sp-350

[Cudabait]

Well, here's the laterst with the SL flash dilema:

Just spoke with the folks at www.divesports.com. I asked them specifically about the issues with the SL310 flash. They said it is a direct flash and will preflash with the SP350. They did say that the SL960D will solve all the problems. It seems to be a new universal flash/strobe by SeaLife. I did an online search looking for the Sea Life 960D digital flash and found these folks. They have a pretty good narrative regarding the 960D and their price is $299.95. I hve had excellent results and use out of the SL 310. It is rugged, good to 200 feet, easy to operate and handle, etc. Not sure, but for the price, I may just go with the SL960D.

Thanks everyone for all teh excellent input and help. No one gave up!! Looks like the SL960D may be a good and inexpensive way to go with the SP-350!

Regards,

 

[IlikeItwetPls]

Frys has the H xD card for 44.99 now.

http://shop1.outpost.com/search?sea...ery_string=xd+card&cat=&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

 

[Texman]

I wish I could give some magical sage underwater guru advice but I just followed the directions that came with the flash. There is a manual sync setting that you have to adjust the first time you use the flash. The setting has 5 major pre-flash "typical" settings inside the actual flashhead where the 4 AA batteries are. The directions are to shoot a picture of yourself in the mirror until you can see that the flash head is firing from the camera strobe. You should be able to see the flash in the picture. "I love digital" The only other thing I did was to mount the fiber optic cable that comes with the flash onto the front of the housing in front of some black electrical tape that blocks the cameras actual flash from creating backscatter. Again I followed the directions from the Olympus housing and the Sealife flash. Good luck. I am still playing with some of the ultra macro settings. On F8 250 I can get literally right on top of small guys but I am getting overexposure. Still playing.

 

[Cudabait]

Thanks, Texman

Glad to know it'll work!! Found one online for $266.00. Went ahead and bought it. should have it by next Friday. that should work out OK. LaCuda and I are thinking about doing a quickie trip to Isla Mujeres 1st of May. She'll be able to shoot with the SL310 & flash and hopefully, I'll have the new flash to play with.

By the way, Texman....does it come with the internal counterweight?

Regards,

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Way to go, Larry!!

You gonna out some in your gallery?

Also...Texman....Larry is right. How did you set up the sealife external to work with the SP-350. I've been having preflash issues with mine. Is there an internal setting that I might be overlooking. I have an external flash that I've been using for a few years with a SL 310 digital. Thanks in advance. I think NW Grateful has the same issue unless he has resolved it.

Regards,

No, I haven't figured it out yet.

Actually, I put the stobe away for a bit while I figure out the camera ... then I'll start playing with the strobe ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Texman]

To the question of the counterweight. My olympus housing came with a red rubberized weight and I bought the weight for the flash (it does not come standard). I found that the olympus weight is all I need. The additional weight I bought from Sealife would be too much. I like my camrea to be positively bouyant and here's why. My first dive with the Olympus setup, I was doing my safety stop and I looked for my camera. It was gone. Since I keep it positively bouyant, I looked to the surface and there it was. Thank goodness there was no current becuase I just did my safety stop under the camera and then surface to grab it. This is actually the second time in 15 years this has happend. Broken strap the first time and stupidity on my part the second. I was lucky in both cases and found the cameras.

Well I am off to Hawaii tomorrow to do the Manta dive and and a few other dives. Pictures when I get back. This will be a great test for the flash. We'll see. Cudabait - good luck with your flash.

 

[Larry C]

Went out Saturday morning in 8-15 foot vis with lots of chunks. Loc-line rig worked awesome. Slightly negative. Well balanced. Loc-line adjusts quickly and easily to pretty much any position.
Had problems with strobe positioning. Sometimes snapped my shot with the strobe behind a rock for an all black picture. Still learning to adjust the camera for the strobe. Pictures were consistantly underexposed, some badly. Thanks to the wonders of Rawshooter, I saved most of them. Many came out quite good. Still having focus problems with SuperMacro. Sometimes I get great detail, sometimes it's totally out of focus. I think this is due to stuff floating around in front of the AF sensor and fooling the focus. Shot mostly in TTL-auto, and had trouble with exposure, plus the thing took all day to set the focus and flash. I'm going to try different strobe settings on Tuesday at Lobos. I'm still getting a lot of shadows and can't wait till the Sunpak comes. I'm hoping it will balance my lighting and eliminate the shadows. Also, it is stronger than the Oly and should cure the underexposure issues. New pics are posted in my gallery. Click on My Gallery to the left. I had a problem uploading (the server dropped off) and got some double shots of the big Cabezon. The thing blended so well with the pipe it was on, my wife pointed it out twice and I still couldn't see it till she shined her dive light on it. It was big enough that it probably would have been legal size for a lingcod and it was so sure it blended in that it just sat there for me while I took 5 shots and a SuperMacro right in its eye.

 

[Ben_ca]

Nice pics Larry, so how far away were you from that Cab?

 

[Larry C]

The SuperMacro of his eye was about three inches. The widest shot (whole body) was about 2 feet away. He didn't move or even blink the whole time. My wife, who wants a spear gun, was drooling and wishing it was in a legal hunting area. Those things barbecue even better than they photograph. That monster would have fed a family of 10.

 

[Ben_ca]

LOL remind me not to ask you to shoot my picture ... you might be thinking of me on BBQ sauce Yikes! LOL

Amazing how sometime they (the fish) just keep still thinking that we don't see them...but then again they are right most of the time