sea & sea iTTL converter

[photovan 0]

I can't speak for Cannon, but I use the Sea & Sea iTTL for my Nikon D200 and it works very well for my macro. I find that I am better at manual adjustments for Wide Angle, but in general it is a fine piece of equipment.

Take care,

john

 

Can anyone else offer their experience with the sea & sea iTTL converter on a d200?

Accuracy? reliabilty? ease of use? do you ever need more than the 1 stop +/- available on the unit?

Can you set it to '0' and use the camera's flash exp compensation control to get more than the +/- 1 stop?

thanks

 

darren

[jcclink 8]

Using mine on Nexus D70 system. It worked great for a week (1200 pics) then the 2 strobe would not fire in sync. Manual mode continued to work ok. A paper weight at the moment. Settings good for macro +/- 1/3 stop.

Edited December 6, 2006 by jcclink

[EspenRekdal 1]

Using mine on Nexus D70 system. It worked great for a week (1200 pics) then the 2 strobe would not fire in sync. Manual mode continued to work ok. A paper weight at the moment. Settings good for macro +/- 1/3 stop.

 

A friend of mine had problems using the strobes directly to the D70. Aparently there was some sort of wireing that had to be fixed in order for it to work reliable. My friend just sold the D70 and upgraded to a d200, problem fixed. The Sea&sea converter works great with D200 and D2x cameras. There are some peculiarities on settings on the Inon strobes I use, but other than that the converter puts the light in the histogram pretty much in the middle. I have never had the need to adjust more light after a test shot, but I have examples of very dark subjects were I needed to turn the ev down more than one arperture. My solution was to set the camera to -1 and set the converter to +1. The result is a hands on -2 adjustable ev-controller. Works great!

 

So basically, Yes you can use the cameras ev-controller to adjust output as much as you like!

 

Hope that helps!

 

Cheers,

Espen

[seagrant 4]

Using mine on Nexus D70 system. It worked great for a week (1200 pics) then the 2 strobe would not fire in sync. Manual mode continued to work ok. A paper weight at the moment. Settings good for macro +/- 1/3 stop.

 

Same thing just happened to me except I couldn't get it to work for 1200 pics. It worked for a few pics with my d200/Subal/110s, next time wouldn't sync, then got it to sync for a few, thought it was working......., now hasn't synced in 200 shots. As above, in manual it works fine.

 

But of course "working in manual" is off-the-point and a very expensive TTL paperweight at that!! I was warned by Sea and Sea at DEMA that the unit may not work with housings other than Sea and Sea. I figured that was just because the salesman was using hard-sell techniques and wanted me to buy Sea and Sea. But maybe he has a point?

 

Ryan Canon said he tested it out quite extensively with Subal/d200 and it worked great. He is exchanging the unit as I type here, very fine service I must say, but then that is his standard way of doing business. But if it doesn't preform this second time I'll figure it isn't compatible with the Subal and return it before it gets too many dives on it. Intermittent problems are a bear aren't they? So strange it worked for jcclink for 1200 shots though? The Sea and Sea TTL converter only worked for me for say 20 or 30 shots in TTL.

 

Just my experience with the unit over about 250 shots,

 

Carol

 

Additional data: I checked and no strange flash mode like rear curtain was set. Also interestingly enough the exif data says the flash did not fire; even though I saw the 110s light up, but when I turn the Sea and Sea TTL converter to manual bypass the exif data says the flash did fire and of course then I see the evidence of the flash in the photo. It fools you cause when underwater you see the flashes firing, but the pics are still underexposed? Anyway confusing for me cause there was some ambient light (manatee in springs), so I just thought I needed different exposures, etc. Then couldn't really dial the exposures down much more, getting blur, etc. Saw the flashes firing but now I see the flashes from the 110s didn't affect the photo at all, in the picture or in the exif data.

Edited December 8, 2006 by seagrant

[EspenRekdal 1]

Same thing just happened to me except I couldn't get it to work for 1200 pics. It worked for a few pics with my d200/Subal/110s, next time wouldn't sync, then got it to sync for a few, thought it was working......., now hasn't synced in 200 shots. As above, in manual it works fine.

 

But of course "working in manual" is off-the-point and a very expensive TTL paperweight at that!! I was warned by Sea and Sea at DEMA that the unit may not work with housings other than Sea and Sea. I figured that was just because the salesman was using hard-sell techniques and wanted me to buy Sea and Sea. But maybe he has a point?

