What or which strobe

Canon doesn't work with the focus light. Some people wire up lights that shine into the Inon's light sensor to trigger the modeling lights, but it's not convenient. I use an external modeling light.

Doesn't the Canon hot-shoe have 6 pins and the strobe has 5? I think the INON strobes were designed to work with Nikon compatible cameras which send vastly different signals to the flash.

Nikon land flashes (and Canon's too probably) use one of the pins to look for an AF-assist signal from the camera. I think that Inon underwater strobes must look for that signal on one of the pins from the hotshoe.

So which one is it? Is it the same as from a Canon camera? If not, does the housing bulkhead need special cross-over wiring? Lots of questions here.

Cheers

James

It has 6 pins, but no one passes 6 pins through except for the 6-pin bulkhead that Seacam uses. Nikonos connectors pass 5 pins. Chances are, the hotshoe connector only has 2 pins, anyway (one pin + ground, that is). If that's the case, the INON strobe will work just fine.

Not sure which pin carries the AF-assist signal. I didn't want to mess with the hotshoe, since you can damage your camera that way -- in theory.

Is there a noticable difference in harshness/warmth between the ds125s and the z220s as far as the light itself and its falloff?

Hey guyz,

it's been overdue but I volunteer to write an article to sort out the different strobe connectors which are available on the market. I can provide also sample shots of different wire gear I have seen during my uw photo time.

In Europe S6 and N5 (also entitled Nikonos V) are very common next to fibre optics. But I'd be glad to get some photos of Ikelite bulkheads. I also have photos of the different connectors offered by Sea&Sea which I can include.

I have to do this homework anyway, as we are about to upgrade digideep.com with a long awaited database on uw strobes and strobe housings. I'd be glad to enrich wetpixel with an article about the recurring strobe wiring problem.

Cheers, Andi

Eric et al:

I am pretty sure that your contention that this can't work with Canon must be wrong, since the Sea and Sea guys get a shutter activated focus light to work on their D60 housing and probably on the 10D housing as well. It might be inconvenient or difficult to get cables made but it appears that it must be possible if S&S can do it. Of course this was through a different bulkhead but the signals must be there somehow.

BVA

I'm not sure that shutter activated focus light on the Sea and Sea housings actually works.

I have the Sea and Sea housing for the D100 and it has a port on front for the light cable to hook up - but it doesn't go anywhere inside the housing. I'll have a look at it tonight. Of course Canon may be different.

Cheers

James

On the Canon version, there is a cable from the port to a little black box, which is then connected to a PC connection. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the shutter activated focus light does work for the Canon, but that at $225 or so, it's not something I'm looking to purchase.

The canon version does indeed work for the D60. A friend has the shutter activated light. I would have bought one but Sea and Sea had no plans to import them anymore. Anyway the point is that it can be done, but according to Inon, canon cameras are not supported by the Z220. So Eric you were right. Now the question is what setup should I think about if I want to be able to take only the camera (and a backup light of course) on night dives.

thanks for a very constructive discussion.

Hmm. I used to have that little black box in the D60 housing that Simon Klaiber now has. I ripped it out because I needed the PC connector to use with a remote set-up.

Re: black box and INON Strobes -- even if you had the black box, it's a separate connector, so you'd have to cut the wire from it to the front bulkhead, pull out the third pin (and possibly the ground?) and wire it into the strobe's bulkhead, along-wide the wires that go to the hotshoe.

Not convenient. And anyway, that same AF assist signal must be being passed through the Canon hotshoe as well, since external Canon strobes know when to illuminate the assist beam.

That's what I thought, I will play around with the hotshoe and see if I can figure out which signals are on which pins. Eric, what modeling light are you using.

BVA

I'm using the Light & Motion Mod light.

Heard they stopped making them for some reason, but I don't know the details -- or whether that is even accurate. Anyone have the scoop?

it's true. check out my post in the lighting section with a response from LMI on when the new model will be out.

Redesigned for increased reliability. Replacement lights will ship before new lights, but should be rolling out the door in April...

Now the question is what setup should I think about if I want to be able to take only the camera (and a backup light of course) on night dives.

Inon strobes modeling lights are shutter activated, so unless you held down half-press the whole time, you'd be in the dark after 8 seconds.

The modeling lights on Ikelite DS-125 & SS200, and S&S YS-350 are always on. If you can dive with only the 4AA equivalent Z-220 mod light, set the strobe to optical mode, and run an optical cable to a small AA or AAA flashlight stashed somewhere on the tray. The strobe will still fire electrically.

At the following URL, the pin labeled 3.3k Ohm Resistor is the trigger for the shutter activated focus lights.

http://www.ikelite.com/faq/faq_syncwiring.html

This is also the line that tells your camera what sort of strobe is attached, and must be covered for Sea & Sea & Ikelite strobes.

Does a Nexus housing error when Sea & Sea or Ikelite strobes are attached that are wired to all five pins?

I wired the D100 through my Aquatica S2 housing's 5-pin bulkhead and it error'd with an SS200 attached. Dunno how the Sea and Sea is wired 'cause I only have a 3-pin bulkhead (cough cough).

Cheers

James

(cough cough).  

Should be able to fix that scratch in your throat this week...and it will be wired with all five pins.

I have a slightly different question regarding strobe. I bought Nikon D70 recently and am waiting for Sea and Sea housing to get here. In the mean time, I already have one Ikelite DS125 strobe that I use with my C5050/Ikelite housing. I am thinking of adding a 2nd strobe but I am not sure if I should go with DS50, another DS125 or go up to 200 or perhaps combination of the Ikelite with Inon 220Z. I am shooting mostly macro but will also be using the 12-24mm/domeport here and there. I want to be able to use the same 2 strobe set up for both macro and WAL as I don't want to carry a lot of xs gear (getting a hernia right at the beginning of a divetrip is not my idea of fun ). Any input would be appreciated. I love the Ikelite support through the local dealer here as well as Ikelite customer service but the Inon compact size does catch my attention as well.