15 replies to this topic

[DuncanS]

I saw a mention on dive photo guide that Ike are developing an optical adapter for its DS strobes.

http://www.divephoto...coverage-day-3/

Does anyone have any more info? I have looked on Ike's website but the don't feature them.

I am looking from a canon perspective. Will they be TTL compatible and allow 2nd curtain sync?

Duncan

[ceckaa]

I saw a mention on dive photo guide that Ike are developing an optical adapter for its DS strobes.

http://www.divephoto...coverage-day-3/

Does anyone have any more info? I have looked on Ike's website but the don't feature them.

I am looking from a canon perspective. Will they be TTL compatible and allow 2nd curtain sync?

Duncan

Hi!
The new optical adapter is just available.

[bvanant]

I saw a mention on dive photo guide that Ike are developing an optical adapter for its DS strobes.

http://www.divephoto...coverage-day-3/

Does anyone have any more info? I have looked on Ike's website but the don't feature them.

I am looking from a canon perspective. Will they be TTL compatible and allow 2nd curtain sync?

Duncan

On the Ike site, it says manual only, no TTL
"The Fiber Optic Adapter converts the electrical bulkhead of any Ikelite DS Substrobe into a fiber optic port. This adapter is a manual exposure (non-TTL) trigger only. The strobe's output must be adjusted using the manual power settings built into the strobe (varies by model)."
Bill

[derway]

The heinrich's optical digital adapter works great with ike DS strobes. And it does full TTL, preflash following, and so on. Works with almost ever camera.

There is a full known compatibility list on the heinrich's web site:

http://www.heinrichs...y_list_cameras/
http://www.heinrichs...y_list_strobes/

They make one with a nikonos connector, so you just get an ike strobe cable, with nikonos on one end, and ikelite on the other end.

It gets the power from the strobe.

http://reefphoto.com...1ff4c5ad3444700

[slowhands]

On the Ike site, it says manual only, no TTL
"The Fiber Optic Adapter converts the electrical bulkhead of any Ikelite DS Substrobe into a fiber optic port. This adapter is a manual exposure (non-TTL) trigger only. The strobe's output must be adjusted using the manual power settings built into the strobe (varies by model)."
Bill

The new Ikelite Fiber Optic Adapter for their DS strobes is here:

http://ikelite.com/w...iber-optic.html

It does not do TTL, only manual control, so you have to set the strobe for manual flash. But no more electrical cable, and one less O-ring.

Alas, most of Ikelite's DSLR housings do not allow the flash to raise and fire. So this new Fiber Optic Adapter is mainly for using Ikelite strobes on Point and shoot Cams, I guess. I think I saw a circuit for a LED flasher that sits in the hotshoe and might be able to trigger this, but can't recall where now.

[segal3]

It'd be nice to see an improved version of the discontinued Inon Optical Converter D - a small device that plugs into the housing bulkhead and converts the electrical flash signal into an optical pulse (perhaps having 2-4 ports to plug fiber-optic cables into). Combined with these adapters (or any strobes that support optical sync natively), a small price to pay for never having to replace a broken sync cord!

I think the Converter D's limited compatibility with non-Inon bulkheads or strobes was its downfall.

[Balrog]

So a somewhat underwhelming product that just amounts to a manual optical slave trigger which fits directly to the strobe. No progress for the Ike housing to DS strobe users.

The DS series are nice robust units with a great colour temperature but score negatively in weight and volume compared to most other manufacturers. TTL compatibility has always been their thing. I don't understand why they didn't implement it; they have had optical flash replication technology since the AF35. (maybe the DS won't do pre-flash ???)

Ike will have to do better than this to market the DS series to the compact and non Ike housing market.

2c

[derway]

For sure the ds-51, at least, WILL do preflash. Surely all the others will too.

I'm quite certain they are all listed as fully compatible, in the hienrich's DA website, but the site is not working well right now, so I can't get the list.

[JackConnick]

Ikelite said that they will eventually have a TTL version, but not quickly ASFAIK. I'm going to go out on a WAG here and say that it may be Nikon only, as that is the same as their other TTL converters. Canon TTL is sort of tricky. But they do know that there are a tremendous amount of Canon users out there, so it may be an ambidextrous solution.

