Canon R5, UW Technics Strobe Control & INON Z240

Please, if anybody using this combination, could you help me sort out proper camera & strobe settings?

Thank you in advance.

Muriel

Can you give us a bit more info, Muriel? 

I’m assuming you’ve got the UWT dialed on the Inon setting. The strobes can be set on either Manual or TTL.. 

What is going wrong or not happening?

1 minute ago, TimG said:

Can you give us a bit more info, Muriel? 

I’m assuming you’ve got the UWT dialed on the Inon setting. The strobes can be set on either Manual or TTL.. 

What is going wrong or not happening?

Hello Tim, additional information, yes, I have acquired some new equipment which includes UWT and it is dialed to #1 as I understand is proper setting for Z240's.  I was attempting to use TTL, strobe set on s-ttl.  The hot shoe was seated sufficiently, however, the flash indicator was not steady on indication of hot shoe connection, however, the connection of hot shoe was proper and securely in place.  Not only did it appear ttl was not functioning on exposures, some exposures appeared strobe did not function at all.  My R5 is new to me, previously Z240's were used with Canon 7D.  I went though the settings on UWT instructions, however, now it seems I may need review of every single setting for camera & Strobes, something is not right.  I depart for Lembeh in 1 week, I really do not want this struggle on my trip.  I do appreciate your interest.

Hi Muriel,   I assume the Z-240s are the same ones that worked just fine with your 7D camera?

Assuming this is correct next thing is the symptom you report of the flash indicator not staying on.  Assume this is the little flash lightning bolt in the viewfinder?  If that is not staying on it indicates the a poor connection of the hotshoe potentially, this might occur if the cable leading to the hotshoe is damaged or otherwise faulty.

With one week to go I suspect you might need a backup plan, with that in mind I would suggest you see if triggering in manual is reliable.  I know you might prefer to use TTL but if you can't fix that in time at least manual will allow you to shoot.  What you should do is set the camera to manual flash control and set the Z240 to manual and push and lock the advanced cancel button in.  Then take a series of photos starting with low power and working up to to about 8 or 11 with the camera set on manual exposure, 1/125 or so shutter and and aperture at f11, ISO100.  You should see the exposure getting progressively brighter.  If this is the case manual triggering is working.

As far as TTL settings go if you are set to S-TTL my understanding is the position of the advanced cancel button does not matter.  You need to set the flash in camera to TTL.  The UW Technics board imitates a Canon flash so that the TTL will talk to the board. 

To trouble shoot set up the camera in the housing and set the flash to TTL in the camera,

• look into the the fibre optic ports to confirm you can see the LED light each time you press the shutter
• if this is OK attach cables and try to take an exposure indoors
• If you can set the flash to rear curtain sync in camera do so and take some exposures with 1/2 sec shutter - you should see two flashes one at the beginning and one at the end of the exposure.
• If the the board produces an flash (it will be red) it looks like the board is OK- If not you might have a DOA (dead on arrival board)
• If you think it's DOA see what your supplier can do to get you a replacement
• If the board works as expected then you might be looking at a cable problem.

I know it might seem like a long list but it's probably best to systematic to get to the bottom of this and if you do this and send the results to your supplier you may be able to get things moving faster if there is an issue.

Also double check your hotshoe connector it should look like this I believe:

https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-UW-Technics-OpticalElectrical-TTL-Convert-Canon

15 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

Hi Muriel,   I assume the Z-240s are the same ones that worked just fine with your 7D camera?

Assuming this is correct next thing is the symptom you report of the flash indicator not staying on.  Assume this is the little flash lightning bolt in the viewfinder?  If that is not staying on it indicates the a poor connection of the hotshoe potentially, this might occur if the cable leading to the hotshoe is damaged or otherwise faulty.

With one week to go I suspect you might need a backup plan, with that in mind I would suggest you see if triggering in manual is reliable.  I know you might prefer to use TTL but if you can't fix that in time at least manual will allow you to shoot.  What you should do is set the camera to manual flash control and set the Z240 to manual and push and lock the advanced cancel button in.  Then take a series of photos starting with low power and working up to to about 8 or 11 with the camera set on manual exposure, 1/125 or so shutter and and aperture at f11, ISO100.  You should see the exposure getting progressively brighter.  If this is the case manual triggering is working.

As far as TTL settings go if you are set to S-TTL my understanding is the position of the advanced cancel button does not matter.  You need to set the flash in camera to TTL.  The UW Technics board imitates a Canon flash so that the TTL will talk to the board. 

To trouble shoot set up the camera in the housing and set the flash to TTL in the camera,

• look into the the fibre optic ports to confirm you can see the LED light each time you press the shutter
• if this is OK attach cables and try to take an exposure indoors
• If you can set the flash to rear curtain sync in camera do so and take some exposures with 1/2 sec shutter - you should see two flashes one at the beginning and one at the end of the exposure.
• If the the board produces an flash (it will be red) it looks like the board is OK- If not you might have a DOA (dead on arrival board)
• If you think it's DOA see what your supplier can do to get you a replacement
• If the board works as expected then you might be looking at a cable problem.

I know it might seem like a long list but it's probably best to systematic to get to the bottom of this and if you do this and send the results to your supplier you may be able to get things moving faster if there is an issue.

