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Hello Suzanne I'm using an RX100 Mk II and I can confirm you that it has always a pre-flash...even in manual mode! I would suspect that it is the same for your MkIII. I considered buying a YS-D2 to replace my YS-90DX but I finally choose an INON Z240 Type 4, so from my reading of the YS-D2 manual, my understanding is that DS-TTL II is the new name for the DS-TTL(probably new features were added on from the DS-TTL mentioned in the YS-01 manual). These are not two different modes on your strobe. If I were you I would follow Hellhole advice and go Manual. Set your strobe on M (with the two lightning bolts, indicating pre-flash) and your RX100 MkIII on manual. With a bit of experimentation with the settings (both on your flash ad strobe) you will achieve the exposure you are seeking. Clément

Amy I don't have a DS2, my strobe is an old YS90DX and I'm using an RX100 II. Your fiber optical cable should go under your strobe in the slot that has a sensor cover (not the first one). As for setting the flash in manual on your camera to test your strobe don't loose time searching for it, there's no way to do that with your camera it's always TTL. You should set the camera flash into any of the mandatory mode (fill,front or rear). Be sure your driving mode is not on Bracket :Continous (BRK:C) Clément

I hope someone will come up with something more enligthning, but have you try setting your strobes on DS-ttl and the RX100 flash on front. That would be what I would try first (assuming the you fiber-opticaly trigger your strobe). Set your RX100 first in T mode with a speed of 1/125thand ISO at it's lowest. If your strobes are firing you can switch mode and try other settings. Good luck!

The circuitry of DS-TTL and RX100 leaf shutter allow indeed very fast synch but the YS60 requires at least 1/500th of a second (2ms) to dump it's full charge (according to Digital dapter II manual) I've seen a graphic of a full dump of a YS90DX and it is as long as 4000us (1/250th). I don't know about the YS110alpha it may be a bit better. So there could be a problem if the RX100II evaluates that it should fire it's internal strobe for such a long time and the shutter speed is really fast (1/250th or faster). If a fraction of the charge is required it could be OK and the system could synch well over 1/250th. I don't know if the YS110alpha use a recorded-TTL or a normal-TTL approach. The Digital Adapter 2 now use a recorded-TTL approach by default to reduced positive feedback (It can be programmed to normal-TTL if needed). With recorded-TTL the inner flash fire first then once it is off the external strobe fire for the same amount of time, this reduce the possibilty of positive feedback but reduce the maximum synch speed by a factor two. I should be able to water test my setup next week and check if this is really a concern or not.

JReilly Doug Sloss in his "Underwater Photoworkshop" DVD presented a nice Photoshop technique to remove a lot of backscatter from an image if you can afford to loose detail in the background. I don't know if it is still on his "Adobe Photoshop CS4 for the Underwater Photographer" DVD http://www.underwaterphotoshop.com/. Erin Quigley present a very similar (if not the same) technique at http://www.scubadiving.com/photoshop-tutorial-how-to-remove-backscatter-from-underwater-photos

Peter Is your shutter speed higher than 1/250th? That may be a reason for the TTL not to work if a full dump is required. Check if your TTL lamp on the YS100alpha turns on green, if not there is a full dump. The RX100II can flash synch at very high speed. I use an RX100II and a YS-90DX with Mathias Heinrich Digital Adapter 2 and I still struggle understanding how's everything is working with TTL-flash. I was used to shoot with manual flash in M mode. One last thing flash compensation on the RX100II can be used to reduce the intensity of the strobe. You may consider playing with that before cranking up your ISO or using larger apertures to reduce the intensity of the flash if you want to use higher shutter speed.

Thank you Sinetwo for answering my questions. I didn't realized that your iDAS stay has these nice slots, so the screws will do the job! My interest in the Meikon housing problems you had was simply curiosity. I hope you'll have a chance to see an other giant frogfish with your Nauticam housing in hands!

Congratulations Sinetwo for your purchase. Have you bought a new stay too? The Nauticam housing requires two screws, I don't know if it will work well if you use only one? You may consider the RECSEA ADT-1S tray adapter. It is really well built. Building your own adapter may also be an option if your good working with metal. I also considered the Nauticam housing but I finally selected the RECSEA for it's big front wheel control and the back wheel that works exactly like the RX100MkII's. One other thing was that I wasn't 100% sure that using the M67 with a 28AD adapter would cause some vigneting with my UWL-100 28AD and RECSEA had a 28AD adapter direct for the housing. Unfortunately this adapter has a small screw that impair a bit using the front wheel. So I decided to buy a cheap M67-28AD adapter to see if the vigneting was acceptable and in fact there was none! So the only problem I see right now with this housing is the dial mode control but it may eventually works fine underwater with the pressure, anyway as I said I will use the MR mode option that will work fine by setting the MENU START option behavior to Previous. What were your main complains about the Meikon housing? How did you like working with the RX100MkII underwater? I haven't tried mine yet underwater and I wonder how I will manage to work in manual mode with the flash not being manual I still have some experimentation to do.

Do you mean on the RX100? I know that the housing control could be raised and lowered but when it is lowered I can turn the dial only when pressing very hard on the control while twisting it. I tried cleaning the contact O-ring but it doesn't helped. Anyway it made me realized that using the MR mode is far more convinient than playing with the dial control. I do most of my shooting in manual mode with strobe but I programmed the MR2 to the A mode for ambient light with continous shooting and it's really fast to switch to it pressing MENU, select, right and select and everything is ready for any passing-by whaleshark! I programmed MR3 to the S mode.

Hello Sinetwo I went for the aluminum RECSEA housing for my RX100-MkII. I have not water tested it yet but it looks promising. My setup is quite similar to yours. I have an inon uwl-100 28 AD and a close-up UCL-165AD. My stay is a 13 years old Sea&Sea multi-stay but I like it a lot with my even older Seaarm IV and Sea&Sea YS-DX90 strobe coupled with Heinrich adapter. Up to now my only complain about the WHS-RX100MkII is that the control for mode changing is not working well. It slips too much. It's not a big problem because the RX100 has a fantastic MR mode. To adapt my stay to the housing I bought the nice RECSEA tray adapter. RECSEA makes a great polycarbonate housing for about the same price of the Ikelite. So this may be an option to consider. I've upgraded to the RX100MkII from a Powershot S80. I've selected the MkII over the the MkIII or MkIV because of the 28mm eq wide lens that was a nice match to my INON UWL-100028D lens. I'm eager to hear your comments and words of wisdom about the underwater usage of the RX100MkII and INON lenses. Clément

So the switches were flipped several times and we can eliminate the fact that they could be in a weird mid-position. Your system is in a good place at Cathy's shop, so let us posted with what they will find. Just one last question though: was the bulkhead orange connector plugged in the J2 or J3 connector of the 18915? Have you tried both? BTW I assume that your Sea&Sea converter is an 50106.

Are the four switches on the 18915 in the ON position?

There's a Future Shop in Kelowna and they can deliver

In which part of Canada does your friend live? Clement

I don't know if you had the opportunity to try your new system yet but you're right the UWL-28AD will block the light of your internal strobe. But with such a lens it won't do a good job anyway. Your options are shooting with ambient light and custom white balance or preferably add an external strobe to your system like the YS-110 aplha or the Inon Z-240 of course you will also need a stay for your system. I personally use a Powershot S-80 in a Canon housing with the Inon UW28AD and a YS-90DX strobe and I'm very pleased with the results. I also have the UWL-100 dome but I prefer using the UW28AD alone. Hope this helps. Clement