G10, FIX housing, Inon D180 & D2000: Suggestions??

[OCdiving Deb]

Any suggestions for settings, etc. with the following set-up: G10, FIX housing, Inon D180 & D2000 strobes?

I have been shooting the Oly 5050 with a single D180 strobe and just recently invested in the aforementioned Canon G10 set-up. Since most are using a different strobe is there anything I should know about my own set-up?

I hope I get to take it all underwater soon.

Thanks all!

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Hey Debbie, good score! I dunno, do you shoot manual now or will you go TTL on this setup? I tend to leave my shutter speed high (1/1000th or faster), go w/ an f/stop of f/5.6 or f/8 and adjust flash output as needed (camera & flash both being on Manual). From macro up to 3-4 feet this gets me by w/ some occasional tweaking but I'm only shooting a single Sea & Sea 110-A strobe.

In post-production editing I've noticed there is at least one stop or more correction capacity w/ a G-10 RAW file, so if anything I shoot a bit under-exposed (slightly darker). Someone shooting INON can offer better help on TTL aspects if you are going that route. A wee bit of surface shooting can help ease the uncertainty of a new outfit of course but you'll really enjoy the camera, well suited for UW work. // ww

 

[OCdiving Deb]

I always shot manual on the Oly but I am told that I need to switch to aperature or shutter priority on this set-up. I am not sure what is involved with shooting TTL.

No changes on the camera's flash settings? The Oly required all sorts of setting changes between land shots and UW so I stopped using that camera for topside.

I am finding it kinda weird to go from Olympus to Canon. The menu and the buttons are not all that intuitive yet. I agree that practice is needed!

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Congratulations on the new toy Debbie!!

I shoot dual Inons with my G9. I usually shoot ttl for wide angle and generally shoot manual for macro, but I do sometimes switch to manual on the camera and the strobes for unusual shots.

For TTL, I have my strobes set on the sttl. Then, I generally go with aperature priority, and simply dial in my prefered aperature for each shot, and let the camera select the shutter speed. When you take a shot, you'll quickly be able to determine if you need to adjust the f-stop and shoot again. If I am shooting a fast moving object, then I switch to shutter priority, and dial in the shutter speed to at least 200 or higher, and let the camera select the aperature for me.

The TTL route works great for 90% of your shots, so don't be shy about saving yourself some effort and letting the strobes do the work for you. However, if you take a shot, and find the camera/strobes is not achieving the particular shot you are seeking, then switch gears, go manual and adjust it to what you want.

If I'm shooting into the sun, but don't want my subject blacked out, then I also go with shutter priority, and take my flashes off ttl and adjust them manually.

Hope that helps!

Adrian

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Oh, one other item on note...

I personally found myself often shooting pictures underwater, which on the LCD appeared to be lit properly. However, after downloading my pics at home, I found them all to be a bit over-exposed.

My solution was to go into the cameras menu and adjust the LCD Brightness down a bit, which I accomplished by trial and error over several dives. Now, I'm pretty comfortable that, the level of brightness I see in the LCD underwater, is the level of brightness I will see on the computer at home.

Just a tip that may or may not apply to your camera.

 

[CompuDude]

Congrats on the new toy, Debbie!

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Adrian, or anyone else shooting Inon strobes with their G9 or G10,

Do you shoot with the Inon magnets in or out?

I am having horrible results with my set-up and I must figure out what I am doing wrong. The worst results are with the FIX fisheye port. Not a single image is focused. It looks fine in the LCD monitor but they are completely unfocused upon further inspection. I did better yesterday on the 3rd dive when I removed the fisheye port and just used the standard FIX port.

I do not know if the magnets are my problem but it is a basic setting so it is as good a place to start as any.

HELP PLEASE!!! I am soooo frustrated!

 

[Nemrod]

The strobe/magnet has nothing to do with the focus. I answered your questions in the first post under strobes, but, good luck.

N

 

[Onewolf]

I also have the G10/Fisheye FIX housing (and the Fisheye fisheye dome port). I had no problems getting fisheye shots reasonably sharp in focus on my first trip with the G10. I also came from an Olympus C5050 (L&M tetra) system.

I was experimenting with different settings the whole time we were in Cozumel and I found that manual mode (and manual strobe) worked best for the fisheye shots. I found the manual control of the strobe worked best for the fisheye shots because the TTL would almost never meter the blue water background correctly. For macro I shot mostly manual as well. It seemed that shooting shutter priority (and DSTTL on the strobe) only worked with subjects from 1.5 feet to about 4 feet away.

Cozumel09/UnderWater

 

[bkkchris]

I also shoot with a G10/Fisheye FIX housing with dual Inon Z240's. I always have the camera in manual mode and use the C1 & C2 to the general settings I think I will need for the days diving.
I normally shoot Macro with the FIX dual lens adaptor, camera on C1 with ISO80, shutter at 500+ and normally f7.1, manual focus (and zoom) preset to 10-20inches. Strobes in full manual with the digital circuit magnet in the down position.

If I am on a wide angle day I also shoot full manual, same settings on the strobes, camera also in C1/C2 with custom settings. But the shutter tends to be around 60 (unless I am shooting very fast moving subjects) and f5.6, auto focus.

I have also noticed that shots that look properly exposed on the LCD tend to end up a bit overexposed when downloaded to the computer so always compensate with the EV dial and then tweak if needed within a stop or two using the RAW files on the comp.

Those are my bases settings and then I tweak as needed for the shot. Seems to work okay for me so far, but I am still playing around!

And some photos from said setup:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkkchris/sets/72157622199350714/