Canon g16 strobe issues

[deeper thoughts]

When the camera is in manual mode all different settings the flash ys1 barely fires any light. When the camera is in auto mode the flash fires normally. Any help would be greatly appreciated

---------- Post added August 7th, 2014 at 08:29 PM ----------

Fantasea housing

 

[KeithG]

how is your light level control dial set?

in "ttl" mode this dial acts only as a "micro adjust" and has little effect on light level. in non ttl mode it acts as a full blown light level control. is it turned down to a low setting?

maybe also post some specific strobe settings you are trying.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Ttl and full power

 

[KeithG]

Ttl

this could be your problem.
your camera does not emit a preflash when in manual mode. so you can not use the strobe in TTL setting when the camera is in manual mode. when you flip the camera to Manual, you also have to flip the strobe to the corresponding manual setting (single lightning setting i think).

SEA&SEA |
see footnote 9

 

[deeper thoughts]

this could be your problem.
your camera does not emit a preflash when in manual mode. so you can not use the strobe in TTL setting when the camera is in manual mode. when you flip the camera to Manual, you also have to flip the strobe to the corresponding manual setting (single lightning setting i think).

SEA&SEA |
see footnote 9

thnx you are correct. I just tried it and it works

 

[Interceptor121]

Buy Inon for Canon

 

[KeithG]

Buy Inon for Canon

<soapbox><spank>This appears to be a useless opinion comment. Can you provide some facts to clarify? We are all trying to learn and share knowledge and become better citizens...</spank></soapbox>

My current understanding is that in manual mode the camera (many, most, all?) does not control the external flash other than to provide a trigger signal to it? I could be wrong as I have experience with a very limited set of camera types/manufacturers: Are there cameras out there that provide TTL strobe control in manual mode?

I am aware of multiple strobes that have a builtin ambient light sensor (different than the optical trigger sensor) that allows the strobe to support a "strobe controlled TTL" feature distinct from camera controlled TTL. These strobes have the ability to automagically adjust the amount of output power based upon how much light is reflected back to the strobe. The simplest strobe with this feature that I am aware of is the Fantasea nano. Some older Sea&Sea strobes supported this feature. I do not think any current S&S strobe has it. I believe the current Inon Z240 supports it.

Since this particular strobe feature is based upon the reflected light detected "by the strobe", it will only work if the camera and the strobe sense the same amount of reflected light and only if you have manually configured the strobe settings to exactly match the camera settings. Could work if your strobe is jammed up against and pointing in the same direction as the camera lens. Call me skeptical. I do not believe in silver bullets. YMMV.

Cheers...

 

[Interceptor121]

You should practice your smileys here as you made a few mistakes
The G16 in fantasea housing is predominantly a macro and close up machine, at close range the Auto mode of the Inon is well worth it and would be the best match for this camera.
You don't need a Z240 a D2000 is sufficient and yes the strobe Auto mode works very well better to have it than not
There must be a reason why my Canon S/G script for TTL in manual has got 1000s downloads? I would think the feature is useful...

 

[MrEvanJ1]

Hi Interceptor. Last time I checked (a while ago) around the forums to see if your ttl script worked with the most recent G/S series canons it seemed like the jury was still out. Any chance you could confirm that the latest cams in those ranges can utilize the script with the CHDK hack?
Would be great if you could point us to any thread if this is already discussed at length.

Also OP I'm using the Ys- 01 with the G15 and can confirm you need the strobe on single lightening (single flash) setting then adjust strobe power to suit.
Read the manual for the strobe and check you have disabled all the red eye reduction lamp and other unnecessary setting in the cameras menu and probably set your cameras flash output to minimum to conserve battery life.

 

[KeithG]

at close range the Auto mode of the Inon is well worth it

Excellent! We both agree. For close up macro when utilizing "front" lighting this strobe feature should work. Otherwise, not so much...

For side, bottom, top or back macro lighting this feature will likely not work (just my opinion as my main strobes do not support the feature). The facts that I base this opinion are that the strobes are no longer co-located or aligned with the camera lens and hence do not sense the same reflected light as the camera sensor. They may be overloaded way before or way after the camera sensor is.

For macro I often orient my strobes perpendicular to the camera lens: either pointing towards or even away from the camera (side, bottom, top lighting). Lots of different effects can be achieved by changing the strobe position. I am just starting to explore the world of back lit macro. Lots for me to learn in this area.

Wide angle also seems to minimize the usefulness of this feature as the general consensus appears to be that your strobes need to be placed some distance from the camera in order to reduce back scatter. Hence what gets reflected to the strobes is often very different from what gets reflected to the camera. But I could be wrong as my wide angle experience is very limited.

Cheers...