Strobe for Olympus 5050-C

[hunter991]

Another vote for Inon. I have the d-180's that have been discontinued. Look at whatever replaced those strobes. I carry ultralite arms to mount them, but I don't carry strobes. If I can help you with arms let me know.

Brent

 

[f3nikon]

from Ikelite The A35 and the older orange and black ss and M series Ikelite strobes do not handle the pre-flash generated by digital cameras. If you can disable the pre-flash, it may work but you will give up any advanced exposure control the camera would otherwise do.

Please note not all digital cameras use preflash my Canon does not and my Olympus C8080 has a feature to turn off the preflash and fire the main flash only.

That is why I made this comment:

This is a good value...strobe, tray and arm $149.00 Like the DS-50 (same body built like a tank) but only a slave strobe. Need to check if your camera has a preflash disable most Canons and some Olympus do.

Sure enough the C-5050 like the C-8080 has this preflash cutout feature:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/c5050_pg4.html
Its the select internal+external,external or slave flash

And from your comment:
"give up any advanced exposure control the camera would otherwise do"

Please explain what Advanced Exposure Control are you speaking of? U/W images are shot a very close range (2 feet or less) with a strobe, this can easily be covered by 1 or 1.5 stops of aperture "clicks" when in aperture priority mode.

Al

 

[bobf]

Ross explained well.............And as Alcina has already stated, skimping on a strobe is short sighted. Choosing a pre-digital strobe such as the A-35 kit renders many advancements of the C5050 useless.

The technique of limiting the function of aperture control to overcome the deficiencies of a single power strobe is poor judgment, especially when so many other options are available. Also suggesting that combining the technique of limiting aperture control with a combination of varying strobe to subject distance (btw, with a gn of 24, you better have very long strobe arms........much longer than comes with that kit if you wish to take advantage of the macro capabilities of the c5050!!!!!!!!!!!!!) or even adding a third obstacle such as loading your BC pockets with an assortment of diffusers all in an attempt to control the light output of a strobe that otherwise has but one power option, full dump, is crippling to the creative potential of the photographer.

Aperture has more influence on image capture than just controlling how much light is allowed to pass through in a given time period. Aperture chosen also influences depth of field and image sharpness. To limit the aperture's responsibility to just one task is short sighted on the part of the photographer. To limit aperture's function to strictly controlling the amount of light robs the photographer of compositional creativity by dictating just how far he has to be from the target in order to control artificial lighting. Loss of aperture flexibility also influences the composition's impact, what the photographer deems important, by dictating how much depth of field will be captured.

imho, in a well designed system, aperture would control dof and image sharpness. Shutter speed would control movement and ambient lighting. Exposure control would be influenced by variable strobe power, power chosen depending upon aperture preference and distance from strobe to subject, all chosen by photographer with artistic creativity, vision.

It would be a shame to lose all those creative options simply by limiting yourself to a single power, full dump strobe.

I'll also recommend the earth shattering concept of choosing a strobe that offers some form of variable strobe output control.

then do as DandyDon says...........practice..........

imho,
hth,
b

 

[bandit_TX]

Not to mention the capabilities of iTTL and E-TTL II on the new Nikon and Canon systems.

 

[bobf]

Not to mention the capabilities of iTTL and E-TTL II on the new Nikon and Canon systems.

As our good buddy Al would say, "good points" . Since the original questioner will be placing their c5050 inside a stock pt 15 housing I assume, not sure if this is a present concern.........although with the correct choice in strobes and a relatively minor modification of the housing's bulkhead*, a variety of strobes would indeed offer some form of digital TTL metering.*

I'd like to also emphasize again that aperture along with shutter speed has the ability to influence the background exposure. But by forcing the aperture to be more concerned with constantly controlling a total dump from the strobe, it once again handcuffs the photographer by limiting maximum creative control of the composition.

*http://www.heinrichsweikamp.net/blitz/indexe.htm

regards,
b

 

[f3nikon]

Very funny guys but, explained what???