 

Ryan Canon said he tested it out quite extensively with Subal/d200 and it worked great. He is exchanging the unit as I type here, very fine service I must say, but then that is his standard way of doing business. But if it doesn't preform this second time I'll figure it isn't compatible with the Subal and return it before it gets too many dives on it. Intermittent problems are a bear aren't they? So strange it worked for jcclink for 1200 shots though? The Sea and Sea TTL converter only worked for me for say 20 or 30 shots in TTL.

 

Just my experience with the unit over about 250 shots,

 

Carol

 

Hi Carol et al.

 

I can see several explanations for how theese results can happen. Since you did have some tests where the strobes quenched I'm guessing the problem is cord and contact related. The fact that the exif sais no strobe fired strengthens this hypothesis.

 

Whenever you are connecting the ses&sea converter to the housing you need to make sure the 5 pins are connected directly to the camera, and without diodes etc.. This had me spinning when I first connected it to a Nexus housing. The V2 wireing in the hotshoe didn't fire my strobes and I had to remove some diodes to get it working.

A subal wired for use with housed landflashes should work well providing the wires all are connected directly without diodes etc.

You should se the flash ready signal in the camera when the flashes are connected. The fact that the flash didn't affect the exif or image suggests that this symbol was not visible in the veiwfinder and that the camera had not recognized the strobe. I suggest you make sure the connections are ok and try again.

 

Bets of luck!

 

Espen

[seagrant 4]

Thanks for the advice Espen!

 

The "quirky" thing is that I got TTL for a few shots with the exact (and new) sync cords, etc that I have hooked up now. So the TTL worked for a few shots and then didn't work for many shots - without changing any sync cords or plugs or anything - back to back. That is curious.

 

I've got the 5pin socket plugged into the correct place inside the housing per the Subal drawing in the Subal instruction manual. So it is wired 5pin to 5pin. And the hotshoe hooks in fine, I don't want to alter anything in the hotshoe as that would void my Subal warranty.

 

The Sea and Sea TTL unit works in manual bypass now with the TTL unit turned on. It used to work in manual bypass and TTL for a short time, but now no longer in TTL with late flash firing. Flashes were fired at least 30secs apart or more so it isn't a case of the 110 strobes not being ready.

 

Yes the brand new sync cords could be bad but then I'd think they wouldn't then work in manual either hooked up to the TTL unit? I switch to TTL, it doesn't fire in sync, I turn the switch to manual bypass and they fire fine immediately.

 

Ryan from ReefPhoto is sending me a replacement Sea and Sea TTL unit and I'll test that out next week. Ryan really stands by the products he sells and recommends and I really admire that about the way he does business. I know it is not his fault the Sea and Sea unit isn't working right!

 

If the replacement unit doesn't work I'll just go back to manual use of strobes without the unit as I can't stand things that aren't reliable. Plus the instruction manual for the Sea and Sea TTL unit says the unit is "positively buoyant by approximately 200g (7.1oz.)", when actually it is 6 ozs negative in-water weight. Water weight of my rig concerns me, especially the heavier d200 rigs, and I don't see how a company like Sea and Sea could get away with stating that their unit is positive when it fact it is negative in water. I was told this was a mis-print in the Sea and Sea TTL manual and on the specs but it is still mis-representation of a product.

 

As you see I'm not very happy with the Sea and Sea TTL unit, but it is nice to have the TTL so I'll give the new one another try right away and return it if it doesn't work and go back to manual strobe operation.

 

Plus I'll send this TTL unit that isn't working back to Ryan and he can see what is up with it. I'll let you all know his verdict.

 

Thanks, Carol

 

BTW, the exif data says the flash did not fire in TTL but the exif does say the flash function was present. Again in manual by-pass of the TTL unit there is no problem firing the flash and the exif data says flash fired. As far as I remember the flash icon did light up on every TTL shot in the viewfinder, but I'll check that again. The flashes did fire on TTL, but too late to be recorded in the photo/data, with lots of time in between flashes, on over 200 TTL flashes.

Edited December 14, 2006 by seagrant

[EspenRekdal 1]

As you see I'm not very happy with the Sea and Sea TTL unit, but it is nice to have the TTL so I'll give the new one another try right away and return it if it doesn't work and go back to manual strobe operation.

