tried my new 8080 + ikelite housing/ds-50 strobe....

[deputydan1]

ditto to that!

-dan

 

[Jasonmh]

Holy crap, those pictures are phenomenal!!
I also have the oly c8080 and the ike housing, and I love it. But, my pictures are definitely not as good as yours, I have not had a chance to practice much. It also confirms what I already believed, that my mediocre pics are my fault and not the cameras! Are you using a single ds-50 strobe? I don't have a strobe yet, but planning to get one soon. Also, you said you use manual focus? Isn't that difficult with the tiny screen underwater? Or are you preseting the focus for a certain distance? I have to show my wife your pics so she can see how good they are (she thinks I wasted money on the 8080 setup). Again, great pictures!

All in all, a really neat set up.....a little bulkier than my previous P&S camera, but the camera takes way better pics...and whoa...what a difference a strobe makes...

only complaint......sometimes the controls are a bit tricky to use......turning the dials, pressing the small buttons.....but all in all, a really fun setup! here's some pics from Coz, gang...


ps> thanks to all you guys who helped me with all my setup questions....ie, calypsonick, ikelike, coop, etc......you guys are great....

-dan

 

[deputydan1]

lol, jason!
nah....you'll get the hang of it...it took me a few dives to get use to all the controls, etc.....all you really need to do is just keep on shooting....making adjustments.....you'll find your own "sweet spot" after a while...

i used M mode......not focus....i did that with auto focus......tried the manual focus...a bit tough........

i liked the M mode best...simply because i was able to play with the parameters more...

the shots i took turned out ok.....could be better.....and so i will let you know if i come up with any more pointers for this set-up..

and yes, used a single ds-50....kinda nice...small and all....easy to maneuver.....the strobe makes a BIG difference....i was not impressed with the AUTO mode (P) and TTL....i thoought the pics were too washed out...

try the M mode and get yourself a strobe!

enjoy!

i am sure you will have better shots than mine with more tries!

-dan

 

[Dan Yuchnovicz]

Dan,
Very nice shots. We have a 7070 with dual DS125 and use the TTL. I assume that the Ike housing came with the Oly TTL decoder. You can try to set the camera's the flash compensation by maybe -1 or -2 and see if that helps. I used to shoot a lot of available light until we got the strobes. Now I rarely bother with it! Very nice shots! I bought extra 9 inch arms to get the flashes even more off of the camera lens axis. We set up in Manual mode with TTL and have MyModes set up for wide angle, macro and available light adjustments. My wife likes it easy as possible!

I'm not familiar with the DS50. Does it hve various power settings? Do you use bracket mode since you shoot manual/non TTL? I think that for macro shots the DS 50 might recycle fast enough to keep up with the camera in bracket mode. It's worth a try. Someone who shots fully manual told me to learn how to use the histogram that's built into the camera for best exposure results.

The great thing about strobes is that most shots require very little, if any, correction in PhotoShop.

We had a 5060 and thought about an SLR before the 7070. Since the 7070 fit the Ikelite 5060 housing and the fact that you actually have to look through the view port on an SLR (monitor does not work like in a PnS camera - only for menu and review), we went with the 7070.

Dan Y
strobe makes a BIG difference....i was not impressed with the AUTO mode (P) and TTL....i thoought the pics were too washed out...

 

[deputydan1]

thanks, dan~
good idea....i will try to power down the strobe...and while there is no adjustment on the ds50, i can do it on the camera flash menu.....
i don't use bracket mode, but i should give that a try too!

thanks for the pointers!

-dan