DIY Fibre Optic Cable Setup

Hi Guys,

What size & type of fibre optic cable do you need to use to make the connection between digital camera and slave flash. I have a sony P5 and am trying to make a cheaper unit using a land flash in a torch housing. It's mainly for macro. Thanks.

My personal opinion, is that for macro internal flash is ok, much easier and cheap. Don't waste your time for that (I have a P1).

Regards,

I completely disagree. With an internal flash you will light up all particles in the water between you and your subject. Even in macro this will degrade your image. You won't be able to alter your lighting angle and hance your photography will never progress beyond the basic shot. An external strobe is essenstiial.

Just one thing. The camera only works with slave strobes. You are not expecting more ligth, just more "dimension" on your image, and remove backscatter. My opinion is for this kind of camera, you don't expect professional pictures, and what you can improve is not worth for the price of a strobe.

Yes I have tried the Sony P5 with a proper slave underwater strobe and the results were very much better than just using the camera's internal strobe by itself. Backscatter is reduced and the pictures are much brighter and more defined. Just because I don't have a much more sophisticated setup doesn't mean that I should necessarily accept that my photos will be of poor quality.

That is why I am trying to make a less expensive strobe for macro photography. For various reasons I need a fibre optic cable to trigger the strobe, not the least of which is to ensure the strobe goes off reliably every time.

[Edited on 2-27-2002 by Matt01]

[Edited on 2-27-2002 by Matt01]

OK. If you're convinced, then let's try to find a solution. I'm also trying to make that cable. The sea&sea looks a litle expensive, and my experience is that is not easy to trigger some slave strobes. I'm going to try to build mine for the P1 and the Epoque 150-DS... Initially I was thinking in using any fiber cable used for networking...

I have used the Ikelite remote TTL slave sensors for years and found them 100% reliable. You can block the cameras internal flash so it won't fire at your sensor, but only the slave sensor. This will give you a reliable external strobe that you can manipulate to greatly reduce backscatter and create new lighting angles. Never settle for poor quality images as your photography will never improve.

Ikelite tray, handle and strobe system for Olympus housings can be used with the Sony and Canon housing.

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/opt10flash.html

Jees Ike, you are up late. I see you upgraded your web site too.