Connecting Strobes

Hi All, 

Super newbie here and I'm trying to figure out what sync cords to use? Electronic vs Optical. For some reason, this has been super confusing for me and I've not be able to find a good source for general information on it. Can someone break it down for me? For reference, I'm shooting a Sony a6000 in SeaFrogs salted line housing. Have not bought strobes yet. 

Thanks in advance!

Looks like the Seafrog housing is equipped with optical connections for strobes, on top of the housing I see 2 connectors on the website of the manufacturer. You probably going to trigger the strobe's with your in camera flash, when you take a picture, the flash will go off, triggering the strobe(s) that is connected with the optical cable.  Most housings use optical nowadays and some of the modern strobes don't offer sync cord connection any more.

An article about the pro's and con's of both type of strobes:

https://www.backscatter.com/reviews/post/The-Fiber-Optic-Cable-or-Sync-Cord-Debate-Pros-and-Cons

this is what the connecting piece of the optical strobe cord probably will look like:

https://www.backscatter.com/Ikelite-Fiber-Optic-Coiled-Cord

Thank you, this is super helpful. One more, maybe stupid, question... when I'm triggered a strobe based on an optical cable, the internal flash on my camera needs to be popped up inside the housing, correct? 

Hi,
yes, or you use a led trigger.
 

7 minutes ago, trimix125 said:

Hi,
yes, or you use a led trigger.
 

Can you elaborate on the LED trigger? Can that work with all cameras/housing? 

15 hours ago, Russwalters said:

Can you elaborate on the LED trigger? Can that work with all cameras/housing? 

It has to fit in the housing and line up with the ports for the fibre optic cables.   I believe the Sea Frogs housing has an issue with fibre optic triggering in that one of the ports does not align well with the cable port so there can be issues getting that flash to trigger.  Can be solved using one of these to place both cables on the good port:  https://www.backscatter.com/Inon-Double-Hole-Rubber-bushing-for-fiber-optic-ca

I don't believe sync cords are an option on the Sea Frogs.  They require a bulkhead port and have another set of rings to look after, which you don't have to worry about with fibre optic triggering.

Depending on your strobe type, it can need a strong trigger and good fibre cable...
Specially the Sea & Sea srtobes are hard to ignite...

On 1/9/2020 at 12:34 PM, Russwalters said:

Thank you, this is super helpful. One more, maybe stupid, question... when I'm triggered a strobe based on an optical cable, the internal flash on my camera needs to be popped up inside the housing, correct? 

Yes, and you should get a housing that allows you to turn the flash on and off, with a physical lever or button if you cannot use a menu item.