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Strobe Pointers
Most underwater photographers depend upon strobes to light their subjects most of the time. Although a lot of thought might -and should - go into choosing your underwater strobe, because of your dependence upon it for good images, strobe connectors are often overlooked. Subal recognize that all brands of housing connectors, like strobe cables, are vulnerable to flooding, corrosion and damage. Subal D -SLR housings use a strobe connection system that is especially well thought out to provide maximum flexibility and redundancy in the field. This attention to preventing problems that can stop your strobe photography in its tracks or at least providing a solution to get you through your photo safari until you can get your housing to a technician is a compelling reason to select a Subal for your camera.
Subal Housings for Nikon
Subal housings for Nikon D- SLR cameras are usually supplied with two Nikonos type sockets. Using two sockets provides you with the option to fire two strobes directly from the camera avoiding the problems associated with slaves such as failing to fire at all or being tripped by another photographer's flashgun. It also means you have a back up connector in the event of a flood or other socket/pin malfunction. Internally, the housing strobe circuits can be dedicated for use with TTL or manual strobe systems. TTL systems require all five flash pins to be connected. These transfer the signal to fire the strobe, ready light information and the TTL communication to assure proper exposure. If you require TTL from your Nikon D- SLR we recommend you house a dedicated Nikon Speedlight in a Subal housing. Only one housed gun can be used - they won't work paired up. A TTL salve gun, such as an Inon Z- 240, can be used wirelessly as a second strobe in combination with a housed Nikon strobe. This will copy the output of the housed gun and match it automatically.
For manual flash, only three pins are connected. These transmit firing instructions and ready light information, which also sets your shutter speed range within useable limits. You can normally link two similar strobes without problems. There are pros and cons to TTL and manual flash systems and Mark or Steve can talk you through these issues in detail.
Subal Housings for Canon
Canon housings are equipped with two sockets. This allows two strobes to fired simultaneously without the potential problems caused by using slaves - unreliable firing and being set off by another photographer's flash unit. It also means you have aback up firing circuit in case of a socket flood or other malfunction.
For TTL flash photography with Canon D- SLR's we recommend housing a dedicated Canon strobe in it's own Subal housing. This requires that your housing has an S6 connector. If you choose this route, you really must think about having a complete back up strobe system as the S6 connector is so rarely used. It is unlikely that you'll be able to beg or borrow or hire (let alone steal) an S6 strobe on location. Steve or Mark can explain more about the advantages and disadvantages of using S6 connectors.
For manual flash a Nikonos type socket is used. This accepts a massive choice of underwater strobes and is really the industry standard. The firing circuits ensure reliable firing, but depending upon your Canon camera and housing combination, you may need to check your shutter speeds don't drift outside the flash sync range. Strobe photography with Digital SLR cameras can get complicated and we very much prefer to test cameras, housings and strobes together to check compatibility.
Other Housings
Subal's are built for serious enthusiast and professional use. Flash circuits are designed for redundancy. Other brands of housing may only have a single socket as standard or hybrid dual sockets that place restrictions on their use as aback up if you have a socket failure. Flash systems remain the weakest link in underwater D- SLR technology and if you are unsure of exactly what this all means to you, give us a call!
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