Strobe Options with Oly 5060 & PT-020

Hi Again,

Well, the more people I interact with the harder it is to chose between the PT-020 and the Ikelite housing. Probably because I'm new enough to UW photography that I don't know the most important focus areas. Anyway... I'd like some advice on what's really important in terms of strobe control and what options I have with the PT-020 housing.

Here's what I think I know from a UW Digital class I took last August. Let the camera control the focus, but manually control the aperature and strobe intensity. That was learned with an Oly 3030, Tetra Housing and S&S YS90DX. Is this still sound with the 5060 or should I let the camera control the strobe via TTL Sync?

If I to control the strobe manually, what are my options for the PT-020? Is there an alternative to the optical sync cord which I think relies on the internal flash to trigger the strobe? That seems like a waste of power & an unecessary heat source if I'm manually controlling the aperature and strobe intensity.

Sorry for the long post. I really want to get this right the first time if possible. Thanks to all for your patience

Ed

The C-5060 can configure the internal strobe to only blink enough to trigger an external strobe - slave (triggering) mode. That way you won't waste much energy.

I used it this way with my Ikelite DS-50 and manual controller for a long time. Using a strobe manually was not a problem at all, but I never really liked the manual controller I had to use to make my DS-50 "manual" (personal preference).

Not too long ago I replaced the strobe bulk head on the PT-020 with a standard Nikonos version and added TTL conversion electronics inside the housing. I don't use the manual controller any more.

http://www.mike-dive.de/images/olympus/olynik01.jpg

/Anders

HI Guys, i'm not sure if your aware but

there is a oly TTL to nikon TTL converter availble for the PT-20 housing, from

www.mike-dive.de

I use one with mine and run dual ys90duos from it in hard wired TTL and it work brilliantly

if you want to see some sample images contact me on craig@aquaimaging.co.uk

basically the system converts the silly olympus bulkhead into a Nikonos 5pin standard then a electric conversion circuit to convert the olympus TTL signal into a NIKON signal, you then use a normal sync cord and away you go

regards

craig