What Camera and Strobe Settings are you using?

Hi,

I am getting ready for a diving trip and have recently made some additions to my photo kit and am unsure of the best settings to use so I thought I would see what different setups and settings people have found best.

I have an Ixus 850is, Inon WA and Macro Lenses and an Inon D2000 strobe. Im assuming I will probably use forced flash, macro always on, auto WB, ISO200 and either auto or underwater mode? With the strobe a blue diffuser and just set to STTL and the power dial on the right at the top which is the middle setting. From what I can gather from the instructions this is a good start point.

Any thoughts or comments from anyone would be great and I would be interested to hear as im sure others would be too what settings/setups people are using.

Thanks,

Mark

Hi,

 

I am getting ready for a diving trip and have recently made some additions to my photo kit and am unsure of the best settings to use so I thought I would see what different setups and settings people have found best.

 

I have an Ixus 850is, Inon WA and Macro Lenses and an Inon D2000 strobe. Im assuming I will probably use forced flash, macro always on, auto WB, ISO200 and either auto or underwater mode? With the strobe a blue diffuser and just set to STTL and the power dial on the right at the top which is the middle setting. From what I can gather from the instructions this is a good start point.

 

Any thoughts or comments from anyone would be great and I would be interested to hear as im sure others would be too what settings/setups people are using.

 

Thanks,

Mark

Mark, I use a Canon G9 with dual Inon Z-240 Strobes and Inon lenses as well, so here's a few observations that have worked for me.

First, I usually set the ISO at the lowest setting the camera will permit, which is 80 on mine. I do dial up the ISO a bit for certain conditions or shots, like if the sky is overcast and there is little light or when I'm shooting distance shots of a wreck and turn off my strobes, however, I generally stick to the 80 and 100 settings. For example, yesterday, I shot wide angle all day and the conditions were great, but the sky was a bit overcast, so I used ISO 100 all day and got great results. Also, when I'm facing a large wreck and I want to get a shot of the entire thing, but I know the lights will not illuminate too far away, then I often turn off my strobes and dial up the ISO to 200 and drop the aperture to f2.8 of f3.2 and try there. If I need to clear up things a bit more, then I'll try ISO 400, but anymore than that and it gets too grainy.

Also, I set my Inon Strobes on STTL on the left dial and on the first setting "TTL" on the secong setting. This seems to give me the best results when shooting in AV (Aperature Priority), which is my preferred setting, because I'm not a big fan of auto or underwater modes. With this approach, all I have to do is dial in the aperature as I desire, position the strobes and the strobes do the rest of the work, and of course, I might dial up or down my aperature, depending on what results I get from the shot.

Here's a few shots I took yesterday that will give you an idea of what kind of results I've been getting with those settings.

Hope that helps!

Good luck!!

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

Some usefull information there. My reason for using the Auto or UW mode is because my camera doesnt allow you to adjust the apeture yourself, it doesnt have the manual modes which is frustrating. I have a Nikon DSLR setup for land use aso its annoying having to go back to the slower and less configurable Ixus. Im probably likely to want to upgrade before my next trip and the G9 or G10 if its out then would be my main consideration. Ive only just bought the lenses and strobe so I cant justify the expense of a new camera as well, particularly as my lenses are AD and not the 67mm threaded ones which is a shame. I would have to sell the lenses and replace them. The only thing that puts me off this is I much prefer the OEM housings and I know its a issue adding wet lenses to them unless you modify the housing itself.

Sounds like I might have misintepreted where I need the strobe settings, and sounds like I should be looking at reducing the ISO some more as well, as you seem to be getting some good results.

Thanks for your post!