Using external strobe with Canon G11 in manual mode

[dhoro]

Hi!
I am unable to get my Sea & Sea Y-110a strobe (connected to a FIX housing with fibre optic cables) to fire when I set the G11 camera to manual mode to control both shutter speed and aperture. Is this a characteristic of the G11 and the fibre optic connection or am I missing some other setting in the menu? Note I am not using a TTL connection to the Y-110a. If I switch to Aperture priority the strobe will fire in sync without fail. Any suggestions or helpful hints are appreciated. dhoro

 

[ghnouer]

Did you select - forced flash?

I use my G11 in manual mode with my Inon (fibre optical connection) without problems.

GHN

 

[jbb]

I have an Inon z240. There is a switch on it that lets the strobe flash properly whether having the camera set with a preflash or not. Check it out. Occasionally I have set the button improperly.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

d--Set the mode switch on the 110A (the switch at lower left in back) to Manual 2. As GHN notes, set your camera flash to force flash by pressing the flash symbol on the camera rocker switch in back (in manual exp. mode the G11 will show the flash symbol or the same symbol w/ a diaganol thru it--select the flash symbol). On the camera Menu button you may wish to navigate to: Flash Control>Flash Output>Minimum.

If things work, leave the camera menu setting there, it will reduce camera battery use and help avoid possible overheating in the housing. If you still have problems try Medium or even Maximum output. I don't know your housing but sometimes due to connections it can take a bigger jolt to trigger the external flash via fiber optic but if things work in Av mode, as you said, this shouldn't be an issue. If you still have problems give a yell, someone will pounce on it. You'll really enjoy the setup, welcome to SB! // ww

 

[Gilligan]

The G11 does not have a pre-flash in the M mode. Your external strobe has to be set accordingly. Your strobe should have settings for pre-flash and no pre-flash.

As mentioned you may have to use the 2/3 power camera flash setting to get the slave strobe to fire. I used the 1/3 power setting on my G10 and it was not consistent. I had to use the 2/3 power for consistency.

 

[Divernoob]

The G11 does not have a pre-flash in the M mode. Your external strobe has to be set accordingly. Your strobe should have settings for pre-flash and no pre-flash.

As mentioned you may have to use the 2/3 power camera flash setting to get the slave strobe to fire. I used the 1/3 power setting on my G10 and it was not consistent. I had to use the 2/3 power for consistency.

Ditto with my S90 and Ultramax strobe.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Actually the OP isn't real specific if the problem is that the flash won't fire at all in manual exposure mode since, as they put it, "If I switch to Aperture priority the strobe will fire in sync without fail." If the 110A is set to Manual 1 there is a delay (in milleseconds) to avoid the pre-flash and I'm suspecting the problem lies here.

In Av camera mode I could feature the shutter speed being fairly slow, allowing for a good exposure. In manual camera mode the shutter speed may be set high enough that it isn't picking up the flash output due to the flash delay, though the 110A could still be firing. There wouldn't be a logical reason for the fiber optic to send a strong enough pulse to trigger the flash slave in Av but not in manual. Ah but then we are speculating on what is really happening or not happening here. Your turn DHORO! / ww

 

[scottfiji]

I believe the issue is exactly what Gilligan said. There's a pre-flash in A mode, but not in M mode. good luck!

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Yep, I agree w/ Gilligan also--no pre-flash in M exposure mode on a G11 (plus I always like his UW photos!). I shoot a G10 (in M exp.mode) and it works the same way. I happen to use it with a 110A strobe, which is why I said the 110-A needs to have it's Mode switch set to Manual 2. (Manual 1 postion is used for pre-flash situations.)

Without clarification from the OP, however, I am not certain what the issue is: bad exposures in M exposure mode (ie--serious under-exposure due to incorrect synch) or the 110-A not firing at all, or at least not consistently? Perhaps the OP will clarify or perhaps they have things working now. Doesn't matter, i still like Gilligan's shots and Scott's wonderful "public service" with the UWPG! // ww

 

[dhoro]

Thanks to all who responded to my issue with my Canon G11 and Sea & Sea YS110a strobe. I am using a Fisheye FIX housing. Yes, the solution was to set the Sea & Sea strobe on Manual 2, and I have set the G11 internal flash output to minimum and every thing works now. However, during today's dive there were 4 or5 five times that the Strobe did not fire. I will set the internal flash output to 2/3rds on my next dive.
Just a digression on a point of interest with the Fisheye FIX housing, it has an adapter gadget to receive the Sea & Sea fibre optic cable that has a total of six holes, supposedly as options for other fibre optic arrangements. I find that unless you tape off the extra holes the light from the internal flash can interfere when shooting macro.