Subal Underwater Strobe Housings

Subal appreciate that digital underwater photographers may prefer to use their existing land flash units instead of using underwater strobes. This allows them to use a gun that they already own and with which they are familiar and also provides them with TTL with Canon and Nikon digital SLR bodies.
Important! - Subal housings for Nikon D -SLR's are already equipped for service with TTL strobes. Other housing brands may not be. Please check with your housing supplier that your case is TTL compatible to avoid disappointment. Subal housings for Canon need to be fitted with S6 connectors for TTL flash photography. These can be installed when you buy your housing or retrofitted by Ocean Optics.

Subal - Canon SN580EX Strobe Housing

Canon SN580EX11 Strobe Housing

These lightweight Delrin housings let you take full advantage of Canon's superb SN580EX and 580EX11strobes. The strobe mounts easily onto a hot shoe and then slides into the housing. Two safety locked over centre catches close the housing. A dome port is built in to maintain the Canon 580EX and 580EX11 Speedlights angle of coverage underwater. All strobe controls are duplicated on the housing. These provide you with full control of your 580EX or 580EX11 functions. The guns LCD screen is easy to view through a large window in the hull, so you can see your settings. The housing base offers 3/8th and M8 fittings for connecting to most arm systems, including Inon. An M6 fitting is also included on the housing top for attaching an aiming light or laser. Underwater the housing and strobe will be slightly positively buoyant. Most people will find this improves the overall handling of their SLR systems. If you require more buoyancy take a look at INON's latest range of float arms.

A Subtronic S6 connector and cable are included with each housing.

Subal - Nikon SB800 Strobe Housing

Nikon SB900 Strobe Housing

Constructed from Delrin for strength and low weight, these housings let you take your SB800 or SB900 to 70 metres. The strobe mounts quickly onto a hot shoe and then slides into the housing. The hull is secured by two safety locked over centre latches. A dome port is provided so that you don't lose any angle of coverage when you go underwater. All controls are fitted to provide full creative control of your SB800 or SB900. A large viewing panel lets you see the strobes display panel. The housing base is equipped with 3/8th inch and M8 fittings for connecting most good arm sets, including Inon. An M6 fitting is included for mounting aiming lights. Underwater the housing and strobe will be slightly positively buoyant. Most people will find this improves the overall handling of their SLR systems. If you require more buoyancy take a look at INON's latest range of float arms.

A Nikonos V type cable is included.

Dual Strobe Photography

Twinning up housed Nikon or Canon strobes and cabling them into the twin sockets on your Subal housing will not work. You can use your second housed strobe on manual powers if you add a slave sensor to the end of the sync cord. An alternative is to use an INON strobe as a slave. This can be set to TTL and will copy the output of your housed strobe. The INON can also be adjusted so that it's own TTL under or overexposes relative to the output of your housed strobe. Or you can choose to fire the INON on a manual power setting. Professional underwater photographer Andrew Sutton is working with a pair of INON strobes and a housed Canon Speedlight on his Canon 1Ds in it's Subal housing.

Aiming Lights

Aiming lights mounted on to your strobe housing can help you confirm proper lighting, let you check colours of subjects and help you see where you're going in the dark when your hands are full of camera kit. We usually recommend INON LE series lights for aiming and focusing lights. INON LE series lights are small and lightweight but offer some really important advantages. Firstly, they put out a lot of power. From 240 to 550 lumens depending upon the model you choose. This means they can be used for shooting video at short distances. Secondly, you can have very even lighting over an angle of 40 to 75 degrees. This is ideal for macro photography as your entire subject and background will be lit - no more hot spots and trying to guess what's lurking in the shadows to spoil your shot. Filter sets let you adjust the beam angle, adjust the colour to better suit your cameras white balance characteristics or dive with a soft red light to minimize disturbance to shy subjects.

The INON LE series lights use LED bulbs and run for hours on AA batteries. The rugged aluminium housing features a double O ring seal for security and you even have a real on/off switch - not a twist top which many of our clients dislike!

Spare Cables

We would always recommend that you pick up a spare sync cable when purchasing your Subal strobe housing. Cables are usually the weakest link in your strobe system and will eventually break down. Like fin straps, you normally only discover a problem when you are going to use them. It's better to have a spare ready to go on location when you need it.

Spare O Rings

Similarly, spare O rings are a smart investment. Subal strobe housings need one O ring to seal the back and use four O rings to seal the cables. Using a double O ring seal on the cable connection to your housing helps prevent water entering the threads and falling onto your connections when you remove the cable from your housing, as well as creating a second line of defence against floods.

For more detailed advice on strobe matters talk to Mark Koekemoer or Steve Warren