sTTL vs. Auto vs. Manual?

[Hetland]

Do you gain anything (other than ease of use) shooting Auto or sTTL over shooting Manual on your strobe? I ask, because I spent a few hours shooting underwater this weekend, and I spent time shooting all three (previously I had only shot Auto and sTTL). I found all three modes had advantages and disadvantages, but I'd like to know if Auto or sTTL offers anything beyond a power setting that could result in an image that was shot with a corresponding Manual setting.

Thanks

 

[AussieByron]

Hetland it really depends of a few factors. It really comes down to what camera, strobe, connection you have (compacts differ some what to DSLR) and what style of shooting your doing (Wide angle vs macro). Give us an idea of what your camera setup is and what style your shooting and your question will be answered more accurately.

Regards Mark

 

[Hetland]

Compact Canon G15 with Inon Z240 and S2000 strobes controlled via fiber optic. I shoot macro, cfwa and wide angle, sometimes on the same dive

 

[AussieByron]

Hetland I shoot DSLR but with my limited use with Canon compacts and inon strobes I found that sTTL is pretty spot on when it comes to shooting macro. I feel when shoot wideangle and CFWA, strobes set in manual offer better results but at the cost of more playing around with strobe and camera settings. I think it when it comes to wide angle its more difficult for the camera to get a correct power setting in TTL as the camera is metering for air and not underwater. As you know strobe lighting is absorbed more underwater and in wideangle work your try to light up a larger area. I prefer WA in manual as I can set my strobes to shoot the same power everytime, aperture is the same and if my image needs adjusting its basically done with shutter speed. This comes in handy especially when shooting sunbursts as the camera's TTL struggles with ambient light. The TTL in macro is great because of the short distances involved for strobe lighting.

Regards Mark

 

[Hetland]

Hetland I shoot DSLR but with my limited use with Canon compacts and inon strobes I found that sTTL is pretty spot on when it comes to shooting macro. I feel when shoot wideangle and CFWA, strobes set in manual offer better results but at the cost of more playing around with strobe and camera settings. I think it when it comes to wide angle its more difficult for the camera to get a correct power setting in TTL as the camera is metering for air and not underwater. As you know strobe lighting is absorbed more underwater and in wideangle work your try to light up a larger area. I prefer WA in manual as I can set my strobes to shoot the same power everytime, aperture is the same and if my image needs adjusting its basically done with shutter speed. This comes in handy especially when shooting sunbursts as the camera's TTL struggles with ambient light. The TTL in macro is great because of the short distances involved for strobe lighting.

Regards Mark

That seems to reflect my observations. Thanks.

 

[coralcruiser]

Hetland...I use the G15 with the inon s2000 and shoot mostly macro and supermacro. When working with the G15, note that when the camera is set to manual you will need to have the strobe in manual as the G15 software will not allow the strobe to synch in sttl. The strobe will fire since it's a slave but it won't synch with your camera settings. The strobe will only synch when using one of the program modes. That's about the only thing I don't like on the canon G series...not sure why they make their software that way and don't think there is a hack around it yet.

 

[PatW]

I have shot a G11 with Ike Ds51 strobes and a Nikon D7000 with Ike Ds160 strobes. I have found that TTL just does not work on sand patches or reflective rock. Rather than fooling around switching from auto to manual and back again while watching the other divers swim away and minding my depth, air reserve and deco limits, I just shoot straight manual. I have found that auto setting just seem to unreliable in an underwater environment.

 

[Interceptor121]

TTL works ver well and it can be dialled down but you need to get a strobe return which means aiming the strobe directly at the subject so that you have a reflection

If you aim away from the subject the strobe will not have a return to the camera and end up with a full dump that makes potentially a picture overexposed

Main reason for over exposed TTL macro is aiming away and loosing the strobe return when you try to find a more artistic angle and illumination

Even on wide angle assuming your strobe you can cover the subject TTL works well however there are instances when you need to point the strobes away to cover the area in that case the strobe will produce a full dump that may or not work