Question about the Canon G9 and strobe..

[EllieS]

Hi there! :]

I am just curious, I think I Have finally made the decision to get the Canon G9. I am thinking what I will do is get this case:
Amazon.com: Canon WP-DC21 Waterproof Case with Spare NB-2LH Battery + Charger + WW-DC1 Waterproof Case Weights + Cameta Bonus Accessory Kit for PowerShot G9 Digital Camera: Camera & Photo

I just want to make sure that it IS possible to attach a strobe to that case.

What I am thinking of doing is getting that case and trying it out for a while, and then save up & buy a strobe, and then once I am comfortable with it getting the Ikelite case for the G9. Or would the strobe not work for both types of cases? (Sorry, I'm not really good with this type of stuff.. heh. :] )

Also, is is possible to attach the different lenses for wide shots and stuff like that to that case?

My main question is to just make sure that a strobe WILL work with that WP-DC21 housing.

Also, is this a good idea? I just want to make sure people have been satisfied with this set up. :]
Thanks!!

 

[jlw]

Hi--

I just spent today setting up my WP-DC21 to take an fiber optic cable to connect it to my Inon Z240. It was fairly simple. If you call Reef they'll send you most everything you need. Sadly they always seem to send the wrong sizes and I have to cut, sand and shape stuff a bit. Today wasn't so bad -- they just sent the wrong size diffuser block pieces and a strange assortment of DuoLock sticker sizes.

It works fine above water. The preflash engaged the strobe via Optical. I had it in S-TTL mode but I am pretty sure once I am untervasser I'll switch to Manual once I see a few shots get blown out. Using the Inon with a Panasonic always over exposed in S-TTL.

 

[MR_Photo]

I've got a G9 with the WP-DC21 case also. I have had no issues with my 2 Sea&Sea YS-27DX strobes that fire via fiber optic cable. I'm not so sure if you can attach any strobes *directly* to the housing, but you can certainly buy some arms and a tray (mine are from Fantasea) to mount the strobes.

PS - Once you've gotten your strobes, rather than use a flash diffuser, I recommend blacking out the inside of the case with electrical tape where the flash is, leaving only a small hole to place the fiber cables in front of (you may need to have some tape on the outside of the case as well). This will reduce backscatter caused by the internal flash as well as allow more flexibility with lighting angles with the strobe.

Good luck!

 

[NTSilver]

IMHO, having had the FO cable for my first set-up, if you can afford a housing where you can get ttl strobes you will be much better off. I constantly had issued with the FO setup. I have no issues with the ikelite housing and DS 125 strobe.

 

[EllieS]

Alright, sorry I'm a noobie to all of this.. heh.
Thanks so much for all of your thoughts!

I think I am going to go with the cheaper housing, for now at least. And then once I get payed, I'm hoping to get the Sea&Sea YS-27DX, like MR Photo said.
I have a question though. So this 'fiber optic cable', does it see when the flash inside of the camera goes off, and then that sends a signal that tells the strobe to go off?

Also, so because it doesn't attack directly to the housing would you hold it in one of your hands, and the camera in the other?

Thanks! :]

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Alright, sorry I'm a noobie to all of this.. heh.
Thanks so much for all of your thoughts!

I think I am going to go with the cheaper housing, for now at least. And then once I get payed, I'm hoping to get the Sea&Sea YS-27DX, like MR Photo said.
I have a question though. So this 'fiber optic cable', does it see when the flash inside of the camera goes off, and then that sends a signal that tells the strobe to go off?

Also, so because it doesn't attack directly to the housing would you hold it in one of your hands, and the camera in the other?

Thanks! :]

Hi Ellie,

A fiber optic cable, when set up correctly, will give you amazing results, so don't be shy about going with that approach. Essentially, a fiber optic cable is just a long piece of wire that is somehow fastened to the front of your housing, in such a way that when the strobe on your camera fires, the light is illuminated upon the end of that wire, which then optically transmits the light to your strobe. The electronics of the strobe will read the duration for the light signal they optically receive and they will then mimic the duration of the flash. As you were previously advised, however you attach the wire to the front of the housing, make sure that no light from your camera's flash seeps out, because that will affect the picture, and you don't want anything in the water lit up by anything other than your external strobes.

Many housings come with some say to connect a fiber optic cable directly to the housing, however, the Canon housing for the G9 does not, but you can find aftermarket products that will accomplish that for you.

As jlw indicated, if you contact Reef Photo (Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros), they can help you with anything you need, as they are an amazing specialty underwater photo shop.

To answer your other question, you need to connect the housing to a tray, which in turn is connected to an arm, which in turn is connected to your strobe. The arms usually come in segments, so you can add more segments and made the arms longer, which can sometimes make a big difference in wide angle photography. Here's a couple of pictures of what my previous Sony setup used to look like, which was a housing similar to the Canon one, but with two strobes and additional lenses. These pictures should give you an idea of how the housing goes connected to the strobes, however, just visualize one strobe in your case.

I now have a G9 as well and have been getting some pretty nice results with it, so you've made an excellent choice with the camera. I'm not a big fan of the Canon housing, but it will do the trick, and you can't beat the price, because my housing for the G9 costs 4 to 5 times more than the Canon housing. Here's what my current G9 setup looks like:

I hope that helped a bit and good luck to you!

Adrian

 

[LI Diver]

here is my Ikelite housing for my G9. I got it from Berger Brothers but Scuba Toys had it for a great price as well. It has a hot shoe to connect the strobe directly to the camera.