Mx10 & Ys40a

[herman]

It may not be working correctly but it does take a good bit of light to make it work, more than you might expect. Try checking it outside on a sunny day. I can dust my MX-10 off and see how it reacts but I doubt it will work indoors. Indoors you will have better results testing it if it's set on 400..it needs 1/2 the light to indicate a proper F-stop as compaired to when it's set to 100.

 

[benze]

Aha! Thanks so much for the clarification Herman! I just bought a New Guide to Sea & Sea a couple of days ago off ebay, so I am waiting for it to show up. So basically, I've had the "manual" that came with the camera to go with. Which, as you know, is tantamount to being useless.

I think I finally understand the purpose of that ISO switch now. I hadn't realized that the orange light meant not enough light - although now that I think about it, it usually means that the flash is ready to be fired, which would indicate that there isn't enough light. Got it.

However, the way I see it, most (if not all) U/W photography at any depth more than a handful of feet should definitely use a strobe and/or other light to get the full range of colours (red disappears after about 5 meters, if memory serves). So given that I would be using the strobe, I can essentially consider that ISO switch setting as pretty much superfluous; ie: no matter what it is set at, it won't change the exposure of my shot.

The above is for the YS-40 or the YS-40A in “on”. The YS-40A in auto mode adjusts the output of the strobe to a preset level. The level is preset to an F-stop of F4.5 for 100 speed film and F8 for 400 speed film. With the YS-40A in auto, just set the F-stop to match the film and shoot.

Damn - that seems like a useful feature. I only have the YS-40, so it seems that I should have been a little more vigilent when I bought it, but hey - it'll have to do. At least for my first forray into U/W photography. If things come out decently, maybe I'll take a shot at digitial UW next time... I guess the biggest thing that I am missing is the Fstop/distance chart on the YS40 strobe; I have a feeling that it is only on the YS40A.

By the way, do not use the internal flash with the YS-40 underwater. The internal flash is intended for above water use. It will work but it causes more problems than it’s worth.

By definition, however, the flash goes on whenever the camera is in the lower fstops (ie: 3.8 & 4.5 if memory serves). Are you suggesting to never use those fstops underwater? Or just suggesting not to use the internal flash by itself and always ensure that you have the stobe on?

Thanks!

Eric

 

[herman]

"By definition, however, the flash goes on whenever the camera is in the lower fstops (ie: 3.8 & 4.5 if memory serves). Are you suggesting to never use those fstops underwater? Or just suggesting not to use the internal flash by itself and always ensure that you have the stobe on?"

Not really, if you will notice there are actually 2 setting for a couple of the F-stops....F4.5 and 11 ....I THINK (don't hold me to the specific ones , I don't have my camera in frount of me ). One pair has a lighting bolt on it and the other does not. The lighting bolt means "internal" flash will fire", the one without it will not fire the internal flash but it WILL fire the YS-40 so those are the ones to use. The YS-40 will fire in any F-stop, the only way to stop it from firing is to turn it off.
No big deal on the distance chart, it is in the book, just write it on the strobe with a pen.

You are correct that in more than a couple of meters of water you really need to use the strobe so the internal light meter is not worth much. You will find the MX-10 does a very nice job if you learn to use it in the area where it performs best, from say 1 1/2 meters to macro (with the correct lens). In light of that, I highty suggest you get at least the close up lens, it is a big help. The macro lens also does a really nice job. The book does an excellent job of describing these lenses and how to use them.

 

[herman]

Just curious Benze, where are you?? I noticed you used meters instead of feet so I am guessing it's not the US.

 

[benze]

Hi Herman,

Indeed, I'm in Canada. But I'm also an engineer, which means all my studies were in SI. So even though I will still sometimes use feet and lbs, I'm still very much a metric person. Much easier to calculate too!

Thanks for the advice. I'll see if I can get my hands on a closeup lens at a decent price. If not, maybe I'll just do without it...

Thanks again,

Eric

 

[Ronjac]

It may not be working correctly but it does take a good bit of light to make it work, more than you might expect. Try checking it outside on a sunny day. I can dust my MX-10 off and see how it reacts but I doubt it will work indoors. Indoors you will have better results testing it if it's set on 400..it needs 1/2 the light to indicate a proper F-stop as compaired to when it's set to 100.

I have tested my camera outside on a sunny day and light meter worked OK on both ISO 100 and 400. Indoors it's working only on 400 when directly pointed towards the light bulb. I thought that the sensitivity of internal light meter is calibrated for u/w conditions (low light conditions), therefore I suspected that the meter is not working properly. It seems the meter has been primarily calibrated for outdoor/topside photos and snorkeling.

Thanks for clarifying this to me.
Sasa