First you question the quality of the strobe, that didn’t work because Ikelite makes the A35 strobe.
Then its about the strobe not working with digital cameras with preflash, well this one is blown out of the water as well because my Olympus C-8080, the C-5050, SP-350 have a feature where one can DISABLE the preflash! And not all cameras use PREFLASH or if they do use it some have a way to disable it, as with the C-5050, the camera we are talking about!

So now we are back to explaining this:
"Give up any advanced exposure control the camera would otherwise do"

For which ol Bob answers:
“A-35 kit renders many advancements of the C5050 useless.”

The question is what and how???

Because from my past statement:
“U/W images are shot a very close range (2 feet or less) with a strobe; this can easily be covered by 1 or 1.5 stops of aperture "clicks" when in aperture priority mode.”

So how much more “advanced exposure control” do you need to control the exposure between 1 and 2 feet??? At aperture priority mode (when using the A35 strobe) the shutter settings (background exposure) is controlled by the “advancements of the C5050” metering system, so the settings are really in semi auto mode. 1 to 1.5 clicks of the aperture can easily cover this narrow range to get the proper exposure.

What ol Bob is now trying to get at is that one will give up control of “depth of field” when using the aperture to control the exposure! So it’s back to Photography 101:

“Coming closer to the subject (reducing subject distance) will REDUCE depth of field, while moving away from the subject will INCREASE depth of field.”
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/Depth_of_Field_01.htm

And another guideline: U/W the light intensity drops off one f-stop per one foot of camera to subject distance.

For example if the correct exposure of a subject distance at 1 foot is an aperture opening of f8.0 then a subject distance of 2 feet has to have an f-stop of f5.6 to achieve the correct exposure! Well hold on! If we apply the first rule of:

“Coming closer to the subject (reducing subject distance) will REDUCE depth of field, while moving away from the subject will INCREASE depth of field.”
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/Depth_of_Field_01.htm

Will not the depth of field INCREASE as well…you bet?!! The depth of field of f5.6 (.012m) at 2 feet has a wider (increased) depth of field of f8.0 (.004m) at 1foot!


Punch in the numbers here:
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/Depth_of_Field_01.htm

Input .33 meters about 1 foot and .66meters about 2 feet, use digital sensor 1/1.8.

In conclusion, many photographers do not even know or care about depth of field. Most all really care about is a correctly exposed, razor sharp, eye-pleasing image, an image that can be easily achieved with the help of a $150 A35 Ikelite setup.

Or is it really the low price of the A35 (tray and arm included) vs. a $1000 single strobe setup that you folks have a problem with? A quick fix to that is have Ikelite jack up the price to $1000 for the A35!

Just to add, the A35 is a simply yet reliable strobe that actually has one less hole for which to leak, because of a capped off sync cord connector versus the $1000 TTL bells and whistles multi electrical connector strobe setup that may or may not fire at all due to a wet or opened connection!

To top it off true TTL does not work on digital cameras because the TTL (through the lens) sensor for which the camera uses to control the strobe, as in film cameras, is mounted outside the camera, above the lens! So it’s really a TTT of TL or To The Top of The Lens! And not Through The Lens and actually hitting the film plane as in film! Even worse is that the U/W housing is partially blocking the sensor.

Next?

 

[BurBunny]

In conclusion, many photographers do not even know or care about depth of field. Most all really care about is a correctly exposed, razor sharp, eye-pleasing image, an image that can be easily achieved with the help of a $150 A35 Ikelite setup.

You're only partially correct... as always. SOME photographers don't know or care about depth of field. Let's call them happy snappers. They are going for memory shots which please them and which they can show off to friends and family. Fabulous! Lots of systems aimed exactly at that market. The A35 fits nicely in there.

