Questions about strobes for the G10...

Hey everyone!

Im here looking for information, hopefully you all can help me! Ive had my G10 for a year now, have taken a couple thousand pictures with it underwater, and now Im looking to upgrade my kit with a strobe. Ive currently got the Canon housing.

1) Is there any MAJOR difference between a strobe with a sync cable, as opposed to an optical TTL connection? (im considering upgrading to an Ikelite housing, to use the sync cable for their strobes)

2) Currently in shutter priority, the internal flash limits the exposure to 1/500th. If I had a sync cable, or optical ttl, would I be able to sync the flash with a higher speed shutter? Say... 1/1000?

A story:

This summer I borrowed a friends Ikelite AF35, which i tried to get working for the G10. All of the pictures I took were either hideously overexposed, or virtually black. I couldnt for the life of me figure out how the damn thing sync'ed up. Which is why Im here now asking questions about the differences with a "slave" setup, such as the optical TTL.... I dont think Im very comfortable with it...

1) Aside from the obvious, they both work ... I've happily used both with a G9. I like optical better because there is no bulkhead through the housing and I can make my own optical cables.

2) Because you have an electronic shutter, there is no physical inhibition to high speed sync - in manual on my G9 I shot with strobes at 1/1000 and 1/2500 most of the time when I shot macro.

the ikelite housing and sync cable I had for my G9 was bomb proof, the sync cable TTL flash was superb! I hated optical cables, very easy to break, I also like the way the sync cables attach to the hot shoe of the cameras too, fibre optics salways seem the simple way to me, not the proper way. When I Velcro'd a fibre optic to my old housing before the G9 it always came off in time

I don't think AF35 is a very fair representation of the performance allowed by high end optically triggered flashes. A Sea & Sea YS-110a or Inon strobe connected by a quality fiber optic cable will fire every time. They are also surprisingly rugged. I've never seen a Sea & Sea Fiber Optic L or Inon Optical D cable break (but the cheap stuff does).

The more I use electrical cables, the more I'm drawn to optical firing. I have one niggly w/ Nikon DSLR that still forces me to hook up electrical cables from time to time, and I also love the warm soft light from Ikelite DS-160. If I could shoot continuously w/ an Ikelite DS-160 optically there would be a big bin of sync cords on ebay.

With your camera, I see no disadvantage. While you are shopping I'd also look at the teeny tiny fix housing for the G10.

http://reefphoto.com/index.php?main_page=p...roducts_id=3466

Optical TTL w/ a tiny S-1000 makes a very cool package.

I hated optical cables, very easy to break, I also like the way the sync cables attach to the hot shoe of the cameras too, fibre optics salways seem the simple way to me, not the proper way. When I Velcro'd a fibre optic to my old housing before the G9 it always came off in time

Couldn't disagree more ... sync cords are expensive, fragile and - in my experience - somewhat LESS reliable than optical connections ... and I can make a new optical cable at the exact length of my choice for about $12 ...

There is nothing 'improper' about using optical connections.

I thouroughly concur with Jeremy: I haven't used my electronic cables in three years, and the only time that I had a problem was when a lobster (honestly!) bit a fibre-optic cable: I trimmed it with my dive-knife (now I know why I carry one), and risked another shot of the lobster...

... try that with an electrical cable!

Tim

I have been using Canon P/S camera's with OEM housing and various optical triggered strobes for yrs and liked them all, the last being a G9 with Inon strobes. Loved the optical connection. Bought a Nexus for my D90 so I could continue using optical connections.

My one frustration with the Canon P/S, the camera does not use TTL for the strobe when the camera is set to 'M'. I found that frustrating but its the same for optical or electronic strobe firing. With your AF35 test, if you were using 'M' to get settings like 1/500 shutter and f8, then expecting the strobe to TTL - it will not work. The strobe would be manual control only. This could lead to dark or over-exposed pictures, depending on the distance to subject, settings etc.

I also agree with Ryan that the AF35 is not a fair test of optical TTL.

You can confirm camera/flash sync by shooting into a mirror and looking at the picture for the flash.