A whole lot of dumb questions about strobes...

I've been happily snapping away underwater with my Olympus compact camera for about a year now, and have recently decided to add a strobe to my kit. Problem is, everything I read on the internet seems exceedingly complicated based on my very limited understanding of strobes and how they work, and I just can't figure out all the fancy lingo!

Basically, I own an Olympus Stylus 1010 with a PT-042 housing. The strobe I'm looking at is the Inon S-2000. I'm really just after a good, reliable, lightweight strobe that will be a good introduction to strobe photography, and this seemed to fit the bill (if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!). But there's so much damn terminology associated with it all, I'm very confused...

Here's the seaoptics rundown on it: http://www.seaoptics.com.au/products/stb/inons2000.html

 

1) Is it correct that I can use this strobe both wirelessly and with a fibre optic kit? My housing (Olympus PT-042) is listed on the site as requiring the W32 kit, so I assume this is compatible?

2) Should I buy a fibre optic kit, or would the wireless function be sufficient? And if so, how does the cable connect with my camera? Do I need any other pieces of equipment?

3) Can somebody please explain to me what TTL means (aside from "through the lens"), and is my camera compatible with the S-2000 to allow this function?

4) I do the majority of my diving in Tasmania - cold, murky waters. Should I be looking at strobes with a target light (e.g. Inon D-2000)? Or would it be easy to attach a small flashlight to the strobe head?

4) Any suggestions on strobe arms I should buy for "generic" photography (mostly macro stuff for now, but versatility would be great)? I had a look at the Inon D3 and D4 grip bases, but I really don't know what I should be looking for in arms. Do I need to separately purchase a base plate to attach the arm unit to my camera, or will this be included in the arm kit?

5) Finally, could somebody please spell out for me each bit of equipment I would need to purchase? All I have right now is the camera + housing.

 

Thank you so much to anyone who can help. I know it's a bunch of dumb questions, but I don't personally know anyone who's into serious u/w photography and can help me with them. The internet is great for self-learning, but most sites assume a certain level of knowledge. Everyone has to start somewhere... right?

1) Is it correct that I can use this strobe both wirelessly and with a fibre optic kit? My housing (Olympus PT-042) is listed on the site as requiring the W32 kit, so I assume this is compatible?

Yes - as I understand the slave sensor is quite sensitive and will function well as a wireless slave.

2) Should I buy a fibre optic kit, or would the wireless function be sufficient? And if so, how does the cable connect with my camera? Do I need any other pieces of equipment?

I think the #1 reason to go with the F/O kit is that you can then almost completely mask the internal strobe with a mask and prevent any backscatter from the camera's flash.

3) Can somebody please explain to me what TTL means (aside from "through the lens"), and is my camera compatible with the S-2000 to allow this function?

TTL - in this context - means the camera controls the flash amount by monitoring the light that passes through the lens to ensure an automatic exposure. The Inon S-2000 will do this over fibre optics by "following" the internal strobe.

4) I do the majority of my diving in Tasmania - cold, murky waters. Should I be looking at strobes with a target light (e.g. Inon D-2000)? Or would it be easy to attach a small flashlight to the strobe head?

Better to use a separate focus/spotting light in my opinion. Saves battery on your strobe and a focus light should be on the lens axis and the strobe should not.

4) Any suggestions on strobe arms I should buy for "generic" photography (mostly macro stuff for now, but versatility would be great)? I had a look at the Inon D3 and D4 grip bases, but I really don't know what I should be looking for in arms. Do I need to separately purchase a base plate to attach the arm unit to my camera, or will this be included in the arm kit?

For macro, keep the arms fairly short ... does olympus make a tray and arms? Sorry, just don't have any strong opinions on this ...

5) Finally, could somebody please spell out for me each bit of equipment I would need to purchase? All I have right now is the camera + housing.

Camera, housing, tray, arm, strobe, F/O kit, focus light, lanyard to attach to yourself so you can let it hang and still have two hands ...

Keep in mind that Inon has a special optical cable that goes with its strobe and usually isn't part of the strobe package. Your reseller should have the part number. The older ones required an optical D cable. You'll also want to make sure it comes with an adapter to put on your arms. Lastly, you'll want to purchase a kit to attach the other end of the fiber optic cable to the camera housing. Don't buy the velcro version..they're a pain. Get one that clips to the diffuser plate. Your housing appears to have a cold shoe on top. I would buy a sea&sea adapter for your focus light. Fantasea Nano Focus Light is a good cheap light.

Fantastic, thanks so much jeremy and ce4jesus!

Just a few more dumb questions to round this off:

I've found the optical cable I need for my housing - the package contents are listed as "1 x single fibre optic cable, 'dual' fibre optic cable holder and the patented 'clear photo film'". Is this "cable holder" an adapter to put on the strobe arms? I've also seen this product (M67Pt042 Lens/Optic Fibre Cable Holder at top of page) listed - do I need this? Again, sorry about the stupid questions...

Could you please give me an example of a kit you would recommend to attach the cable to the housing? My only understanding of basic Inon f/o kit is a bit of wire, so I don't know where it's supposed to attach, or if I need to modify it, or purchase a separate kit!

Again, thank you so much for all your help.

Fantastic, thanks so much jeremy and ce4jesus!

 

Just a few more dumb questions to round this off:

 

I've found the optical cable I need for my housing - the package contents are listed as "1 x single fibre optic cable, 'dual' fibre optic cable holder and the patented 'clear photo film'". Is this "cable holder" an adapter to put on the strobe arms? I've also seen this product (M67Pt042 Lens/Optic Fibre Cable Holder at top of page) listed - do I need this? Again, sorry about the stupid questions...

 

Could you please give me an example of a kit you would recommend to attach the cable to the housing? My only understanding of basic Inon f/o kit is a bit of wire, so I don't know where it's supposed to attach, or if I need to modify it, or purchase a separate kit!

 

Again, thank you so much for all your help.

Give a call over to Reef Photo, and Ryan should be able to tell you which Inon Optical fiber kit will attach best to your Oly housing.

The cap screws onto the light sensor at the bottom of your strobe, and works with any camera. Then there is a fiber cable which terminates as bare fiber. This usually slots into a small attachment of some sort which simply holds it in front of your camera's built-in strobe, so the light is channeled up to the sensor and triggers the strobe to fire, very reliably.

Ok so I contacted Richard at ReefPhoto and he was incredibly helpful. During some extensive forum browsing I read somewhere a concern about optically fired strobes not being an upgradable pathway (if I ever got together enough money to persue the DSLR route) because you can't use an electrical sync cord. Is this correct? Realistically it'd probably be another 50 years before I could afford anything like that, but I guess it's something to consider.

Ok so I contacted Richard at ReefPhoto and he was incredibly helpful. During some extensive forum browsing I read somewhere a concern about optically fired strobes not being an upgradable pathway (if I ever got together enough money to persue the DSLR route) because you can't use an electrical sync cord. Is this correct? Realistically it'd probably be another 50 years before I could afford anything like that, but I guess it's something to consider.

Depends on what DSLR you plan to upgrade to.. all you need for an optically fired strobe is a camera that has an onboard flash (and a housing that supports its use) which a lot of the more affordable DSLRs have.