When is a fiber optic sync cable required? Ikelite/S95 specific.

[dkvuong]

Hi,

I'm going to preface that I'm an absolute beginner in underwater photography and I'm new to this forum!

I recently purchased a Sea & Sea YS-01 to go along with my Ikelite 6242.95 housing and Canon S95 camera. From what I understand, DS-TTL won't really work between my camera/housing and the YS-01. I'm mainly asking about triggering the strobe (slave mode?) to fire when the built-in flash is fired.

Will a fiber optic cable be required? Does the YS-01 have a receiver somewhere on the strobe that can sense the built-in flash firing without a sync cable?

Gathering info from the forums:

1) There is no connection port on the Ikelite housing to accept a sync cable
2) A Sea & Sea mask set can be used to manually mount the fiber optic cable in front of the flash.

Does anyone have experience with this set-up?

Appreciate the feedback!
David

 

[diver 85]

EDIT-II.....I'm thinking --Yes, you'll need a FO cable(you had a lot of questions in there & I noticed I originally answered one on the middles ones..)......I have the S95 in a FIX housing with twin 110a strobes(S&S) & have to use the optic cables---one for each strobe......Been using it like this for well over 3 years.......here's a pic showing my setup with fiber optic cables attached......(hope this reply helps you some)......

EDIT:.....my camera flash has to be on(ie flash has to fire for each pic) & my strobes each have to be set on 'SLAVE'.....

[/URL]Canon S95, FIX housing, S&S 110a strobes X2,Inon 550W lite, UWL-04 WA, UCL 165 macro lenses by GEAUXtiger, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[dkvuong]

Thanks diver85! I'm suspecting the same thing. I was hoping that the YS-01 had a receiver that would detect the S95's pre-flash without the need for an optical cable.

Nice setup and photos, BTW.

 

[darook]

I don't think you need a port on the Ikelite housing as they are clear anyway. You can put on a adhesive diffuser that the optical cable slides into like this that then connects to your strobe. You will need one made for your strobe. With an exposed sensor on your strobe it will fire every time a photographer with a strobe in your vicinity takes a picture.

 

[NautilusCairns]

Here's another option made by Inon for attaching a FO cable to an Ikelite S95 housing. Inon Optical D Cable Type L/Bush W57 Set for Ikelite S110/S100 [ino.4562121437135] - $135.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros
A friend used this set up with the same strobe and an S100 with no problems after trying the adhesive diffuser approach.

 

[dkvuong]

Thanks for all your input.

My conclusion is that the YS-01 will fire by just "sensing" the built-in flash in TTL on very rare occasions. Therefore, an optical cable will be required.

Luckily, I got a Ikelite 4118.1 cable for five bucks on ebay . This will get attached to the Sea & Sea strobe mask kit.

 

[KeithG]

some background info
- the ys01 has the "optical slave" sensor on its front
- the fibre cable is simply a fibre cable, it is not perform any ttl specific function - it is a light pipe!
- using a fibre cable allows the strobe to "see" the onboard flash better (assuming it is positioned properly)
- before the days of fibre cable, there were lots of optically triggered slave strobes
- optically triggered slave strobes can be triggered by any light hitting them - including light from other camera strobes / flashes - oops!
- fibre cable reduces the chance of triggering by another camera since the strobe slave sensor is blocked by the cable - pnly light coming down the cable will trigger it
- without a fibre cable you are relying on sufficient light from the onboard flash to bounce back from the subject to the strobe in order to trigger it. does not work very well for wide angle...


generally you would use also require a fibre cable when you have completely masked off the onboard flash in order to reduce back scatter.

 

[diver_dj]

I have this setup and use duct tape to cover the onboard flash while holding the sync cable in place in front of it.