Using two SB 800 U/W with D2X

Awesome Marc, it is a great engineering accomplishment! I didn't know you spent only $800. With that kind of money you wouldn't be able to get 2 regular UW strobes (well, maybe 2 small ones). Just out of curiosity, how much did the housing cost to make?

I got so used to shoot in manual that I just don't see the need for TTL anymore, but as you say "different strokes for different folks", whatever works for you!

Cheers,

Luiz

It cost me around $ 800 in total and that includes the  two SB 800 units.

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That is certainly justification in itself. And you end up with a pair of strobes you can use on land - you would near forearms like Schwarzenegger to use my strobes on land. A pair of SB800s cost nearly $1000 bucks at UK prices - so I most jealous. Plus you have the statisfaction, as you say, of making the kit yourself - and the advantage of knowing it better than anyone should it go wrong in the field.

Alex, I remember your comments about using shutter priority while shooting with your Magic Filter. Why weren’t  you shooting  full manual,  maybe it was freeing  you up to some extent and you decided the results were good enough ?

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Absolutely. I even used Program mode on one dive! Choosing shooting mode and other settings is always about which gets you the best results. There is no moral high ground about shooting in manual or any other mode. For me it is the end result that is all important. And the thing about a TTL strobe is that you can always switch it to manual.

One other comment was the housings flat port effecting the flash pattern output ?

I can’t answer that question because I have never measured the beam pattern in or out of the housing. I’ll try projecting the pattern on a wall a see if I can determine if their  is any reduction.

I’ll report back as soon as I know.

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A flat port will not make any difference to the beam coverage on land, but it will underwater (it will be a third smaller. You could always make domed ports for wideangle shooting and keep the flat ports for macro. The advantage of a flat port is that by spreadiing the beam less you would have more light. Although the zoom head of the SB800 will already be helping you with this a lot too.

Alex

Marc,

Congratulations Marc, I'm very impressed!

My project (I-ttl using the second on slave) didn't work very good with

the Sealux-housing. Probably because the sensor is to much covered.

I'm stil working at a second solution (wiring).

Personally I think housing a SB-800 is a very good and cheap solution

to have a good UW-flash. But when you like to use 2 flashes, there is a big problem. (you were the first to solve this problem)

In the past Alex Mustard was also looking for solutions because he didn't

want to loose TTL underwater (when changing to digital). Read the article : www.oceanoptics.co.uk/dttl.html.

This only to say that Alex only wants to say that you can live without TTL... (and that's the thruth)

Today I'm leaving for a diving-vacation (Maldives) with one SB800, 2 Subtronici Megacolors (using on Manual) and a set of Magicfilters (using without flash / and after reading the article of James also with flash).

Bart

Marc,

WOW !

I'll receive my Sealux housing for the SB800 tomorrow. I'll try it next saturday. I'll begin my path to dominate one SB800.

Thanks

Housing cost me about $ 240.00 less the IkeLite ports. The single most costly item included was the Nikonous flash bulkhead connector from Aquatica, $ 99.00.

Of course this does not include countless hours of labor and all the necessary machine tools you need. I have a small machine shop with a milling machine, rotary tables, chucks, lathe, grinders, polisher, routers, and the list goes on....

Marc

Housing cost me about $ 240.00

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Now THAT'S depressing!!

I think I need a machine shop of my very own to potter in and maybe some skills using tools.

Hi there!

I've made my first pics with the housed SB800. Here's the result:

This is a JPEG basic (Nikon D70 option NEF+JPG). Not edited. Just downsized from JPEG basic produced.

At the moment I still use the Fuji S2 so no real problems using TTL. I use a number of different strobes and Nikon SB 80DX or SB 28s. I can use two together

however one of the wired in speedlights uses 3 wires not 5, otherwise the strobes just go crazy.

However what is confusing me about D and i TTL is the fact they need preflashes

to determine correct exposure- OK fine, BUT when the speedlight is in the straight

head up position to go into a tubular housing, preflashes are switched off, the preflashes can also be switched off in wireless mode on the SB800. Nikon actually

states in wireless multiple flash and multiple flash with cords, cancel the monitor preflash otherwise incorrect exposure results.

So we are not using preflashes at all , which is great if we have a TTL slave such as the YS90 or 30 etc, but how are we getting correct exposure, is it just standard

TTL ?

Confused - me too

Dave

Fisheyedave,

My SB800 housing permits using of pre-flashes because the SB800 is housed in a normal position. It's a Sealux Cx800 housing. I use i-TTL. No problem. I'm getting good exposure results. The light is too bright but I'm presently working on WB settings...

My present project is to get two strobes doing i-TTL simultaneously for Macro. That's the hard part.

I can only speak for the SB800 & the Nikon D2X...

