OM-D E-M5 internal flash leaking light

Hi,

I take most of my UW images in dark conditions with a low level or lack of ambient light using high ISO, a large aperture, slow shutter speed and stobes.

The OM-D is a great camera in that kind of environment thanks to the 3-axis image stabilization and good low-light performance.

However i have a problem with the built in flash when triggering the external strobes. Light is leaking out through the housing and dome causing backscatter in the center of the images. I'm using a Panasonic 8mm + Nauticam housing with the 4" fisheye dome.

This is only a problem in dark conditions described above. I have tried to reduce the power of the internal flash, but the it sometimes fails to trigger the strobes.

I have seen some LED thingy that can be used instead of the internal flash. Is anyone using this and have some experience from it?

The attached image is not the worst example since you have some surface light, but you can clearly see the backscatter and in darker conditions you will se stripes of backscatter like in the second image shot in the housing with strobes turned off against a white wall.

f/3,5 1/20 ISO800 @8mm

I have the same camera and housing, but have not seen this problem, probably because I shoot in bright tropical conditions.

I wonder if the undesirable incidental light is passing through the fiber optic ports at the top of the housing? There are 4 of them, 2 large ones for rubber plugs and 2 tiny ones for bare cables. Maybe try blocking them with tape to see if that solves the problem?

Otherwise all I can think of would be to fabricate some kind of matte black shield inside the upper part of the housing, around the base of the flash, to block incidental light from bouncing around and out through the port. It would be easy enough to experiment with cardboard first

With my Inon strobes, there was an IR film that adhered to the camera flash to only let the IR light through to trigger the strobe via fiber optics

Maybe stick that on the camera flash??

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It does not seem to be a common problem then, Thanks for your suggestions.

I will try to block the light behind the internal flash with a tape so see if it works.