New strobe

Hi all

Well it has finally arrived, my spanking new Inon D2000s rig is here, and so naturally I am now overwhelmed with a whole slew of new questions, many of these I am sure have been asked before, but I can't find the threads for all of them - so here we go.

1) Pre-Flash

How do you know if your camera has pre-flash? My understanding is that this is a micro-flash that is used by the camera to set the white balance prior to the main discharge. My camera data sheets don't mention this at all (Canon Ixus 950is), and when I search the topic I get loads of data about anti-red-eye flash, which is a different thing all together. Obviously I need to know if I have pre-flash before I can start to set up the strobe.

2) Which setting

The D2000s has essentially 2 settings s-TTL and Manual (the External Auto mode is not included with the 's' version of the D2000). The data sheet says s-TTL is for "pre-flash" digicams only, the manual mode has no restrictions. I guess I can sort this one out if I can answer question 1) above.

3) Testing

I have read threads about testing the camera/strobe sync. Basically link the camera to the strobe, point the camera at the strobe and take a photo. The resultant picture should show the strobe brightly lit, if it is dark, then the strobe and camera are out of sync with each other. Is this correct? Is this safe? The data book for the strobe doesn't mention this at all.

thans for any help

Cheers

Hal

Hi Hal,

I had that strobe with my Canon SD 800 IS which I assume is very similar to yours and that you're using the optical cable. After some trial and error, I found the best results were set the strobe to sTTL, the camera on underwater mode, macro setting, flash always enabled.

Hope this helps. That strobe worked great for me!

Phil

Phil

Thanks, yes the SD800is and the Ixus 950is are almost identical (I believe the SD850is IS the Ixus 950is, US vs European)

Your reply is very helpful, it confirms what I thought I should be doing from reading through all the paperwork.

I am just really frustrated at the moment - had 2 weeks off work and I was expecting the strobe to arrive during this time. However, it all got held up in Bermuda customs, and was only released yesterday AND I WENT BACK TO WORK TODAY

So now all I can do is fiddle around and find questions to ask when actually I want to be underwater

Cheers

Hal