External strobe for A610

[crusher]

I am thinking of getting a external strobe for my Canon A610 for underwater photography, any recommendations? Preferably with price given. I would also like to find out how external strobe works for A610? Is it by detecting the flash from A610? Any problem with such method?

[crusher]

One thing I observed when I used the internal flash of A610 for UW photography, the camera always set the shuttle speed to 1/60 sec. I find that it is not fast enough as pictures of moving fish (esp nemo!) are frequently blur due to constant fish movement. Can the problem be overcome by getting a external strobe?

[cat64fish]

There are probably answers to your questions somewhere in the forum, crusher .... but my own experience with strobes and digital cameras:

1. External strobes are very useful and good to have, especially for macro. It has less use for wide angle, becoz strobe light usually works within 1-1.5m only.

2. As far as I know, only the Ikelite housing has a strobe connector port, so you need a cable to connect strobe to housing (internally there should be a housing to camera). If you get the Canon housing, you are limited to using the strobe as a slave, triggered by a fibre-optic cable.

3. I use my old "film" strobes YS 120 (Sea and Sea). While it is connected to housing using cables, the TTL function does not work, so I use manual mode. I would recommend using manual mode for the A620 as well.

4. For this set up, you will have to adjust several things ... aperture, shutter speed, strobe output and iso. Since I want the highest resolution image possible, with as little "noise" as possible, I usually set mt iso to the lowest and don't change it.

a. If your strobe has no adjustable settings (only one output ie, full discharge), then you got to I just play around with aperture and shutter speed. There doesn't seem to be problems with sync'ing strobe light speed and shutter speeds like in the film cameras (if I understand correctly, the strobe light has a certain "speed" which corresponds with shutter speeds - typically 1/60, 1/90 or 1/125 in film cameras - if they are not sync'ed, you get blacked out portions of the film image).

b. If your strobe has adjustable settings, then you will have to balance aperture, shutter speed and strobe output.

c. For macro, I would use the largest aperature setting (8 on A620 and 22 for my slr), and play with just strobe output, and maybe a bit on shutter speed.

d. For wide angel macro, you'd probably need 2 strobes unless you use a diffuser for your single strobe.

e. For normal wide angle, you may not even need a strobe, as the light will not carry beyound 1-2 m, depending on the strength of your strobe output.

Sea&Sea has strobe ranging from YS 60 (2 AA batteries), YS 90 ($ aa batteries) and YS 120 (8 aa batteries). I think a need model is coming out soon, that has TTL function with digital cameras (YS 110).

Scubacam has Inon strobes, which a lot of people use, so must be pretty reliable.

Ikelite strobes (Scubacam can get for you I think) are also good, but I am not sure what kind of batteries they use (I think a propriatory rechargeable).

I hope this helps.

Jeff

[terryw83]

Originally Posted by crusher One thing I observed when I used the internal flash of A610 for UW photography, the camera always set the shuttle speed to 1/60 sec. I find that it is not fast enough as pictures of moving fish (esp nemo!) are frequently blur due to constant fish movement. Can the problem be overcome by getting a external strobe?

if you set your camera into M mode, u can overcome the shutter speed problem

[crusher]

Originally Posted by cat64fish There are probably answers to your questions somewhere in the forum, crusher .... but my own experience with strobes and digital cameras: 1. External strobes are very useful and good to have, especially for macro. It has less use for wide angle, becoz strobe light usually works within 1-1.5m only. 2. As far as I know, only the Ikelite housing has a strobe connector port, so you need a cable to connect strobe to housing (internally there should be a housing to camera). If you get the Canon housing, you are limited to using the strobe as a slave, triggered by a fibre-optic cable. 3. I use my old "film" strobes YS 120 (Sea and Sea). While it is connected to housing using cables, the TTL function does not work, so I use manual mode. I would recommend using manual mode for the A620 as well. 4. For this set up, you will have to adjust several things ... aperture, shutter speed, strobe output and iso. Since I want the highest resolution image possible, with as little "noise" as possible, I usually set mt iso to the lowest and don't change it. a. If your strobe has no adjustable settings (only one output ie, full discharge), then you got to I just play around with aperture and shutter speed. There doesn't seem to be problems with sync'ing strobe light speed and shutter speeds like in the film cameras (if I understand correctly, the strobe light has a certain "speed" which corresponds with shutter speeds - typically 1/60, 1/90 or 1/125 in film cameras - if they are not sync'ed, you get blacked out portions of the film image). b. If your strobe has adjustable settings, then you will have to balance aperture, shutter speed and strobe output. c. For macro, I would use the largest aperature setting (8 on A620 and 22 for my slr), and play with just strobe output, and maybe a bit on shutter speed. d. For wide angel macro, you'd probably need 2 strobes unless you use a diffuser for your single strobe. e. For normal wide angle, you may not even need a strobe, as the light will not carry beyound 1-2 m, depending on the strength of your strobe output. Sea&Sea has strobe ranging from YS 60 (2 AA batteries), YS 90 ($ aa batteries) and YS 120 (8 aa batteries). I think a need model is coming out soon, that has TTL function with digital cameras (YS 110). Scubacam has Inon strobes, which a lot of people use, so must be pretty reliable. Ikelite strobes (Scubacam can get for you I think) are also good, but I am not sure what kind of batteries they use (I think a propriatory rechargeable). I hope this helps. Jeff

Thanks for spending the time to type this out, very enlightening (though I may not understand everything ). Guess there is no simple way to get the right exposure, I will still have to rely on the trail and error method.