Aquatica Housing D300s

Hello,

I've recently started shopping for a housing for my new Nikon D300s, and have been happily hounding as many people as I can find willing for some more information on what to get. Thanks to Jean from Aquatica for all the answers so far.

So I have settled on an Aquatica housing, with 9.25" port.

My only confusion is around the strobes and how they connect to the housing. If anyone knows on a good online resource please tell me. I don't want to order the housing to find that I've made a mistake and can't later get the strobes I want.

So the options seem to be either a fibre optic or Nikonos manual connection?

- what the heck does that mean?

- which is better?

- why two different ones?

I'll be trying to light up caves with these, and sometimes deep ones so need a deeper depth rating and as little extra weight to lug around, so Inon seems like the way to go, but any suggestions here would also be great.

Thanks in advance for any information offered!

So the options seem to be either a fibre optic or Nikonos manual connection?

- what the heck does that mean?

- which is better?

- why two different ones?

Welcome to Wetpixel

There are a few ways to connect a strobe to a housing (as you can guess). One is the traditional synch cord which gets screwed into the place on the housing (the bulkhead) and the other end gets screwed into the strobe. Internally in the housing there is a hot shoe connector which attaches to the camera. When the camera is triggered a signal fires the strobe(s). There are various types of connections with a traditional synch cord, including Nikonos and Ikelite cords. All strobes/housings do not have the same connection type (oh joy) so for instance Ikelite strobes have a specific cord to connect from one type of connection to another. Examples of various Ikelite Cords, for instance, can be seen On This Ikelite Page

Fibre optic is a connection that is not screwed in, it reads the light from the on-board flash on the camera and and the light goes through the cord to trigger a sensor on the strobes. If you take a look At This Image you will see the cord from the camera to the strobe.

Synch Cords require a bit more work with O-Rings and could be more prone to leaks, but they often will cycle quicker from shot-to-shot. Fiber Optics are less work, but may drain the camera battery quicker since the flash has to fire on the camera and may not cycle shot to shot as quickly. Sometimes they are a bit more flimsy and also there can be false flashes on the strobe.

As to options, synch cords have been around forever, fiber optics not as long, though fiber optics seem to be making a comeback.

Housings now offer options for one or more connections and on my next housing I will probably get fiber and Iklelite bulkhead connections (I prefer Ikelite connectors since they are easier for me to see and work with the way the ends are made. Nikonos are flat while the Ikelite are not, so it is easier to place them properly.) Various strobes may or may not support Fiber optic firing. See & Sea and Inon will have both regular synch cord connections and fiber optic connections, while others, such as Ikelite, require another piece to read the flash and pass it onto the strobe.

The large Sea & Sea (YS250 -http://www.seaandsea.com/) and Ikelite (DS200) strobes offer alot of power, but lighting a cave can be tricky. People use some triggered strobes (the ones that work fiber optically) to place in other divers hands, for instance, tho help with lighting. But it depends on the size of the cave and what you are trying to light of course....

That's exactly what I was looking for much appreciated.

So if the housing has two bulkhead an you can get one set up as fibre optic and the other a sync cord, could you still run two strobes of one sync cord bulk head? Or would you have to run one fibre optic and the other sync?

Looks like I'm leaning towards the sync cord though. In that case is it possible to run four strobes of the two bulkheads without using the remote flash on the strobes?

Thanks again

That's exactly what I was looking for much appreciated.

 

So if the housing has two bulkhead an you can get one set up as fibre optic and the other a sync cord, could you still run two strobes of one sync cord bulk head? Or would you have to run one fibre optic and the other sync?

 

Looks like I'm leaning towards the sync cord though. In that case is it possible to run four strobes of the two bulkheads without using the remote flash on the strobes?

 

Thanks again

Depending on the housing, you can set up different combinations. One fibre optic, one Nikonos, etc. Depends on the housing and manufacturer. Jean (from Aquatica) is around here often and he should be able to let you know the combination options for that housing, or you can drop them a line.

With a dual cord regular cord or fiber optic, you can shoot two off of one connection (the fiber optics have splitters). I often just use one of my bulkheads with a dual cord to trigger two strobes and leave the other bulkhead closed/capped. Not sure how much further 4 strobes are going to get you in terms of lighting a cave due to the effective distance of the strobes (as opposed to a wide area close to you where the light will hit to try to cover a bit more area, lower the power of strobes for different effects, etc.)