As I research underwater options built around a Nikon D3S, I can't help wondering how well the excellent Nikon CLS system would work under water.
My plan has been to invest in UW specific strobes and arms but felt it is worth at least considering if and how I could take advantage of my current Nikon Flash system.
I did find the Patima PS-SB900 and PS-SB80 housings and the Subal SN-900 and SN-800 but how about the SU-800? I'm not sure how the CLS wireless control would work underwater or if a hardwired option is possible but how cool would it be to set up a set of four SB's controlled by an SU-800!
Hello George,
I have been shooting dual SB-800 strobes underwater, for about 4-5 years and have done lots of testing on the best configuration. I went to SB-800s to keep weight and equipment down, as I would be taking the SBs for land shots anyway so getting away from taking dedicated u/w strobes would be a luxury. I made my own DIY flash housings, but that is not important to your question.
The CLS system works on infrared, not radio.
If you can get flash housings with fiber optic cables, you can have your CLS, but without fiber optic cables the CLS is not reliable for underwater work. Of course, your D3s does not have an onboard flash so that leaves you out for fiber optic cables.
I tried hard wiring one flash and using the CLS system to fire the secondary SB-800, but had mixed results until the strobe sensors are very close to each other and the primary flash is pointed at the secondary flash's sensor.
What will work for you:
My decision was to hard wire both flashes for the most reliable system. One flash may be wired with 5 pins to the camera, but 2 flashes may not be 5 pin wired; the second flash can only have a maximum of 3 wires; TTL cannot be achieved, or turned on with either flash, in this manner. At this point, I will not try to discuss which three wires to connect. If two SB-800 strobes are 5 pin wired to the camera and one flash is turned on to TTL, the camera will not operate.
Recently, I have been experimenting with having one flash wired with 5 wires and using TTL, the secondary flash is ONLY wired to Ground and X-sync. The primary flash is hot shoe connected and the secondary flash is connected through the camera's PC cord. Using this wiring, keeps the camera from knowing there are two flashes connected at the same time, because the PC connection is not monitored by the camera's electronics. Both flashes work every time.
The results are that I can have a TTL correct exposure as long as my secondary strobe, which is on Manual power, is set within acceptable limits. For instance, I cannot shoot the secondary flash from one foot strobe distance at full power @F-5 and expect not to over expose the image. Shooting at 2 ft. strobe distance with the secondary flash on 1/8 to 1/4 power gives perfect TTL exposures. For wide angle, I can have the secondary flash on 1/4 to 1/2 power, 3 ft. strobe distance @F-8 and get perfect TTL exposure.
A secondary benefit is that I can also shoot wired the way just described at ANY flash speed up to 1/8000th of a second and get perfect exposures with BOTH strobes contributing to the exposure. I even tried this wiring and high speed sync using a SB-800 for the primary and an Ikelite DS-125 for the secondary flash. I will leave that topic and settings for a future new topic I want to discuss after I have plenty of test shots.
I hope the above helps and am available to explain more if needed.
All the best,
Barry Guimbellot
www.bareports.com
www.keywordworkflow.com
