Canon SD700IS and strobe problem

[Titanite]

Hello!
I have a canon SD700IS point and shoot that doesnt have enough light most of the time for decent photos. I added a Sea and Sea YS-110 strobe and it is fired by fiber optic cable. The problem I am having is that unless I am either really shallow with lots of natural light or at night with many lights on the subject, the picture always comes out over exposed (looking almost all white). Camera has TTL focus which is supposed to work with the strobe. I dont know enough about photography to diagnose the problem. Ive tried to turn down the strobe but usually get same problem. Something to do with white balance on camera? Not sure, any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanking you in advance!!
T

 

[CompuDude]

Hello!
I have a canon SD700IS point and shoot that doesnt have enough light most of the time for decent photos. I added a Sea and Sea YS-110 strobe and it is fired by fiber optic cable. The problem I am having is that unless I am either really shallow with lots of natural light or at night with many lights on the subject, the picture always comes out over exposed (looking almost all white). Camera has TTL focus which is supposed to work with the strobe. I dont know enough about photography to diagnose the problem. Ive tried to turn down the strobe but usually get same problem. Something to do with white balance on camera? Not sure, any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanking you in advance!!
T

True TTL requires a wire connection (not a simple optical trigger). The SD700is has no manual controls worth speaking of, which is one reason why they're really tricky to use with an external strobe, and why (among other reasons) manual controls are preferred for UW photography.

On the other hand: The internal strobe IS blocked off when you're using the external one, right? You're not trying to light it up with both? Because that would certainly overexpose things, since the camera assumes it has the one strobe (it has no way to know about the other one) and sets itself accordingly... add 200% of the light it expects, and you get what you're seeing, every time.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I would suggest trying the following...one at a time:

• First check to see that the internal strobe is blocked off sufficiently as CompuDude suggests.
• Enter Manual mode and try turning down the EV (exposure compensation) a few steps.
• Try turning your strobe down to 50% power. Perhaps reposition the strobe a little.
• Some Canon owners have figured out a workaround for inconsistent flash syncing with the Sea & Sea YS-110 (I realize that this doesn't appear to be your problem). They suggest using Flash Exposure Lock (FEL). With many Canon P&S cameras, you can access FEL by depressing the shutter button halfway and simultaneously pressing the UP button on the back of the camera. This will lock-in the exposure reading. Then adjust the strobe output to get a properly exposed pic. You may have to modify the EV, too.
• If you still can't get things to work, it's possible that your external strobe is malfunctioning. Take it back to the store where you bought it and ask for help.

FWIW, your camera has a Digic II sensor in it. There is CHDK firmware enhancement available that will "unlock" many hidden features of your camera. If you experiment with CHDK functionality, you'll find that you can shoot in RAW, override a lot of the default camera parameters, modify the on-screen display to be more informative, and many other useful things. Good luck.

 

[Titanite]

Hi Guys! thank you for the help!

I do have the flash on the camera blocked off with the velcro mask that holds the fiber optic cable to fire the strobe, so no light leaves the housing. I have just installed the CHDK and am shooting in RAW, so I will play with that and see what other settings I can adjust to help. The other option is to use an Olympus I have that has more manual control!! WHich might be the easier and better solution. I'll post what I can get to work with the canon...

Thanks again!

 

[Nemrod]

My Inon D2000 has a sTTL mode that allows the D2000 to simulate the camera's internal strobe. Thus the exposure comes out perfect or at least very good. See if your YS strobe has an auto or sTTL mode?

N

 

[Titanite]

Hello!
Sorted the problem out...After I installed the CHDK hack and tried shooting raw images, I didnt see that in the raw settings there is a shutter override. It was set to 1 sec, rather than 1/60th. As soon as I changed that all the things I was trying to do...
1) ISO 80
2) turning down the exposure value
3) underwater mode with macro
4) manual mode, macro with spot metering
Are now working great.
With shutter speed at 1 sec, everything was blurry!

I am having good sucess with 1-4 above now!

Thanks to everyone for the help! Hope to catch some good subjects next week!!
Cheers!
T