I want to reply, because I'm almost 100% sure that it's not correct that

the preflashes are automaticly switched off, when the speedlight is in the straight head up position! No mention in my (French) manual! Ofcourse, when you are using the SB800 on land (fixed on the camerabody), you have to cancel the monitor preflash (otherwise incorrect exposure results / maybe this is mentioned in a manual), but this is because the preflashes are sent in the wrong direction (this is not the case when the speedlight is in the straight head up position in a tubular housing / pointed to the right direction). (reaction for Fisheyedave)

I'm using two kinds of housings for my SB800 (Seacam / tubular housing) and the Sealux. (But I'm using ALMOST always two Subtronic Megacolors ON MANUAL MODE / works very good) The (invisible) preflashes are read by the camera-sensor on I-ttl mode (not by the sensor of the SB800 / so a tubular flash-housing is no problem).

But using two SB800 together on I-TTL, THAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM. (same reaction as Carlos Morais !!!)

Wiring the flashes is possible, but without preflashes (no I-TTL) on mode

A-TTL AA-TTL, and then you need a flash-housing which is NOT covering the sensor in front of the SB-800. I don't think this is very reliable... (personal opinion)

See above in this forum "MARC FURTH" (the self-made-man) solved the problem (using two SB800 both together on I-TTL / tubular housing). One flash connected to the camera, the other flash connected by a fibre cable to the first strobe!!! (again congratulations Marc Furth)

Harald Hordosch (president of Seacam) mailed me about the new Seaflash digital 250 (I-ttl) : 2 flashes are also working in I-ttl mode - connected through a fibre cable. It's imported that only one strobe is connected to the housing - the other strobe from strobe... (same solution as Marc Furth) (Maybe the future new cable of Seacam can also be used with the SB800... / we are not all self-made-man) Maybe Harald Hordosch has read Marc Furth's solution in this forums...

With the new housing of FANTASEA the sensor at the side of the SB800 (for wireless-flash) is not covered. MAYBE (just maybe) it's possible that WIRELESS-flashmode (I-ttl) is working when using this housing for the slave-flash.

Bart

Using "ONE" SB800 (in both of the housings) on I-TTL works very good.

It's a cheap way to have a good UW-strobe.

Using "ONE" SB800 (in both of the housings) on I-TTL works very good.

It's a cheap way to have a good UW-strobe.

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I do agree, particulary for the Macro photos...

I use a Sealux housing with the D70. Am currently awaiting delivery of two Fantasea SB800 housings and will attempt to use these in tandem with the second slaving off the primary which would be cabled to the housing port. Once the housings arrive I'll get an idea of whether the transparent polycarbonate will allow wireless communication in-water at sufficient distance for w/a. Otherwise I'll have to come up with a way of fixing a fibre optic cable between the two. I'll post an update once the housings arrive and have tested.

Colin

fantasea makes a clear housing for the sb800

Marc, WOW!

Many ideas of solving lacks of the industry come up and go. But I’ve never seen such a tremendous DIY approach including the successful completion of this project. Congratulations. Great and exclusive Gear you have created.

I’ve always shared the opinion that land strobes don’t have to be less powerful in general compared to some of the sub 100 W/s amphibic strobes. There are several amphibic strobes with a guide number of around 22 or something (basend on meters and measured on land). And a lot of amphibic strobes have a front glass with a very small curvature. So coverage is reduced underwater too. For macro work, big land guns with zoom reflector are extremely powerful. For example, the Canon 580EX delivers a guide number of 58 (based on meters) @105mm focal length. Hard to beat by an amphibic strobe, isn't it?

Personally I prefer amphibic strobes for different reasons. But I think land guns are underrated sometimes.

Julian

I’m working on getting two SB 800's  to work in  iTTL  mode with my D2X housing.

... I’m wondering why someone hasn’t offered this ?

 

Marc

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The SB800 is a great strobe. I love mine. But it's expensive at $400 x 2. It makes more sense economically to build a dual strobe system another way, just using older Nikonos style strobes.

To do that, use the HeinrichsWeikamp iTTL converter and two cheap Nikonos style underwater strobes to make a dual iTTL strobe system. The strobes are cheaper so the total cost is lower, and the strobes are better for underwater use. Here is the converter:

http://www.heinrichsweikamp.net/blitz/indexe.htm

See also the list of strobes you can support with it (iTTL of course). Since the converter puts out Nikonos style signals, any Nikonos compatible strobe can be used that is fast enough to do preflash (see list).

Underwater strobes are a better starting point for a dual system. They

are often much more powerful than the SB-800. They are designed to be waterproof, yet have venting for battery gases. This is a very serious issue, since both Sea&Sea and Nikon had big recalls due to injuries related to the gas buildup in the YS-50 and the SB105.

Still, if you really want to adapt land strobes to underwater use, it might be cheaper still to use the converter and a pair of older strobes that can do preflash, perhaps two Nikon SB-80DXs at $125 each. You still need two waterproof housings, the dual cord, and the converter for this system. It would be cheaper to just use strobes designed for underwater.