Aquatica 7D Housing Dome Relections

Hi,

I've recently started shooting my Aquatica 7D rig using dual Inons triggered optically via the 7D onboard flash. This setup works quite well, though on a recent cave trip I hit a dome reflection issue. I was using the Tokina 10-17mm + gear, 6" dome and 2 x Inon z240s on single 12" arms.

I suspect the reflection issue is due to using the internal flash at full power and the Inons set to ttl. Some light seems to hit the domes from the internal flash and reflect back. I managed to work around the issue by setting the internal flash to 1/128th (lowest setting) and the Inons to Manual and max power rather than TTL. My logic was less light coming out of the camera would not make it to the dome.

I found this workaround worked ok in a cave environment because I was using strobes at full dump but I canimagine other scenarios where it would be suboptimal (or at least I'll be loosing functional options that the rig has).

I presume the issue has been encountered before so am interested to hear any recommendations/experiences.

I had the exact same issue recently with a nauticam housing/7d/dome/tokina. In my case I was trying to capture natural light pictures from inside wrecks. I was turning my inon strobes off but leaving the internal flash on. The cause of the problem was what you described -- light from the internal flash escaping and bouncing off the inside of the dome port. The nauticam guys said they have some sort of rubber ring that wraps around the lens and blocks light from entering the inside of the dome port. I talked to Steve at Aquaventure Photo and he said that some housing manufacturers (and DIYers) use a weatherstripping type material to form a light-blocking seal on the inside of the dome port. Another solution he proposed was covering the internal flash with a photo film material that blocks everything but the non-visible light generated by the internal flash. This signal is strong enough to trigger the inons. I haven't tried any of these methods yet.

When I converted my old Subal 40D housing to fibre optic part of the conversion kit I got from Reef Photo was a foam ring that goes around the lens and blocks light getting up into the port:

I haven't had any issues with my 7D/Nauticam with the 10-17 (with and without teleconverter) behind both my 8" Subal dome and 4" Zen dome so haven't looked into adding anything blocking light getting into the domes.

Thanks guys. I hadn't had issues with reflection until I hit the darkness of the caves.

I'll give Gudge's foam solution ago, seems simple and basically free. Otherwise I'll just run the strobes in manual but I do find the z240s to be somewhat fiddly for quick setting changes (this becomes particularly difficult in a dark cave). I'd much rather do it once on the back of the camera and keep shooting.

I have used a plastic disc (cut from an old DVD box) and painted over the gold stripes and letters on the lens. Some people tape over the reflective stripes. Manual optical trigger at low power works pretty well, but the ideal solution is implemented in my new Nauticam: I can disable the pop-up flash with a single, dedicated, lever. No problems in the caverns of Gozo earlier this month!

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...mp;#entry262091

Tim