Aquatica 300D will have TTL!

[From the Wetpixel homepage]

Hi Gang,

"We just heard from Blake at Aquatica that they have made a breakthrough and will be offering their Canon 300D digital Rebel housing with TTL strobe control. Aquatica's electrical engineers have "cracked the TTL code" for the Canon 300D and will install special circuitry between the camera's hotshoe and the housing bulkhead which will enable the camera to communicate with underwater strobes for automatic strobe control.

One of Aquatica's beta testers is trying out the 300D housing with TTL right now in Bonaire and should have a report soon. We don't know yet which strobes will be TTL compatible with the setup, but we hope to find out soon - so check back here and on the Wetpixel homepage for more information as it becomes available."

To see some photos of the housing from our past article, click on:

http://wetpixel.com/archives/00000151.shtml

Cheers

James Wiseman

On wonders why everyone is skipping the 10D. Is the Rebel just that popular a price point? Nonetheless, with this news, and at least the possibility of INON having cracked the same code, I may yet get a DSLR in the water this year . . .

In addition to TTL the DR will fire the strobe to aid autofocus when it thinks it's needed. If this works out, it may eliminate the need for a modeling light. Of course all these short pulses may cut into the full power output of the strobe.

Blake had mentioned something along this line to me last week that made me think. Awesome.

Herb and I are feeling less and less like guinea pigs everyday.

Estimated shipping is still mid February.

In what ways could this work? Does it require a DX strobe or Ike equivalent? I don't think regular strobes recycle enough to generate preflashes.

In what ways could this work? Does it require a DX strobe or Ike equivalent? I don't think regular strobes recycle enough to generate preflashes.

Most strobes will not recycle fast enough, so you'll get less than full power. It can still work depending of the detail of how the Canon TTL actually operates.

I think Aquatica will have to put in a flash exposure compensation control to make this really useful since the DR does not have it. I think a large percentage of TTL shots underwater require some compensation for a proper exposure.

In addition to TTL the DR will fire the strobe to aid autofocus when it thinks it's needed.

Are UW strobes able to do this? The S2 does not.

Hang in there Kasey,

I'm thinking (and this is my opinion only) that if Aquatica can crack eTTL then they can do Nikon also. They probably did the D-Rebel first because they think that camera will gain them a lot of market share (and I bet it will) because the camera is under $1,000

We'll have to wait for a report from Aquatica about which strobes are compatible.

I have heard that eTTL fires even more preflashed than Nikon's dTTL and that the Nikon protocol is easier to mimic - we'll have to wait and see. Plus, Nikon keeps changing theirs - now they have iTTL.

Cheers

James

Scotty,

The pop-up flash on the newer Canon DSLR's can do stroboscopic flash pulses. Canon has decided to do away with a dedicated focusing light on the camera and is using the pop flash for a focus light now. It's not a "continuous on" lamp, but it fires fast enough that it seems like it is.

Cheers

James

The pop-up flash on the newer Canon DSLR's can do stroboscopic flash pulses.  Canon has decided to do away with a dedicated focusing light on the camera and is using the pop flash for a focus light now.  It's not a "continuous on" lamp, but it fires fast enough that it seems like it is.

This is one of the most annoying features in the world, in my opinion. It makes people quite uncomfortable! Even the bright white focus-assist lamp on the D60 and 10D is pretty bad. Red of infrared (like the mid-range SLRs use) is much preferred. I can't imagine that it costs that much more to implement!

So James,

My question to you is, would you buy this setup, if you were starting from scratch?

As a closet admirer of the S2 and it's results :ph34r: I'm wondering if you feel this is a better option.

Rand

I think a large percentage of TTL shots underwater require some compensation for a proper exposure.

I don't fully agree, if your strobes are positioned correctly it will work every time and can be used in conjunction with aperture & shutter controls and ISO.

Nikonos type strobe fittings will almost certainly be utilised by Aquatica and consequently giving a choice of Nikonos, S&S Duo & N, Inon etc. Otherwise building the interface module was pointless. Preflash will not work with standard low technology strobes; the thyrister dischage is controled by an integral IC only found in surface dedicated units. So in reality using housed canon strobes may be a better alternative if one needs preflash.

Not sure whether S&S still do their Canon dedicated strobe anymore (YS60C).

Well Rand, that depends what your definition of "better" is. :-)

It's the best DSLR option (IMO) If you don't want to shell out >$1,000 for a camera body. And it can do just about everything that my S2 setup can do... but not everything.

Cheers

James

I think a large percentage of TTL shots underwater require some compensation for a proper exposure.

I don't fully agree, if your strobes are positioned correctly it will work every time and can be used in conjunction with aperture & shutter controls and ISO.

 

Maybe not every time. For some shots under some conditions, getting strobes "positioned correctly" can be difficult or impossible without compensation. For example, CFWA in low ambient light conditions requiring large apertures. Positioning poweful strobes behind the plane of the camera can solve this problem for a wide-angle scenic of a relatively close larger subject (say, a sea fan), but not for a smaller, closer main subject close to the dome (say, a frogish or leaf scorpionfish), where the strobe light will be be blocked by the housing itself, as well as the shooter's head and body.

Positioning the strobes so that the CF subject can be properly illuminated can result in over-exposure at wide apertures if the subject-strobe distance is to close and the TTL circuitry cannot shut the strobes down fast enough to ensure a correct exposure.

Obviously this problem can also be solved by using smaller, less powerful strobes, but many of us want to be able to shoot CFWA subjects without necesarily having to change the standard wide-angle equipment configuation.

For me, with both my digital and film rigs, -0.5 flash compensation seems to work

best in most situations with Ikelite SS-200s positioned conventionally, positioned on 24" arms and aimed forward, at least up to f/8. At tighter apertures, and of course for almost any macro shots, the TTL circuitry can shut down the strobes fast enough without negative flash compensation. With my back-up strobes (Sea & Sea 90 DX) similarly positioned, no negative flash compensation is ever required.

Robert Delfs

Hi Robert,

In the shooting situation you outlined (CFWA) most people would shoot manual strobes. That's what I do and recommend for that type of shot.

In that situation, flash compensation isn't required or even used by the camera.

Cheers

James

Sorry Robert I should have been more specific. I was thinking about close-up and macro. CFWA rarely if ever works using TTL the foreground would get blown out.

TTL utilising standard type UW strobes is very basic, to say the least, but it works well, albeit within tighter parameters than dedicated units like the 80DX.

Also, I don't regard this as a cheap alternative to its peers, one still has to buy housing, ports, arms, strobes, gears and there's $3-4000 gone already!

  Also, I don't regard this as a cheap alternative to its peers, one still has to buy housing, ports, arms, strobes, gears and there's $3-4000 gone already!

Thank you Bob, that's the point I was trying to make with James and perhaps pry some comparisons out of him regarding the two cameras. In the overall scheme of things, the camera is just another accessory.

Sure the S2 is 4 or 5 hundred more but that won't even buy a decent lens so I consider the difference minimal. In the big picture.

Of course James, if you didn't want to respond because it might compromise your affiliations with site advertisers, I understand.

Rand

Sure the S2 is 4 or 5 hundred more but that won't even buy a decent lens so I consider the difference minimal. In the big picture.

Of course James, if you didn't want to respond because it might compromise your affiliations with site advertisers, I understand.

What site advertisers? At the moment, none of the manufacturers explicitly advertise on this site.

This is going to change soon, but I just wanted to point that out.

Congratulations on that Eric. I didn't really know for sure and didn't want to press the point if it was going to cause a problem.

Rand