Canon G10, FIX housing and Inon strobes: Magnets in or out?

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OCdiving Deb

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If you shoot with the Canon G10 and Inon strobes (FIX housing with optic cables) do you have the Inon magnets IN or OUT?

I am having lots of problems with focus, especially with the Fisheye FIX fisheye port. Any good advice will be hugely appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I assume your G10 is being used in manual or Av with the camera's strobe set to manual control in the sub menu somewhere, don't recall really. If that is the case your G10 will not preflash and therefore you will need to install the magnet in your D2000.

If you are operating your G10 such that it is emitting a preflash then you will want to arm the Inon ACC by removing the magnet.

Warning, use only "Precharged" type batteries.

Warning, do not remove or install magnet while the strobe is turned on.

Set your D2000 to external auto mode or manual mode.

If you set it to sTTL then you will need to set your G10 to Program mode at which point it will emit a preflash and the sTTL mode automatically cancels the ACC and allows the D2000 to simulate TTL.

It is late and my head hurts but I believe that is how it goes.

N
 
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Nemrod, will the D2000's sTTL only work in Program Mode for other Canon cameras (S80 is what I have) and not in Av or whatever?

I have so much to learn and sometimes it just seems I know less and less each day.
 
Nemrod, will the D2000's sTTL only work in Program Mode for other Canon cameras (S80 is what I have) and not in Av or whatever?

I have so much to learn and sometimes it just seems I know less and less each day.

Hello Peter. I do think your S80 has Program mode?

I forgot one thing to mention, when using the sTTL mode on the D2000 you need to set the camera strobe to forced. The sTTL mode requires and expects a preflash. The initial (camera) flash is used to allow the camera's exposure system to gauge the exposure/strobe requirement. The D2000 mimics the camera essentially when in sTTL. The camera strobe should be covered, either with a deflector plate or the Inon Clear Exposure Film or exposed slide film so that only the flash from the D2000 hits the subject. The D2000 has it's own exposure system.

The External Auto mode does work fantastic with the camera in Av mode, magnet in, set your S80 if possible so that it does not fire a preflash. Many Canon cameras have a setting in the menu for manual or reduced flash power. This selection cancels the preflash.

It sounds more complicated than it really is because I am not explaining it well I suppose. If your camera can be set to cancel the preflash, Av and Manual work well with the D2000 set in External Auto or Manual, if your camera cannot cancel the preflash then you will need to remove the magnet so that the D2000 will expect a preflash.

BTW, the sTTL mode cancels/overides the ACC program, it requires a preflash to work correctly and most P&S cameras will emit a preflash in their Program modes overriding any menu settings in the camera that you made for a manual flash control in other modes.

So, what is the ACC program that is armed in External Auto when the magnet is NOT installed---in this mode the D2000 sees the camera's preflash. The camera uses that preflash to set exposure. The D2000 fires a much stronger preflash fooling the camera into thinking it does not need but just a small burst. The D2000 knows better however and fires the correct burst for the exposure. How does it know that, the D2000 has a built in exposure system.

So, Peter, a shorter answer is, if in Auto or Program or Av etc, your camera is set to emit a preflash then the sTTL mode will function. Usually Program or full auto modes automatically select a preflash even if you have your camera set to not fire a preflash in the sub menu in manual or Av.

Peter, page 77 and 78 in your manual for your S80 covers the manual flash setting for your camera, note the info in the square on page 78. Manuals available for download as a PDF for free here:

http://www.retrevo.com

So, what does the magnet do? The magnet installed cancels the ACC circuit in External Auto and Manual so that the D2000 does not expect a preflash. Removing the magnet arms the ACC and the D2000 will expect a preflash. When the ACC is armed the D2000 will see the preflash from the camera, fire a much stronger preflash fooling the camera as I said earlier into emitting a weak main flash. The D2000 then controls the exposure with it's exposure system.

In both sTTL and External Auto, you need to cover the camera's strobe as I mentioned earlier for it all to work as it should.

1. The sTTL mode is good for close ups, macro. Set S80 to Program, set D2000 to sTTL (Low). Magnet is irrelevant I think. Set S80 flash to Forced (on).

2. The D2000 External Auto mode is a better general choice, it should work best for you with the magnet in the D2000 and your S80 in Av with the camera flash set to manual and lowest power setting and Forced (on). Set ISO to 100 (for starters).

