Camera-Strobe Problem

[Titanite]

Hello!
I have a canon 700IS point and shoot that doesnt have enough light most of the time for decent photos. I added a Sea and Sea YS-110 strobe and it is fired by fiber optical cable. The problem I am having is that unless I am either really shallow with lots of natural light or at night with many lights on the subject, the picture always comes out over exposed (looking almost all white). Camera has TTL focus which is supposed to work with the strobe. I dont know enough about photography to diagnose the problem. Ive tried to turn down the strobe but usually get same problem. Something to do with white balance on camera? Not sure, any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanking you in advance!!
T

 

[RAWalker]

This could be a timing problem between the camera and the strobe. You want to use force strobe firing on the camera to trigger the remote strobe no red eye reduction. The remote may have multiple timing settings mine has 3. This is different than the strength setting. I find the correct setting on mind by place the strobe and camera facing each other and take a picture of the strobe with it set to each setting. The setting that the picture is just the white of the flash is the correct setting. If this doesn't help try putting a flash diffuser on the strobe they are available in a few different filtering levels.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Do you have the 110 or the new 110a? The older 110 strobe had problems syncing with Canon point and shoot cameras.

 

[Titanite]

Yes its the Yellow 110. Not the 110a. Any work arounds for this?? I just bought the damn thing!! Thanks!

 

[gert7to3]

What camera settings are you using? I looked the camera up and it has an underwater mode, but no full manual mode. See what that setting uses for ISO, shutter speed and aperture.

The flash can be set to [on] without redeye reduction. You can set your metering to spot meter. Set your ISO to 80 or 100, not [auto]. Much of what you want to use a strobe on will be less than 2 feet /60cm away, so use macro. If you can't do this in underwater mode, then use the manual mode.

I would suggest, first, while underwater, without the flash on, use the EV settings to adjust for the background hue, (minus will darken it). Then use the manual, not the TTL settings on your strobe to obtain a good exposure with your flash, on your subject. It doesn't sound like your strobe is controlling its output at all. You want as few variables in your photography as possible. That way you're only having to adjust one thing to obtain a good exposure.

Finally, check the stickies in the "tips & techniques' section. There's a lot of good introductory information there.

 

[Puffer Fish]

In addition to the above... check the iso setting you are using...

I have a pair of YS110's with a G10 (which I would expect has the same control circuit..if I am fairly close, I have to turn the output down to get within the control range of the strobes

After turning off the red eye (if it is on).. use ISO 80..and make sure you have the strobe set to TTL..then just turn down the output knob till you get a good exposure.

The TTL exposure control in the camera and the strobe use timing.. longer for more light, shorter for less light.. that means they have a fairly limited adjustment range. As the strobe is hugely stronger than the camera's flash, it is easy to exceed the stobes turndown range. At iso 400, for example, they will over expose every picture...and on the surface can nicely fill a 30 ft room with light...but over expose anything within about 12 ft.

Which is, by the way, a great way to test out if everything is working..I use a minimum of 3x - 5x distance for air testing.

 

[Titanite]

Thank you both! I will play around tonight in the basement and see what I can figure out.

last night I had some success (which I had not before). Camera+strobe were working pretty good on TTL and auto, and also ttl and manual using auto white balance. Tried maual white balance with a white piece of paper and all pics were greenish. Not sure if that will improve at depth or not??
So to get this straight, typically I would be shooting 1-2 feet underwater on macro or digital macro, so test 3-10 feet in air?
I will fiddle more tonight and let you know how it goes.
Thank you again!

 

[Puffer Fish]

Thank you both! I will play around tonight in the basement and see what I can figure out.

last night I had some success (which I had not before). Camera+strobe were working pretty good on TTL and auto, and also ttl and manual using auto white balance. Tried maual white balance with a white piece of paper and all pics were greenish. Not sure if that will improve at depth or not??
So to get this straight, typically I would be shooting 1-2 feet underwater on macro or digital macro, so test 3-10 feet in air?
I will fiddle more tonight and let you know how it goes.
Thank you again!

Yup, but try even closer to see if it works...

and keep in mind:

1. No red eye.. or anything other than just the strobe.

2. lowest ISO...

3. Adjust the stobe down using the adjustment knob on the strobe.

A particular strobe setting should give you a working range...which will require a lower setting, the closer you get.

Do not believe you need to do a custom white balance with that strobe... auto works great on my camera.

 

[Titanite]

Thanks Puffer Fish.

i tried it using an ISO of 80, but the photos are 9/10 blurry with such a low ISO. Is there any way to offset that?

Thank you again!

 

[Brewski]

Thanks Puffer Fish.

i tried it using an ISO of 80, but the photos are 9/10 blurry with such a low ISO. Is there any way to offset that?

Thank you again!

Blurry at that ISO could be due to the camera moving when you shoot. You want to be deliberate when you depress the shutter. When you set up on a subject partially depress the shutter, you should see your cameras focus indicator turn green on your target. Then complete the action of depressing the shutter. Your camera will now take the shot.
If you just point and shoot you will find your camera is trying to focus when you are actually moving.