Question to owners of OMD / Inon strobes setup

[bvanant]

My point exactly, thanks for the photo.
Bill

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

I actually think that the two extra stops of light gained with the Olympus E-M1 by being able to shoot at ISO-100 and at 1/320th can be of great value if you are trying to shoot at lower F/stops to gain softer backgrounds or when shooting wide angle in bright overhead sunlight. I have had plenty of situations with the EM-5 where I would have liked a faster sync speed and lower ISO both above and below water. That is not to say that the 1/250th at ISO-200 is at all bad but the best image quality curves for most of these M43 lenses are way below F/16-F/22 in the F/4 to F/7.1 range.

To illustrate my point you sure see a lot of quality above water and U/W photographers pointing out the short comings of the new Sony A7r which only syncs at 1/160th v. the A7 which syncs at 1/250th.

Phil Rudin

 

[amnong]

Wetboy, bvanant, Phil,

Yes, if there is a deep water behind the object, you certainly get nice black background. Yet sometimes there is a background with a distance of 30-60cm behind the object, I'm hoping that faster shutter speed will have a better control on that too.

See the photos of the Pygmies which are somehow soft. Pygmies are shay and restless, when shooting it from a distance of 15cm, every slight move can potentially blur the object, I'm not sure that at that distance, it is actually only the strobe which is freezing the object.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8OMWhOl8-y6SUpuWm83N1FkcFE&usp=sharing

BTW: EskilJ has a good idea of finding a small simple flat that will connect to the hot-shoe (not the special Oly connector) and will siply triget the external flash. I'm still looking for one that will be small enough to fit into the housing.

Shot on a sunny day in clear water with an EM5, 1/250th shutter speed, F13 and ISO 200, Dual Inon Z240 strobes. No processing other than sizing. For Macro, 1/250th sync speed is more than enough. And for freezing macro objects, your strobe is faster than your shutter.

 

[Yoav Lavi]

Hi Amnon,
Have you considered using ND filters?

 

[amnong]

Hi Amnon,
Have you considered using ND filters?

Did not consider to use ND filter, however would be happy to hear more about the advantages.

 

[nudibranco]

Using the ND filter will allow less light without closing completely the diaphgram (causing some refraction issues) and causing a night diving like effect or black background. However if you need all the light you need for ambient like photos or subjects that cannot be adequately lit by the strobos you are clearly limited by the ND filter if you have applied it directly to your camera. It would be ok to apply it outside as a wet lens...

 

[bvanant]

In the photo I don't see any motion blur but I think the unsharpness if any is diffraction. You can trigger the OMD flash with an LED trigger but still can't sync above 1/250. I agree with Phil that having ISO 100 would be nice but not sure that any shutter speed would keep you from illuminating your background via your strobe if it is 30 cm away. That is why you need to angle your strobes inward for a black background if the reef is behind what you are shooting.
Bill