Looking for some info on my Canon A75

[dbh]

chris you said earlier that with a bit of cash you can add an external flash?how do you do tht..i have a a85

Although I am not completely familiar with the A85, I believe any strobe that can be fired via a fiber optic cable will work with it. The leader in these types of strobes is (IMHO) the Inon D2000.

HTH,
Dave

 

[ChrisA]

chris you said earlier that with a bit of cash you can add an external flash?how do you do tht..i have a a85

There are any number of external flashes. They have a light sensor and are triggered by the camera's built-in flash. The ones that work with the Canon camera are call"digital flashes" because the digital camera do a preflash with these strobes know to ignore.

There are many flashes available. Some of the best are made by Inon, Sea and Sea and Ikelite. These can run your $700. Epoque and Sunpack make some for about $200 In late March Sealife will have a $300 strobe kit (try, arm, fiber cable and strobe)

I don't think anyone makes a TTL automatic strobe for the Canon so you'd be shotting
in manual or "A" mode.

Also if you have one strobe you will want two. Then you can fill shados and control light contrast.

 

[alcina]

Also if you have one strobe you will want two. .

My two cents on that...I am quite happy with one, thank you yes, two give you more creative control, but they also actually limit some of the shots you can take (think up under ledges, in holes etc) and that money could be another diving holiday!!

Two are great, but one is wonderful, too! And there is always one more thing to add to the collection...

And don't forget your internal strobe...if you learn to use it, you can come back with some fab shots - check out calypsonick's gallery with the internal only on his Oly 5050. You can get good results with the Canon internal too...just work within its limitations.

I love my Canon A series cameras!! Looking forward to seeing your shots when you choose!

 

[easyrider]

Here's a web site that shows a few differant strobs. You can get a good idea what's out there.

http://www.digitaldiver.net/strobes.php

 

[Tamas]

I also have a Canon housing for my camera, mind you it's an S400 but I have had it to 175ft without any issues. It is just an extension of the camera and you can use all the features of it. Some of the models come with a flash diffuser, which helps a little bit but the external flash is the way to go if you really want to get into things. For your simple point and shoot application it will do just fine the way she comes.

 

[puckvirus]

Just wondering on this issue of the flash. Is I have a Dive Rite HID light that I use. Now if I can focus that HID on my subject and use the A75 would that amount of light would that be sufice?

 

[ChrisA]

Just wondering on this issue of the flash. Is I have a Dive Rite HID light that I use. Now if I can focus that HID on my subject and use the A75 would that amount of light would that be sufice?

It works, sort of. The dive light has a very narrow beam so all it lights up is a small spot in the center of the frame and it's not as bright as you think, even the camera's internal flash is more powerfull. I use the divelight all the time but only for framming and focus. When the internal flash goes off it overpowers the divelight, sometimes you can see a bright spot here the divelight was pointing. People do use Light Canons as video lights if you place a defuser over the light to spread out the beam but they have marginal brightness

 

[puckvirus]

My HID has a larger beam that floods areas more then light cannons. I choose to go with that setuP for many reasons instead of the smaller beam. But its something to put into consideration once i get my A75 housing.

 

[ChrisA]

My HID has a larger beam that floods areas more then light cannons. I choose to go with that setuP for many reasons instead of the smaller beam. But its something to put into consideration once i get my A75 housing.

Here is the problem: Lets say yo have an extra wide beam dive light. lets say 20 degree beam. A camera would have a (say) 60 degree feild of view. No problem you just put the camera 3X closer to the subject thenm the light. Big normal sized people can only get thier hands about five feet apart. so the camera is two feet from the subject and the light four feet back from the camera. That's akward and the camer's flash would have more power then the HID light at those distances. The A75's built in flash works well at short distances

But the HID ligh will help a lot with framming. I do half my dives at night. Believe me you need the divelight on the subject or you can't see the subject in the LCD screen. So yes, you will need the light and a wide one is best for close up subjects. But a dive light is not comparable in brightness to a flash. T
Think about it.... A flash uses up a full set of batteries in one fifth of a second. thats one set of batteries in 0.20 seconds. (I figure each flash lasts 1/1000 of a second and 200 flashes per set of batteries)

 

[KrisB]

Well, Chris, there's more to a flash than that.

Typically (in fact, I'm not aware of any other situation), a flash is powered by capacitors -- batteries don't have the ability to provide the instant-power necessary to fire a flash. So, there is some charging requirements, etc, which use up some of the power. You are correct in the assumption that a flash would overpower even a really nice HID... but the HID would certainly be better than nothing (e.g. your camera's batteries have next to no juice, and you *really* want to get a picture of that super-rare fish).