Nikon D70 built-in flash in Ikelite housing?

Does anyone know if there is enough clearance in the Ikelite D70 housing to use the pop-up flash on the D70? I don't need it to evenly illuminate anything; I just need it to pop up. I'd like to put an IR filter over it (to reduce backscatter) and use it to trigger a "housed" SB800. (Does anyone have experience with using land-strobe wireless TTL underwater?)

The picture on Ikelite's site looks like there is enough clearance, but the view isn't great. http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/2dslr_d70.html

I'd also appreciate any opinions on Ikelite vs Sea & Sea for housings...

Thanks!

I don't think anyone is shipping the Ikelite D70 housing yet, but I could be wrong.

I'll tell you what, I'll try this tonight with the Ikelite D100 housing and see if the flash pops up enough to function as a slave trigger. This setup is almost exactly the same as the D70 but there may be a slight camera size difference.

PS, if you have a housed SB800, why don't you just connect it to the housing with a sync cord?

Cheers

James

Just got a call from my scuba shop that the Ikelite D70 housing is in and ready for me to pick-up!!! WHOOO!

Can't wait to finish work and get it.

I'll try this when I get it and post a reply. I'm not sure why you would want to do this this way though. I think the best way to accomplish this is to connect the SB-800 with a sync cord and then have the corded SB-800 act as the commander for any additional SB-800s. This way you will need a sync cord connection into at least one flash housing and less freedom of movement for the master strobe. Of course, you will need full control of the SB-800 buttons in order to make this worthwhile. Do you know if you can operate the buttons inside the housing?

I know there are some pretty neat things you can do with the SB-800s in ITTL. I thought a little about using the SB-800 underwater. I think I'll stick to the DS-125s. I bought a second in anticipation of this housing. My thinking was that the housing + SB-800 cost more than a DS125 with about half of the guide number. Or look at it this way--for the same guide number, a DS-50 costs about the same as a SB-800 housing. With a dedicated underwater strobe you get a bit more durability. The main advantage of the SB-800 is TTL, but I expect that Ike will come up with a solution to TTL for my housing as an upgrade sometime soon. Until then I'll use manual.

PS, if you have a housed SB800, why don't you just connect it to the housing with a sync cord?  

The proposed "housing" for SB800 is an ikelite box with no bulkhead or controls http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/housing_parts.html (It costs $120, the subal is $690)

Just got a call from my scuba shop that the Ikelite D70 housing is in and ready for me to pick-up!!! WHOOO!  

Which shop is this? (Do they have another? what's their number?).

I called Ikelite yesterday and was told that the housing was not shipping until the end of the month!

My thinking was that the housing + SB-800 cost more than a DS125 with about half of the guide number.

True, unless you use a $120 ikelite "housing" with no controls and no sync cord (i.e. a plastic box with an o-ring). In which case the housed SB-800 is $450ish.

The side benefit is that the no-control housing should require little maintaince (other than the single o-ring) and should be nearly flood-proof.

Do you know if you can operate the buttons inside the housing?  

Nope ... Need the $700 housing for that ... and those aren't even available.

Hello Groth99

I've tried the pop-up flash with my Canon 300D & Ikelite housing. There isn't enough space for the flash to pop up completely but enough to trigger my two Inon strobes (one primary and the other on slave) A bit tricky to use at first because of the Canon ETTL but in most cases if the there are no preflashes (or multi-flashes) then Inon works fine during the day dives but impossible for night dives without a very bright light. I have yet to try it with my Sea n Sea Ys90dx strobes underwater as the strobe's cancel circuit seems to ignore the multi-flash except for main flash. My aim before my next dive trip is to rig up the fiber optic cables to trigger the Inon focus light/ laser pointer by the Rebel's focus light.

Does anyone know of a way to shut off the pop-up preflashes on the Rebel?

He's a picture taken with my rig in Puerto Galera last month.

oops

Missed the picture!

Here's another

Picture of my rig

Well I picked up the housing yesterday and it is terriffic. I didn't have much time to play with it though, as I had promised my wife to spend some time with her last night. I'll post another thread with my general impressions and some pictures when I get a chance.

