Need URGENT help with DC2000 and SL963 Universal Flash

[duncdiver]

Just purchased and hooked together prior to leaving tomorrow (go ahead and rant) for two weeks photo and dive vacation in Philippines. Everything works except the strobe seems to fire with the pre-flash, and not when the shutter opens. All pictures appear with no strobe lighting. If I remove the optic cable adapter cover, thus use the internal strobe, everything works very well. I have double checked the optical cable and connection to the u/w housing. Camera is on "P" mode, and all test photos are taken above water. The instructions talk about a "External Strobe" setting which I don't think is on the DC2000 camera. I will be checking this board for any help. Flight out begins early on Monday morning.

 

[bvanant]

The SeaLife camera should be set to Ext Flash mode (See camera instruction manual for more details about Ext Flash Mode). When the camera is set to Ext Flash mode, you can push the Flash Button to switch between Macro Flash, Normal Flash and Far Flash. Setting it to "Macro Flash" will darken the image exposure.
I would try shooting in Manual mode and see if that is working.
Bill

 

[duncdiver]

The DC2000 does not have a Ext Flash mode - at least I can't find it on the camera menus.

 

[duncdiver]

I also don't understand about the 2300 flood lights. They are supposed to auto-darken upon seeing the "pre-flash" so that they will not interfere with the strobe exposure. Now that my strobe is firing only on the pre-flash, not when the shutter actually opens, it suggests that the external strobe will actually flash twice - once for pre-flash, and the second time for when the shutter opens? This would be "ok" except my strobe only flashes once. I have tried both the "A"uto and numeric exposure settings on the strobe.

 

[duncdiver]

Figured it out!! The Ext Flash mode is one of the "Underwater Modes". Since I was testing above water, this never crossed my mind. Apparently one can not use the stronger external flash unit in lieu of the small internal strobe in a base camera. With this new fact in mind, I turned on the 2300 floodlight and used the external strobe and the flood light auto-turned off, then back on, exactly as desired. The above water exposure looked perfect. I a few days, I will be able to test underwater. Yay! Thanks for your help bvanant.

 

[Pillpusher]

You should be able to operate the strobe as intended outside of underwater mode as well. I've never used any kind of "pre-flash" on the strobes, but if there is that setting, I wouldn't recommend it because it may cause extra backscatter on distant shots. When the internal flash triggers, the strobe should immediately trigger with it. If it is triggering before the shutter opens, I have to guess that you have something set weird in the settings. Maybe the AF lamp is turned on and is accidentally triggering the strobe?

If you run into further issues, let me know. I'm pretty familiar with the DC2000 and SL963. One of the best things about the DC2000 is having full manual control, so it'd suck if you were stuck in Underwater mode.

 

[bvanant]

I think maybe the strobe was in learn mode, I agree with the manual mode idea. It is the best way to go.
BVA