DS125/CP5000 quirks?

Hello,

I am having problems getting my DS125/CP5000/Ike setup to work. Ikelite has been very helpful so far, and replaced a defective strobe tube (this is not a flame, but a cry for help!). I ever allow for the likelihood of user error.

I am still having problems and wanted to try to draw on this group's expertise before sending it back for a second time (diving in less than a month!):

Two questions/problems:

1. The strobe don't fire from the camera. However, it will fire when triggered by shorting the Ike-to-Nikon hotshoe attached to the bulkhead (as detailed on their website), so all the sync cords and connections must be okay. Also, the CP5000 does fire external strobes (SB24,SB30; including "TTL") correctly. Roger@Ike suspects the pins on the Ike-to-Nikon shoe connector may be to blame. Any comments or suggestions for further tests before mailing it in?

2. After powering up the capacitors with a satisfying whine, the DS125 continues to go "peep" about once every 10-15 seconds. Roger@Ike says it may be capacitor topping up. Is this normal? (Note, I do have dog-like high-end hearing, but nonetheless this does seem somewhat irritating to put up with during a dive...).

Thanks for any guidance...

Cheers, Chris

The strobe has a voltage monitor circuit that will "top off" the capacitors when they "leak down" to a predescribed voltage level. This is what you describe as a "peep" every ten seconds, and is the circuit that assures each and every flash is the same intensity.

If shorting from the center to the outside contact of the hot shoe fires the strobe, the hot shoe is not making good contact with the camera. This sounds like the hot shoe in our housing is at fault rather than the strobe. The spring loaded pins can be cantankerous. Check that the shoe is going completely into the camera. Look at the bottom of the shoe while inserting to see if pins are bumping up onto the shoe and not keeping the shoe from sliding all of the way in.

Ike, re beeping strobes. You certainly know your strobes better than I do. However, I have three DS 125s with 100s of dives on them and don't beep continuously. In fact, here is what I tell people whan they ask about beeping strobes.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! If at any time while testing or diving, the DS 125 beeps continuously it's not set right or it's broken. The DS 125 should only beep on two occasions --- when firing at full power and sometimes when turning the strobe off and then on. And in these two occasions it should only beep one time.

If the strobe is beeping continuously and you are using the manual controller, make sure the manual controller is not set between settings. A possible "fix" with the manual controller is to set the DS 125 strobe to 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, or full instead of TTL. Then control the power with the strobe power settings --- the manual controller settings have no effect when the manual controller is used this way. If this works, keep on taking pictures and get the controller and strobe checked by Ikelite when it is convenient to you.

Another cause of continuous beeping is flooding of the DS 125. So if it starts beeping during a dive and the above "fix" doesn't work, open the strobe with care when you are out of the water to avoid possible problems with battery acid leakage."

Is there something in this statement I Should change?

Well, it makes a BEEP BEEP BEEP sound when the strobe is not ready to fire. It makes a tiny peep sound when the capacitor is topping up. All strobes make that small peep sound.

Since the strobe will fire when you short the cord, I'm thinking that the "fire" signal is not getting to the cord. That means that there is not good firm contact from the camera's hotshoe to the black sync hot-shoe that slides in there. Either that, or the wiring has gone loopy inbetween the shoe and the bulkhead.

Cheers

James

Dave,

Hot shoe not pushed in all the way is the solution. The molded hot shoe usually is cantakerous to get in all the way the first few times. Then when some plastic has worn off the sides it will slide in easier each time you use it. Also check the two flat "springs" on the CP5000 camera hot shoe aren't bent and binding the hot shoe. If any of the hot shoe sticks out the back (like barely 1/16") you won't have pin contact and thus no flash.

I've worked this problem out with a few photographer friends ALL shooting the CooPix 5000 in the Ikelite housing and hard wired to DS125 or DS50 strobes. Once we got the hot shoe in all the way the strobe fired every time!

Finally make sure the menus are set to always fire an external strobe only, canceling the built in flash. I vaguely rememebr when set corretly you'll see 2 "lighting bolt" icons on the screen display. One with a circle and crossed out (canceled on board flash) and one regular showing indicating "force flash" every time to a strobe connected via a hot shoe connection.

Good luck!

David Haas

Haas Photography Inc.

dhaas@megsinet.net

www.pbase.com/dhaas

All,

David Haas is right about the shoe being hard to insert, but I got by that last night.

Tonight, after having talked to Roger@Ike, reading Ike's note, and reading all that was so helpfully written here, I re-examined the shoe. The side of the pin that sits forward (the "lone" pin at the front of the shoe) was binding against the plastic of the shoe itself. A gentle pry and a wee bit of scraping (a wee wee bit, I swear, Ike) set the pin free and the strobe now fires correctly!

So it was only a minor bit of strangeness with the shoe. The strobe is peeping merrily now. I will get in the pool for test shots directly.

By the way, my wife cannot hear it peep (too many nights at Lola's in her youth?).

Thanks for all the help.

CeeDave aka Chris

i used a cool pix 5k in an ikleite housing with a 125 too and never had a peep sound except after flash also i used the light slave instaed of hooking to camera hot shoe and it worked great my only glitch was flash often too bright ie i would shoot in manuel with 125 shutter speed and change the fstop and strobe position alot to get less over exposure ps where are you going diving?

The DS125 seems to be working fine now ... with the hot shoe pin released (see previous post) and the recalcitrant shoe pushed all the way into the 5000 (as per David Haas' observation). It *does* still peep as it tops up, as mentioned by Ike and James (tho as I mentioned before, some may not hear this low-volume high-frequency peep). I have been playing with the housing in air...getting accustomed to the *very* gentle touch required on the Ike shutter release lever. I plan to mount the WCE68 w/dome and the DS125 and go to the LSU natatorium with it this week, to check it out and get some underwater strobe work in 18 fcw (feet of chlorinated water).

I am going to Bimini for a few days next month. Will probably use my good ole NikV/20mm/SekonicMeter for ambient light shots if I get to snorkel with dolphins as I hope to (it is much handier than the housed 5000), and use the 5000/IkeHsg/125 for other dives.

CeeDave aka Chris

Wow - this sounds like the same problem I am having.....I'm going to check out the pins tooo! I'll let you know how it turns out....

Checked sync cord and flash out on a friends camera. Everything is working well. This leads me to conclude that there is a programming problem with the Nikon programming onboard the Coolpix 5000. For some reason, it wont recognize the TTL setting on the DS125 and react accordingly and fire it.....anybody else out there experience similar problems???

Update: we have identified a short in the wiring...parts coming from Ikelite. Stay tuned....

Final Update - Ikelite has sent spare parts and a defect was found in the bulkhead wiring assembly, all is repaired and working now. "Ike" and Roger C. were a great help. Many thanks to Ikelites warranty repair help. All is good!