Also double check your hot shoe connector it should look like this I believe:

https://www.backscatter.com/Nauticam-UW-Technics-OpticalElectrical-TTL-Convert-Canon

 

Hello Chris, thank you very much for the effort you are putting in to assisting me.

Fiber Optic LED appears to be working, however, the strobes function intermittently and the lighting bolt in viewfinder flickers.

When I set to rear curtain sync and take exposures with 1/2 sec shutter, only one flash (at the end of the exposure)

Board is producing a flash at the optical relay, strange... appears to be working.

Can not get replacement, none in USA for a couple of weeks.  Sent message to UWTechnics, maybe I can get one when over in Indonesia.

Tried new set of cables, all cables perform same.

However, in speaking with supplier, they suggested to change the batteries, I checked the voltage on the one's installed 2.94V, I thought they were good batteries at that voltage.  It was suggested I purchase new, new rather than the ones they installed.  I was able to do some more testing, seems it may have been a UWT board battery issue.  I have not dedicated a lot of time to issue, however, will again, obviously this is a very important issue.  Apparently there is a nauticam manual flash trigger available, seems I may have a plan B in the works for at least strobe triggering if need to switch. So... things look better this afternoon than they did this morning.

Thank you! Muriel

Definitely worth getting and trying fresh batteries, Muriel.

The UWT guru, Pavel, is a frequent contributor here so may well jump in. He often advises a battery change.

The intermittent activation seems to lhnt in that direction or maybe a dodgy connection between board and camera - so maybe hot shoe cable link. And give the camera hot shoe a clean?

5 hours ago, Muriel said:

Hello Chris, thank you very much for the effort you are putting in to assisting me.

Fiber Optic LED appears to be working, however, the strobes function intermittently and the lighting bolt in viewfinder flickers.

When I set to rear curtain sync and take exposures with 1/2 sec shutter, only one flash (at the end of the exposure)

Board is producing a flash at the optical relay, strange... appears to be working.

Can not get replacement, none in USA for a couple of weeks.  Sent message to UWTechnics, maybe I can get one when over in Indonesia.

Tried new set of cables, all cables perform same.

However, in speaking with supplier, they suggested to change the batteries, I checked the voltage on the one's installed 2.94V, I thought they were good batteries at that voltage.  It was suggested I purchase new, new rather than the ones they installed.  I was able to do some more testing, seems it may have been a UWT board battery issue.  I have not dedicated a lot of time to issue, however, will again, obviously this is a very important issue.  Apparently there is a nauticam manual flash trigger available, seems I may have a plan B in the works for at least strobe triggering if need to switch. So... things look better this afternoon than they did this morning.

Thank you! Muriel

No Problem and good luck, definitely work through seeing if it is reliable in manual.  Seems odd that you are only getting a single flash in rear curtain sync.  I would leave everything till you get new batteries in, try and get name batteries rather than generics too. and check voltage before you install.  If Pavel doesn't drop in shoot him a PM, he's very helpful.

On 5/16/2023 at 12:26 AM, ChrisRoss said:

No Problem and good luck, definitely work through seeing if it is reliable in manual.  Seems odd that you are only getting a single flash in rear curtain sync.  I would leave everything till you get new batteries in, try and get name batteries rather than generics too. and check voltage before you install.  If Pavel doesn't drop in shoot him a PM, he's very helpful.

I changed the batteries, did have success in everything working fine, packed and departed for Lembeh.  To my disappointment, the same issues repeated.  I put in another set of new batteries, the flash trigger appeared to function properly once again, however after just a few hours of being replaced again, the flash trigger is AGAIN not functioning.  This is very frustrating to say the least, new camera, new housing with UWTechnics flash trigger, no functioning camera when now in Lembeh.  Definitely a long way to travel with new equipment that will not function, no ttl, no manual, no flash after very short time after battery replacement.  I will try to PM Pavel, thank you.

Sorry to hear this, In another thread Pavel pointed out an important step when troubleshooting, bending down the centre contact on the battery holder to improve contact - it might be worth a try.  Also it pays to check voltage even on new batteries as sometimes they are not fresh.

View archived post in: Use of 2 Seacam Seaflash 150D with Nauticam Housing

12 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

Sorry to hear this, In another thread Pavel pointed out an important step when troubleshooting, bending down the centre contact on the battery holder to improve contact - it might be worth a try.  Also it pays to check voltage even on new batteries as sometimes they are not fresh.

View archived post in: Use of 2 Seacam Seaflash 150D with Nauticam Housing

 

Hello, again, thank you for your assistance. Pushed the tabs in then the flash trigger worked again,  however only temporarily.  Leads me to believe that the UWT trigger is not draining batteries, is simply goofing up My situation seems to be getting worse when trying to resolve so I am able to take photos. BackScatter at Lembeh has a Nauticam flash trigger I could purchase, except for the fact I need the reflector that was removed from my housing to install the UWTechnics is not with me.  I have switched over to video, however, that is definitely not my intention on this trip, not set up for video... really is not my interest.  As you probably well know, the trip cost plus new R5 & Nauticam Housing, some added accessories, not having a photo camera as the days go on has me extremely disappointed, at this point my 7D would have been better than purchase of new.  Any suggestions at this point?

Muriel, do you get exactly the same problem if you operate the camera connected to the UWT but with the camera outside the housing?

Hi Muriel,

what happen with your board? Is it working or did you claim warranty? Just interested how the story ended.

Br Markus