Attachment for MX-10

[fergyjohn]

G'day,

Was wondering if any MX-10 users have used or are considering trying the MXTender Optical Cable and connector that is available for the MX-10.
It positions the Strobe/Flash unit away from the lens and eliminates backscatter.
Hoping someone has tried it and can give me some feed back, It's not cheap though.


Fergy

 

[herman]

I have not used one but to be honest I think they are way over priced. As best as I can tell they are nothing more than a couple of sheet metal adapters and a piece of fiberoptic cable. Somewhere in the $50 US would be more reasonable. Don't overlook the fact that you will have to hold onto the camera and the strobe with one in each hand, a real PAIN to get the strobe aligned correctly or buy the strobe arm and plate at another big cost. Think if I were going to do anything, I would buy a strobe base that would screw into the botton of the MX10 (new style, the old style does not have the screw hole), fabricate a flash deflector and get a slave strobe. Take a look at the Reefmaster strobe for an example....infact that strobe might be a good one to use. It would limit you to 2 fstops but that might not be too bad. By the way, when using the YS-40, make sure that you DON"T use one of the internal flash settings on the camera, the internal flash makes matters worse. I had looked into building something similar to the MXtender but never did, maybe I should.

 

[Dee]

I haven't used it but I have occasionally disconnected the flash from the camera and keeping the optic 'eyes' lined up and used it that way. It's very tricky and more trouble than it's worth.

With digital cameras housings becoming more popular, there are several strobes that utilize a fiber optic cable to trigger a slave strobe, like Herman mentioned. I'm not familiar with what's out there but Herman's suggestions sounds like a workable solution.

 

[herman]

Hi Dee, you just jogged my memory....darn thing does not work as good as it use to heheheh... Anyway, you can also take the YS-40 strobe off the camera and hold it above or to the side of the camera and a little in frount of it and slave the YS-40 off the internal flash. If you look inside the mount on the YS-40 you will see a round clear plactic lens. If you align this up so that the internal flash hits the lens, the YS-40 will fire as well, due to the wide flash angle the alignment is not too critical. This is a whole lot easier than trying to align the infared emitter in the camera to the reciever on the strobe. I have been working on a scheme where I shade the internal flash somewhat to reduce backscatter and then hold the strobe in the above manner. I also intend to attach (rubber band) a small dive light to the strobe to use as an alignment device. Have not had a chance to try this underwater but it works ok on land. The biggest drawback to this method will be that it will limit me to 2 f stops, 4.5 and 11 if I remember correctly. Any thoughts Dee?

 

[Dee]

Originally posted by herman
.....Any thoughts Dee?

Oh yea....I forgot you can do that! My memory's as bad as yours!

The YS-40 is indeed a slave strobe. Only things is...if you use the internal flash to fire the strobe, you're still gonna get backscatter from the internal flash. That's the reason you turn it off and depend on the strobe underwater.

Herman, try it with 'stuff' in the water and let me know how it works.

 

[DivingGal]

woe - you guys have given me thoughts ... I've seen the ads for the "extension/remote" for the Sea & Sea MX 10 strobe, but until now, just thought it a perhaps. I've not thought of the possibilities of requiring more dexterity to handle the stobe (at least that's what I think you guys are saying).

Obviously more thought must go into this for me.

If I've mis-understood, please correct me. I'm still learning (and I think I always will) about u/w photography

 

[herman]

Dee, backscatter is a concern that's why I am looking at either shading the internal strobe to reduce it's output or making a deflector like the Reefmaster and others use. I think the shading method is going to be easier and more effective. I am going to shade the internal flash so that it's just intense enough to fire the strobe but not enough to cause backscatter or at least keep it to a more tolerable level. Will keep you posted.


DivingGal:
As best as I can tell, if you use the MXtender you either have to hold the strobe in one hand and the camera in the other (while looking through the viewfinder and keeping the strobe in line)or buy the mounting hardware that they offer. When you are not using it to remote the strobe it will attach the strobe to the camera in much the same manner as the original mount. To me the whole thing just looks too expensive and difficult to use to really be of much use. I suspect you can get some good pictures with it but getting the alignment right on every time would require a LOT of practice.

I just went over and read the FAQ on the MXtender site. They claim that the story that the YS-40 will slave is a myth and will work only in very limited conditions. They explain why it will not work with some "interesting" logic and then go on to explain how bad the backscatter is when the internal flash is used to slave the strobe that can not be slaved anyway. Hummmm...mine appears to work good above water. Makes me want to experiment even more.