 

 

BTW, the exif data says the flash did not fire in TTL but the exif does say the flash function was present. Again in manual by-pass of the TTL unit there is no problem firing the flash and the exif data says flash fired. As far as I remember the flash icon did light up on every TTL shot in the viewfinder, but I'll check that again. The flashes did fire on TTL, but too late to be recorded in the photo/data, with lots of time in between flashes, on over 200 TTL flashes.

 

I'm puzzled...

 

But from what you say I too think you have a defective unit on your hands. The delayed flash I think is symptomatic of that.

 

It could still be an idea to verify that the hotshoe has direct wires to the bulkhead. Subal will be able to tell you that.

 

That said, when you get it working it will soon be a favourite part of your kit as it does help with those fast moving subjects.

 

Good luck!

 

Espen

[jcclink 8]

Is it just a coincidence that the 2 YS90DX's that were connected to my S&S iTTL converter when it malfunctioned both failed during the next 2-3 wks?????? My converter is to be repaired under warranty but I don't really trust it. Back to manual mode shooting. The converter worked good for awhile with the original style Nexus hotshoe adapter (version 1) not the supplied V2. I have a 3rd 90DX which still works but I couldn't shoot WA with only 1 strobe. I brought home a nice new little YS27DX from Bali, whichs works great for macro, even if it is just a slave strobe. I'm thinking I can run a fiber optic cable from the 90 to the 27 to get it to fire all the time. Then I can use it for WA & macro. On the bright side I now have 2 backup strobes. The broken stuff will all be repaired & get to dive again

[shchae 3]

Hi,

I just got my S&S i-TTL converter II delivered & testing it with Nexus D-200 housing + 2 x Z220. So far it is working well & will use it in UW in few weeks. Type II suppose to cover D-80 i-TTL protocol as well.

 

Regarding hotshoe, instead of removing diod from V2, I am using TM hotshoe from Nexus film housing & you can order/buy replacement hot shoe from Nexus dealer.

 

Sam

[EspenRekdal 1]

Regarding hotshoe, instead of removing diod from V2, I am using TM hotshoe from Nexus film housing & you can order/buy replacement hot shoe from Nexus dealer.

 

Sam

 

Same as I'm doing. I'm using the hotshoe from my old N90 with the Inons and I've cut some cables and removed some diodes on the V2 hotshoe to make it work with manual strobes like my subtronics. It's puzzling that Nexus deliver their housings with the V2 hotshoe as I don't know of any strobes that are compatible with this. Anyone that can shed light on the subject?

 

Cheers,

Espen

[jcclink 8]

More problems that its worth at this point. Manual mode worked before & its still ok. Just hoping to save a few pixels dialing in exposure. This is what happens when you buy new gear. To anyone thinking about getting a converter - wait a few months. This item isn't reliable enough for serious use yet.

[shchae 3]

Espen,

V2 hotshoe works well with housed SB-800 strobe & Inon,Nikonos and Sea&sea manually.

 

Sam

[seagrant 4]

Update:

 

My "replacement" Sea and Sea TTL unit behaved exactly as the first one did, except I didn't get any shots in the TTL mode. All flashes in TTL with converter/110 strobes show flash icon and flashes with out of sync firing (too late or too early???). Exif data exactly as before.

 

So either I got 2 defective Sea and Sea TTL units in a row, or Ryan Canon suggested there might be something wrong with my ND20 Subal housing electronics/wiring/hotshoe or something else? Like maybe the TTL flash is quenching on the pre-flash by mistake or something like that???

 

Ryan offered to look at it all if I shipped it to him and I've taken him up on it. I hate "not-knowing" what the problem was as I all ways think, "What if I'd tried that, and that?????)"

 

The Sea and Sea TTL unit has it drawbacks, clunky-ness on left side of setup, above water weight of almost a pound and in water negative weight of 6 ozs. But, that said it was really nice when it worked for a few shots and would be really nice to have if it worked and then you can manual bypass it in a jiffy when you had special situations. Plus I took over 10 hours of underwater pics with it (unit on in manual bypass), plus all the topside testing and the CR2 battery in the Sea and Sea TTL unit is still going strong! I'd really like to explore if I can use the TTL unit at all (one less thing for me to worry about while learning my first DSLR underwater you know),........ - thus the time and effort invested in sending it to Ryan. (Plus his time and effort, I bet he wants to know conclusively what is up also as he has had this unit work for others. As I've said before, Ryan really cares about what he sells and recommends, that is very admirable.)

