moved from 350 thead: strobe & lens questions from Amy

[Amy B]

Ok, have finally finished reading through the whole thread! Wow, very interesting, but it's thrown up a couple more questions...

1) What is "slave mode" (with reference to the flash, e.g. in super-macro mode)?


2) Which flash is best to use in the low-viz UK conditions?

I have seen the Olympus F-20, Sunpack G-Unit, YS-90, Inon, Ikelite DS50 and Sealife S1960D mentioned... Would any of those be suitable? I've read that the more powerfil ones are better, but not when vis is low as you get more backscatter from the suspended particles in the water... Help!?!

Do they require anything extra (such as a tray - whatever that is!) or will they connect directly to the housing?


3) I've also seen strobe cables or something mentioned (underwater TTL cable?)... What are they, and are the necessary? Do they come with the housing?


4) Which CRV3's would I need to go for? I'm a little confused... I've found these online, are they the right ones? http://www.smallbattery.company.org...www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/sbc_crv3r.htm


Again, any help/advice would be greatly appreciated, as I REALLY like the look of this camera and I think I'm going to go for it...

Oh, one more question - which "wet lenses" are compatible with the Olympus housing? (For wide angle and super macro).

Thanks! :blinking:

 

[AndyT]

Hi Amy

If you are going to get the Olympus housing and want TTL , I suggest you also consider getting Matthias's replacement bulkhead so that you have a wider choice of strobes . The bulkhead on the housing will only fire an Olympus flash , which is OK for macro stuff and maybe close up , but if you go travelling to cleaner waters you will want a more powerful strobe with a wider beam .

TTL cables are not supplied with the camera housing .

Consider buying a strobe from Ikelite , Inon or Sea & Sea - they have the best track record and will give you less trouble in the long run.You will have to buy a sync cable separately as well as a tray and strobe arms .

Here is a link to another (much shorter) SP 350 thread if you haven't seen it already http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=19078
there is also a reference to the Lithium Ion batteries in one of the replies .

Hope this is of some help .

 

[Larry C]

Amy, for lenses, Inon makes an adaptor and both a wide angle and macro lens. The macro lens can be stacked. They are bayonet mount and can be mounted under water. Some people have also adapted the Sea and Sea 18mm lens for Nikonos by using a step adaptor from the PT-030 housing's 46mm internal thread. Epoque makes a 46mm direct fit macro lens that is very effective, but rather strong. Some people have had focusing problems with this lens due to its power. The Olympus lenses will not fit inside the UW housing, but can be used topside to increase zoom or wide angle ability.

 

[Amy B]

Thanks for the replies.

If you are going to get the Olympus housing and want TTL , I suggest you also consider getting Matthias's replacement bulkhead so that you have a wider choice of strobes . The bulkhead on the housing will only fire an Olympus flash , which is OK for macro stuff and maybe close up , but if you go travelling to cleaner waters you will want a more powerful strobe with a wider beam .

I'm in the UK and we generally don't get too good viz most of the time... Do you think the Olympus flash would be suitable then, as it's not as powerful as other options? Therefore it wouldn't pick up on suspended particles in the water column?? (I'm new to all this and still trying to understand strobes I'm afraid!).

TTL cables are not supplied with the camera housing .

I assume the choice of cable will depend on my choice of strobe then? If I get a "slave" flash (can someone explain that to me?! ) will I still need the cable?

Consider buying a strobe from Ikelite , Inon or Sea & Sea - they have the best track record and will give you less trouble in the long run.You will have to buy a sync cable separately as well as a tray and strobe arms .

I found this online; is anything needed the connect the tray to the camera, or does it just slot on? It seems fairly reasonably priced?? http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/ikelite/flash/trays.html

Does anyone have experience with a single handle vs. dual handle tray? Which is preferred? I would think a dual handle would be easier to operate... But does this make the camera particularly heavy or anything?

Here is a link to another (much shorter) SP 350 thread if you haven't seen it already http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=19078
there is also a reference to the Lithium Ion batteries in one of the replies .

Hope this is of some help .

Thanks, no I hadn't seen that.

Thanks again for your help!!

 

[Amy B]

Hi LarryC, thanks for your help.

Amy, for lenses, Inon makes an adaptor and both a wide angle and macro lens. The macro lens can be stacked. They are bayonet mount and can be mounted under water. Some people have also adapted the Sea and Sea 18mm lens for Nikonos by using a step adaptor from the PT-030 housing's 46mm internal thread. Epoque makes a 46mm direct fit macro lens that is very effective, but rather strong. Some people have had focusing problems with this lens due to its power. The Olympus lenses will not fit inside the UW housing, but can be used topside to increase zoom or wide angle ability.

I've looked online, and these seem to be the lenses suitable for using underwater with the SP350?

http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/general/lenses/epok.html

I would assume I would need the 46mm thread to fit onto the Olympus housing?

Thanks again for your help, it's really appreciated! I already know a lot more than I did yesterday just from reading through this thread, and from the replies I have received so far.

 

[AndyT]

Amy

If there are suspended particles in the water the only way to aviod illuminating them is to position the strobe properly , no matter what the strength of the stobe is .I have an FL-20 and abandonded using it after a few dives . It is awkward to aim , the diffuser doesn't stay put and the spread of the beam is not good at all .

Some strobes can be fired by either a sync cable or the cheaper option of a fibre optic cable (slave).What the fibre optic cable does is tell your main strobe when to fire based on when the camera's internal flash fires .

The tray is attached to the camera by means of a threaded screw , usually supplied with the tray.

 

[AndyT]

One last bit of advice - consider posting your question regarding slave strobes as a new thread on the forum . A lot of the forums other experts don't seem to read this thread as it is now so long and considered an SP 350 thread only .

I only have experience with Sea & Sea strobes , there may be something better out there in terms of firing a slave strobe (Inon ?)

 

[Amy B]

Cheers AndyT, that certainly helps to explain things! I'll post a new thread tomorrow as I'm going to watch Lost now!!

I do remember now reading LarryC's posts now about how the diffuser kept falling off his Olymous strobe (I wonder if he found a fix for that?).

Thanks for your help.

Amy.

 

[Amy B]

CamerasUnderwater.co.uk has advised me on the following setup...

Olympus SP250 + Olympus PT-030 housing [£389.99]
Epoque 46mm thread Wide Angle lens [£199.95]
Epoque 46mm thread Macro lens [£99.95]
Epoque ES-230DS Flash (arm, tray & fibre optic cable package) [£349.99]

OR for a more manual flash, this one: http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/flash/olympus/index.html


Any comments on this set up? Would anything additional be needed? Particularly with regards to the flash - do you think this would be suitable for UK waters, and is that everything that's needed to use it with the SP350?


I have found the camera + housing for about £10 cheaper on a different website...
Most of the 1GB xD cards seem to be around £45.

By my calculations....

Camera + housing = £379.98
Above, + macro lens = £479.93
Above, + strobe= £829.92
Camera + housing + WA lans & strobe (no macro lens) = £929.92
Whole package= £1029.87

Plus an extra £45 for the 1GB card (I already have a 512MB one with a different Olympus camera I have).

I can't afford everything in one go (I probably have about £800 to play with) and I think, at least initially, I will be more interested in the macro stuff (I'm always the one peering at things for ages on my dives!).

If I buy the marco lens, do I need the strobe, or will the internal flash within the camera be sufficient?

Thanks for any help you can give with this!

 

[AndyT]

If you buy the macro lens you will need the external strobe as the extended lens barrel will block part of the flash , leaving dark shadows on your images .