Firing remote flash

[SteveC]

IÃÎ looking for a camera that will fire an off camera flash without firing the on camera flash. IÃÎ trying to avoid the backscatter problem. Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

[AndyT]

You will need to find a camera that has a hotshoe and will let you fire the external flash only. Plus the camera will have to have a housing available that has a bulkhead to take a hard wired strobe.

But you don't need to go to this. The on board flash can be blocked off on most housings by using tape etc, enabling you to fire an external strobe via a fibre optic cable.

I'm not up to speed on what is currently available, I'm sure others will jump in here .............

 

[kadleck]

AndyT is absolutely correct. You can either go the fibre-optic route and let the internal flash trigger your strobe (which is the cheapest option), or use a sync cable, connected to the camera's hot shoe via a bulkhead connector on the underwater housing. This is what I use.

I have a Canon Powershot G9 (G10 is now available) in an Ikelite housing (G10 housing is newly available too). The camera does not fire the internal flash when the hot shoe is connected, which is exactly what you ask for.

Check out the Ikelite site for options: Ikelite - this is the Canon part: Canon Camera Chart
Better still, talk to an Ikelite stockist. Most will be able to advise you on options to suit you.

 

[SteveC]

Right now I'm using a Kodak Easyshare C310, and I assume that the camera would not recognize the off camera flash, but I'm not sure.
I haven't came across a camera that specificly says it's compatable with a fiber optic cable. What should I be looking for?

 

[kadleck]

Right now I'm using a Kodak Easyshare C310, and I assume that the camera would not recognize the off camera flash, but I'm not sure.
I haven't came across a camera that specificly says it's compatable with a fiber optic cable. What should I be looking for?

For the camera to recognise the flash, it would need (a) a hot shoe and (b) a waterproof bulkhead connector to connect the strobe to the hot shoe when the camera is in the housing.

If the camera has an internal flash, it will work with the fibre optic link. All the 'cable' does is send the light from the camera's flash to the slave strobe. In this case, unlike the bulkhead connection, the camera's flash must fire. So you need to mask it (apart from the small area where the optical cable picks up the light) because any light from the internal flash will illuminate the junk in the water, as you alluded to in your first post.

If you have the money, go with something like the Canon G9 (if you can find one) or G10 and an Ikelite housing for it.

 

[SteveC]

Would something like this work?

Amazon.com: Intova Waterproof Slave Flash: Camera & Photo

 

[rjsimp]

Right now I'm using a Kodak Easyshare C310, and I assume that the camera would not recognize the off camera flash, but I'm not sure.
I haven't came across a camera that specificly says it's compatable with a fiber optic cable. What should I be looking for?

A reasonable priced option with full TTL and hot shoe would be the Olympus SP-350 camera. Even though it is an older model camera, it is one of the best P&S cameras still available because of the ease of use while in full manual mode and its hot shoe and TTL capabilities. In fact, Cathy Church still sells the SP-350 in her Grand Cayman store and still say's it is the best P&S option and she has the option to sell/shoot anything on the market.

The Olympus PT-030 housing for the SP-350 can be fit with a TTL bulkhead which will work with strobes like the Sea & Sea YS-110 or if you want to find a used YS-90 Auto strobe. The advantage of this solution is you are not firing the internal camera flash, so you don't have to worry about bleed through on the case causing problems, you don't have to wait for the internal flash to recycle and your battery time is significanlty increased. It just works, it is fast, and is very reliable.

We have recently upgraded to DSLR cameras and have sold our SP-350's, but still have the housings with TTL.

 

[kadleck]

Would something like this work?

Amazon.com: Intova Waterproof Slave Flash: Camera & Photo

Probably, but I think you will need the option quoted on the site:

An optional fiber optic cable is also available

For the strobe to fire without the cable, it would need to 'see' your camera flash - this is exactly what you do not want!

 

[SteveC]

Thanks for all the good ideas. I like the Olympus SP-350, and the Canon G9. The Olympus seems to be a little hard to find, but I did locate a couple of used ones. How does the bulkhead fitting work? I make my own housings, and was thinking I could just use some kind of cable gland to insert the cord into the housing, but I guess the bulkhead connector would be easier to detach.

 

[kadleck]

I am really not sure what the Ikelite (which I use) bulkhead connector works, but each is unique to the camera (as far as reading their site is concerned). They say they have some circuitry between the hot shoe plug and the bulkhead connector to enable the (G9 in my case) camera's TTL to work with their sync cable and strobes (I use a DS-51).

There is certainly something between the hot shoe and bulkhead socket, because even without connecting the strobe, the G9 displays that it has an external flash connected (this would not happen if it was just a bunch of wires!).

Bottom line: I doubt whether making it yourself would enable TTL (through the lens) flash metering, though simple wiring should let you use the flash in manual mode.