Jack

[leepix]

Jack

What would be the issues of trying to use my DS-51 with and Olympus XZ-1 in an Oly housing? I know that the new Ike coupler makes it into a manual but adjustable flash system, but what else is there? I am used to manual shooting with strobes.

Is there any real advantage in going to an Olympus strobe when comparble Sea&Sea units are available?

Of course, Inon are the top end but more expensive solution.

I do occasionally shoot wih the Inon WAL-100 Type 2. Need to see if Oly housing will mount that?

[JackConnick]

The Olympus & Inon strobes will work in TTL with the XZ-1. Interestingly the Olympus does not work in true RC mode (you can't control it from the camera like the PEN).

The Sea & Sea YS-01, YS-110a don't seem to work consistently, and we now can't state that TTL will work with them. Sea & Sea confirms that there's some sort of timing error, but I haven't heard back yet from Oly in Japan. I was able to get it to work, the Chris at Nauticam couldn't.

Anyway, I would just go with the Ike adapter for your DS-51, it's a good powerful little strobe and it will work fine in manual.

Jack

[Julian D]

Hi. Interested to hear from anyone who has used these ikelite FO adapters and what they think of them? eg

Are they reliable?

Do they still work well if you turn down the power in your cameras flash?

Does it have any effect on sync speed etc?

I'm very new to UP but am in the process of upgrading from an ike housed D80 to a D7000 in an Aquatica housing. I have a pair of DS125's and my (second hand) housing only has fibre optic bulkheads so these converters seem like a pretty good option ($ wise) compared to upgrading the bulkhead.

Looking on WP there seems to be a lot of positives for FO connectors, but is there any reason it would be worth converting to an electrical connection?

Any other thoughts much appreciated.

Thanks

[Gudge]

I've been using them with a my DS160s and Canon 7D in Nauticam housing for a few months now.

Yes they are reliable as long as you don't turn the power down on your camera's internal flash too low. I started out using 1/128 power and one of the strobes would only work intermittently. After increasing the internal flash power to 1/8 power I haven't had a problem.

One thing that isn't mentioned in the manual is that when shooting with your camera's internal flash on manual (ie no pre-flash) the external strobes will not fire the first time you take a photo after the strobes are turned on. The adapters automatically adjust for internal flashes with/without pre-flash and this is part of the process. If you leave your internal flash in TTL mode the external strobes will fire on the first shot taken.

[davephdv]

I use them with Nauticam.

Work fine. Only thing you have to watch is your cameras battery life, as it is firing the flash on every shot.

[Julian D]

Thought I would update for the benefit of anyone else who is contemplating these.

I'm using with a D7000 with an aquatica housing & twin DS125's and they're working well. After a little playing round with the reflectors in the housing (got the housing second hand and the reflector angles had been altered), I'm running reliably at 1/25th flash strength. Haven't done enouigh to comment about battery drain but the camera seems to have a great battery life compared to my old D80.

As Gudge mentioned above, initially it can be a bit confusing if you start turning a strobe off/on as they don't fire on the first flash after being turned off but once you realise what is going on it's no problem.

Also out of interest I contacted Ikelite about the TTL models and they said they would be be "many months away".

[leepix]

The Olympus & Inon strobes will work in TTL with the XZ-1. Interestingly the Olympus does not work in true RC mode (you can't control it from the camera like the PEN).

The Sea & Sea YS-01, YS-110a don't seem to work consistently, and we now can't state that TTL will work with them. Sea & Sea confirms that there's some sort of timing error, but I haven't heard back yet from Oly in Japan. I was able to get it to work, the Chris at Nauticam couldn't.

Anyway, I would just go with the Ike adapter for your DS-51, it's a good powerful little strobe and it will work fine in manual.

Jack

I would roger what Jack said.  I have used DS-51 with FO Adapter and my Canon S90 shooting in manual.  It works if you know how to aim strobe and adjust correctly.  But hell that is how I started shooting about 25 yrs ago~