 

It will be investigated and tested out in the next few days as to where the problem lies. I even sent him one of my sync cords and 110 strobes (along with my ND20 housing and the two TTL units that didn't work), just included the 110 strobe, etc in the off-chance the problem was there with the strobe/switch/sync cord? I'll post the results as they should be conclusive with my system (sans the TTL flash electronics of camera body itself).

 

More data to follow......

 

Carol

Edited December 15, 2006 by seagrant

[jcclink 8]

My converter is at the repair center in CA. I also got mine from Ryan. Maybe he got a bad batch or there is just a design problem. If a warranty repair doesn't solve the problem, we'll be talking about a refund I think. I liked it when it worked thou, but if I can't trust it I won't be using it.

[Rocha 0]

That's too bad, it sounded promising... I was considering buying one, but now I will wait to see what happens.

[seagrant 4]

My converter is at the repair center in CA. I also got mine from Ryan. Maybe he got a bad batch or there is just a design problem. If a warranty repair doesn't solve the problem, we'll be talking about a refund I think. I liked it when it worked thou, but if I can't trust it I won't be using it.

 

Just realize jcclink though that you got 1200 TTL shots out of your Sea and Sea TTL converter (that's quite a few, lucky you)! That is excellent!! I got no TTL shots underwater, so if Ryan doesn't get it to work with my system of course refund/credit is warranted, my units are really new.

 

But you did get 1200 shots with yours. So it is not really "new". I'd just work on it and work with the warranty place in CA and Ryan who sold it to you to get it sorted, figure out exactly where the fault lies (may not actually be the converter unit itself???), etc.

 

I don't want everyone to just consider they can get refunds on these units, especially if it has used it for over 1000 successful TTL shots underwater.

 

Work with Ryan and Sea and Sea on this, and test like I did to isolate the real situation!! I just spent a lot in insurance/shipping to send the necessary components to Ryan for evaluation. Since he now has "all the data" we can really come up with an idea of where exactly the problem lies. Only then if a solution can't be found to make it work with my housing, strobes, etc. can we speak of refund/credit in my mind.

 

I'll post the findings when I find out.

 

Best, Carol

Edited December 15, 2006 by seagrant

[jcclink 8]

I guess my basic thought was its a design/production flaw. Since you've now had 2 units that don't work in a similar manner I tend to believe this more. I did try different strobes & sync cords without success. Had to change hotshoe adapter initially to get the unit to fire. Hopefully the converters are repairable, which would be ok. If it is determined to be a S&S issue, not easily repairable or replaceable with a "good" unit, then I think return for refund is reasonable, "new" or not. After all, 1200 pics is only 4 days shooting. The reseller can work it out with S&S. Will post what I find out on this end for comparison.

P.S. The Service Center told me they have already worked on a "couple" units. I'm pretty sure there aren't too many in use yet.

Edited December 15, 2006 by jcclink

[EspenRekdal 1]

That's too bad, it sounded promising... I was considering buying one, but now I will wait to see what happens.

 

Hi All,

 

There seems to be quite a few quirks to iron out on the use of these converters. Thus far mine is working flawlessly with Inon z240 (type two) strobes if that means anything. Mine was bought on the japaneese market. Can the problems be strobe related? Or simply certain combinations of camera, strobes and converter? It would be interesting to hear which combinations work. So please list what you equipment you have been using in future posts.

 

Luiz,

 

The converter works very well with my D2x and Inon's but looking at your list of equipment you will not get the Ikelite strobes to work in Ittl, only manual. Will it work with the

 

Sam,

Thanks for the clarification!

 

Carol,

I've attached a couple of pictures of my macro setup. By attaching the converter to the port i get it of the handles and leave them free. Just a thought.

 

Cheers,

Espen

 

[Ryan 57]

Prior to Carol's issues, the only two converter problems we had seen were caused by water damage through flooded bulkheads (two different units). This has been a very popular products, so I'm comfortable with that failure rate. I'm interested in hearing the cause of JC's problem when Subaquatic gets around to checking it.

