digital strobes?

[newdiverAZ]

I have a Canon a-40 with the wp-dc200s housing, and am looking into a strobe for it. I can get a ys-25dx package for 435, or a ys-90dx package for 600 or so. I have been reading alot of posts on here, and am totally confused about manual mode, ttl and all of the modes. I would like a strobe that I'll be able to grow with. someone told me to get the 25 then as I became more proficient I could add the 90 and use both strobes. I guess my biggest questions are in manual mode is it actually manual or does the strobe fire off of the internal flash? What exactly is TTL? Are those prices pretty good? Will those 2 strobes compliment each other if I decide later to add the 90?

 

[SimonJ]

Like you I have a Canon setup (although an S400), which I recently added a strobe to. Purely for financial reasons I added a Sea&Sea YS-25DX, rather then the YS-90 that I woudl have prefered.

Having completed 20 or so dives with it recently in Grenada, I must confess that I found it slightly underpowered. Relatively close up and with the right strobe position it was great, but a bit more power would have been useful. Perhaps like you I will later add a YS90 and use the 25 as a fill strobe...not sure how this will work out.

The Sea&Sea DX strobes fire based on a sync cord that attaches to the outside your housing (in front of the internal flash) using velcro. The strobe power is manually adjusted using a dial on the back.

My understanding of TTL is that it is a means of synchronizing the power of the strobe with the exposure of the camera. This normally requires a camera and housing that supports a TTL cable to the strobe, although I understand that external sensors can be used as well, but without being quiet as accurate.

Again, hope this helps

 

[rich52758]

If you go with the Ikelite for you S-40 go to the manual controler. The Canon S-30, 40,45 and 50 dont have the flash power needed for TTL to work properly. The DS-50 is about the same size as the Sea and Sea YS90 but a better price. The YS-25 is too small from what I have heard.


Rich

 

[newdiverAZ]

I have the a40 not the s40