I have a Canon S-400. I am thinking about buying the WP-DC800. I am look for recommendations for a strobe. I want to be budget friendly but I also want to have a decent setup. I am also curious about the optical cable. How does it attach to the housing? Would I be better off just buying a Sealife DC500 pro kit?
Canon S400
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I have the WP-DC800 and use it with a S500 and Ikelite DS-125 strobe and have been very happy with it. I have the remote controller slave so it triggers off of the S500 flash, there are no cable hook ups to the enclosure.
Here it is: http://www.adorama.com/IK394477.html
Here it is: http://www.adorama.com/IK394477.html
OP
So you are not covering the internal flash?
The enclosure has a diffuser piece that you can slide in over the internal flash. I covered the piece with electrical tape and to me it seems to reduce backscatter. The light still is able to exit the side of it to trigger the slave. I am certainly no expert so someone else here probably has some helpful advice for both of us.
Tamas
Contributor
The Sea and Sea Ys-25 is a nice little storbe that use a slave wire to control the flash so you get no lag and no backscatter at all
menemsha43
Contributor
I am also looking for a strobe for my Canon S410 and DC800 and was told by someone who knows their stuff that the Sea & Sea YS-25 is an excellent setup for this. Glad I spoke with him because I was thinking of buying the YS-90DX which he said was too powerful
imho, a camera should meet four basic requirements prior to building an underwater system around it.
1. have a suitable housing available
2. have manual control over aperture
3. have manual control over shutter
4. have manual control over ISO
The S 500 and S 410 meet requirements one and four, but not two and three.
Why is user control over aperture and shutter necessary for underwater use? Simple. These auto cameras are designed to capture images with two feet firmly planted on the ground, shooting through air. Their exposure calibrations do not take into consideration the effects water has on light nor the fact that the user may be attempting to float above a sensitive reef in current. The ability to manually over ride the predetermined "air" settings that the camera will set when faced with these conditions therefore is important. Some of us may be challenged in an attempt to avoid motion blur when our cameras set 1/30 shutter speed on land. What are our chances to remain still enough to capture an image in current?
From my experience in viewing images posted from such cameras, I can predict that in order to compensate for the typical low light conditions found underwater, the camera will open the aperture to it's widest setting and slow the shutter speed down to a minimum. The result will typically be a less than satisfactory background exposure. And if your buoyancy skills are not top notch, as I made mention to previously, expect motion blur.
imho these cameras were designed primarily to fit into a purse or pocket and to offer the user a quality image capturing tool for land use. Building a complex rig (adding external strobes, arms, trays, etc) around them defeats their intended purpose as they grow considerably in size. I believe they would be fine as is in their underwater case for snorkeling where light has not been adversely affected yet by the filtering characteristics of water or for macro use on night dives where background exposures (area of the composition not influenced by the strobe, whether external or internal) are not an issue.
If it were me, I'd upgrade the camera prior to investing in any strobe system that would not be around when you outgrow the underwater capabilities of the two cameras in question.
fwiw,
imho,
my .02psi,
bobf
1. have a suitable housing available
2. have manual control over aperture
3. have manual control over shutter
4. have manual control over ISO
The S 500 and S 410 meet requirements one and four, but not two and three.
Why is user control over aperture and shutter necessary for underwater use? Simple. These auto cameras are designed to capture images with two feet firmly planted on the ground, shooting through air. Their exposure calibrations do not take into consideration the effects water has on light nor the fact that the user may be attempting to float above a sensitive reef in current. The ability to manually over ride the predetermined "air" settings that the camera will set when faced with these conditions therefore is important. Some of us may be challenged in an attempt to avoid motion blur when our cameras set 1/30 shutter speed on land. What are our chances to remain still enough to capture an image in current?
From my experience in viewing images posted from such cameras, I can predict that in order to compensate for the typical low light conditions found underwater, the camera will open the aperture to it's widest setting and slow the shutter speed down to a minimum. The result will typically be a less than satisfactory background exposure. And if your buoyancy skills are not top notch, as I made mention to previously, expect motion blur.
imho these cameras were designed primarily to fit into a purse or pocket and to offer the user a quality image capturing tool for land use. Building a complex rig (adding external strobes, arms, trays, etc) around them defeats their intended purpose as they grow considerably in size. I believe they would be fine as is in their underwater case for snorkeling where light has not been adversely affected yet by the filtering characteristics of water or for macro use on night dives where background exposures (area of the composition not influenced by the strobe, whether external or internal) are not an issue.
If it were me, I'd upgrade the camera prior to investing in any strobe system that would not be around when you outgrow the underwater capabilities of the two cameras in question.
fwiw,
imho,
my .02psi,
bobf
Tamas:
Just to be clear - it is NOT the strobe that causes no backscatter. It is the aiming of the strobe. No strobe can eliminate backscatter if it isn't pointing in the right direction
And I am unclear on what type of "lag" you are referring to regarding strobe usage? Could you please give me more information on that?
menemsha43:
Ah, but will it be too powerful in the future? Or will you be stuck with a strobe that can't cope with a new camera or new lens or new creative ideas?
I don't think there is "too powerful" when it comes to strobes in the mainstream. If the strobe itself does not have manual controls then you can always move the strobe farther away to reduce the amount of light on your subject. I'd never buy a weaker strobe where I could buy a stronger one
Just my two cents...
menemsha43
Contributor
alcina:Ah, but will it be too powerful in the future? Or will you be stuck with a strobe that can't cope with a new camera or new lens or new creative ideas?
I don't think there is "too powerful" when it comes to strobes in the mainstream. If the strobe itself does not have manual controls then you can always move the strobe farther away to reduce the amount of light on your subject. I'd never buy a weaker strobe where I could buy a stronger one
Just my two cents...
I thought of the same thing and asked if it would be compatible with a new/"better" camera and he said it would be.
