Underwater flash

[Fred Anderson]

I have been told by Joe Liburdi, who wrote a book for Sea & Sea, that the S2 is the only digital camera that can use non-digital flashes. I want to buy an S2 and a Sea & Sea housing for underwater photography. I have Nikonos SB 105 strobes and a dual sync cord. Will these work with the S2 at be TTL. I have a Canon G2 and an Ikelite D 60 that is supposed to be TTL digital but is not. The close ups are blown out. Thanks for the suggestions and information.

[jknights]

You have been told the truth...

As far as I know the S2 is the only digital camera to use the light reflected from the CCD to measure the exposure for flash. It does not use this method for normal exposure.
I cant understand why Fuji tried this, as everybody else uses the D-TTL (dumb-TTL) method for flash with a small preflash to guage exposure.

Obviuosly this doesn't work underwater so I am really pleased that Fuji made that decision. :rockon:


I use my S2 underwater in an Ikelite housing with an Ikelite DS25 that is slaved to a Sea&Sea YS30.

Works well for me.
:D

[Fred Anderson]

:) Thanks for the info. The post had been there a long time and I was about to give up. Now, I wonder if I should wait for the S3? I am using a Canon G2 with the Ikelite D50 but it is sure not TTL. If I am very patient and have time to adjust the power of the flash, I can get a pretty good picture.

I have noticed that if the subject is white or very reflective, that part of the picture is blown out. Is that typical of digital?

thanks again. Fred

[critter]

Fred I haven't housed my S2 but we house an Oly 3030. I was told when you shoot with one of these P&S cameras you need to think in terms of video rather than film. You don't need as much light like you would with film. Try reducing the power on the strobe, pulling it back behind the camera. We use a very small epoque strobe that only has two double A batteries and it puts out all the light you need for a normal shot. With my nikonos I use a huge monster YS-120 strobe that holds around 8 AA batteries. It takes some trial and error and you will have to shoot manually in order to adjust your aperture.
Tony

[globug]

Fred,
I have housed my S2 in a Subal and use the YS-120. I have only used it on two trips so far, but to date, its a real charmer. I am glad I got the S2 for this reason. Re the S3, I believe it has gone to D-TTL like the others. (perhaps some on the other hand might consider that an advantage.)

I have been shooting in manual with flash set to the synch speed of 1/125, and adjusting the aperture for varying depths of field as needed; so far most exposures have been spot on or very close. I have experienced very few blown out areas.

I haven't yet played around much with manual flash control. Also, I haven't yet tried it with wide angle, so far shooting only with 60mm in a flat port.

Globug

[globug]

p.s. from Globug

I totally hope you do this. You will really love the S2 underwater. Let us know what you decide to do.

[HulaMike]

anybody interested in two Ikelite AIn strobes? Have been upgraded to current Ikelite 100 specs. Both have old style rechargeable battery packs. I'm not diving any more really and these were scheduled to go on eBay soon. Just thought I'd ask. Have a couple of dual Ike to Ike sync cords to go with them too.