Experience with TRT S-Turtle TTL trigger?

[ScottAudette 7]

12 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

First thing to do would be to try and trigger holding a bare cable on the prism - square on - before you remove the pads on the inside - if that doesn't work you are going to have a struggle triggering them in any way.

Hi Chris,

Took the molding off and tried firing off the glass with a fresh cut of wire. Zilch, nothing. It's crazy because I have the newer 150 LEDS on it the cord and they are BRIGHT. But something is happening in the glass that is diffracting the light. 

I can even get cheap toslink cable to fire outside the housing. 

I have an older YS-D2 that I tried with too. Fires flawlessly outside, put the glass between it and nothing. 

I guess next step is to reach to Nauticam. I've spoken to Balazs at length as well. And this has stumped him. 

 

Or finally kit out my 1dx II housing i bought this summer. LOL.  (but I really love this A6400 kit its been a lot of fun!) And using the strobe pop really isn't an option because of the pre-flash. I'm shooting manual and need the ms of shutter lag to be short as possible. 


-Scott
 

[stuartv 34]

18 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

Hi Stuart,

this seems to be descending into a "he said" ....."he said" ...."he said" contest and is not being productive.  Remember interpretation of online forum posts is a two way street it is easy to interpret written word in a way the first poster did not intend no matter what your mother tongue is. 

remember that for most products support to choose and sell you the right version of a product and even the warranty lies with the importer and communication channels with the manufacturer are often closed or limited.  I think all Balazs is trying to say is if you were sold the wrong one you need to solve that with whoever you sold it to.  If I am not mistaken you have already returned the trigger to Bluewater.   Airing it on the forum only gets people's back up.     I think people now know they need to be sure they get a version that matches their housing as well as matches their camera which seems to be the main issue at hand.

Might I suggest everyone leaves it there.

 

 

Agreed on the first part.

I started this thread to gather info about experience with using the S-Turtle. I think information on how the manufacturer deals with the customer after purchase is directly ON topic for this thread.

I agree that if I got the wrong one, I need to solve that with the place I bought it from. That was NEVER the issue. The issue was trying to get the manufacturer to confirm whether I did in fact receive the wrong one. That seems like a simple question, that would be easy to answer when given a picture of what I received and the information on what I ordered and what camera and housing I have.

This thread is about experience with the S-Turtle. I think it is completely relevant for people to know that if they don't buy the S-Turtle directly from TRT, then they should not expect an answer to even as simple and direct a question as that to be answered by the manufacturer. And also, the manufacturer won't answer the question about what is the difference between the 3 "S-Turtle Triggers for Sony Mirrorless" that are shown on the manufacturer's web page. I've asked in email and here in this thread and still gotten no answer to that.

 

4 hours ago, ScottAudette said:

Hi Chris,

Took the molding off and tried firing off the glass with a fresh cut of wire. Zilch, nothing. It's crazy because I have the newer 150 LEDS on it the cord and they are BRIGHT. But something is happening in the glass that is diffracting the light. 

I can even get cheap toslink cable to fire outside the housing. 

I have an older YS-D2 that I tried with too. Fires flawlessly outside, put the glass between it and nothing. 

I guess next step is to reach to Nauticam. I've spoken to Balazs at length as well. And this has stumped him. 

 

Or finally kit out my 1dx II housing i bought this summer. LOL.  (but I really love this A6400 kit its been a lot of fun!) And using the strobe pop really isn't an option because of the pre-flash. I'm shooting manual and need the ms of shutter lag to be short as possible. 


-Scott
 

 

Are you saying that the YS-D2 also does not fire when the LED is going through the housing's glass?
 

Are you able to try try using a different brand of strobe?

This really does all seem strange, given that I finally got the YS-D3s to work (with my cheap Howshot 613 cables) with my UWT trigger just by pushing the LEDs further up into the wells in the housing.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you can learn from Nauticam.

[ScottAudette 7]

22 minutes ago, stuartv said:

Are you saying that the YS-D2 also does not fire when the LED is going through the housing's glass?
 

 

that is correct. once the LED's are behind the glass in the housing i get nothing. I've tried three different cables. And I'll have to ask around about another strobe. I don't have anything else handy. 

[TimG 62]

1 hour ago, ScottAudette said:

that is correct. once the LED's are behind the glass in the housing i get nothing. I've tried three different cables. And I'll have to ask around about another strobe. I don't have anything else handy. 

Have you tried cleaning both sides of the glass bulkhead with something like computer screen cleaner? 

