Sea & Sea 4 Pins strobes

[Dave H 0]

I've been using a MMII setup for the past 5 years and I have finally bitten the bullet and decided to go digital. I'm in the process of ordering myself a CP5000 and a housing (still haven't decided on which housing yet - choices are a little limited here in Australia).

 

I currently have 2 Sea & Sea Strobes, they are the YS60 TTL and the YS50 TTL and they both have 4 pin connections. Neither strobe has a slave setting.

 

Will I be able to use these strobes with a digital camera setup, namely the CP 5000? Can they be connected to any of the CP5000 housing?

 

or should I look at selling them asap and buy myself a new strobe?

[Cybergoldfish 1]

The S & S strobes are not compatable with nikon/nikonos as they are hardwired. Probably the best idea would be to sell them both and get a YS 90 or 120 DX - These takes Nikon (Fibre optic) sync.

[underwaterdigital 0]

Fabio,

 

You're better off selling your YS60 and 50 and get the YS90DX. The YS90Dx will accept the Nikonos 5 pin sync cord cable as well as the fiber optic cable. It'll work with film and digital setup.

 

Hope this helps.

[UWphotoNewbie 1]

(still haven't decided on which housing yet - choices are a little limited here in Australia).

 

It's not just Austrailia that I find it difficult to find digital UW photo gear in stock. I find it impossible to find any digital photo gear in the US as well. I live in Colorado, but even on my dive trips to popular dive locations I haven't seen much of a selection in digital photo gear either. I think this is a function of the digital age that we will have to live with into the future.

 

This kind of equipment is very specialized and expensive. Worse, with the rapid pace of technology, none of this equipment will be worth much in even as little as two years. That makes it tough on a retailler to keep this stuff around sitting on the shelves collecting dust before someone comes in to buy it. It's not like a Nikonos V that could sit on the shelf for a decade and still sell for list price. Check out the prices for used Nikonos V's and even IV's on ebay to see what I mean.

 

Fortunately, there is still the web and you can find and order pretty much anything you want over the web. Your local dive shop or photo shop should be able to order anything you can't find through an online retailler. Unfortunately this means not being able to try out or handle the gear before you buy. But the tech support at most of the companies (ikelite in particular) are pretty good, and anything you don't like once you get it can usually be sent back.

 

I don't think the brick and mortar retailler selection gets better. I think the web is the only way to buy in the digital age. And the selection there is unlimited.

 

Anyone disagree?

 

Chris