S90 with Ike- Which Inon strobe?

[Nemrod]

I will take the other one!

What will not work is External Auto with the S2000 because that mode is not available on that model, the sTTL should work just jiffy.

I believe that you can also get the sTTL to work in Av by going into S90 Menu and select camera strobe to Auto. Then select camera strobe to ON/Forced. Then you might as well remove the magnet from the switch on the strobe. Then set your Inon S2000 to sTTL and give it a try. Use the ring control to set +/- for background, set the strobe power for subject with the power (f stop) knob.

Lock and load!

N

 

[CompuDude]

I will take the other one!

What will not work is External Auto with the S2000 because that mode is not available on that model, the sTTL should work just jiffy.

I believe that you can also get the sTTL to work in Av by going into S90 Menu and select camera strobe to Auto. Then select camera strobe to ON/Forced. Then you might as well remove the magnet from the switch on the strobe. Then set your Inon S2000 to sTTL and give it a try. Use the ring control to set +/- for background, set the strobe power for subject with the power (f stop) knob.

Lock and load!

N

One interesting thing I read in Inon's strobe catalog (see pg 5) is the option having one strobe in External Auto mode, and the other in sTTL mode. By pairing an S2000 and a D2000, you could work in this way without having to have two D2000s.

I haven't experimented with that, but it seems possible. Only one of the two strobes needs External Auto, not both, at least in some circumstances.

 

[Nemrod]

Yes, I have considered that might be possible, just never saw it in print, hmmm.

Where you get that catalog pdf, is there one for lenses?

I have, thanks to getting to go home due to snow, verified that the sTTL does indeed work as described above with the S90 in Av mode.

So, here is the thing, lol, some may know this or maybe not, all Canon P&S cameras like the A570/A620/A720/A720/A740/whatever or the prosumer S90 and G series all work the same. They may have slightly different feature sets or change the locations of buttons or add ring controls or delete them but the Menu and Func Set selections are virtually the same. If you can shoot one you can shoot all.

The S90 shoots and works virtually identical the A570 with the same Menu features and the addition of ring controls (of course a better and bigger sensor and RAW without a hack and more dynamic range and higher ISO capability etc).

So, anferney, the sTTL mode does indeed shoot just fine with the S90 in Av, Inon strobe in sTTL and I even left the magnet in place. The sTTL overrides the magnet position anyway and this will let you go to Manual strobe and Manual mode on the camera without having to install the magnet.

The sTTL is an Inon strobe feature, not a camera feature and there is nothing intrinsic to the camera as long as it emits a preflash or can be set to do so in the desired shooting mode.

Note:

sTTL (S/D2000 and Z240) requires a preflash, camera in Auto/Program/Av and I suppose Tv (in Av or Tv the camera strobe must be set to Auto under Menu), magnet is irrelevant because sTTL internal programming overrides the magnet switch position in or out.

External Auto mode (D2000/Z240 only) can sync with a preflash, magnet not in (camera strobe set to Auto under Menu) or without a preflash with the magnet installed, camera in Av/Tv (camera strobe set to Manual under Menu).

Manual mode on camera never fires a preflash and the magnet must be in the strobe to sync in either External Auto or Manual control. Yes, External Auto does work with the camera in Manual mode and is a useful shooting mode for strobe controlled flash fill.

What confuses people is the multiple ways to set up some of the features.

If this is wrong, please provide info. BTW, this is a long post but then it essentially summaries what took Inon two thick manuals to describe. Yes, I am available for hire, is it warm in Japan?

N

 

[Joti]

Hi guys, thanks so much for all this info. Being in the exact same dilemma as the OP I have a couple questions regarding External Auto and the D2000.

Firstly, when you're using External Auto I understand you set strobe to the camera's F Stop, then the strobe will read the scene and fire a shot powerful enough for a correct exposure. What I don't see is where the strobe has any idea of what shutter speed your camera is shooting and hence the full story of the correct exposure? If you were playing with shutter speed for different effects and background exposure would you just have to give the strobe a false F Stop reading?

Further to the External Auto function I've read that you have to have the strobe pointed directly at the subject for it to be able to read the exposure. From my limited understanding of underwater photography I understand that this is something you often will not want to do to avoid backscatter and to get different lighting effects. So Nemrod you seem to be a big proponent of External Auto, you might be best suited to answer this one - how how have you managed with this limitation?

Thanks again for all the valuable info you guys are providing on this and several other threads, its making all this decision making a lot harder but seriously and more importantly, is helping me make more informed decisions!

 

[Nemrod]

Firstly, lol, the strobe exposes the near scene or subject and the camera f stop controls the background. The strobe fires for only a very short portion of the shutter opening. Yes, you match the f stop to the strobe but you can turn it up or down to over or under expose. I seem to shoot about two stops under.

Furtherly, lol, that is true, somewhat, the strobe needs to be aimed at the subject in External Auto except, remarkably it does not! You can turn the power up and down ya know. The External Auto, does need the strobe aimed to get the best response. Hey, I have bounced it from behind in External Auto so it was aimed behind me, 180 degrees from the subject.

Y'all, I never professed to be a pro photog, I just have a "technical" mind since that is what I do, read, write and arithmetic and wrenches, lol. You are free to test these things fer yourself. Please do.

Just an observation, digi photography is much, much easier than film photography, partly the instant feed back I suppose. I used to go on a trip for a week and get one good shot, now I get three or four, lol.

N

 

[Puffer Fish]

Yes, I have considered that might be possible, just never saw it in print, hmmm.

Where you get that catalog pdf, is there one for lenses?

I have, thanks to getting to go home due to snow, verified that the sTTL does indeed work as described above with the S90 in Av mode.

