Canon G10, Ikelite housing, SeaLife strobe?

[Scubachick_84]

I'm hoping that somebody on here will be more ingenious than I am. I have a Canon G10 camera that I just bought the Ikelite housing for. I can't afford the Ikelite strobe to go with it. I do have a SeaLife external flash from my old setup essentially identical to the DC600 Pro setup on their website with the FlashLink fiber optic cable. (I can't post links because I don't have 5 posts yet).

I have a few questions.

First, using the camera in the housing by itself when the flash fires, the lens port creates a shadow. If I can get the strobe to fire, sometimes the shadow disappears, sometimes it doesn't. Does anybody know why this is?

Second, the base plate on the housing doesn't have an easy way to attach the strobe. The strobe arm just has a regular tripod attachment screw. The base plate of the housing has a channel that a screw could fit through, but I'd like to fathom some kind of way to easily detach the strobe.

Third, because the strobe doesn't have any type of integration with the camera, there doesn't seem to be a way to control the strength of the strobe's light output. Any pointers for how to best use this type of setup? I'm talking like distance to subject and type of photography (macro vs. wide etc.).

I realize that this isn't an ideal system, but at the moment it's what's within my means. I'd like to get the most out of what I've got and I'd really appreciate some helpful tips and input. Thanks!

Laura

 

[bvanant]

Your first point is correct, using the camera's strobe in the housing is less than ideal. Ikelite suggests that it is only usable for macro pics at less than 2 feet. Your second point is that you need a tray adapter for getting your strobe to mount to the ikelite housing. Call ultralight control systems or go to their website and see what bits and pieces you need. I don't know all the details of the SL960 strobes but clearly they will fire using the optical cable. You will need to mount the fiber optic cable to the ikelite housing (velcro) and then use the g10 strobe to trigger the sealife strobe and mask off the rest of the g10 strobe output. It can be done, but you need to play McGyver a bit.

Bill

 

[oly5050user]

I'm hoping that somebody on here will be more ingenious than I am. I have a Canon G10 camera that I just bought the Ikelite housing for. I can't afford the Ikelite strobe to go with it. I do have a SeaLife external flash from my old setup essentially identical to the DC600 Pro setup on their website with the FlashLink fiber optic cable. (I can't post links because I don't have 5 posts yet).

I have a few questions.

First, using the camera in the housing by itself when the flash fires, the lens port creates a shadow. If I can get the strobe to fire, sometimes the shadow disappears, sometimes it doesn't. Does anybody know why this is?

the shadow is most likely from the housing lens port, may depend if you are zoomed in or out

Second, the base plate on the housing doesn't have an easy way to attach the strobe. The strobe arm just has a regular tripod attachment screw. The base plate of the housing has a channel that a screw could fit through, but I'd like to fathom some kind of way to easily detach the strobe.

get creative I guess

Third, because the strobe doesn't have any type of integration with the camera, there doesn't seem to be a way to control the strength of the strobe's light output. Any pointers for how to best use this type of setup? I'm talking like distance to subject and type of photography (macro vs. wide etc.).

does the strobe have power settings? if not then out of luck unless you can hand hold it far enough as to not overexpose im age

I realize that this isn't an ideal system, but at the moment it's what's within my means. I'd like to get the most out of what I've got and I'd really appreciate some helpful tips and input. Thanks!


Laura

save up $$ and get the ike strobe and sync cable.You have invested in a camera that has a hot shoe and has ttl.By not using a ike strobe and sync cable you have features that you paid for but cannot utilize.

 

[bvanant]

Is it clear that the SL960 won't do optical TTL? I agree that if you can get the Ikelite strobe you will be a lot happier but I was under the impression that the SL960 will do optical TTL.
Bill

 

[Scubachick_84]

save up $$ and get the ike strobe and sync cable.You have invested in a camera that has a hot shoe and has ttl.By not using a ike strobe and sync cable you have features that you paid for but cannot utilize.

Thank you, I can appreciate that this would be the simplest solution and I would eventually like to get to that level setup. However, as I indicated before that's not an option currently which is why I asked for alternate solutions to try and work with what I've got. The G10 was a gift, it's the first camera I've had with access to this many manual controls and I don't have a hot shoe flash for it and probably never will. Now I'm just trying to get it underwater.

Bill, thank you for your direction to the ultralight control systems website, I didn't have a chance to thoroughly check it out yet but hope to in the next couple of days. At this point I think I'm going to get some help machining a threaded plate to sit in the center channel and get a longer screw for my strobe base plate. Then I'll have to practice with syncing the strobe up to the camera. I don't think that it can do TTL. At least if it can, I'm not sure how.

Thanks for your help!

Laura

 

[gearhound]

Check out the podcasts at www.jimchurchphoto.com for hints on working with your strobe.