Connecting Strobe to Underwater Housing

[bstanley007]

I have a WP-DC34 Underwater Housing for my Canon G-11. It says it can support a slave strobe. I bought an Intova ISS 4000 along with an extension arm, bracket, and fiber optic cable. Nothing I have provides instructions on how the strobe attaches to the camera. I attached the strobe to the extension arm and the extension arm to the bracket that will go onto the housing, but connecting the housing to the bracket does not connect the strobe to the internal flash. How does that happen, and what does thi fiber optic cable have to do with it.

I am very new to strobe lighting as you can tell. I have very much enjoyed using the Canon underwater without a strobe, but this is supposed to improve underwater photography a great deal. Any help in getting started would be appreciated.

bstanley007

 

[Shayne]

bstanley you should have a velcro pad you can stick on to the position where you flash is on the housing, then connect the fibre optic cable to the housing with the velcro plug, then it should plug into the strobe somewhere. hope this helps.

 

[Jax]

Hey, B,

Light travels over a fiber optic cable at almost/I] the speed of light . . . I'm a engineer, so we say almost, but it's close enough to the speed of light.

The one end is attached to the camera housing (I assume as Shayne says, by a velcro patch) directly over the camera's flash. The other end is attached to the strobe. When the camera flashes, the flash also goes over the cable, and triggers a sensor in the strobe, which sets it off.

I have read on this forum that people add additional tape to the housing to block the flash's forward movement, so that the camera flash does not illuminate back scatter.

I don't have a strobe yet, but we have the same camera and case. Have you read this, yet? http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/canon-corner/315202-canon-housing-leaks-easy-diy-fix.html

 

[bstanley007]

Shayne and Jax,

Thanks for your help.I really apprecaite it. I will be trying your suggestions, and may come back if that is OK. What I am seeing in these messages is that there is nothing attached to the G11 itself. With the patch over the external flash, I assume that when it flashes, it "sends" a message via the flash to the strobe through the optic cable which is attached to the strobe. Man, I hope this makes sense.

 

[Divernoob]

Your fiber optic cable probably came with a mounting block that is about 3/4" x 1/2" and a hole in one side for the cable to pick up the camera's flash. Mounting instructions here: Reef Photo & Video Support Center - KnowledgeBase - Installing '3M Dual Lock' Style Fiber Optic Sync Cables

For some other DIY options: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/st...-re-fiber-optic-cable-housing-attachment.html

 

[SharonRainis]

Hey Bstanley,

Just wanted to let you know, now that you're fully equipped with a lighting system, that Fantasea Line offers a wide range of lens accessories for your WP-DC34 Housing. Check this out-

For further information, you can contact me at rain@fantasea.com

Dive Safely!

 

[bstanley007]

So far so good. I have the fiber optic cable attached to the underwater housing. New Problem: I see what I believe to be the only place to attach the fiber optic cable to the strobe, but the "male" section of the fiber optic cable does not fit into the "female" section of the strobe. Thanks again to anyone who can help.

 

[el yucateco]

hello,

I have myself a iss 4000 from intova that goes with the same company camera...mmmm you did a good choice with the camera not the strobe ! it will not fire fire properly even if you set everything perfect, the laps is very long between the flash of the camera and the actual flash of the strobe so you will end up with two different flash over lie 3 seconds(it doesn't travel at the speed of light believe me) . I am pretty sure that the iss 4000 will only work with intova camera thats your main problem as you discover yourself.

I took over 300 picture over two dive trip the iss 4000 is useless don't bother get a ikelite or sealife it will be worth the bucks !

 

[bstanley007]

hello,

I have myself a iss 4000 from intova that goes with the same company camera...mmmm you did a good choice with the camera not the strobe ! it will not fire fire properly even if you set everything perfect, the laps is very long between the flash of the camera and the actual flash of the strobe so you will end up with two different flash over lie 3 seconds(it doesn't travel at the speed of light believe me) . I am pretty sure that the iss 4000 will only work with intova camera thats your main problem as you discover yourself.

I took over 300 picture over two dive trip the iss 4000 is useless don't bother get a ikelite or sealife it will be worth the bucks !

Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering about that.....

 

[Divernoob]

el yucateco, I'm not trying to be argumentative, but isn't the ISS 4000 a rebranded Fantasea Remora? The Remora has some pretty good reviews as a lower end strobe.

I have some questions.

Are you sure you have the proper preflash setting?

Is your camera set to the lowest flash power?

Are you using an optical sync cord, or just relying on the strobe's sensor?

Sometimes a simple fix or two will have your strobe firing perfectly (click on the pic to get full size\resolution):