Canon 70D - Triggering Fiber Optics with Nauticam Housing

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Hetland

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Location
Gulf of Mexico
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I'm researching a new system, and see the Nauticam Housing has fiber optic ports. Are the external strobes triggered by the AF beam? Without an on-board flash, it seems I'm missing a step somewhere.
 
you need to buy a converter that is attached to the hotshoe.
saw one of those over the weekend ... a cheap piece of chinese plastic that cost ~USD250. FFS !!!
this hobby is a serious rip off.

LOL! That makes sense. Thanks for the response.
 
This is how it works.
1. Canon 70D camera has a built in flash.
2. Nauticam housing for the 70D has fiber optic ports.
3. Activate or pop flash open prior to housing your camera. There are ways to do this if you house and forget this critical step. In the 7D, you need to switch the mode dial to green, then half press the shutter release which pops the flash up. After that, you can set the dial back to whatever set up you had. Not sure if this is the same with 70D.
3.a You may want to adjust built-in flash power output to 1/128th of full flash power, thus
speeding up recycle time and rapid fire.
Your limit will be then set by quality or stamina of external strobe(s).
4. When you take a shot, your camera's built in flash fires a pulse of light which triggers your external flash illuminating your subject or area of interest.

I don't think you will need to buy an external converter nor attach things to the hotshoe.

Cheers,

Ricardo

PS: I know you are not asking, but I want to share with you that fiber optic is highly reliable - low maintenance and easier to service.

I prefer fiber optic over ikelite or nikonos cords, which by the way are not easy to service, can flood and unlike fiber optics, if the regular cables happen to break while out and about, you are less like to succefully resolve the problem unless you carry spare cables or have an extensive kit for repairs. Fiber optic on the other hand is very easy to fix. It a connector breaks, just clip it off and reattach a connector and you are good to go.

I'm familiar with the Canon 7D housed in Nauticam, which is much older than the 70D.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ricardo
 
Ricardo,

Great advice. I've not used optical, but was thinking what you said about popup flash should be possible.

I also have the Nauticam housing for a 7D (mark 1), but mine came with Ikelite strobes and a cable.

Can you use optical to get TTL flash? (I know it can depend on the strobe, but still - it is even possible to get a 7D/Nauticam optical system to do TTL?)

The cable and hot-shoe adapter that came with my housing only allow 100% manual flash. My other camera is a G16 with Ikelite TTL housing and I do love the spontaneous capability of TTL. I've adapted, but I still find that I can miss some "oh! look!" shots with manual strobes.

-R
 
@sunnyboy
I believe so. I too have the original 7D and think it's just an amazing workhorse. I've had it now for almost 9 years and it never disappoints.

Back to your question: The camera menu suggest it's possible. I've been shooting in manual for years now, but from looking at the camera menu, we would need to set the camera's flash mode to E-TTL

That should do it.

The downside is that the camera will spend lots of energy firing the built in flash, which extends recycle time and reduces rapid fire. Of course, your strobe(s) would need to support TTL.

Hope this helps.

Ricardo
PS: I'll see if i can get that to work and get back with you.
 
@Hetland
Elaborating a bit more. Light from the 70Ds built in flash hits the fiber optic ports that are built into your housing, in turn, light travels through and out to the fiber optic ports.

That light fires your strobe(s). There is no current, there is no flooding, there is no extra component.

This photo shows both optical ports without caps. Ready for fiber connectors.
IMG_7116.JPG


This photo shows how light travels through the ports....
IMG_7121.JPG


That's how it works.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Ricardo
 
@sunnyboy
I believe so. I too have the original 7D and think it's just an amazing workhorse. I've had it now for almost 9 years and it never disappoints.

Back to your question: The camera menu suggest it's possible. I've been shooting in manual for years now, but from looking at the camera menu, we would need to set the camera's flash mode to E-TTL

That should do it.

The downside is that the camera will spend lots of energy firing the built in flash, which extends recycle time and reduces rapid fire. Of course, your strobe(s) would need to support TTL.

Hope this helps.

Ricardo
PS: I'll see if i can get that to work and get back with you.

Thanks very much for checking this. I can't use it at the moment as my Ikelite DS125 strobes only support wired connection "out of the box". Nauticam has a TTL wired option as well, but at over $500 it's simply not in the plan for me.

However, as strobes get replaced I know there are many brands that do support optical ttl and which don't cost any more than other strobes, so it's something I can be planning for future.

Speaking of which - wow are ports and such expensive for the aluminum housing bunch. Ikelite plastic ports and gears are a fraction of the aluminum crowd. I can't even afford a used 4in dome right now.

Cheers,
-R
 
@sunnyboy
I just tested TTL top side and it works. I don't see why it would be any different during a dive.
To do this, both camera and strobes were set to auto. Selected an area of low light, took the shot with strobes off and it came out underexposed. Powered up strobes and it turned out properly exposed.
I'm using INON Z240s. I think you said you have Ikelite. I'm not sure if Ikelite supports TTL through fiber optic. I've moved away from Ikelite some time ago, so can't test or properly answer for sure.

Cheers,
Ricardo
 

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