New, cheap, waterproof strobe/slave combo

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New, cheap, waterproof strobe/slave combo

Postby Squirrel Girl » Nov 21, 2010 12:14 pm

I just bought an Intova ISS 4000 strobe for U/W cave photography. It might be something that dry cavers would like, too. I haven't used it yet, other than in my house. There is only one issue that I would think would be a PITA for a dry caver... There's an on/off/flash dial that sticks out to the side. You just spin it round and round. Which means, after you're done with one series of shots, and you stuff the strobe into your pack, it's liable to get turn on unintentionally. It's probably good for scuba diving when you're only going to have your strobe out as long as your air supply lasts, and you want easy switches, especially if you're wearing gloves.

I think a caver might be resourceful enough to make a cover over the dial for transport. Otherwise, it seems to be a nifty unit for ~$135. The guide number is listed as 20 m (ISO 100) in air.

http://www.intova.net/products/new-into ... -iss-4000/
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Re: New, cheap, waterproof strobe/slave combo

Postby Dave Bunnell » Nov 25, 2010 11:10 am

Barbara,

This looks really good. I'm curious to know how well the slave works above water. Have you tried triggering it from different distances? And does it respond to bounce flash or only line of sight?

They sell this fiber optic cable for the slave, which I gather lets you move the sensor off the body of the flash (I think that's the function) but obviously it would be a more robust package for caving without the extra cord hanging off.

Its the first UW flash I've seen that has both variable power and actually adjusts for pre-flashes on digital cameras. Would be a great accesory for those with UW point and shoots like Pentax makes.
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Re: New, cheap, waterproof strobe/slave combo

Postby Squirrel Girl » Nov 25, 2010 11:20 am

I only tried it once in my hands. I'll have to test it out (when I get a chance). I can do some tests in my living room.
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Re: New, cheap, waterproof strobe/slave combo

Postby FW » Dec 7, 2010 10:42 am

Dave Bunnell wrote:...They sell this fiber optic cable for the slave, which I gather lets you move the sensor off the body of the flash (I think that's the function) but obviously it would be a more robust package for caving without the extra cord hanging off....

That cord is meant to cover the on-camera flash, and send a portion of the light to an off-camera strobe. The problem in the water, is light bouncing back from particles in the water, near the lens. The same problem exists in "dry" caves when there is fog near the camera.

The cable could be used to route a flash to the sensor, when a slave flash is pointed away from the camera, but I don't know if enough light would get to the sensor. I will drag mine outside tonight, and experiment.
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Re: New, cheap, waterproof strobe/slave combo

Postby FW » Dec 9, 2010 7:51 pm

I finally got to do a test. The slave was on a tripod, about 5' above the ground. It was pointed about 30 degres off of a line between the slave and the camera, so I had a good view of the sensor. I was using a little point-n-shoot, on-camera flash to trigger the slave. The slave only fired reliably from about 20' max. I am sure it would work farher with a bigger flash by the camera, but...
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Re: New, cheap, waterproof strobe/slave combo

Postby harrym » Jan 23, 2011 8:13 am

Coolest! I've been looking for a cheap strobe to use as a slave. Strap it to the cylinders facing backwards, with a slave sensor facing forward. I've gotta check it out.
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