Ike single vs dual sync cord

I have just bought a 5060, the ike housing, dome port and Oly W/A lens; I have a DS50 already but I was using the slave sensor with my previous rig.

I now need to buy a sync cord to go from the housing to he DS50. Question: can I buy the dual sync cord now and use it with just one strobe, in case I get a second strobe in the future? This would leave one end of the cord unused..is there a watertight cap? (not just a dust cap)

Thanks

I have just bought a 5060, the ike housing, dome port and Oly W/A lens; I have a DS50 already but I was using the slave sensor with my previous rig.

 

I now need to buy a sync cord to go from the housing to he DS50. Question: can I buy the dual sync cord now and use it with just one strobe, in case I get a second strobe in the future? This would leave one end of the cord unused..is there a watertight cap? (not just a dust cap)

 

Thanks

I was in your shoes about a week ago. i had the same setup. i was going to buy the dual cord, but unfortunately they do not have a cap for it. you must have both sides plugged into a strobe. that made me decide to go ahead and get a ds-125 to go with it!

You go boy!

I actually made a dive w/ the dual cord w/ the dust cap on the unused end, but it was the only cord I had and it was an emergency. It worked, but I agree w/ Justin - I wouldn't recommend it.

Cheers

James

As you already have a slave sensor, I think it's better for you to go with a single ike syn-cord with the DS-50. Later on you can alway use dual strobe with one connected via the syn-cord and the second strobe act as a slave with the slave sensor.

But you should be aware that there are some disadvantages using a single synch cord + slave sensor for two strobes as opposed to a double-synch cord, mainly applicable to shooting wide-angle.

For the Ikelite slave sensor (the only one I have any experience with), the sensor either needs to be aimed at the master strobe (the one connected with a synch cord), or it needs to be able to pick up the reflected light of the master strobe bounced off the main subject.

Using the slave sensor in line with the strobe (the only option if the sensor is integrated) isn't always reliable when shooting wide-angle, particularly with subjects that don't fill much of the frame (and with nothing else behind them to reflect the master strobe flash).

Aiming the slave sensor at the master strobe is more reliable, but you may have to readjust the positioning of the sensor after changing the strobe arm positions, particularly if you are using very long arms. This may not be a problem if you just set the strobe arms once and never adjust them, but it's a big problem if you like to reposition the strobe arms for optimal lighting of different subjects, or even if you're just pulling them in closer for CFWA shots.

Also, you will not be able to pull the strobes back behind the focal plane of the camera, - the housing (and your head and body) will probably end up between the sensor and the master strobe. Positioning the strobes back behind the focal plane is sometimes necessary for wide-angle and almost always necessary with hyper-wide fish-eye lenses (see the thread "10.5 mm lens advice" now running on the SLR Housing forum).

Finally, if you are in the water with other photographers, you will find that the direct or reflected flash from their strobes can set yours off as well. This can be a real problem if two or more photographers are shooting the same subject - if you're hitting the shutter a second behind the shooter next to you, your slaved strobe may have already fired and not had time to recycle at the time you shoot.

I still carry my slave sensor on trips, in case both of my double synch cords fail (it's happened) and the only way I can keep shooting with two strobes is with a single cord and the slave sensor. But I've learned not to rely on a slave sensor unless I have to.

Frogfish