Olympus E-330 , E-500 ,or Canon Digital Rebel XTi - SLR

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

We sell a few different ttl solutions for Olympus housings-

This is new, and allows a Sea & Sea strobe to be connected directly to the housing's bulkhead:

We don't have that item in our cart yet, but it is in stock, and will be $249.

This piece turns the Olympus housing's proprietary bulkhead into 2 nikonos connections, and contains TTL conversion circuitry. I like the redundancy it adds over a Heinrichs connector-

Any strobe that can be connected elecrically, and is compatible with the Olympus TTL Conversion Circuitry, can be used. With the hotshe cable this part is $479.

Lastly, we can replace the existing proptrietary bulkhead with a nikonos style bulkhead & TTL conversion circuitry-

http://www.reefphoto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=95_74&products_id=902

Thanks Ryan for your help. Is there a conatct # i can call you at to discuss the options?

 

[JackConnick]

The Fantasea (or 10Bar in Asia) 330 housing comes with a nikonos connector that will work with most compatible strobes in TTL (I think, Jeff Mullins would know for sure). There are several port options and more to be released by December. I've had to raise my price on it a bit to $985. But that includes a port, strobe compatibility, a 300' foot depth rating and a 2 year warranty and flood insurance on the camera.

I think the Oly housing has some better port options especially if you want a large dome like the Athena. But the add-ons are pricey.

Jack

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

The Fantasea (or 10Bar in Asia) 330 housing comes with a nikonos connector that will work with most compatible strobes in TTL (I think, Jeff Mullins would know for sure). There are several port options and more to be released by December. I've had to raise my price on it a bit to $985. But that includes a port, strobe compatibility, a 300' foot depth rating and a 2 year warranty and flood insurance on the camera.

I think the Oly housing has some better port options especially if you want a large dome like the Athena. But the add-ons are pricey.

Jack

Thanks Jack, I appreciate it.

I'm on Reef Photo's website, and looking at B&H as well, I have a live aboard I'm going on in 2 weeks, so I'm pressed for time. Trying to move fast

 

[Ryan]

We've done a pretty poor job listing Olympus parts on our site thus far, I'm sure there are lots of holes. Don't be afraid to ask a real person for help either on the phone or via email-

If you go with the 10-bar option, you'll still need some sort of TTL conversion circuitry (stock it will fire strobes in their manual power settings only)... I could install a Heinrichs circuit in place of the stock hot-shoe, but haven't done it before on that housing...

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

We've done a pretty poor job listing Olympus parts on our site thus far, I'm sure there are lots of holes. Don't be afraid to ask a real person for help either on the phone or via email-

If you go with the 10-bar option, you'll still need some sort of TTL conversion circuitry (stock it will fire strobes in their manual power settings only)... I could install a Heinrichs circuit in place of the stock hot-shoe, but haven't done it before on that housing...

Ryan, I'm on your website now, and you have a DS-125 , with the sensor, so there is no need for TTL. Would you recommend this set up?

This is what I'm looking at :

Ikelite DS125 Deluxe Ball Arm Package, w/ EV Ctrl. for Digicams

 

[jlyle]

I use dual Ikelite DS-125s with my c5050 and EV controllers. They're great. I have found that I like manual control much better than TTL.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

I use dual Ikelite DS-125s with my c5050 and EV controllers. They're great. I have found that I like manual control much better than TTL.

Jlyle, can you explain more?

Whats the differnce between using TTL, over the manual controllers?

I'm guessing you dont have to sync the camera with the strobe, etc?

Does the Ev controllers fire in shallow waters, with bright sun out?

I had the fiber optic Sea & Sea, and it worked half the time, didn't read the flash.

It would save me $250 -$500 buy using the EV controller.

If it works, I think it's a great idea !

 

[jlyle]

The TTL controller tries (note, I said, "tries") to meter light reflected and quench the output to achieve proper exposure. TTL works best for macro shots and at night, when there isn't a lot of ambient light to deal with. For daylight, wide angle, and fish portraits, TTL is often confused by ambient light.

A manual controller, is just that, manually controlled. The camera is set to "slave" mode. When you take a picture, the camera's flash "winks," the manual controller detects the flash and fires the strobe. You control the output of the strobe with a ten-position dial. With digital cameras, you look at the captured image (or the histogram) and decide if you need to adjust the strobe output up/down and reshoot. After a while, you pretty much know where to set the controller for proper exposure.

Ikelite's EV controller is very sensitive and works even in bright, sunny conditions. The oly c5050 lets you specify the intensity of the slave flash - if you find that it isn't triggering the strobe; I've never had to do this.

[When you were using the Sea & Sea fiber optic, did you have the camera's flash set to "auto?" Not a good idea, as under bright conditions, the camera's flash doesn't fire and won't trigger a strobe. You need to use "fill" flash, so that the flash always fires, no matter how bright the condtions are.]

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

The TTL controller tries (note, I said, "tries") to meter light reflected and quench the output to achieve proper exposure. TTL works best for macro shots and at night, when there isn't a lot of ambient light to deal with. For daylight, wide angle, and fish portraits, TTL is often confused by ambient light.

A manual controller, is just that, manually controlled. The camera is set to "slave" mode. When you take a picture, the camera's flash "winks," the manual controller detects the flash and fires the strobe. You control the output of the strobe with a ten-position dial. With digital cameras, you look at the captured image (or the histogram) and decide if you need to adjust the strobe output up/down and reshoot. After a while, you pretty much know where to set the controller for proper exposure.

Ikelite's EV controller is very sensitive and works even in bright, sunny conditions. The oly c5050 lets you specify the intensity of the slave flash - if you find that it isn't triggering the strobe; I've never had to do this.

[When you were using the Sea & Sea fiber optic, did you have the camera's flash set to "auto?" Not a good idea, as under bright conditions, the camera's flash doesn't fire and won't trigger a strobe. You need to use "fill" flash, so that the flash always fires, no matter how bright the condtions are.]

Thats great info !!!

I'm not sure if I did that with the Sea & Sea strobe.

Let me ask you, I had the C-5050 , C-5060 , and C-8080, which I just bought again, and will be shipped to me ina few days for a trip we have planned for a live-aboard.

I been looking at the Ikelite DS-51 , and DS-125, with the EV controller. That will save me a few hundred from changing out the bulk head on the PT-23 housing for the
C-8080.

Before making this choice, people have been saying how great the Sea&Sea 90's are, as well as the Ion's, which both use fiber optic cords, well you can order them like that from what I been reading.

Which do you think? Ds-51 with EV controller ?

Or somthing like Ion, or Sea & Sea with fiber opitic cords?

 

[jlyle]

Thats great info !!!

I'm not sure if I did that with the Sea & Sea strobe.

Let me ask you, I had the C-5050 , C-5060 , and C-8080, which I just bought again, and will be shipped to me ina few days for a trip we have planned for a live-aboard.

I been looking at the Ikelite DS-51 , and DS-125, with the EV controller. That will save me a few hundred from changing out the bulk head on the PT-23 housing for the
C-8080.

Before making this choice, people have been saying how great the Sea&Sea 90's are, as well as the Ion's, which both use fiber optic cords, well you can order them like that from what I been reading.

Which do you think? Ds-51 with EV controller ?

Or somthing like Ion, or Sea & Sea with fiber opitic cords?

I can't speak to the Inon or Sea & Sea strobes, but I do like my DS-125's. Anyone else want to chime in on these other strobes?