Fuji S2 and Sea and Sea Housing

This is my continuing saga of trying to get a Sea and Sea housing working with a Fuji S2 camera. I purchased it the end of August and still haven't been able to use it - this is getting very frustrating.

I have found that it won't work with Ikelite DS-125 strobes and an Ikelite sync cord (the strobes won't fire in TTL mode, they beep and complain about a bad connection - they will fire in manual mode). Nor will it fire a Nikonos SB-105 with a Nikonos sync cord (in either TTL nor manual mode).

I sent it back to the dealer, and they were able to fire it with a Sea and Sea sync cord and strobe.

I have Inon strobes ordered, which will use a Sea and Sea sync cord. So now I am wondering if they will work or not?

Is there anyone out there using an S2 with a Sea and Sea housing? If so, what strobe(s) and sync cord are you using? Are you able to use the strobe(s) in TTL mode?

Thanks for any feedback........ Linda

New info - I just spent a couple more hours on this project, with brand new Inon strobes and Sea and Sea sync cords. They don't work either. Somehow, it appears that Sea and Sea has rigged their housing so it only works with Sea and Sea strobes.

I tried the strobes with both the S2 and an N50 hooked up to the hotshoe in the housing, and both failed. (One strobe at a time, with a single sync cord to keep it simple.) First, when the focusing light is set to be used, it comes on and stays on forever. (When it is set to "off" it doesn't come on, but the strobe still doesn't work correctly.) When you shut down the aperture and light getting to the shutter and aim the strobe totally away, it gives the indicator that TTL was working - no full dump. I tried this with each of the two strobes, with the magnet both in and out of the "N" position.

When I hooked the strobes up to my RS, they worked as expected (again one at a time, with the single cord). The focus light came on when the shutter was depressed half-way and went out after about 8 seconds, and the TTL worked as expected ..... full dump when the strobe was aimed away, short burst when aimed at the camera. With the RS the magnet was in the "N" position in the strobes.

So I believe that I have thoroughly proved that something is going on with the housing so it will not work with any other strobes. Unless anyone else has any ideas for me to try??

I do not intend to use Sea and Sea strobes, so now I plan to send it back and start all over! I had better not get any grief from the shop! After 7 weeks of frustration trying to get this one working. :angryfire:

Sorry for your troubles............FWIW, I know people with a D100 and Sea & Sea housing getting great results with Ikelite DS-125's.........keep looking

You could change out the bulk head connector with another. I use a Aquatica and bought it directly from Blake, the owner. He’s most helpful, I’m sure he could help you.

aquatica@netrover.com

Marc

We spent several hours trying to help an Australian customer make strobes work with a housing before finally proving Subal had wired the hot shoe incorrectly. Diagrams shown on following URL may prove useful:

http://www.ikelite.com/faq/faq_syncwiring.html

Ike - thanks - that is just what we spent hours on today. We metered the wiring on this housing, and on an older S & S housing, and they are definitely different. We then used my camera and my strobes, hooked up to the other housing, and they worked perfectly. So we have finally determined once and for all that the wiring on my housing is defective. Now to determine if it is just this one, or if all S & S housings are wired just to work with their strobes in some way.

And thanks very much for the wiring diagram! We had already found it earlier today and used it to check out the wiring. It was a big help!

Regards, Linda

I checked the wiring of both bulkheads on my Sea&Sea S2 housing and the single bulkhead on my Sea&Sea N90 housing and they are wired identically. I did a connectivity test using a multi-meter and found that all five wires on both bulkheads of the S2 housing are wired to go to the same pins on the hot-shoe. The wiring configuration on the N90 housing was the same as on the S2 housing.

I modified the wiring diagrams and nomenclature from the Ikelite homepage (http://www.ikelite.com/faq/faq_syncwiring.html) to show what is wired to what and made a JPEG which I have attached.

I also plugged the Inon Z220 into each of the bulkheads on the S2 housing and the system acted the same regardless of which bulkhead I used. The red light on the Fuji S2 lit up as soon as the strobe was turned on. So it doesn't look like there is a primary and a secondary bulkhead port - they are identical in all respects.

When I tried to use an Ikelite 50 TTL strobe with the Inon Z220 (i.e., dual strobes), the Inon modeling light and LASER would not work although the TTL appeared to work. In order to use dual strobes with the dual bulkheads maybe the READY LIGHT wire has to be cut on one bulkhead - but James in an email to me said it was the CONFIDENCE wire that causes the problem and I have no idea what the CONFIDENCE wire does.

I'm not sure if it's the ready light or the confidence pin. I was basing my statement on something that Ike had written on his site, or said in the past. If he says you can't have two ready light signals, then that's probably it.

