Fantasea Nano: Doesnt fire during dives

[felixtibs]

Hey All,

Long time lurker first time poster. New to underwater photo so I put a DC28 housing on my G10. I linked up the nano strobe with a sync cable(fiber optic) and it works perfectly....in my house. Then when I take it to the dive site it wont fire at ALL in or out of the water! The only thing I can think of is the ambient light is causing it not too fire...I dont know!

I am shooting with the pre-set underwater setting which works for me and the flash is either set to always on OR off if I do not want flash. Again, the flash does sync perfectly at home with those settings...it just WILL NOT fire when either underwater or during my predive check...



here is a pic of the rig MINUS the sync cable:



Any ideas?

 

[cardog]

Make sure that your flash on the camera is set to, "always on". You'll be shooting in manual so you can also set the cameras flash to its lowest possible power setting, such as 1/64th......

 

[Warmwater Wank]

I think Cardog nailed it. Inside your house the camera's flash would fire & trigger your external strobe but outdoors or in bright water the camera flash probably isn't firing. Press the flash symbol on the rocker switch and use that same button to set the flash to always fire. Then use the Menu button and navigate to Flash Output. Set it to "Minimum". That will save on the camera battery and help avoid overheating the housing if you shoot a lot.

By "synch cable" I trust you mean a fiber optic cable? Make sure it is securely attached directly in front of the camera flash. You can double check that things are in synch by taking a picture aimed at a mirror, you should see the strobe firing in the shot. If not, there could also be pre-flash issues so check the strobe owner's manual and set the strobe to avoid firing when the pre-flash occurs. Should be easy to get things going but if not, you know where to go for help! Welcome to SB. // ww

 

[felixtibs]

I think Cardog nailed it. Inside your house the camera's flash would fire & trigger your external strobe but outdoors or in bright water the camera flash probably isn't firing. Press the flash symbol on the rocker switch and use that same button to set the flash to always fire. Then use the Menu button and navigate to Flash Output. Set it to "Minimum". That will save on the camera battery and help avoid overheating the housing if you shoot a lot.

By "synch cable" I trust you mean a fiber optic cable? Make sure it is securely attached directly in front of the camera flash. You can double check that things are in synch by taking a picture aimed at a mirror, you should see the strobe firing in the shot. If not, there could also be pre-flash issues so check the strobe owner's manual and set the strobe to avoid firing when the pre-flash occurs. Should be easy to get things going but if not, you know where to go for help! Welcome to SB. // ww

I wish it was the case but unfortunately the flash is being forced to no avail. Only the camera flash is firing but the strobe will not fire during my predive check or during the dives. At home I use the same parameters(underwater setting/ forced flash on minimum). No pre-flash issues as I have done the mirror trick.

Im really perplexed! :depressed:

 

[felixtibs]

 

[Warmwater Wank]

I recall an issue mentioned maybe a year or two ago on this forum where some strobes have a hard time "seeing" the needed triggering flash if the camera flash setting is at "Miimum". Maybe dirt, maybe just less sensitive to light but have you tried kicking up the camera strobe output setting? And so I'm clear: you get fine exposure results at home but not once you are gearing up or shooting uw and it's because your external stobe is not firing? Have you been able to try an alternate fiber optic cable? // ww

 

[HerraduraDivers]

I had also confused results with the FantaSea Nano from one of my students.
The preflash settings where wrong explained in the manual and in the - following the manual" 2 preflash setting, the strobe did not fire or fired unreliable.
The P7000 shoot 2 well visible preflashes and then the main flash, but the Nano set like this would not work or fire/expose erratic.
Setting the Nano to 1 preflash settiing it worked most of the cases but still too much missed flashes even i could trigger the strobe from 20 ft. with my
2 Z240 strobes, so it makes me think that the Nano has some problems... But that's just a personal feeling!
I had a similar problem with unreliable strobe triggering on my G11/D2000 setup and after several afternoons guessing and trying it turned that
the 5 year old optical cable was the problem, changing it solved the problem.

 

[felixtibs]

I recall an issue mentioned maybe a year or two ago on this forum where some strobes have a hard time "seeing" the needed triggering flash if the camera flash setting is at "Miimum". Maybe dirt, maybe just less sensitive to light but have you tried kicking up the camera strobe output setting? And so I'm clear: you get fine exposure results at home but not once you are gearing up or shooting uw and it's because your external stobe is not firing? Have you been able to try an alternate fiber optic cable? // ww

Yes you are correct in saying that it synchs at home and will not even so much fire in the predive/dive at all....only difference is the setting ( it works indoors at home but not outdoors). I am going to cut a cm from my cable to have a fresh line to try..

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Jeez, well this is a weird one. So you could see a ready light on your strobe and you knew your camera flash fired when you weren't getting flash results? What exposure mode are you in at both locations? Any chance you saw the strobe firing or the ready light going on and off at any point?

Sounds like Herradura has familiarity with your strobe. Maybe I could think of more camera issues if I knew what sort of exposure settings, what exposure mode etc. were being used--but I'm not thinking there are many camera setting issues left that could play into this. // ww

 

[felixtibs]

Got it to fire by masking it with tape so less ambient light hit the sensor....lame but it works now.