Inon D 180 strobe

[fpoole]

CD, I have the 4040 tetra and just re-plugged the bulk heads from wet to dry...

I'm guessing if you talk to Jason at Backscatter, service dept, they would have a Bulkhead that will fit an Inon dry synch cord?? I'm just guessing, but they, tetras use a standard Nikon plug which I believe is common through out the industry... Nikon 3-5 plug or something like that. So as long as the Inon has a synch cord that is "Plugable"you should be able to use them. I was thinking of using them with a Titan for the D70 when it comes out.. soon I hope...
But check with them, Backscatter, and see what they can do.. but first check with Inon to see what options for synch cords they have...
I'd be interested in hearing what you find out too... so post whatever happens??
thanx

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

I was under the imprection that you could use the IRON in TLL and was matter of right conector too

 

[fpoole]

I believe, and could be wrong, but the Inon CAN be used in TTL mode, the problem is that the camera/housing isn't.. now I understand there is a setting that you can make on the strobe, but believe it has to be a direct DRY connection to the camera an not a velcro patch.
I've heard of a setting that will give you a "Like" TTL setting, where you match the strobe setting with the f-stop on the camera, but that's still not TTL.
TTL being, as I understand it, works this way:
shooting a subject with everything on TTL,
the shutter opens, calculates how much light is needed, strobe fires, lens closes at the estimated correct amount of exposure...

Now could be bassAckwards, where the strobe fires first then the lens opens and then closes when the exposure is enough - at the right exposure, but the idea is that the lens is controlled by the sensor inside the camera and opens and closes as the strobe fires. It could be that the camera sensor regulates the strobe to only fire the required light, but I believe the lens does the actual controlling...

That's my understanding, hopefully there is someone else here that can shed a little more light (no pun intended) on the subject.

Currently there are only a very few, 1 or 2 cameras and housing that mimic or support it.... The Strobes might very well be geared up top do TTL, but the trick is in the connection and the camera itself..

Probably didn't clear that up very well, but it's something along those lines...
at least that's my understanding of it...

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

oh ok yes your right it seem it a houseing promblem unless there a wired connection for that houseing have to ask IRON to be sure .

 

[ReyeR]

fpoole, does your L&M Tetra for the C4040 have ROC? If not then it is slightly different to the Tetra C5050. L&Ms ROC (circuit) is what controls the strobes. It has mimic TTL and manual control.
The mimic TTL simply mimics the camera's (C5050) internal flash. When the camera's flash fires a pre-flash the ROC circuit will make the external strobe fire a pre-flash. The camera's TTL circuitary doesn't know (or care) that this pre-flash is coming from the external strobe (since the housing is opaque). It uses the amount of light coming back from the external strobe's pre-flash to calculate how long it needs to keep the camera's internal flash on to light the scene correctly. The camera then opens the shutter and fires its flash - this is the second, main flash that'll light the scene. The ROC detects the second flash going off and will signal the external strobe to fire. The ROC will then 'watch' the camera's flash - when it shuts off (with the duration calculated with the pre-flash) the ROC will signal the external strobe to switch off as well.
So with TTL the correct exposure is not reached by opening or closing the shutter but by controlling the duration of the main flash. The duration of the main flash is calculated with the pre-flash before the shutter opens.
The Inon Z220/220s will work with the Tetra C5050 because it is (a) capable of keeping up with the pre-flash and main flash sequence and (b) has a sync cord connection to link up with the Tetra and ROC.
HTH

 

[fpoole]

Ahhh sooo... Great ReyeR... thanx..

So the preflash IS needed to make it worK?.. if you turn OFF the preflash then it won't work since it won't have the preflash info needed to do the calculations.... Interesting... The Tetra 4040s don't have the ROC, it was new with the 5050... and Titan... also the strobes need to have the preflash option available too and set to the preflash mode to allow the ROC/TTL to work...

And finally, how does this look when it's actually happening... like the Red Eye Flash, a quick preflash and then the flash or does it happen so fast that you can't really tell...
I'm thinking of an example, say, of taking a fish? Would the delay between the preflash and the actualy flash be too much and scare the fish away??? or is it fast enough to not notice...

thanx much.... helps clear the mud.. ;-))

 

[ReyeR]

And finally, how does this look when it's actually happening... like the Red Eye Flash, a quick preflash and then the flash or does it happen so fast that you can't really tell...
I'm thinking of an example, say, of taking a fish? Would the delay between the preflash and the actualy flash be too much and scare the fish away??? or is it fast enough to not notice...

Yes, it is like Red Eye Reduction. Instead of firing several quick flashes like ReyeR, pre-flash fires a single flash before the main flash. If you look carefully ( not directly at the flash :11: ) you can make out that the flash is firing twice. But it is quick enough not to scare away the fish before the main flash fires (the total duration of the pre-flash and interval before the main flash with the Olympus is about 0.10006 secs!)

 

[fpoole]

Ok, thanks much ReyR,
Question?
Just noticed your housing is listed as the PT-015... how are you using or getting the TTL working with a stobe fiber optic?? or did you drill into the houseing for a hard wire and then where or how did you get a controller in there??
I could be drawing a "Doh Moment!!!" (as they all have TTL?) but can't think of how.

thanx