Ikelite strobes tests

[PetrP.]

Hi everyone,

I´m a new in uw photography.
Some of my shots (night swimming pool, Canon G11 with Ikelite housing, raw files)

My friend borrowed me Ikelite DS51 with diffuser (i was really disappointed with optical connection - slow, hot battery and camera..)





and next try was with cable connection (Ikelite DS51 without diffuser)



So i decided to have something better and bought DS160 with better coverage and power.





I´m not sure about the DS160 colors - skin, dark water etc...any opinions ??

ps - sorry for my english

 

[Warmwater Wank]

Petr--Welcome to SB! Um, could be a difference in monitor calibration but the DS160 shots seemed underexposed to me, which of course would affect skin tones etc. Knowing your camera exposure settings and what camera mode you are in would help. I'm curious about the DS51 comment that you were dissapointed with the optical connection "slow, hot battery and camera". I guess I could feature a strobe overheating (but why?) however did you mean you also felt the camera was overheating? That would be weird.

With some exposure info it should be possible to make better suggestions. For instance if you had a high shutter speed that would certainly affect the background being dark; the camera would not be recording much available light, just the strobe lit foreground. Since you can do some pool work it should be easy to zero in on an accurate exposure, you don't seem to be all that far off now. Are you trying to decide between the 2 strobes or just trying to get good exposures? // ww

 

[PetrP.]

Thanks for reply and i´m sorry - i forgot describe camera settings.
I´m trying to have a good uw pictures - good colors and exposure. I´m still learning and also waiting for Ikelite wide angle dome.

Settings - iso 200, aperture 4, shutter 1/250. There is so dark in night pool water and without a strobe is impossible to get a picture. I control the strobe and camera manually. The quality of pool water is bad and I need to avoid the backscatter. I also need the darker water in background - it help to hide other divers from pictures and allows me to delete the bubbles..

Some more pictures:


and me..


and one shot directly from camera, jpg file, no adjustment in pc



The optical conection with DS51 was really strange for me - sometimes it was not firing , the time between the shots was long due to internal flash charging and after dive the camera battery was hot and ready for recharge.
I took around 150 shots and I made decision to forget optical conection a try cable with the same strobe. It is so much better and faster with DS51 and really, really fast with DS160 :shocked2:

 

[donhealy]

PetrP,

I have an OLY E-620 and an Ikelite housing with DS 160 strobes. If you are in manual mode you should modify shutter to 1/125 or 1/60. Good decision to move to hard wired sync cords. DS 51 might be underpowered for the shots you are trying to take. The DS 160 certainly will do the job.

Play around with your settings but try to use shutter priority. It can be frustrating sometimes but you will quickly get the hang of shutter speeds and F-stops.

Always remember that Photoshop can really help a slightly underdeveloped shot but can't do much with an over exposed photo.

 

[PetrP.]

Next time i will try to change settings in camera. I prefer manual mode and i will move only shutter - to 1/160 or 1/125.
I set the f-stop to 4.0 and move it to 6 or more only for macro shots. For me is the bigger problem to find the good strobe position.

Basic colors in picture and exposure I adjust in raw file (I shoot only raw).

 

[andymeng]

Hi Petr,

Congratulations on your purchase and venture. I also have the G11, Ikelite housing, and I splurged on the DS161 strobe to get both the power and the modeling/video light.

Two notes on your photos. First, none of the 5 represents the same relative shot so comparing one photo to the other is difficult. To actually compare equipment well, you need the same shot or similar. Look at your photos and note good color in the top part of the image with colors going green toward the bottom. I think your strobes are aimed a little too high. Also, you have done all your post production and corrected what you could, so it's impossible to tell exactly what is exposure vs. photoshop. Another issue you have in comparing is that the distance is not the same on the shots. With flash photography, the settings you have at one distance don't work at another, and the last shots look to be a little further thus for your setting the strobe would be underpowered and colors go south.

Back scatter = move light further from camera for a solution and/or rely more on natural light. Yea, you can't do that at night in a pool.

For slow focusing consider some kind of modeling light in really dark areas, as in the DS-161. If the 161 is out of your price range, try something else like a broad beam light.

For color, if you're using the Ikelite set your white balance to daylight as they are daylight balanced lights, including the movie/modeling light on the 161. But you always have to consider the distance and as you approach the limit of the light your colors will drop off.

My last suggestion. I know you like shooting manual but you also spent a ton on a housing with TTL functionallity. Why not try it. Play with Av, Tv, or (yikes) program mode and see if it produces adequate to great results. (with enough light) The camera has face detection technology and will adjust exposure to light the faces correctly. I know a lot of people say manual is the only way to go but at the end of the day if you get the shot that's what counts. You spent a lot of extra on technology, so knowing when it will work for you and against you is part of being a photographer. If you are in the open can you change your settings from a dark scene to a light seen or light to dark in order to catch a quick shot in the 2-3 seconds you have? The camera can in a split second.

Happy shooting! Keep up the good work.

 

[PetrP.]

Hi andymeg,

thanks for opinions.

I put here some another pictures - jpg files directly from camera, no adjustment.




Here was the strobe in left side, little behind the camera and aimed a little out from the camera.
(advice from my friend for dirty water to prevent backscatter)

next:
- for this picture I wanted both in same light, so i moved strobe up and pointed little to surface.


and TTL shot - it works very good on the surface, but underwater only for short distance. I think the reason is very dark water and it will work better in sea with ambient light.
I set next time the white balance to daylight.

TTL - for me was important the cable connection and not the TTL. I use the manual mode and adjust everything (focus and exposure point) myself. I change more the strobe power and position than camera settings. I take some test shots on the beginning of dive and adjust the strobe power and the camera for the light around me - if the light is changing, i adjust the strobe before i take aim and composition.
Focus - i noticed no troubles with it, but i try to use some small focusing light. My Ike WD-4 dome arrive soon (i hope so i will be able to go closer.

I want to ask how good is the video light on DS161 ?

Finally - my pool pictures are on my website (blue-sea.cz) so you can compare my shot..