Oly TTL Strobe controller from Mattias

[SadiesMom]

Why not e-mail Matthias and ask him what solutions he can offer for the 5050 / PT015 ? He is very helpful and gives a prompt reply .

Gee - the direct approach - actually *asking* him??? LOL - you'd think I'd've actually tried that one on my own, hunh? But no. Will do, Andy. Thanks for the very gentle poke in the most obvious direction

 

[slowhands]

Alicina, does he make have the bulkhead for the 5050 (PT015) anymore? I see the converter on his website for the 5050 for 53 Euros, but the TTL bulkhead I see only says it goes down (model-wise) as far as a 5060.

I've heard so many wonderful things about these and have wanted one for a while, but it seems he's stopped supporting the 5050/PT015. But hey - maybe I'm missing something....if I am, let me know.....

Let's clarify: Matthias's current product won't work with a 5050/PT-015, but only because the PT-015 housing has no hole for it. Electrically, it works, mechanically, it won't fit. It only fits later housings.

Background:

Matthias used to make controllers that worked with many older digital cameras, but he discontinued them. Those old controllers were called IR 1 & 2. I bought one. It never worked very well for me with my C5050, probably because of alignment problems between the hotshoe converter and external sensor, and I went back to the Sea&Sea fiber optic connection.

His new product is better -- it consists a tiny converter in the camera hot shoe, to convert the camera's "native strobe control protocol" (Olympus, Canon, Nikon, Sony) to a more generic underwater strobe control protocol, as well as an internal cable and new strobe port (which can be either Nikonos or Sea&Sea style, or possibly with some owners' cleverness, Ikelite). Be aware, you probably void all warranty and possibly insurance coverage when using this "do-it-yourself" modification. Life is never simple.

But Matthias's latest products won't fit the PT-015 case for the C5050. Alas, the PT-015 housing has no hole for the strobe connector (called a bulkhead port after Ikelite parlance). So, unless you are willing to drill a hole in the PT-015 housing yourself, Matthias's controller won't do. Consider moving to a newer housing with bulkhead port, like the PT-020, PT-023 and PT-027, which fit the C-5060, 8080 and 7070 respectively.

Olympus Housing Problems:

Note, however, Olympus PT-020, PT-023 and PT-027 housings are reportedly fragile in the bulkhead port area. The port breaks or corrodes, and you are in big trouble then, because Olympus refuses to supply a replacement port. You must buy a new housing. In fairness, these Olympus cases are very inexpensive, compared to the rest of the market. If you have one, baby it, because the port is fragile. One of the good things about Matthias's bulkhead port is that it much sturdier than the original port.

Here are pointers to reports on this Olympus bulkhead port problem and solutions:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=109831&highlight=broken+bulkhead+port+Olympus

http://www.digitaldiver.net/yabbse/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=8919

http://www.devilgas.com/oly5060/pt020_rebore.php

The product is here:
http://www.heinrichsweikamp.net/blitz/indexe.htm
Be sure to specify Nikonos or Sea&Sea port, either OLY-TTL-PT-N or OLY-TTL-PT-S. Make sure the strobe you have is capable of operating with your digital camera, check his compatibility list. If you have an old Ikelite bulkhead port on an old housing, you might be able to use it with your old Ikelite strobe and Matthias's hotshoe converter only, but I have not done this, just saw a mention here once.

Conclusion:

The bad news is Matthias's current product won't fit the Olympus PT-015. The good news it will fit the newer housings. It is much sturdier. So with Matthias's one product you gain TTL flash support, and improve the mechanical reliability of the housing.

 

[SadiesMom]

Ah...thank you. However - does this "newer housing" issue not mean that I also would need to buy a "newer" camera????

 

[slowhands]

Ah...thank you. However - does this "newer housing" issue not mean that I also would need to buy a "newer" camera????

No, you can keep your 5050. Just buy an Ikelite housing, cord, and strobe for it; see:
http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/oly_5050.html
http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/ss_dig125pkg.html

You would need the Ikelite housing with TTL bulkhead 6130.55 ($600), sync cord and DS125 strobe package 3944.75 ($1000).

That will do the trick, but add it all up, it will cost a lot more than staying with Olympus but moving up to a higher resolution camera and housing with TTL bulkhead port. Ikelite was one option I considered. Ikelite is by most accounts excellent. But to save money, I elected to sell my 5050 and buy an 8080. The net cost was much less for the whole solution, especially because I can re-use my own tray, arms, cords, strobes and so on.

I sold the 5050 and PT-015 for $600 ( I could probably have gotten more, because prices are rising on these, due to popularity and declining supply), and bought the 8080 and PT023 for $700. I added HeinrichsWeikamp TTL converter for $130. I will use my existing YS-90DX strobe, tray, arm, and so on. So my net cost to upgrade was under $250, instead of well over $1000 for the Ikelite system.

I am really looking forward to diving with this in the Philippines soon.

 

[thereefgeek]

Philippines is a great place to dive. My wife (fatsuki) and I just got back from 2 weeks in Puerta Gallera & Dumaguete.

Her 8080/PT-023 was recently modified with the Oly TTL converter and works like a charm. Here's the old and new bulkheads with the Sea&Sea sync cord:

Check out some of her recent photos with the converter:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=42917&thumb=1

 

[thereefgeek]

Edit:
oops, the other website won't allow me to embed the immage url within this forums post. weird

 

[divinman]

Thanks for including pics of the bulkhead adapter.

Too bad you have to register to view the images. And what's the deal with the billboard post?

 

[thereefgeek]

All her shots were in manual mode and RAW format. The C-8080 has great zoom capabilities with the factory lens and the resolution (8 mp) allows for a good deal of zoom and cropping in post production without loosing image quality. For the money it's a great camera/housing combo without having to re-finance the house. That tiny orange frogfish was a fantastic find out in a sandy area the size of a football field

 

[thereefgeek]

Too bad you have to register to view the images.

Sorry about the link. I forgot you have to register on that BBS to view. I tagged the images directly into the previous post.

And what's the deal with the billboard post?

Huh?

 

[thereefgeek]

I'll try this again and see if that site blocks the img tagging:

yup...