strobe fitting

[ukmidlands]

advice needed...

have purchased an epoque ds150 strobe to go with olympus mju300/pt-016. it triggers using a fibre optic cable.

would i be correct in assuming it would be best to cover as much of the housing as possible to blackout the internal flash, so the only light comes from the strobe. i would expect if the internal flash was not covered, it would still light up the particles in the water, and create backscatter ? ? ?

thanks

 

[Dee]

ukmidlands once bubbled...
advice needed...

have purchased an epoque ds150 strobe to go with olympus mju300/pt-016. it triggers using a fibre optic cable.

would i be correct in assuming it would be best to cover as much of the housing as possible to blackout the internal flash, so the only light comes from the strobe. i would expect if the internal flash was not covered, it would still light up the particles in the water, and create backscatter ? ? ?

thanks

Didn't the strobe come with some sort of patch to fit over the internal flash? How does the fiber optic cable connect?

I know nothing about the Epoch...but my S&S strobe came with a large piece of velcro to cut a patch from that would go over hte flash and at the same time hold the cable in place.

I'd be talking to whoever you bought the strobe from.

 

[Gilligan]

Aloha ukmidlands,
If your pt-016 is similar to my pt-010 you have a white flash diffuser on the front held on by four screws. If so, you may want to try this as I read it on the net. Break open a computer floppy disk and cut the floppy to fit in that diffuser panel. Take out those four screws and insert the floppy piece. The floppy material is supposed to block the internal flash enough so as not to interfere with the photo yet still allow the strobe to fire. The floppy material is thin enough to fit in that diffuser panel. Let us know here on the board if you try it and it works.
:shades:

 

[ukmidlands]

i don't know if this was a good idea but i have completely covered the front of the housing which blacks out the internal flash totally. i have tested this in front of a mirror in complete darkness and there is very little internal light leakage, so the only light will be coming from the strobe. i read somewhere that because the housing is made from clear polycarbonate, light also is released from the housing which could create backscatter. i am unsure if this is right or wrong and i can reverse the covering quite easily, but it does seem logical. it would be good to get feedback from anyone just covering the diffuser and how the internal flash performs. am i right in thinking that by the pre-flash seeing a dark environment causes the flash to fire on full power resulting in reduced battery life?

 

[Gilligan]

If your camera has internal flash settings as my Oly 2040 does, turn the flash setting down to its lowest, which on mine is -2.0. That should conserve some battery power, although I don't know how significant.
Internal flash light leaking out of the clear housing shouldn't cause backscatter in your photos as it is not the flash coming directly out the front.
:shades:

 

[ukmidlands]

gilligan, i have tested the floppy disc material, and it seems to react in a bad way with the flash. there is a definiate 'popping' noise. when held close to the flash with no housing, there was even smoke! maybe not such a good idea!

 

[clive francis]

i would have thought that would be a very combustable material to put in front of a lash especially that close.

 

[Dee]

I've read of folks using the black plastic from an old VHS tape box tp replace the diffuser. I've used something similar made from black plastic with very good results. But I sometimes prefer the internal flash so when I make a permanent alteration to the housing, I'm stuck with it. As for the light leaking around the edges...yes it does a bit but since that light isn't going out and straight back into the camera, backscatter isn't an issue.

 

[Gilligan]

I was intending for you to put the floppy disk material outside the housing where the screwed on diffuser panel is. There is water circulating between it and the housing. But as Dee stated in her post, that setup is somewhat permanent or at least inconvenient, as you have to take the four screws out to remove the floppy material. But if you only use your housing with the strobe then placing a black material in that location should work.
:shades:

 

[clive francis]

do you guys have paper clips ovre there?