Flash settings on Canon powershot G10 for use with af35

I am the happy owner of a new Ikelite af35 together with a canon powershot G10.

After several dives and a few 100's of pics I still didn't find the right settings on the AF35 or the G10 to avoid overexposure. All my pics so far have been either in the dark (flash not triggering) or overexposed. Only way so far that gives me somewhat acceptable exposure is with the manual setting on the AF35 at minimum level (-2 1/2 stops) and the maximum underexposure on the G10 (-2 stops). I do shield the internal flash so the overexposure is not comming from there.

I would expect I am doing something wrong, but have no clue. Any advice ?

Luc V

Did you block the internal flash?
May be you are overexposing your shots with it..
Are you shooting in Manual? did you tried Av or Tv?
Keep in mind that in Manual mode, there isn't any automatic exposure control.

Are you sure the camera's flash is triggering properly? It helps to practice on land to see what's happening. Also, though I don't think it should make a difference, I turn my camera's focus flash and red eye flash off as it makes no sense underwater and just use a focus light.

Adam

I can only think of three reasons that the strobe would not fire on every flash:

1. The camera does not fire a pre-flash. The G10 does not fire a pre-flash when set in M (manual) mode. We recommend using either Tv (shutter priority) or Av (aperture priority) modes.
2. The camera is not set to force flash (designated by a lightening bolt). Do not use Auto or Red-Eye Reduction flash modes when using the AF35 AutoFlash. The camera's flash will not always fire when using the automatic flash modes.
3. The strobe and/or camera's flash has not recycled completely. The camera's flash usually takes a few seconds to fully recycle. In most instances the AF35 has recycled before the camera's flash has, but always look for the ready light to be illuminated before taking the next photo.

The AF35 is only modulating its flash when the switch on the strobe body is set to "AUTO." When set to one of the manual power settings, it will fire at that intensity on every shot. So regardless of what the camera is doing, if you have the AF35 set at -2 1/2, it will fire at that power every time.

Try starting with your camera's exposure compensation on "0" and the AF35 on "AUTO" with the exposure selector at "5". If overexposing, turn the exposure selector dial towards "1" until you achieve good results. If you're at "1" and still overexposing, then turn dial down the camera's exposure compensation while leaving the strobe in "AUTO".

You may also try narrowing your camera's aperture to something closer to F/8.

Regards,
Jean / Ikelite
IKELITE Underwater Systems