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Underwater Technics Ships TTL Converter for EOS R5

Underwater Technics has released their TTL converter for the Canon EOS-R5 in Nauticam housings. It features both optical and electronic strobe triggering and is compatible with HSS (with appropriate strobes). In addition, it can be switched to manual mode, offers camera menu access to flash functions, and can be user installed.

Please contact your local Underwater Technics dealer, or the company directly for more details and pricing.

Press release

TTL Converters for new Canon R5 for underwater photo housings

Pavel Kolpakov, the well-known developer of TTL systems for underwater photo gear, shared information about the newest TTL circuits issued by the UW Technics brand.

This year Canon R5 camera becomes very popular among underwater photographers. And TTL flash lighting system is an important part of the underwater setup. UW Technics company made some jobs for better R5 support at the beginning of this year. So, some new products appeared, which includes improved R5 support.

There were some changes in the R5 camera TTL protocol, made by Canon, in relation to previous Canons. Our TTL product’s firmware was also updated at the beginning of 2021. Now the R5 model has improved support.

Recent underwater tests of the Canon R5 camera with UW Technics TTL Converters and most popular strobes were very successful. TTL accuracy and system control are perfect, including HSS feature support. I will show some test pictures below.

TTL Converter version for Nauticam housings

The first model of TTL Converter updated specially for R5 we made for Nauticam underwater housings. It was UW Technics product #11052-HSS-R, which supports all previous Canon cameras as well.

TTL accuracy pool tests

Here are some pool test photos we have got using Canon R5 in Nauticam NA-R5 housing and a pair of Inon Z-330 strobes. These are just technical photos in the pool, but they show TTL accuracy. Photos were made by our colleague - an underwater photographer Evgene Marochkin. He changed aperture, ISO, distance in a wide range, but TTL flash lighting was constantly perfect.

Easy User Installation

This device fits all Nauticam housings for Canon, including NA-R5, it is a universal TTL board.

User installation is very easy and takes 2 minutes.

Combined TTL circuit

Product #11052-HSS-R is a combined circuit, consisting of Optical TTL and Electrical TTL systems on a single board with both triggering methods available both separately or simultaneously. Fiber optical cable connection is supported as well as electric sync cord connection. Dual sync cords (Sea&Sea and Ikelite) are supported at each electric output as well.

We also produce the compatible electric bulkheads for electric synchronization of Nikonos, Ikelite, and S-6 style. Nauticam user has a variety of possibilities for building their own TTL system in the camera housing. System configuration is very flexible. The device supports many popular underwater strobes: Inon Z-330, Z-240; Retra Pro (including HSS); Sea&Sea YS-D1, YS-D2, YS-250; Ikelite DS-161, DS-160, DS-125; Subtronic Pro 270, Pro 160, etc. Strobe type can be set with the camera’s dial switch.

High-Speed Synchronization (HSS) support

Recently appeared on the market RETRA underwater strobes in addition to the classic TTL and M modes, have an interesting option, - HSS synchronization, this is the flash operation at ultra-fast shutter speeds (available speeds - up to 1/8000 s). Under HSS synchronization, the illumination occurs in a special time moment, and with a very long series of short flashes of 30 kHz frequency, it works during the entire time while a narrow strip of the open shutter moves along the frame. Our TTL Converter supports Retra HSS by specially developed firmware HSS module.

User can switch to HSS synchronization by Canon camera menu for external flash, this Canon menu control feature is fully supported:

Retra Pro underwater strobes with UW Technics TTL Converter #11052-HSS-R

Automatic On/Off switch

Our TTL Converter does not need any mechanical On/Off switch. It activates automatically when the user pushes the camera’s shutter release button. It also switches Off automatically a few seconds later by camera command. This power control highly increases the reliability and usability of the product and saves battery life. The product has extremely low current consumption and a very long battery life: 1-3 years in continuous working mode, or 45 000 flashes. The battery is small CR1632.

Full support of Canon menu for external flash control

The Canon menu for external flash control is fully supported by our TTL Converter #11052-HSS-R. We specially developed our firmware for advanced communication with the Canon camera menu. The camera sends menu settings to the TTL Converter and receives commands from it back, and loads the necessary data to the camera. There is a two-way data communication protocol. We have even more possibilities for work with the camera menu, - Information about the flash control settings are saved in TTL Converter onboard memory, even after powering down, - this is a very comfortable feature for the user.

So, using the Canon camera menu, the photographer can switch underwater the following settings, which are supported by TTL Converter firmware: TTL or M mode, 1-st / 2-nd curtain or HSS sync, +/- Flash compensation, Manual power setup in M mode 1/128….1/1, and some others.

Specifications of TTL Converter #11052-HSS-R:

Contacts:

UW Technics can be contacted via email or via Facebook.

Details of the products are also available on the UW Technics website.