Sealife DC600 + ext flash + macro, a little guidance please

[Cerveza]

Hi there picture takers, Im DM in a dive center in Spain and im more often than not very busy guiding folk around and such like, however today and tomorrow i got some "me time" so can play around with my Sealife DC600 with ext flash,, well today i did just that and although my pics in macro are ok they could be a lot better (mainly not so bright) what tips have you got for me so that tomorrow i can dump down on the brightness and get up close and personal to some nudibranchs..would it be worth being a little further away and using the zoom?
heres my settings

Ext flash = on
Macro = on
Macro flash = on
Ext flash angle = above
range from subject approx 1 foot..
any help is much appreciated..thanks

 

[FishNut]

Hummm..... do you have a defuser for the strobe that helps me alot. I have the same camera and its night and day with the defuser on it. try that

 

[Cerveza]

Hummm..... do you have a defuser for the strobe that helps me alot. I have the same camera and its night and day with the defuser on it. try that

Actually i dont use a difuser, so that could well be the problem, will give it a try sometime soon and report back, but i think you may be right, thanks

 

[dogenia]

I normally use two strobes and I havent used a diffuser yet. Is there even a diffuser available for the pro flash?

Don

 

[gustele]

Hi Cerveza (I like your nickname );
You have two options: one is to use a diffuser (and there is one for the pro flash) and the second and probably best option is to decrease the brightness of the flash considerably. You can also do both. I did a lot of macro shots with the DC500 and this strobe, most of the time without a diffuser but with reduced flash output (50% or even 25%).

 

[gert7to3]

Agree with the previous replies. Beyond that, using some zoom with your macro setting may let you back away a little and get more even light on your subject.

 

[Cerveza]

All are good answers and i will give them a try and see which i can get along with the best, im leaving the diffuser option till last though (why you may ask?...simply realy, its just something else to lose underwater, im quite good at losing things..)
the suggestion from gert7to3 is the one that is interesting me immensly at the moment, will i not lose picture quality by using zoom or will the quality still be the same.. thanks

 

[prskate2]

You will lose picture quality with digital zoom.. With optical zoom your fine. But once you get past the amount of optical zoom you lose some quality.

 

[Cerveza]

@ prskate2 thanks for the heads up on that one,i'l maybe have to redraw the battle plans a little

 

[BubbleBlower07]

the suggestion from gert7to3 is the one that is interesting me immensly at the moment, will i not lose picture quality by using zoom or will the quality still be the same.. thanks

In addition to the optical/digital distinction (you can basically do digital zoom in Photoshop afterwards) you do not want to use zoom to get close to subject ( if you think moving further back will reduce the light.) Though I have not shot that camera, the specs say it has exposure adjustments, that may help. Also check your ISO. If on auto it could be setting it high. If you dial that down to a lower ISO that can help.

As to losing things - me too. I have some string thread and other items that attach my diffusers to my camera. So the only way I lose the diffuser is if I lose the strobe