Question about external strobes

[Guba]

I just got a much awaited IC12 for Christmas (my wife is WONDERFUL), and I can tell I'm going to love it! I've used it for shooting "above the surface" shots to get acquainted with its features and have been having a ball. I can't wait to get it underwater. However, I have two questions...1) From reading reviews and other posts, I can now see the problem with the vignetting of the frame with flash photos at wide angle. Is the flash diffuser the solution for this problem?

2) I have a Sealife SL960 flash and arm. Should this external flash be compatible with the IC12 (assuming that I can get the syn cord to match up with the flash on the camera)? I've tried a few experiments with manually holding the slave cord to the flash...the external flash discharges, but the photo is almost totally dark.

Can these two pieces of equipment be made to work together?

Thanks for anything you can provide. I'm LOVING this little camera!

 

[Divernoob]

I just got a much awaited IC12 for Christmas (my wife is WONDERFUL), and I can tell I'm going to love it! I've used it for shooting "above the surface" shots to get acquainted with its features and have been having a ball. I can't wait to get it underwater. However, I have two questions...1) From reading reviews and other posts, I can now see the problem with the vignetting of the frame with flash photos at wide angle. Is the flash diffuser the solution for this problem?

2) I have a Sealife SL960 flash and arm. Should this external flash be compatible with the IC12 (assuming that I can get the syn cord to match up with the flash on the camera)? I've tried a few experiments with manually holding the slave cord to the flash...the external flash discharges, but the photo is almost totally dark.

Can these two pieces of equipment be made to work together?

Thanks for anything you can provide. I'm LOVING this little camera!

Do your strobe and camera have preflash settings? If the strobe is firing, but the pics are dark, my guess is your camera's preflash is triggering the strobe prematurely.

 

[Guba]

Yup, that seems to be about the size of it. My strobe does not have other settings and the camera doesn't seem to have a way to turn off the pre-flashes, so it looks like I'm in the market for a new strobe.

Oh, well...my birthday is coming up pretty soon.

 

[nomro]

I have an IC-12 , I bought the flash diffuser and it reduced the shadow effect by 98% so yes a flsh diffuser should help

Intova Flash Diffuser | Intova

 

[Guba]

Well, a diffuser will help with the shadow effect, but that even further cuts the effectiveness of the flash and doesn't do a whole lot for any backscatter problem.

However, I did do one thing...cheap and cheesy, but it works. I cut a template from a plain, white plastic bag (like the ones department stores use) and placed it INSIDE the housing of my IC12 over the flash. Voila! Inexpensive flash diffuser. It cuts the vignetting ALMOST completely, but it still also cuts the range of the flash a bit.

Still looks like I'm going to be looking for that flash for my birthday. That's okay.