Sydney

Monday - 9/15/03 I just got a response from Ikelite this afternoon that the hot shoe polarity was the problem with my new housing - and it's been fixed and tests fine - even with Nikon SB-105 strobes. Should be shipped back to me shortly. Now to schedule another dive trip.... Thanks to wetpixel contributors for their posts.

Ike, I did read about the possibility of the hot shoe being wired backwards - but I assumed it was a general problem with some (not all) housings. The answer I am waiting for is the one directly related to MY housing and MY two sets of sync cords (which were returned to IKE by Dolphin Scuba Center). I have order numbers if that helps. Sydney (aka Lori)

A plug for Adobe PS RAW plug-in. I bought it because anything that allows me to capture all my data and retain it in 16-bit files is for me. The plus I see in the RAW plug-in is this... I never put my files into TIF format but keep them all as psd's and print directly from PS. - Otherwise there is a shift of color going to TIF files. I can make a number of changes to the image while it's still in 16 bit mode (levels curves, etc.) and then when I do convert to 8-bit for more detailed changes I DO NOT loose image data -- no white lines through the histogram. I'm hooked on PS image management tools so with RAW I still use all the image management that PS has to offer - only one learning curve. In my opinion Adobe knows more about image/photo management for all their years of experience than the other companies who are writing the conversion software. Thus I use RAW plug-in. Sydney (aka Lori)

I'm still waiting (Sept 12) for a response from IKE about the strobes not firing on the dual sync cord (and later the single sync cord when back home) - but until then you can view the images I did take in St. Vincent at the web gallery I have. Of course I TEWAKED them a bit to bring in some color - but the only ones that had enough color on their own were then macro shots. look at www.calweb.com/users/l/ldemars/vincy to see the Canon G3 with Ike housing and at www.calweb.com/users/l/ldemars/nikv to see the Nikonos V shots. Comments? Gladly acceepted. Sydney BTW If you look closely at the squid photo you'll see a fish tail hanging out - partially consumed. YUK!

I've done more research in the camera manual ( Now that I'm home from the trip - duh!!) and the Neutral Density filter seems to decrease the aperature by one-eighth. Not sure how that calculates except the manual says it changes an f-stop of 5.6 to an f-stop of 2. That seems pretty drastic to me and could account for the lack of strobe on the subject. And why the close-ups (at full SB-105 power) were able to light the subjects. I never would have suspected such an impact. Anyway... the dual sync cord not firing from the housing is still under question so the gear will be packed up tomorrow and back to Ike.

My SB-105's were set to full - yes. And the sync cords were the ones (single and dual) sold by IKE with their housing for the canon G3 so I would assume (yes I know the definition of the word) that they were compatible. I do know that the camera had one setting in error that was that I had the Neutral Density set to ON which does make a 2 stop difference. But to have to shoot at 1/60 and f 3.0 is way out of line - especially with some of my squid shots within 10 feet of the surface. I think I'd best be patient and see what Ike has to say. Thanks for the reply.

With the first trip "out of the box" my IKE housing for the Canon G3 wouldn't even fire my SB-105's with the dual sync cord. I used the single sync cord (also brand new) and fired second strobe as slave while diving for 8 days. All images needed more light and I was set M - mostly 1/80th and f/2.8 to f/3.2 - ISO 100. NO WAY!!! Something is wacky! My SB-105's worked great with the Oly 4040/L&M set-up in Nov. 2002. So... it's on it's way back to IKE but my confidence level in them is blown. All the equipment was hand carried on - no banging - and it got TLC all the way. Is it the housing connector? The strobes firing out of sync? (no red-eye), what could it be? Anyone else have a problem with Ike to Nikon strobe cords? Thanks, Sydney aka Lori