I have a canon G2 in an Ikelite housing with a DS125 strobe. The strobe is new to me in December and I've taken a few hundred shots with just the camera flash. The problem is I can't seem to get enough light out of the strobe. I prefer the aperature priority setting and have tried the entire range yet all of my photos are dark. I dive in lakes and in the Vancouver Island area so I have 'no' ambient light yet I was getting better results before I added the strobe.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
I have the same exact set up and I have gone to shooting in full manual mode (included the stobe settings). It doesn't take long to get this down.
That being said, before I went to full manual, I didn't have the issues that you are talking about.
It sounds most likely that the switch, inside the optical TTL slave unit, is not in pre-flash mode. Try switching it.
I am assuming that you see the external strobe go off, when you trigger the camera.
I always use aperture priority mode, to give me control of ambient, and let TTL work.
Don
You might benefit from using the Ike manual controller........takes a small learning curve, but you can end up with more consistant results
Karl
The G2 and ike TTL controller works well. The shots in my pbase gallery are all with that setup.
Thanks for the advice everyone!
Yes, I do see the strobe fire so I know that its working. And I have set that tiny switch to TTL. I will give the manual controller a try as well as switch to manual mode. (can't hurt!) I actually have both controllers but thought that full power on ttl should equal full power on manual.
What has your maximum distance been? Perhaps I'm too far away from my subjects. I generally try to stay within arms length.
In air, the ds-125 will be good for many arms lengths...
There is no "ttl" setting, for the switch I am talking about. It is inside the TTL slave sensor, behind the big flat metal screw. It has settings for "pre-flash", or "no pre-flash".
It will work after you switch the switch.
Switch the switch
Derway is right. The problem is that your camera is not syncing with your strobe. The flash goes off but not at the precise moment that the shutter is open. I had the same problem with my digital elph and DS125 initially.
Inside the TTL sensor, under the "battery compartment" there is a switch that is unmarked. Unscrew this small plug with a coin and see it. The instructions included a small attachment that decoded the switch settings. One side says pre-flash the other is no-preflash. THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE MISLEADING. Ike explained in a post to me that which setting you use depends on the duration of your pre-flash on your specific model of camera. Not wether or not you have a pre-flash or not--most digitals do. Play around with this in a dark closet. If your pictures are still not comming out try re-pointing the sensor. I use a small bit of aluminum foil taped inside my housing to reflect the internal strobe light away from the subject and onto the sensor.
I only figured this out after spending an hour at Cathy Church's photo center and trying it in the dark under the table. I assumed that since I had a preflash in my camera that the "Preflash" setting was correct. I only got it right after half of my trip was over and thus half of the pictures I took were dark. My hard earned lesson is to always make sure everything is working topside and in a pool before you go to your destination. Otherwise you are risking a trip wasted for photography.
AH! I've been into that little compartment to check the pre-flash setting and it's on pre-flash. I'll check the sensor direction & add some tinfoil if necessary too. All good advice!
thanks again!
In an effort to perpetuate eternal confusion, preflash setting for Manual Controller is different than the TTL Sensor. TTL Sensor merely changes duration of the preflash which affects exposure. Preflash switch on Manual Controller tells it to fire on each flash OR ignore the first (preflash) flash and fire on the next flash. No next flash within the predetermined delay and you get no flashy period because a false alarm is assumed............
