one ??

My LDS said that he never sold several S&S housings for Nikons and they never had any problem.

The issue here is that I have been having problems with the TTL in this camera since the begining (one year ago). At some stage, the strobes would not fire anymore so the housing has been going back and forth to Japan the whole time. So after one year, the TTL system is still not working perfectly (every single time I switch off the strobes they go off, one week ago the -1 would make the strobes fire full power).

In the end I was a whole year without being able to use my camera / housing because it was never working and since it is still not working properly, we agreed I would get a new housing. And at this moment, the best camera for me is the Nikon D300.

nuno, sorry to hear about the anguish this strobe mis-firing has been causing you

my TTL converter II with my YS-110's has been working fine for over 100 dives...

everytime I turn off my strobes, one of the strobes goes off, just like it did in your case.

I just assumed it was a cool feature! if my 2nd strobe ever stops firing when I turn everything off, I'll think something is wrong!

Scott

that is interesting considering the only time my strobes (Inon's) misfired before my recent problems (more on that later) is exactly as the warning from S&S mentioned - that is, if the strobes are on and then you turn on the TTL converter, the strobes get triggered. Turning off, I could turn off either the camera/ strobes/ converter in any order without any problem.

Now as I wrote in another thread, I did have some problems recently and the housing and TTL converter are with S&S Japan . I've just been told this week that it appears that some water may have gotten into the bulkhead wiring causing my recent problems. The claim the TTL converter itself is 100% OK and will fix/replace the housing wiring. Hopefully I'll get it back before my xmas trip.

nuno, sorry to hear about the anguish this strobe mis-firing has been causing you

 

my TTL converter II with my YS-110's has been working fine for over 100 dives...

 

everytime I turn off my strobes, one of the strobes goes off, just like it did in your case.

 

I just assumed it was a cool feature! if my 2nd strobe ever stops firing when I turn everything off, I'll think something is wrong!

 

Scott

Hi Scott,

I am glad to hear your TTL system is working regardless of the 2nd strobe always going off. I still believe that is not normal.