But people who go further into photography as an art form, who want to further their skills and results, take DOF very seriously. It's a major part of composition. To say otherwise again shows your lack of experience at this level. Does the photographer want the background crisp or blurred? Lit or black? Is it important to just have just the eye in focus or more of the body as well? How best to set up for limitations in DOF based on other compositional considerations? These all go into the creation of photographs rather than just snapshots.

Don't lump those of us who really care about our skills and equipment into the group with which you're most familiar. Or try to make a piece of equipment designed for one market seem appropriate for someone looking to achieve something else with their setup.

 

[f3nikon]

You're only partially correct... as always. SOME photographers don't know or care about depth of field. Let's call them happy snappers. They are going for memory shots which please them and which they can show off to friends and family. Fabulous! Lots of systems aimed exactly at that market. The A35 fits nicely in there.

But people who go further into photography as an art form, who want to further their skills and results, take DOF very seriously. It's a major part of composition. To say otherwise again shows your lack of experience at this level. Does the photographer want the background crisp or blurred? Lit or black? Is it important to just have just the eye in focus or more of the body as well? How best to set up for limitations in DOF based on other compositional considerations? These all go into the creation of photographs rather than just snapshots.

Don't lump those of us who really care about our skills and equipment into the group with which you're most familiar. Or try to make a piece of equipment designed for one market seem appropriate for someone looking to achieve something else with their setup.

OIC... so which part of this was I "partially correct"?

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=158831&page=2

I am not sure if you misread my comment or just trying to spin the issue, I said:

“Crop in camera as much as possible, not after the picture is taken.”

My statement clearly defines pre-process or BEFORE the picture is taken. Your example is defined as a form of post-process by using the camera’s electronics, AFTER the image is recorded.

So the real question is why would your post-process cropping via the camera electronics “degrades the pixels” and the more common post-process cropping via a computer will NOT “degrades the pixels”???

And the act of cropping the image (post processing) itself will NOT “degrades the pixels”. It’s when you blow up or increase the cropped image size to the size of the original image that you lose the image quality or as you stated “degrades the pixels”. If the image were cropped then left alone there will be no image quality lost with digital.

Very interesting that you would equate an uncommon practice of post-process cropping with the camera’s electronics to the more common term of cropping in camera via the viewfinder before recording the image. Because not all cameras have this feature, certainly not films, but not all digitals as well.

From your statement:

“Many cameras have a function where you can actual crop in camera, some by using digital zoom, some by actually cropping. They're a very sloppy way to crop.”

“Crop in camera” had always been a common term with film photographers that is why I included the links.

“Having an understanding of the terms beyond book learning helps when explaining terms to others.” I agree, it most certainly applies in this case after reading your statements.

 

[alcina]

Umm, pretty sure BurBunny wasn't talking about cropping this time...

 

[f3nikon]

You're only partially correct... as always. SOME photographers don't know or care about depth of field. Let's call them happy snappers. They are going for memory shots which please them and which they can show off to friends and family. Fabulous! Lots of systems aimed exactly at that market. The A35 fits nicely in there.

But people who go further into photography as an art form, who want to further their skills and results, take DOF very seriously. It's a major part of composition. To say otherwise again shows your lack of experience at this level. Does the photographer want the background crisp or blurred? Lit or black? Is it important to just have just the eye in focus or more of the body as well? How best to set up for limitations in DOF based on other compositional considerations? These all go into the creation of photographs rather than just snapshots.

Don't lump those of us who really care about our skills and equipment into the group with which you're most familiar. Or try to make a piece of equipment designed for one market seem appropriate for someone looking to achieve something else with their setup.

Also a word to the not so "experienced" the strobe does not control the background or open water areas, in a strobe lit foreground image in aperture priority mode, this is the job for the shutter speed.

And while we have touched on the subject, an "artsy" totally blacked out background, even though shot during the DAY light hours, by high shutter speed and small apertures looks soooo unnatural. But the A35 is still capable of achieving this unnatural look because the strobe has to be set at full power to over come the small aperture opening.