AbyssalPlains
Contributor
Hi all,
I have been fiddling around with the positioning of these strobes and somehow it is always hit or miss. I can't seem to be able to predict whether an exposure will be lighted correctly or totally off. I want to find a pattern that works. Sometimes the coverage is just fine, but often I get one correctly exposed image and the next shot is very dark or overexposed, even though I moved the cam very little or not at all between shots. It appears that with these particular strobes, a difference of a few inches between strobes and subject can mean the difference between a nicely exposed image and utter darkness. And even in extreme close-up, I can't stop the lens down past f16 or I lose too much light. Shouldn't I be able to stop my 50mm macro lens down to f22 and the strobes still deliver enough power?
The set-up I see in many uw magazines, where the strobes are a foot and a half away from the cam to the left and right and pointed outward, may just not be feasible with the DS-51, I'm beginning to wonder. I started out with the strobes far apart but pointed inward and got a lot of backscatter. The next time I pointed them slightly outward, with the effect that virtually no light hits the lens. I know that the DS-51 have a limited angle of coverage, but I am seriously wondering if I should replace at least one of them with a DS-125. For close-ups at a foot or less they work fine, but it appears that as soon as I go even moderately wide-angle it is a complete hit-or-miss business. And in most shots with moving targets I don't get a second chance to adjust the strobes and try again.
Any ideas? Should I just keep the strobes very close to the cam? Also, I have been wondering whether it makes a difference to place them far apart, but straight ahead (or even slightly inward) or close together and angled outward?
Anybody have any starting points? I have set flash sync to 1/125 and use the strobe diffusers.
I have been fiddling around with the positioning of these strobes and somehow it is always hit or miss. I can't seem to be able to predict whether an exposure will be lighted correctly or totally off. I want to find a pattern that works. Sometimes the coverage is just fine, but often I get one correctly exposed image and the next shot is very dark or overexposed, even though I moved the cam very little or not at all between shots. It appears that with these particular strobes, a difference of a few inches between strobes and subject can mean the difference between a nicely exposed image and utter darkness. And even in extreme close-up, I can't stop the lens down past f16 or I lose too much light. Shouldn't I be able to stop my 50mm macro lens down to f22 and the strobes still deliver enough power?
The set-up I see in many uw magazines, where the strobes are a foot and a half away from the cam to the left and right and pointed outward, may just not be feasible with the DS-51, I'm beginning to wonder. I started out with the strobes far apart but pointed inward and got a lot of backscatter. The next time I pointed them slightly outward, with the effect that virtually no light hits the lens. I know that the DS-51 have a limited angle of coverage, but I am seriously wondering if I should replace at least one of them with a DS-125. For close-ups at a foot or less they work fine, but it appears that as soon as I go even moderately wide-angle it is a complete hit-or-miss business. And in most shots with moving targets I don't get a second chance to adjust the strobes and try again.
Any ideas? Should I just keep the strobes very close to the cam? Also, I have been wondering whether it makes a difference to place them far apart, but straight ahead (or even slightly inward) or close together and angled outward?
Anybody have any starting points? I have set flash sync to 1/125 and use the strobe diffusers.