3. The D2000 Manual mode, S80 flash in manual and lowest power setting, S80 exposure set to Manual, D2000 magnet installed. This is what you go to when you want a specific outcome, as an example, like taking a picture into the sun with a subject back lighted strongly. You want the strobe to expose the subject so that they are not just a silhouette.

4. Optional possibility, S80 in Av, D2000 in External Auto, D2000 magnet NOT installed. Camera flash set to normal or auto and Forced.

Also, JFYI, the camera strobe should always be covered in some manner. Only the fiber optic cable needs to see the camera strobe output. The D2000 fires on infrared as well as visible light. Thus the reason the slide film or Inon Clear Photo system film works. A deflector as on Ikelite housings will work--anything--as long as the subject gets no light from the camera strobe and the D2000 couples only through the fiber optic cable.

Whew-----.

OK, what if you want to take a natural light photo, hopefully you are set up as in case number 2. Simply turn the camera strobe OFF. The D2000 sits there fat, dumb and happy and will not fire as you expose for your natural light photo (this works in manual also). When you turn the camera strobe back to forced the D2000 will fire as normal. You can also switch the S80 to manual, the D2000 to manual. All of this can be done with the magnet installed allowing you a range of options underwater to choose from.

So, you have to pre-plan what modes you are going to use underwater as you will not want to remove/install the magnet underwater. The Z240 has a rotary selector switch for this--dang!

N
 
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I have so much to learn and sometimes it just seems I know less and less each day.

Peter, I am with you on this, I think it is because we are becoming older and sometimes I feel the world is spinning by faster and faster. :confused: There is more and more information to know and less and less time for me to know it. :shakehead:

N
 
N -- Thank you. I've been using my S80 (and I'm looking at the S90 but having just replaced the steering, upgraded to hydraulic, on the boat....) in Av with the D2000 on sTTL(low) (left nob) and the right nob turned to 2.8 (although I really don't understand why that nob has any relevance at all with the primary being set to sTTL) and no magnet.

I'm using the Canon housing with the Inon mount base which has the flash blocker and fiber optic "holder". As far as I can tell, this has worked well -- very few images are blown out (that happens with macro sometimes and the solution has been to move the strobe a few inches out.
 
Yeah, I see what you are doing but as I said above----lol-------.

Set your S80 for manual flash control in the sub menu as per pages 77-78 etc and lowest power setting and then select Av mode. Install the dang magnet in the D2000. Set the D2000 to External Auto. Set the camera flash to Forced (or Off for natural light). Set ISO to 100. Set the f stop on the camera to, well, for starters maybe f4 (does not really matter as long as your shutter speed is OK for you). Set the D2000 rotary knob to match your selected f stop on the camera. Fire a shot. If exposure does not suit you then you can select a different ISO or easier to rotate the f stop selector to a different number on the D2000 because this will effect the power output of the D2000.

Try that and see if you like it better. It has several advantages in that you can select full manual exposure underwater and then go back to Av etc and the camera will cycle faster and the batteries will last longer and there will be less heat generated in the camera housing.

I know you have a boat, a Thunderbird cuddy? was it? Hydraulic steering is much better for sure, is it a Sea Star unit?

Get the strobe diffuser.

N
 
If you shoot with the Canon G10 and Inon strobes (FIX housing with optic cables) do you have the Inon magnets IN or OUT?

I am having lots of problems with focus, especially with the Fisheye FIX fisheye port. Any good advice will be hugely appreciated.

Thanks!

I cannot imagine you are really having a focus issue but, as an experiment, go to manual focus on your G10 and preset it for the dome--what happens then? A dome forms a virtual image, your G10 may need to use manual focus though I doubt it. I imagine that the dome you have should have good focus from a few inches in front of the port to nearly infinity except at the smallest f stops. I assume you have your G10 lens at it's 28mm to 35mm setting. If you zoom it you may have issues.

I have seen photos from a G10 with your set up and I was not pleased (thus I did not get a G10 and the FIX and the ultrawide dome port) because they seemed awfully soft on the edges, worse than with my Inon set up on the 570, but, I hope I am wrong in that observation and that you can prove me so.

You may need to alter your sub menu settings on the G10 for focus and exposure.

N
 
(Continuing the hijack) -- N -- we bought a 21 foot Winner with a Johnson 175 (OLD 2 stroke) -- and yes, the shop put in a Sea Star hydraulic steering unit.
 
quite informative... as usual Nemrod.
Thanks.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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