It looks like the pop-up flash will pop up at least partway if not all the way inside the housing. I was a bit suprised about this as I thought that there would be less room than that. There doesn't seem to be any way to activate the pop-up flash so you would have to do it before you put it in the housing. More important to me, there is no way to close the flash once its open, so, I'd better be careful not to accidentally set one of the auto or scene modes as once its open I'd get backscatter for the rest of the dive or go strobeless. Maybe I should put a bit of sticky foam like weatherstripping inside to keep it from opening.

Which shop is this? (Do they have another? what's their number?).  

I called Ikelite yesterday and was told that the housing was not shipping until the end of the month!  

I bought it from my local dive shop in Colorado. I special ordered it as soon as the D70 was announced hoping that Ikelite would come out with one. I need it for my trip to Key Largo on the 13th and Ike was tremendous in helping me get it. It was even a week early! So now I have some time to figure it out and test it in the pool.

True, unless you use a $120 ikelite "housing" with no controls and no sync cord (i.e. a plastic box with an o-ring). In which case the housed SB-800 is $450ish.  

The side benefit is that the no-control housing should require little maintaince (other than the single o-ring) and should be nearly flood-proof.  Nope ... Need the $700 housing for that ... and those aren't even available.

Ok, so I can see this as being a useful workaround for macro where you don't need much strobe power. It costs about as much as a DS-50 but you get the added benifit of a land flash as well and TTL. But you can't use any of the really powerful features of the SB-800, just set it to TTL turn it on and pop it in the box. Does this box have mounts for strobe arms?

I was comparing prices with the Subal, in which case it's a bad trade as the DS-125 costs about as much as the housing so you might as well have a dedicated underwater strobe that has more power for WA.

The preflashes are an integral part of digital TTL (in this case eTTL) and you can't turn them off.

Interesting rig Cheungy, thanks for sharing the pix.

If the "commander mode" on the D70/SB800 uses light (preflashes) instead of radio waves, then it should be possible to rig it up using the fiber optic kit. Please keep us posted.

Cheers

James

You can't turn them off, but they're exposure flashes, right? You could shoot in manual, and then I believe it only flashes once... but I may be wrong, and I don't have my camera handy at the moment.

To get a really detailed explanation of how the D70 communicates with remote flashes look at the Imaging Resource review of the D70 here:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D70/D70A7.HTM

It uses an undetectible series of preflashes to send the data.

You wouldn't want to turn them off and shoot manual because then you are better off going out and buying a DS-50 and using the manual controller with 10 steps rather than the 5 or so difficult to set in the D70 menu. The ds-50 has about the same power and a bit more rugged build than an SB-800 in a box.

The primary reason to go with the SB-800 would be TTL now. I could also [/url]

It looks like the pop-up flash will pop up at least partway if not all the way inside the housing. I was a bit suprised about this as I thought that there would be less room than that.  

Very interesting. (Ikelite had said that it couldn't be popped up in the housing.) Do you mind checking to see if it actually fires in the housing? My experience (on land) is that nearly any light from the D70 popup suffices, even if it is mostly blocked by the housing.

The ONLY reason to go with the SB-800 is TTL, however wireless multiflash TTL would be great.

then Inon works fine during the day dives but impossible for night dives without a very bright light.

Can you elaborate on this? What doesn't work at night?

Thanks, Ryan

Hi Ryan

The Rebel's Ettl or preflash kicks in when its focus light cannot give it enough infomation (i guess). On a dark and non-constrasting object same thing happens. A bit unpredictable. The Inon strobe can deal with one preflash but not multiple flashes. That is why one must trick the Rebel into only turning on the focus light - easy said than done. Bright situation or a bright light seems to help.

I noticed ETTL flashes is turned off when an external speedlite is used. Does it mean Canon's 550 EX uses different type of ETTL?

Close but not quite - it's not the eTTL preflash. The Rebel doesn't have a dedicated focus assist lamp, so it uses stroboscopic flashes from the popup flash.

Cheers

James

I was really interested in the Ike housing for the SB-800 but their website says.........."#4810 is only available as special order in large quantities"

I was really interested in the Ike housing for the SB-800 but their website says.........."#4810 is only available as special order in large quantities"

Try the #5710. The fit isn't as good, but you can get it (it is a bit too big, but you might be able to add a battery pack or something else useful -- like a target/focus lamp).

--greg