I got this tip from Rod Ellis of HUPS:
TIP:
I had been getting frustrated trying to determine if a non-digital & non-hard wired or optic cabled strobe such as Nikonos SB105 could work with the Olympus C5050Z in the PT-015 housing and be triggered in slave mode while the camera is fired in full manual exposure & flash modes. (The PT-015 housing has no hard wire).
I was getting all-black images; and had concluded the external flash was not synchronized even though it was indeed firing. Joe offered to help with his many parts & pieces and with a comparison of camera settings using a digital flash; but it turns out they weren't necessary.
Working with C5050Z's, his digital flash and my SB105 we determined a couple of things.
(1) When not even close to the right flash power and object is OVERILLUMINATED... the captured digital image is BLACK (or perhaps it's no image at all just a blank file?). It's not white as one might expect. I cannot find anything about this in the literature but think it must be a safety shut-down of the sensor. >>> That dark result had lead me off in the wrong direction; not considering that a black image might be over-exposed. <<<
Demonstrated: When we got closer by using higher f/stop, cutting back external strobe power, etc... we arrived at a point where the camera does indeed capture an over-exposed image. Keep dialing the light back such as using 1/16 power on the flash and we arrived at decent exposures.
(2) This was done without digital stobe, and without a hard wire or optic cable. Block the internal strobe from hitting the subject but be sure the external strobe eye can see it. No wires, no cables, no digital strobe. Set the SB105 on slave and the Olympus camera & housing on manual exposure and flash. Dial the exposure in with the above "black-screen" lesson learned in mind. There's no TTL of course but it works.
Regards, - Rod Ellis
