Any way to use 580EX II in Fantasea flash housing?

I just stumbled across the Fantasea 580EX II housing and wondered if anybody has attempted to use it in conjunction with non-Fantasea camera housings (e.g., Seacam). It seems like one or two 580 EX II strobes housed in the Fantasea enclosures ought to be able to be triggered wirelessly with Canon's ST-E2 Transmitter if someone figured out how to house that. If so, shouldn't it be fully E-TTL functional?

Sorry if this has already been addressed/discussed earlier. It just seemed like something one of you brainiacs would have engineered...

apparently the communication goes through infrared, something with very little range in the water.

The way I'd see this working, you'd need a clear housing for the ST-E2 that would go on the housing, and have an S6 connection. Then you'd use fiber optic cords from the transmitter to each of the strobes.

Building a clear box w/ an S6 bulkhead and wiring to a flash shoe shouldn't be too hard.

Cheers

James

The Fantasea housings use a 6 pin sync cord, to use UW you must have a F.O. cable between them to get IR to the units, as the others have said.

Jack

The only 6-Pin sync cord I've used is the S6. Does the Fantasea flash housing have an S6 socket?

Regards,

James

Do you have a photo? I think the Fantasea may be proprietary, just looks like a 6 pin nikonos. I understand they are redsigning their bulkheads so this may change a bit.

Jack

Do you have a photo? I think the Fantasea may be proprietary, just looks like a 6 pin nikonos. I understand they are redsigning their bulkheads so this may change a bit.

 

Jack

I assume, therefore, that the Fantasea connections/cables only work with a Fantasea housing (i.e., not with "any "nikonos connection)? I currently use Inon strobes with my Seacam housing, but I sure like the idea of using 580 EX II's, even if only full manual (not TTL). If there were connectors/cables that enabled me to simply hook up Fantasea-housed 580's to my existing ports, I'd sure be tempted to try it! I've already got the flash units, which I use for topside stuff...

Based on the Fantasea website, it looks like they have cables that might allow use of these flashes (in Fantasea Flash Housings) with cameras in other housings that have nikonos connectors, albeit without TTL. If that's the case, the ST-E2 transmitter might be totally unnecessary (and in fact an added element of complication...except to possibly enable TTL functionality).

I guess the real question is how a 580EX II compares with dedicated uw strobes (e.g., Inons, Ikes, S&S) in terms of uw performance. Has anyone considered that question?

I assume, therefore, that the Fantasea connections/cables only work with a Fantasea housing (i.e., not with "any "nikonos connection)? I currently use Inon strobes with my Seacam housing, but I sure like the idea of using 580 EX II's, even if only full manual (not TTL). If there were connectors/cables that enabled me to simply hook up Fantasea-housed 580's to my existing ports, I'd sure be tempted to try it! I've already got the flash units, which I use for topside stuff...

Yes, you need the 6 pin to 5 pin Nikonos cord #6185, or the #6220 6 pin to 5 pin Nikonos adapter. The units come with a sync cord, I think I can special order it with the #6185 instead. No TTL that way. I have the #6300 F.O. cable for between the units, but if you're not using eTTL then you wouldn't need it, I don't think, just slave the second.

Bruce, PM/email me, since you're close by, we can try it on dry land. If it doesn't work, I can refund it if it's not used.

My comments about these housed strobes; and I've used an SB800 UW, is that they are great for close up and macro (esp with TTL), not so great for W/A. The upright shape of the housing is a bit harder to swim with as well. They are light, even buoyant, particularly over the Inons, which I also use. Buttons and display are easy to see and use. They have a little cooler light quality, but it is duck soup to add some warming gel inside the housing, I bought a huge chunk for $5.

Jack

Thanks, Jack. I'll PM you and we'll take this offline, except if anyone else has additional comments regarding performance issues with using topside flash units like this, I'd love to hear them...

It does seem like they should have designed the housing so the strobe head is straight up, which would make them much easier to aim (and swim with), doesn't it?

.... It does seem like they should have designed the housing so the strobe head is straight up, which would make them much easier to aim (and swim with), doesn't it?....

that would make the controls way harder to get at though.