So, here is the thing, lol, some may know this or maybe not, all Canon P&S cameras like the A570/A620/A720/A720/A740/whatever or the prosumer S90 and G series all work the same. They may have slightly different feature sets or change the locations of buttons or add ring controls or delete them but the Menu and Func Set selections are virtually the same. If you can shoot one you can shoot all.

The S90 shoots and works virtually identical the A570 with the same Menu features and the addition of ring controls (of course a better and bigger sensor and RAW without a hack and more dynamic range and higher ISO capability etc).

So, anferney, the sTTL mode does indeed shoot just fine with the S90 in Av, Inon strobe in sTTL and I even left the magnet in place. The sTTL overrides the magnet position anyway and this will let you go to Manual strobe and Manual mode on the camera without having to install the magnet.

The sTTL is an Inon strobe feature, not a camera feature and there is nothing intrinsic to the camera as long as it emits a preflash or can be set to do so in the desired shooting mode.

Note:

sTTL (S/D2000 and Z240) requires a preflash, camera in Auto/Program/Av and I suppose Tv (in Av or Tv the camera strobe must be set to Auto under Menu), magnet is irrelevant because sTTL internal programming overrides the magnet switch position in or out.

External Auto mode (D2000/Z240 only) can sync with a preflash, magnet not in (camera strobe set to Auto under Menu) or without a preflash with the magnet installed, camera in Av/Tv (camera strobe set to Manual under Menu).

Manual mode on camera never fires a preflash and the magnet must be in the strobe to sync in either External Auto or Manual control. Yes, External Auto does work with the camera in Manual mode and is a useful shooting mode for strobe controlled flash fill.

What confuses people is the multiple ways to set up some of the features.

If this is wrong, please provide info. BTW, this is a long post but then it essentially summaries what took Inon two thick manuals to describe. Yes, I am available for hire, is it warm in Japan?

N

Excellent overview.

Only thing I would add is that the TTL (and sTTL) are time based controls. The camera adds up the light coming from the preflash and turns it off when it gets enough. A stronger preflash and the camera will turn off the preflash quicker, and then fire the primary flash with a shorter time. All the strobes do is copy that pattern.

For that reason, the more light you need, the longer the strobe is on..so if you need that short time to freeze motion, and are using the default 1/60 of a second, you may get a lot of blurry images.

I used to use the default, but found that for the most part, using a faster shutter speed makes sharper images.
Macro tends to work better because, being close, the stobe duration is really short.

 

[CompuDude]

Where you get that catalog pdf, is there one for lenses?

Yes, it's right on the Inon Japan site:

INON Products Catalog Download

(direct link to lens catalog)

 

[Nemrod]

OK, been playing with this. I have an old slave strobe for a film P&S camera, frankly it was given to me. It will accept a preflash and is a surface only unit. It has four power settings in manual and some sort of auto slave mode.

OK, just as an experiment, I teamed it with the D2000 for a few dry shots. The D2000 seems to be able to compensate and produce a good exposure while still using both strobes over a much wider area.

So, what could this mean, well, Optical Ocean sells a compact 170 dollar strobe that could be used to augment the D/S2000 for more coverage.

N

 

[Citra]

Thanks for all the information from everybody. I decided to go with the D-2000 and 2-5" ulcs arm segments, but might just use one for now, till I get the hang of this. It seems there are many ways to configure this camera and strobe. Without getting myself to confused. I think I would like to shoot in an auto mode or something fairly easy to use for my first trip out with it. Can anyone recommend what mode(s) and settings (ring function, flash, iso, white balance, etc.) I can set for S90 and D2000 that I should use for a regular or wide angle shot and for a macro shot? I would like to have everything set up before the dive as I don't won't to be to disstracted changing settings underwater. What is the easiest way to change from wide angle to macro underwater? Are there any presets on the camera? I do not have a wide angle lens yet and won't for this trip but mabye for my next trip.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Thanks for all the information from everybody. I decided to go with the D-2000 and 2-5" ulcs arm segments, but might just use one for now, till I get the hang of this. It seems there are many ways to configure this camera and strobe. Without getting myself to confused. I think I would like to shoot in an auto mode or something fairly easy to use for my first trip out with it. Can anyone recommend what mode(s) and settings (ring function, flash, iso, white balance, etc.) I can set for S90 and D2000 that I should use for a regular or wide angle shot and for a macro shot? I would like to have everything set up before the dive as I don't won't to be to disstracted changing settings underwater. What is the easiest way to change from wide angle to macro underwater? Are there any presets on the camera? I do not have a wide angle lens yet and won't for this trip but mabye for my next trip.

Great thinking...

Well here are some recommendations:

1. Never use auto.. never, ever. You cannot control the flash, cannot shoot raw.

Would suggest the following:

1. Program mode:

a Focus is to small center. Af Frame = center, AF frame size small (also set Af-point zoom to on)

b. Exposure set to center.

c. Flash set to on

d. You have to set the camera to macro every time you turn it on.

e. Iso 80

f. Ring set to zoom

g. auto white balance.

The above is near object, with flash setting, the limitation here is that you are stuck with 1/60 of a second, so a steady hand, slow moving things or not too close.

In clear water, makes excellent fill flash images, but if you see washed out or and blur, go to:

Tv mode, setup as follows:

a. 1/500 of a second

b. Focus is center small

c. Eposure is center.

d. Flash is set to on

e. Have to turn on macro

f. iso 80

g. Ring is set to shutter speed

f. Auto white balance.

This works in bright conditions, for macro and general shooting... but you may find the background too dark (depends on you tastes).. so be prepared to adjust up or down for conditions.

Shooting scenes...without flash.... in say 60 ft of water.

Use the "C" mode, learn how to do an auto white balance (you will need it) and set the ring to iso (as you cannont control the shutter/f-stop.

Hope that helps...

Please question any of the above if they don't make sense.