INON S2000 on D800 in Nautical Housing

Hello,

I have just switched to a DSLR system, my setup is a D800E in Nautical Housing with 2 strobe INON S2000 activated by the in-build flash with finer optic cable.

I would like to know from someone with similar setup what would be the sync speed I can push the system, has anyone tested at 1/250, 1/320 or above?

Second I was wandering if I-TTL mode would work as well as flash exposure compensation, somehow I feel it would be easier to adjust rather than using the small knob of thee strobe.

I will be shooting Macro with 105 Micro VR, in your experience is recharging time really bothering in this setup?

What alternatives do I have to fire my strobes, and what are the gain ?

thank you for your suggestions.

S2000 strobe can not work with FP synchronization (fast synchronization, 40 khz flicker), it makes just a mono flash. That is why shutter window must be fully open at the moment of flash. So, officially you can use maximum 1/250 on D800 camera, as a sync speed. This is a speed of Nikon mechanical shutter mechanism. If you set faster speed (marked FP in camera menu), you get a black strip on the image (rear curtain is flashed).

Camera Flash exposure compensation works for built-in flash. If you use it for S2000 control (in S-TTL mode), of course it affects to S2000 flash duration too.

Good questions. I use a D800E with two Inon Z240's and now two Sea&Sea YS-D2's and agree with Pavel's comments. I started with shutter 1/250 and M manual setting to learn the system, liked it and continue to adjust each strobe according to conditions.

The D800E and many other cameras have a complicated Menu, so I keep all my other settings simple, such as single area, single focus mode. To learn the camera/strobe system one has to move slowly, step by step.

Good luck!

Thank you for your contributions. By your experience would be better hence to keep sync speed on 1/250 or 1/250 Auto FP ?

I would prefer much more to shoot in TTL and not think too much to manually regulate flash intensity, as far as I want an even light.

With D800 my experience is based only on land so far, I do some studio photography but the strobe setup is completely different, there you can use a light metering, and in any case have the time to setup the light for the shot, underwater is very different.

When I shot wildlife on land I use multiple area focus depending on subject, but I will shoot macro UW so perhaps I will stick with single or 9 points.

By your experience would be better hence to keep sync speed on 1/250 or 1/250 Auto FP ?

I would prefer much more to shoot in TTL and not think too much to manually regulate flash intensity, as far as I want an even light.

For TTL control of S2000, better set 1/250 (without FP) sync speed. This case camera built-in flash makes mono pulse, and camera automatically restricts shutter speeds at 1/250.

Another case, if you set any sync speed marked FP in menu, - camera flash makes 40 khz flicker, and also allows to set faster shutter speeds than 1/250. User can forget about it underwater, and get black strip on the image.