 

Carol's issues were different, and after checking our entire current stock today I did find a significant quantity of doa converters. I'm glad she brought this issue to our attention quickly to save other customers frustration.

 

Going forward, I'll check our stock until this works itself out. V2 converters w/ support for the d80 should start shipping soon, and hopefully whatever is causing this problem has been ironed out.

[seagrant 4]

Hi All,

 

There seems to be quite a few quirks to iron out on the use of these converters. Thus far mine is working flawlessly with Inon z240 (type two) strobes if that means anything. Mine was bought on the japaneese market. Can the problems be strobe related? Or simply certain combinations of camera, strobes and converter? It would be interesting to hear which combinations work. So please list what you equipment you have been using in future posts.

 

Luiz,

 

The converter works very well with my D2x and Inon's but looking at your list of equipment you will not get the Ikelite strobes to work in Ittl, only manual. Will it work with the

 

Sam,

Thanks for the clarification!

 

Carol,

I've attached a couple of pictures of my macro setup. By attaching the converter to the port i get it of the handles and leave them free. Just a thought.

 

Cheers,

Espen

 

Espen great setup for the TTL unit!!

 

Breaking News!! Ryan Canon just tested out my Subal ND20 housing, both Sea and Sea TTL converters that didn't work in TTL, etc. and I had two bad Sea and Sea converters. (See I'm not just whine-y and crazy!.... ) This prompted him to check his stock of them, so this whole thing helped him too and future purchasers of the units. He thinks there might have been a "bad run" of the TTL converters. He says he has some in the field that are "working like champs". So looks like there may have been a bad batch.

 

My Subal housing electronics are working perfect.

 

I'm getting the housing and another TTL unit back right away, so I'll go dive it and let you know! Sure will be nice to have TTL, hope......, hope........

 

What great and rather instant service from Ryan to check things out and remove all doubt as to the source of the problem. Yea!

 

But I won't get too excited till I've had it work for ME - underwater!!

 

Thanks, Carol

 

Edit: As you can see Ryan beat me to this post by minutes - that's what I get for being long-winded......!

Edited December 15, 2006 by seagrant

[shchae 3]

Carol,

Wish you GOOD Luck !!!

 

Sam

[EspenRekdal 1]

What great and rather instant service from Ryan to check things out and remove all doubt as to the source of the problem. Yea!

 

But I won't get too excited till I've had it work for ME - underwater!!

Edit: As you can see Ryan beat me to this post by minutes - that's what I get for being long-winded......!

 

This is great News!

 

I have been shooting my mouth about how cool this converter is and how well it has worked for me that I was beginning to get worried... ;-)

Peeew!!

 

Thanks for keeping us updated Carol!

 

Espen

[Nicholas S. 0]

can someone please tell me what exactly does a TTL converter ?

with simple words please

[mikedive 0]

Hello ,

 

simple answer : a TTL converter converts the cam system TTL into the strobe system TTL

 

a bit more informations :

 

every digital and anaolog cam speaks a different language to tell the strobe what to do ..... the TTL converter is a translater between cam and strobe and obvious to use if you will conneckt a simple Nikonos TTL protokoll understanding UW strobe to a digital cam . The strobe has to be able to fire as fast as the cam needs some older ones are not able to do so they are not kompatible .....nearly all digital cams are using preflashes to do metering and exposer control some use 1 preflash others up to 18 .....

 

Michael

[malodiver 0]

Hi All,

 

There seems to be quite a few quirks to iron out on the use of these converters. Thus far mine is working flawlessly with Inon z240 (type two) strobes if that means anything. Mine was bought on the japaneese market. Can the problems be strobe related? Or simply certain combinations of camera, strobes and converter? It would be interesting to hear which combinations work. So please list what you equipment you have been using in future posts.

 

Luiz,

 

The converter works very well with my D2x and Inon's but looking at your list of equipment you will not get the Ikelite strobes to work in Ittl, only manual. Will it work with the

 

Sam,

Thanks for the clarification!

 

Carol,

I've attached a couple of pictures of my macro setup. By attaching the converter to the port i get it of the handles and leave them free. Just a thought.

 

Cheers,

Espen

 

 

Can you you guide me to what settings to use with the Z 240 when using iTTL with the Sea and Sea ittl II converter???