Inon S 2000 set up

[Steelyeyes]

I just got some Inon S 2000 strobes for my TG 5. Currently I'm just trying to get one working in macro mode.

I set the camera up per the Backscatter macro video. Stopped down -2.0, ISO 100, flash on fill in, etc. I have the strobe on STTL to start.

I've played with adjusting the exposure setting, adjusted strobe compensation on strobe, magnet in, magnet out and the strobe will flash but my image is vastly underexposed. I must be missing something simple. Is there a synchronizing step to make sure the timing of the flash is correct or something?

 

[bvanant]

Try to set up the system so that you are not at -2EV.
Bill

 

[Chris Ross]

Correct setting will be magnet out as you have a pre flash from the TG-6 in TTL. If you can't get TTL to work go to manual, the TG-6 allows you to set the flash to manual, have the camera in Av, put the magnet in then take test exposures at f2.8 till the image is correctly exposed. If you are in macro and leave the flash in more or less the same position the required flash exposure should not vary too much. You can do this on land to get a starting point and fine tune in the water.

Also check you don't have red-eye reduction activated. That gives multiple flashes and will upset the S-2000.

One thing Backscatter leave out of their video is the fact the TG-6 has only two apertures, f2 and f2.8 (wide) or f4.9 and f6.3 Tele and it has a 3 stop ND filter to achieve f8 (f18 in tele). Going to f8(f18) does not give you extra depth of field, it only reduces the exposure. The only reason to use is to block out ambient light to help get a dark background, that will probably also require the minimum shutter speed setting when in flash to be set to something like 1/250 or higher. If you are at f18 you need a lot of flash power!

The -2 setting they recommend is on exposure compensation ( not flash exposure compensation) and is recommended to reduce the contribution of ambient light in the image - the light is mostly from the flash, so the exposure is set by adjusting the flash not the camera.

I would work at f2.8 (or f4.9 as you are shooting macro and will be at the tele end more than likely) to start with until you get that sorted before delving into the min flash speed setting setting as it is buried deep in the menus and also requires auto ISO with the max ISO capped - the lowest you can cap it is ISO400. You could possibly set that up in one of the custom modes with the other custom mode setup for normal flash.

 

[Steelyeyes]

Correct setting will be magnet out as you have a pre flash from the TG-6 in TTL. If you can't get TTL to work go to manual, the TG-6 allows you to set the flash to manual, have the camera in Av, put the magnet in then take test exposures at f2.8 till the image is correctly exposed. If you are in macro and leave the flash in more or less the same position the required flash exposure should not vary too much. You can do this on land to get a starting point and fine tune in the water.

Also check you don't have red-eye reduction activated. That gives multiple flashes and will upset the S-2000.

One thing Backscatter leave out of their video is the fact the TG-6 has only two apertures, f2 and f2.8 (wide) or f4.9 and f6.3 Tele and it has a 3 stop ND filter to achieve f8 (f18 in tele). Going to f8(f18) does not give you extra depth of field, it only reduces the exposure. The only reason to use is to block out ambient light to help get a dark background, that will probably also require the minimum shutter speed setting when in flash to be set to something like 1/250 or higher. If you are at f18 you need a lot of flash power!

The -2 setting they recommend is on exposure compensation ( not flash exposure compensation) and is recommended to reduce the contribution of ambient light in the image - the light is mostly from the flash, so the exposure is set by adjusting the flash not the camera.

I would work at f2.8 (or f4.9 as you are shooting macro and will be at the tele end more than likely) to start with until you get that sorted before delving into the min flash speed setting setting as it is buried deep in the menus and also requires auto ISO with the max ISO capped - the lowest you can cap it is ISO400. You could possibly set that up in one of the custom modes with the other custom mode setup for normal flash.

Thanks for all of the information.

 

[Hoag]

Here is a very good article that you might find useful.

Setting the Inon S-2000 with Your Camera | Mozaik UW

 

[scubaozy]

Correct setting will be magnet out as you have a pre flash from the TG-6 in TTL.

I am not sure whether this is correct statement. In S-TTL mode, magnet position becomes irrelevant. I have 2 x d2000 and l forgot to bring one of the magnets to R4 LoB and had to stick with s-ttl as it was the only mode that would work with one magnet and 2 strobes. There is a very good table in below link.

Inon S2000 Magnet Questions

 

[Chris Ross]

That is the recommendation. Without the magnet it will mimic the two flashes just fine. But with magnet in it emits a stronger pre flash fooling the camera so it will produce a weaker main flash and then calculate how to adjust the main output from the S-2000 to give the correct exposure. This means the onboard flash recycles faster and preserves the battery a little. So it might double the output = 2x duration on the preflash then it will also double the duration of the main flash for example.

 

[scubaozy]

But with magnet in it emits a stronger pre flash fooling the camera so it will produce a weaker main flash and then calculate how to adjust the main output from the S-2000 to give the correct exposure.

You are describing s-ttl functionality. Magnet in or out does not matter in s-ttl mode. Magnet is for advanced cancel curcuit functionality, which gets the strobe to ignore the pre-flash. If you use manual mode, you want strobe to ignore pre-flash (same for external auto mode in d2000).
INON Technical Guide [S-TTL Auto]
I think in general it is better to leave it in, if you want to alternate between manual mode and sttl. As explained earlier post, you will not have to worry about taking it with you.

 

[Interceptor121]

ChrisRoss is correct re magnet the advanced cancel circuit setting for STTL are the same to manual pre-flash and changing this may alter the proper evaluation of TTL
I am not sure why backscatter talks about -2 that is not necessary if you need to tweak you use the strobe functionality
INON Technical Guide [S-TTL Adjustable]

You need to read the notes on the compatibility page
(*C) S-TTL Auto mode is not usable when built-in / bundled flash mode is set to [Slave][Manual][Manual Flash][Flash Adjust Manual] .
(*L) Set camera [RC Mode] to OFF when using INON strobe. INON strobe does not support Oyumpus RC flash mode.

 

[scubaozy]

Sorry but you are wrong. Acc is only relevant for manual or ea modes. Nothing to do with ttl. Below a screenshot from inon catalog explaining what it is.

http://www.deduiker.nl/pdf/INON D-2000 Advanced Manual.pdf
Above is the link to advanced manual, I don’t see how you come up with a special functionality.
As you see in the below picture, "normal" state is magnet in which is meant for the majority of the cams, as most have pre-flash.