AAARGH! STROBE STRANGENESS!!

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M DeM

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Location
NYC
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200 - 499
okay, I have a subal housing for a canon 7D. Dual synch cord. Two YS-D2 Sea & Sea strobes.

Used it this past weekend, and everything was lovely. Went to use it last night and..... not lovely.

I only got either a pure black photo or pure white photo. Here are some particulars:

  • One of the strobes will fire as soon as it is finished recycling. So.... take photo and the flash goes of……………… strobe makes the recycling sound and immediately puts out another not as bright flash.
  • Same strobe will also fire when I select something in the camera menu.
  • TTL was giving me a pure white image. So I dialed down the EV on the strobes to -2. No improvement
  • I put it on manual (I generally keep it on shutter priority). No change. I put it on aperture priority. No help.
  • Above water I check all connections. They seem fine. I unplugged the sync cord from one bulkhead to another. No change.
  • I don’t think this could have anything to do with it, but I was using a lens (60mm macro) that’s got some AF issues.
I haven’t tried swapping out the sync chord yet. Here’s the extra ****** tidbit of info: I’m in Nosy Komba, Madagascar. We have no electricity, cars or roads so definitely no Reef Photos or Backscatters around.

I also have to hike 30 min each way to get wi-fi, so my responses might not be swift but I assure you, advice would be very, very appreciated!
 
Do you have spare sync cords? Do you have access to a multimeter? If you do you can check continuity over each pin and that there are no shorts between pins. You could do the same with your bulkhead.

Do you have a Canon flash so you can check if the camera is playing well with that?

Have you tried using the strobe on manual?

It sounds like it is only putting out full power flash or has not recycled enough to to flash . If indeed it's doing that you can go to something like f32 minimum ISO and move the flash away from the subject.

Failing that shift to using one strobe - if you only have one dual sync cord you might need to leave the bad strobe attached and powered off so you don't short the exposed end of the cord.

Good luck!
 
What mode did you shoot in before?

Try shooting in pre-flash mode (the one with 2 thunderbolts). Swap the cords and see if it happens on the other strobe.

Above water connections seem fine...does it fire correctly? No extra flashes and no flashes when selecting menu items?
 
I do have access to a spare sync cord but not a multi meter (ynless a battery checker counts.). Alas, no flash with me. I have put the stribe on manual with a -2.5 ev value, and nothing changed. (I usually shoot shutter priority.)

I’ll try that minimum exposure, f32 setting and see what happens.

Thanks fot the advice!
 
What mode did you shoot in before?

Try shooting in pre-flash mode (the one with 2 thunderbolts). Swap the cords and see if it happens on the other strobe.

Above water connections seem fine...does it fire correctly? No extra flashes and no flashes when selecting menu items?
I was shooting in shutter priority, but tried manual, aperture priority and full auto with no change.

And i should have specified in my original email have the same exact problem above ground as i do under water.
 
Odd that both strobes are misbehaving. For trouble shooting have you tried slave mode off your canon out of the housing?
I have not tried that! I dont have a flash with me aside of my strobes, though and therefore cant connect the synch cords directly to my camera outside of the housing.
 
Water......

A strobe firing as soon as it recycles means there's water either in the synch cord housing end or strobe bulkhead connection.

Could also be leaking from the sheath of any cable where the bulkheads attach as those get stressed a lot.

If you have another cord be SURE to look, dry carefully, maybe even leave the bulkhead connections open or use a hair dryer on low to evaporate any water in there.

Good luck!
 
I was shooting in shutter priority, but tried manual, aperture priority and full auto with no change.

And i should have specified in my original email have the same exact problem above ground as i do under water.

Sorry, I did not word my question well. I meant to ask what mode on your strobe were you shooting in and to try shooting in the pre-flash mode (with the 2 lightning bolts).
 
Sorry, I did not word my question well. I meant to ask what mode on your strobe were you shooting in and to try shooting in the pre-flash mode (with the 2 lightning bolts).

Tried the strobes both on TTL and on Manual, but I don't think i tried pre-flash mode (probably because I don't know what it is...)

But I shall try it!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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