RDRINK25
Contributor
I am using a T2i with a 10-17 lens and 2 sea and sea ys-01s. I have them in ttl mode and using av setting on the camera only I can not get them to fire unless I am in a very low lit area. What am I doing wrong?
T2i Q?
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bvanant
Contributor
You are using the strobes in AV mode which in Canon world is only fill flash. Switch to manual mode on the camera and all will be fine.
Bill
Bill
OP
RDRINK25
Contributor
I am no where ready or full M mode I just started with AV. AV is confusing enough!
muzikbiz22
Contributor
OP
RDRINK25
Contributor
sea and sea housing with fiber cables
bvanant
Contributor
Strobes in manual everything should work fine. As for shooting in manual it is a whole lot easier than you think. F11 and 1/160 sec and you are good to go.
BIll
BIll
muzikbiz22
Contributor
Rdrin25, there are still a handful of potential "culprits". Bvanant has also provided a great starting point for you, for shooting manual in the above post. Here is a short list of other things to check;
1 - You mentioned AV mode. What do you have aperture set to ? Maybe your strobe IS firing and you have a very tight aperture setting ?
2 - Make sure your fiber cables aren't crimped somewhere
3 - Make sure you have the camera flash engaged. If I'm not mistaken, with the Sea & Sea housing, you can't physically defeat the flash once it's "popped up". You CAN with the Aquatica, one of the main reasons I went that route.
4 - On the YS-01 strobe(s), as you are looking at the front of the strobe, there are 2 "holes". A black on the left and clear on the right. Make sure your cable is in the black one/side, coming from your housing.
5 - If the strobe is set to TTL, you should be having no issue. If the strobe is set to "dot-flash symbol", make sure (as a starting point) you have the right knob/dial set to about 3/4. Go up or down from there.
These are just some other "obvious" gremlins, if you will.
1 - You mentioned AV mode. What do you have aperture set to ? Maybe your strobe IS firing and you have a very tight aperture setting ?
2 - Make sure your fiber cables aren't crimped somewhere
3 - Make sure you have the camera flash engaged. If I'm not mistaken, with the Sea & Sea housing, you can't physically defeat the flash once it's "popped up". You CAN with the Aquatica, one of the main reasons I went that route.
4 - On the YS-01 strobe(s), as you are looking at the front of the strobe, there are 2 "holes". A black on the left and clear on the right. Make sure your cable is in the black one/side, coming from your housing.
5 - If the strobe is set to TTL, you should be having no issue. If the strobe is set to "dot-flash symbol", make sure (as a starting point) you have the right knob/dial set to about 3/4. Go up or down from there.
These are just some other "obvious" gremlins, if you will.
OP
RDRINK25
Contributor
Jeevz
Registered
When you say strobes aren't firing, are you talking about testing on land or underwater?
If on land I presume you are looking at the strobe therefore you definitely know the strobe isn't firing?
When you use AV mode what aperture / shutter speed are you using? (I presume you have the pop up flash up) - shutter speed should automatically limit to 1/200 at the fastest for flash to sync.
At 1/200 in a well lit environment it may overexpose the image. I'm not 100% certain about the T2i but I presume then the flash power automatically goes to the lowest level - and therefore using fibre optic TTL may mean that it won't trigger the strobes? (I am not sure about this though because I have not used Sea and Sea equipment).
All that means is that at f11 and 1/160 the ambient light is 2 stops below "proper exposure" - that is why the strobes are useful - they will make up the 2 stops of light to adequately expose the image. - Using TTL is easy because the strobes set the power to do this automatically.
I would suggest reading up a bit on how to use aperture, shutter speed and iso to adjust exposure. Not meaning to patronising/critical but it will be very very helpful. (And make you a lot more comfortable with using manual mode - as said above it is MUCH easier than you think)
For instance in the above situation if you increase the aperture to f5.6 it will be adequately exposed (without strobes) or if you decrease the shutter speed to 1/40, or if you increase the ISO to 2 stops above what it is at.
Then you need to think about depth of field, stopping motion and noise.
If on land I presume you are looking at the strobe therefore you definitely know the strobe isn't firing?
When you use AV mode what aperture / shutter speed are you using? (I presume you have the pop up flash up) - shutter speed should automatically limit to 1/200 at the fastest for flash to sync.
At 1/200 in a well lit environment it may overexpose the image. I'm not 100% certain about the T2i but I presume then the flash power automatically goes to the lowest level - and therefore using fibre optic TTL may mean that it won't trigger the strobes? (I am not sure about this though because I have not used Sea and Sea equipment).
All that means is that at f11 and 1/160 the ambient light is 2 stops below "proper exposure" - that is why the strobes are useful - they will make up the 2 stops of light to adequately expose the image. - Using TTL is easy because the strobes set the power to do this automatically.
I would suggest reading up a bit on how to use aperture, shutter speed and iso to adjust exposure. Not meaning to patronising/critical but it will be very very helpful. (And make you a lot more comfortable with using manual mode - as said above it is MUCH easier than you think)
For instance in the above situation if you increase the aperture to f5.6 it will be adequately exposed (without strobes) or if you decrease the shutter speed to 1/40, or if you increase the ISO to 2 stops above what it is at.
Then you need to think about depth of field, stopping motion and noise.
Bill's advice is spot on, remember that manual mode is your friend. That should solve your issue. - Scott
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