Inon + ULCS Tray

[slingshot]

Hi everyone:

So I'm mounting a WP-DC300 to an ULCS digital tray using an Inon baseplate. Have people tried using two screws like with the Inon baseplate, or are you using one centerline screw into the housing tripod threads? I'm just looking for people's experience if they are using one screw, as to how much the housing torques on the baseplate. I'll be trying my first dives with my new setup this weekend.

Kudos by the way to Ryan at Reef Photo Video, who really came through for me with rapid responses to my questions and a speedy shipment that got my shiny new D2000 to me on time as promised. There have been a lot of posts in various threads lately praising his service, and he did not disappoint. If you're in the market for a new strobe, you ought to check him out.

I've only gotten test photos of my cats so far, so nothing to post yet (unless you really like cats).

Slingshot

 

[scubajunkee]

Hi everyone:

So I'm mounting a WP-DC300 to an ULCS digital tray using an Inon baseplate. Have people tried using two screws like with the Inon baseplate, or are you using one centerline screw into the housing tripod threads? I'm just looking for people's experience if they are using one screw, as to how much the housing torques on the baseplate. I'll be trying my first dives with my new setup this weekend.

Kudos by the way to Ryan at Reef Photo Video, who really came through for me with rapid responses to my questions and a speedy shipment that got my shiny new D2000 to me on time as promised. There have been a lot of posts in various threads lately praising his service, and he did not disappoint. If you're in the market for a new strobe, you ought to check him out.

I've only gotten test photos of my cats so far, so nothing to post yet (unless you really like cats).

Slingshot

Sounds like you have a Canon S40? I have the exact same camera and housing. Check out my gallery for current pics w/o a strobe. I plan on buying a D2000 as well. My dive buddy, Brian, has the same camera and the D180 has came out with some awesome pics, so I'm sure your shots (and mine too) will improve as we get the hang of the strobe.

Ericson

 

[slingshot]

Scubajunkee: The D2000 is supposed to be a pretty good match with the Canon S40,45,50 series, as per other postings on the board. I'll let you know how the strobe works out for me.

A closer look at the ULCS tray and the AD base mount suggests that the double screw option for the base mount (which is used on the native Inon tray) won't work on the ULCS digital tray because the mount base prevents the housing from being mounted far enough to the rear of the tray to allow the double screw holes to align. Center (tripod threaded) mount it shall be.

 

[slingshot]

So I'm back now from my first seven dives with the housing and ULCS tray. No leaks to 88 feet, tray held up pretty well. Here's my experience: First, the ULCS handle is affixed to the tray with a single bolt and lock-washer, and can loosen with use. The hex wrench on the common scubatool doesn't fit the bolt, so carry one that does. Second, the Canon housing will rotate a bit on the axis of the screw used to secure it to the tray. Perhaps a bit of rubber sheeting between the camera and tray will end this? Third: the D2000 is pretty nice, no problems triggering it with the fiberoptic infrared cable. It will take me a bit of fiddling to get the exposures right reliably, as I'm trending toward overexposure right now with the S-TTL setting, but that's for another thread.

 

[scubajunkee]

So I'm back now from my first seven dives with the housing and ULCS tray. No leaks to 88 feet, tray held up pretty well. Here's my experience: First, the ULCS handle is affixed to the tray with a single bolt and lock-washer, and can loosen with use. The hex wrench on the common scubatool doesn't fit the bolt, so carry one that does. Second, the Canon housing will rotate a bit on the axis of the screw used to secure it to the tray. Perhaps a bit of rubber sheeting between the camera and tray will end this? Third: the D2000 is pretty nice, no problems triggering it with the fiberoptic infrared cable. It will take me a bit of fiddling to get the exposures right reliably, as I'm trending toward overexposure right now with the S-TTL setting, but that's for another thread.

I just dove this past weekend with my new Inon D2000 and my Canon Powershot S40. It was a bit surgy at North Monastery, but managed to get a few good shots--though a lot are a bit fuzzy. I'm still getting the hang of how to aim the strobe. I'm currently shooting in Aperture-priority mode on the camera and Auto on the D2000. I just set the D2000 to match the aperture setting of the camera and shoot away. Unfortunately, I'm shooting in slave mode since Backscatter didn't have the fiberoptic cable in stock. You can see some of my shots here: http://photos.yahoo.com/scubajunkee
Click on Monastery 2/12 - 2/13 photo album.

Ericson