So, why don't you just use a dual sync cord? It already has this "built in" so to speak.

Cheers

James

I have no idea what the CONFIDENCE wire does.

Ike may well correct me here, but I believe that the confidence pin is what communicates to the camera that there is a strobe attached that uses the Nikon TTL protocol. I also think James is correct in saying that two "ready" signals is a no no... Only one strobe has the job of telling the camera that strobes are ready, then all are fired and quenched simultaneously by the camera.

My sincere thanks to Art for checking all this out, since he is working with the same camera/housing/strobe combination that I am trying to set up (still unsuccessfully).

I wonder about the two "ready signals". I have a friend with a Seacam housing, who says that both bulkheads are wired the same and it is the first strobe that is powered on that sends the ready signal and becomes the primary, and the second one is ignored (I acknowledge that this is a different brand of housing and may work differently). Someone else told me that Sea and Sea is definitely wired with a primary and secondary bulkhead, and you have to have the strobe in the primary powered on or the secondary won't work, which Art has disproved. So it is hard to know who to believe without testing your own system.

The reason I would like to use the two sync cords rather than a dual cord is that it means less bulk across the top of the housing. The heavier dual connector flops around there and tends to get in the way, and there is nothing on the top of the housing to strap it down to. Plus I may want a "modeling light" attached to the cold shoe, which will mean additional "stuff" on top.

I agree with Linda about using a dual sync cord. If I can make the dual bulkheads work then I save $180 by not having to buy a Sea&Sea dual sync cord for the Inon strobes. I'll know soon whether the dual bulkheads work once my second Inon arrives via Fedex.

Folks,

Rather than cutting wires or messing w/ the circuitry, I recommend just trying to cover up the ready-light pin on one of the sync cord plugs - if that is possible.

Cheers

James

Thanks to Ryan, I just received my second Inon Z220. I hooked it up to the second bulkhead on my Sea&Sea S2 housing for my Fuji S2 and everything appears to works perfectly. Both modeling lights work as do the LASER beams. And the strobe ready light indicator in the Fuji S2 comes on. I took some macro shots at different apertures using TTL and the exposures look good. I took a picture of a white piece of paper at f8 using TTL and both strobes recycled instantly as did the strobe ready light indicator in the Fuji S2 . I then blocked the front of the custom flat port with a pad of paper with the aperture set at f32 in TTL mode, and both strobes took a few seconds to recycle and a few seconds for the strobe ready light indicator in the Fuji S2 to come back on.

So it looks like the proper way to wire the two bulkheads for using dual Inon Z220 strobes is as I described and diagrammed in my earlier posting: that is with all five wires wired identically to both bulkheads from the hotshoe.

Lets hope Linda has similar success. :freak:

Regards, Art

Thanks for the update Art - that is excellent news.

Cheers

James

I also got good news last night - I received a replacement Sea and Sea housing for my S2, and finally my Inon strobes are also working in TTL mode. I tested with both single and dual cords, and there does NOT appear to be a primary/secondary bulkhead. All configurations of single and double strobes with single and dual cords worked the same in both bulkheads.

What I did find, though, is that I needed to remove the magnet from the Inon strobes in order for both modeling lights to come on when the shutter was depressed. With the magnet in the "N" position, the modeling light would only come on in one of the strobes.

No one ever confirmed it, but I firmly believe that the wiring of the bulkheads in the original housing was bad.

One thing I have noticed with the new housing is that the four function buttons aren't making contact with the camera. But I ran out of time last night, and need to do more testing and try re-seating the camera, etc. There is also the possibility these will work at depth, with the added pressure on the back of the housing. Worst case I may have to add a "dob" of something to the tip of each knob, but I don't want to send this housing back as it has taken me 10 weeks to get this far! Art, have you checked all the controls on your housing to insure they are making contact?

Regards, Linda

Linda,

I had the same problem with the function buttons until I reseated the camera and tightened the knurled knob holding the camera in place. Also make sure that the rubber eyepiece is removed from the viewfinder on the Fuji S2 or many of the buttons will come up short.

I did not have to remove the magnet to get both modeling lights and LASERS to work. Try to trace the pin wiring to see how it is wired. I hope that there aren't more wiring variations that people will have to worry about.

Regards, Art

I spent a little more time testing last night and when I properly seated the camera and removed the rubber eyepiece (I had read about that the first time, but forgot) everything is working correctly. All the controls are making contact. So I MAY get in the water this weekend, if the winds would just calm down. I'm eager to take some pictures and see how this all works out.

Thanks for all your help, and it is great to find someone with the same setup to compare notes!

Regards, Linda