Setting up strobe, have questions!!!! Help!

[donnad]

ok, all.......i'm going diving tomorrow in a new scuba park manmade lake to test out my new digital pro strobe for my reefmaster mini. i have some questions... do i need to atttach the flash deflector that came w/my camera? cause it says its for use w/the external flash SL960D and i have the digital pro flash. the pics in the booklet do not show a flash deflector on there. and to attach the cable to my camera........will i need to use the universal adapter that came with the strobe? an adapter didn't come with my camera, just a flash deflector. help!!! ok, settings..........image resolution, and quality........what size do you usually select, and which quality setting(fine?) for close ups, pop off your mini wide angle lens, and then did you use the zoom feature, or just get physically close to subject? and did you also switch the focus switch to macro instead of normal? next.........i know you set the scene mode to external flash, but do you also have to set the flash mode to the default setting (blank setting)??

 

[Mrs Fic]

Sounds like you need to read, read, read! The manuals that come with the camera, wide angle lens, and strobe (digital pro flash) are all very clear cut and do not really take long to read. One evening after work and you will have all your questions answered and be ready to get started!

I put my DC600 on the best quality setting possible for image quality. I think it's a good idea to leave the wide angle on most of the time, then just take it off when you want to take a macro shot, as the macro subjects are usually more dormant and will wait for you anyway Yes, I use the macro mode. I try not to zoom much, as it will be very difficult to get a sharp focus on the subject using it. Besides, you want to be as close as possible for the flash to do you any good. If you're not within 6 ft of your subject, be prepared for blue, colorless pics (which sometimes are cool too, but not always!)

The rest of your questions, I believe, are in the manuals and I have the dc600, not the mini. Hope that helps!

 

[donnad]

thanks for writing. i appreciate the tips about macro. about the reading, i have done that........the manual that comes with the strobe does not address if you have the reefmaster mini, and the little book that comes with the little kit with the little adapters, the allen wrench, etc.......has instructions for attaching the flash deflector, but says this is only for the blank, blank, and blank cameras, skip this part if you have another camera, but then at the bottom of that same page it says that your camera will come with the appropriate adapter to use to attach the flash deflector......sounding like you ARE supposed to attach it. however, my camera did not come with an adapter, but it does have a flash deflector that came with it. and then, in the pictures in the book that came with the strobe.....the pictures in the book to show how to attach the cable to the camera are of one of the other sealife cameras, not the mini, but later in the book, one of the pictures looks like the mini, and they have the strobe attached, etc, but the picture does not show a flash deflector being attached.........so......trying to decipher what to do from three booklets (the third being the one that came with the camera, and it doesn't go into detail about this, but refers you to your external flash manual)(and it's obvious the little book that came with the adapters,wrench, was written before the digital pro strobe came out) became not quite so clear......so that was my problem. i'm sure denise or someone with the mini will know for sure and will see this post by tomorrow and be able to clear things up for me. thanks again for writing.

 

[prskate2]

DUDE READ!!!! It's not that hard. Everyone else figured it out. Just do what it says! Listen you need to read all the manuals. Do exactly what they say. For the Reefmaster Mini just attach the deflector that came with the camera to the Flash Base and your good. The put the optical cable through one of the holes on the deflector. (It says this all in the manual) Also, it would be a lot easier to read your posts if you actually used some periods and some capitals sometimes. That would be GREAT. Everything that you are asking here is in the manual. Since I got my Wide Angle Lens I don't take it off. I USE IT for Macro. No offense Denise, but the Reefmaster Mini's macro is not very good at all. But with the Wide Angle lens I can get MUCH MORE MACRO. Donnad those pics I posted up earlier were all using the wide angle lens, the macro ones too. That is why I got the Lens, specifically for Macro shots.

Instructions for a (Pick a number under 10) year old:

1. Attach deflector to the Base of Flash.
2. Attach optical cable to flash
3. Run the Flash cable down the flash arm
4. Run the cable through the little holes on the Flash Deflector
5. Make sure the cable is in front of the Mini's flash
6. Connect the mini and test

I know it's gonna' be tough but YOU CAN DO IT!

(Sorry, but it's not that hard and I am not in that great of a mood)

 

[ScubaSarus]

So there are 2 cables a Flash cable and an optical cable ?

 

[prskate2]

I have the Digital Strobe. There is one cable. The optical cable.

 

[Former Sealife Employee]

Attach the optical cable to the deflector that came with the camera. (If the deflector did not come with your camera, contact me and I'll let you know how to go about getting one.) Follow the installation instructions provided in the instruction manual on page 56, This deflector works with any SeaLife flash, SL960, SL960D and SL961. When the manual was printed the SL961 Digital Pro Flash did not exist, but we will update the manual. Sorry for the confusion.

Settings for image resolution and quality – Suggest using the factory default settings of Quality=“Fine” and Resolution=2816x2112. These settings are described on page 24 of the instruction manual.

If you have the Mini Wide Angle Lens, we suggest you keep it on all the time. When you are underwater, Make sure to “burp” air that may get trapped between the wide angle lens and lens port of the camera. The primary purpose of the Mini wide angle lens is to increase the camera’s field of view from 35 degrees horizontal to 50 degrees horizontal. A side benefit of the Mini Wide Angel lens is that it increases the focusing range. The normal focus ranges are 3ft to infinity. When you set the camera to Macro focus, the focus range is 2 ft to 3ft, which is good for close-up. With the Mini Wide Angle lens attached, the normal focus range increases to 2ft to infinity. When the camera is set to macro with the wide angle lens attached, the focus range is 1ft to infinity.

When the camera is in Ext Flash mode, you can push the flash button on the camera to switch between Macro, Normal and Far flash. These Flash Mode setting have nothing to do with focus. These setting will brighten or darken the image exposure. “Macro Flash” will reduce or darken the exposure and Far Flash will increase or brighten the image exposure. Take a few example picture underwater to become familiar with the effect of using this feature. Don’t forget that your Digital Pro Flash also has a brightness control which increases or decreases the flash brightness.

Sorry for the lack of detail regarding this attachment of the ReefMaster Mini and the Digital Pro Flash. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

 

[donnad]

thanks Denise! i sent you my address in a PM. have a great day