Sync Cable, single or double???

Hi, looking at strobes for my camera. I am going to go ikelite as I have their housing, probably 2x 160's. However I can't afford them both at the moment so will probably add the second later in the year.

My question is can I use a twin strobe sync cord with just 1 strobe attached or will I need a single sync cord and then get the double when I get the second strobe???

Rgds

Duncan

You can use the dual cable with only one strobe - it comes with a plastic 'blank' plug.

Having said that never go anywhere important without a spare cable (or three) - they seem to know the 'ideal' time to go wrong.

When I was shooting with an Ike housing and two strobes I kept a dual cable and a single cable and also added one of their 4100.6 manual controllers into the mix so that when the dual cable conked out I could still shoot two strobes.

With the above I could also shoot single strobe with either the single cable or dual cable with a blanking plug fitted to the 'spare' end of the dual cable.

The older Ike cables do not seem to last long - I have more respect for the look of the new type with built in strain relief - but we shall see.

Best regards,

Paul C

Thanks for that, I was planning to get a couple but was hoping I could use the dual for the one strobe....good good!!

Thanks again

Duncan

Not a direct answer to your question but just a little more data. When I was getting my setup configured, I only had one strobe so bought the single cable. A little later, I bought a second strobe and set it up as a slave. I had a lot of problems with that configuration so I bought a dual strobe cable.

The main problem I had was when shooting wide angle; the slave would not fire. Setting the strobes far apart prevented the slave from sensing the master's firing. Also, I had a few problems with the master and it quit firing on a few dives. Since it did not fire, neither did the slave. With a dual cable, if one doesn't fire, you still have the other strobe.

Ben

But if the dual cable fails you don't have either strobe. Go with 2 single sync cords for more options.

Yeah, that's my solution too. Two strobes (both with built-in slave capability) each with its own sync cable. That way there is a very good chance of getting both strobes to fire underwater if one cable fails.

Hello Duncan,

I use two single sync cable solution. You can use different strobe power. This option is very usefull for WA (and for Macro also) when using Manual flash power (not i-TTL). I must say I' ve not tried it with dual cable do...

Hello Duncan,

 

I use two single sync cable solution. You can use different strobe power. This option is very usefull for WA (and for Macro also) when using Manual flash power (not i-TTL). I must say I' ve not tried it with dual cable do...

Ok.... couple of questions...

The housing has one bulkhead...how do I connect 2 single cables?

Your solution you say only works for manual and the advantage of using 2 single cables is that you can set different powers on each strobe......If I am flying manual don't I just set the power on each strobe head individually so why can't I fire the left strobe at full power and the right strobe at half power using a double cable? Confused....

Rgds

Duncan

But if the dual cable fails you don't have either strobe. Go with 2 single sync cords for more options.

If the single sync cord on the master strobe fails, you also have no strobes.

If the single sync cord on the master strobe fails, you also have no strobes.

Why can't they just make more reliable sync cable egh.................Oh if life were easy......

 

Ok.... couple of questions...

 

The housing has one bulkhead...how do I connect 2 single cables?

mine Subal has two bulkheads... we had no information if your Ikelite housing had one or two bulkheads ;-)

Your solution you say only works for manual and the advantage of using 2 single cables is that you can set different powers on each strobe......If I am flying manual don't I just set the power on each strobe head individually so why can't I fire the left strobe at full power and the right strobe at half power using a double cable? Confused....

as I wrote I've never tried it with double cable... can't help you there.

If the single sync cord on the master strobe fails, you also have no strobes.

Hello ATJ,

if we use 2 strobes, 2 sync cables, 2 bulkheads and Manual power (no i-TTL, no Slave function) they function independently. This way if one strobe fails or one sync cable fails you still can go on taking pictures with one strobe.

From my own experience this situation occurs more often than you'll expect. Sometimes it happens because one Strobe's battery goes down (usual when using different strobe power) and sometimes because malfunction on the sync/strobe connection or on the Sync/bulkhead connection.

Hope I helped besides my lousy english

if we use 2 strobes, 2 sync cables, 2 bulkheads and Manual power (no i-TTL, no Slave function) they function independently. This way if one strobe fails or one sync cable fails you still can go on taking pictures with one strobe.

Carlos,

The only problem is that Ikelite housings only have one bulkhead. This means you can only have one strobe driven off the camera if you use a single sync cable. The second strobe would have to be running off a slave. If the master strobe (the one driven off the camera) fails, e.g. the sync cable dies, you lose both strobes.

From my own experience this situation occurs more often than you'll expect. Sometimes it happens because one Strobe's battery goes down (usual when using different strobe power) and sometimes because malfunction on the sync/strobe connection or on the Sync/bulkhead connection.

That has never happened to me using a dual sync cable - other than the one time the dual sync cable actually failed completely. When the dual sync cable failed, I lost both strobes, of course. Had I been using a single sync cable on the master strobe and it failed, I would have been in the same boat.

Your English is fine.

The housing has one bulkhead...how do I connect 2 single cables?

You can't. You'll either need to go a dual cable or a single cable to one strobe and a manual EV controller which has a slave built in for the other strobe. I normally use the former and it has worked flawlessly except for one time when the dual sync cable failed. I now carry a spare sync cable.

I also have a single sync cable and a manual EV controller. When my dual sync cable failed and I was waiting for a new cable to arrive, I tried using the single sync cable and manual EV controller. It worked perfectly at home but did not work very well at all in the water. I suspect the sunlight was overpowering the slave or that I wasn't getting enough light from the master strobe to the slave underwater. I much prefer using a dual sync cable.

If I am flying manual don't I just set the power on each strobe head individually so why can't I fire the left strobe at full power and the right strobe at half power using a double cable? Confused....

You most certainly can do what you suggest using a dual sync cable. The DS125 strobes have 4 settings over 3 stops: full, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8. This gives you a number of combinations of power levels for each strobe. You could even go TTL on the master and 1/4 on the secondary.

Duncan,

I wouldn't use an Ikelite dual cable and the black storage cap as a single strobe conection

I know one person (very experienced photographer) who says he does it all the time using the BLUE banded cord on a single connection. But as an Ikelite dealer AND user with years of experience my information says the black storage cap is simply an o-ring protector. The internal diameter is barely larger than the o-ring's outer diameter so it does not put any excessive pressure during long term storage. I believe it eve says on Ikelite's web site this is NOT waterproof for diving.

So to me this is just asking for a flood up the capped dual cord end.

Most Ikelite dual strobe shooters (me included) have TWO dual cords and one SINGLE for a back up on trips. As I've also said before I don't understand all these cord failures.....I get to dive a bit more than many folks (I see people posting 50-100 dives / year) and they seem to be breaking these things like hotcakes........I certainly don't wrap mine around the strobe arms like an Anaconda, but I don't baby them either.

As far as linking an EV controller inline as an emergency measure YES, you need to totally cover the EV controller with the black cover or it will trip each time it "sees" another strobe fire. Plus you need to set the strobe head on TTL as you are now MANUALLY OVERRIDING the strobe with the manual choices on the EV controller. In essence, no TTL.

Hope this helps.......

dhaas