[ScottAudette 7]

1 hour ago, TimG said:

Have you tried cleaning both sides of the glass bulkhead with something like computer screen cleaner? 

And they always say the simplest solution is often the right answer ... cleaned the glass with windex inside and out. Now it fires. But It won't high speed in manual. Next problem! LOL

[ChrisRoss 150]

8 hours ago, ScottAudette said:

Hi Chris,

Took the molding off and tried firing off the glass with a fresh cut of wire. Zilch, nothing. It's crazy because I have the newer 150 LEDS on it the cord and they are BRIGHT. But something is happening in the glass that is diffracting the light. 

I can even get cheap toslink cable to fire outside the housing. 

I have an older YS-D2 that I tried with too. Fires flawlessly outside, put the glass between it and nothing. 

I guess next step is to reach to Nauticam. I've spoken to Balazs at length as well. And this has stumped him. 

-Scott
 

Is the window flat or is it indeed a prism?  With the housing in hand you should be able to tell by inspection.  Have you tried moving the cable around on the outside surface, if you place it over where the LED appears to be you would have to think that would be fine.  The other test you could try is to see if it will fire through window glass.  Do the LEDs appear to be square on to the glass?

Just to be complete have you tried triggering through the housing glass window with the onboard flash? 

edit, your reply came in when typing : 

it certainly seems like the transmission through the glass is marginal if a bit of dirt gives you trouble.  I imagine that window would get rather grotty as it is never gets cleaned and has water drying on it all the time.

 

[ScottAudette 7]

Just now, ChrisRoss said:

 

Just to be complete have you tried triggering through the housing glass window with the onboard flash? 

Hi Chris, 

Not a prism, it looks like. Fired with flash. Tim, hit the nail on the head. Cleaned the glass and the trigger started working! LOL

-Scott

[ChrisRoss 150]

3 minutes ago, ScottAudette said:

Hi Chris, 

Not a prism, it looks like. Fired with flash. Tim, hit the nail on the head. Cleaned the glass and the trigger started working! LOL

-Scott

good that you've got it firing,  seems odd that dirty glass was enough, your photo showed it looking grotty but not terrible.  Keeping it clean might be a challenge, I assume it's because water has dried on their leaving deposits constantly, because you can't wipe it down like other windows on the housing.  I use a blower bulb to blow water out of there when drying off the housing after rinsing.

[ChrisRoss 150]

4 hours ago, stuartv said:

I agree that if I got the wrong one, I need to solve that with the place I bought it from. That was NEVER the issue. The issue was trying to get the manufacturer to confirm whether I did in fact receive the wrong one. That seems like a simple question, that would be easy to answer when given a picture of what I received and the information on what I ordered and what camera and housing I have.

This thread is about experience with the S-Turtle. I think it is completely relevant for people to know that if they don't buy the S-Turtle directly from TRT, then they should not expect an answer to even as simple and direct a question as that to be answered by the manufacturer. And also, the manufacturer won't answer the question about what is the difference between the 3 "S-Turtle Triggers for Sony Mirrorless" that are shown on the manufacturer's web page. I've asked in email and here in this thread and still gotten no answer to that.

 

Yes I can see that and we've established the situation, which is why I suggested everyone leave it there.  If Balazs wants to come on the post and reply as requested of course that would be welcome, if not... there is nothing more to be gained from re-hashing the issue.

[TimG 62]

1 hour ago, ScottAudette said:

And they always say the simplest solution is often the right answer ... cleaned the glass with windex inside and out. Now it fires. But It won't high speed in manual. Next problem! LOL

LOL, brilliant!

[Balage_diver 4]

Dear all....

Just for close this case with Stuart stroy!

We never tell to anybody where can he or she buy the TURTLE products.  NEVER!!!!!   Just offer a dealer if somebody wants to test the TURTLE and live so far from Us!!!!    
We did it with Stuart case.   He would like to test the TURTLE and he told Us he lives in USA.   That's why we offer to him two dealer (Backscatter and Bluewater)  He choose one and test the product there.   Not buy it just test!!!!! 
He bought it form bluewater.. 

After he started his email bomb to Us with injurious style.. about his boughted package contain.  (Sorry but we could not seen what is in his box)

The last point when we close all communication  when he asked me about Our product! 

"Do you know your own products?"  This is cutted from Stuart mail!

It is very very insulting. 

Sorry Stuart, but this is the truth!  

This is the last post what i have written here and I will never answer in the future here in this case!  Sorry!
Have a great dives to every  UWphotographers! 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Balage_diver

[TimG 62]

Hey Kurucz 

I really hope this isn't your last post with WP! We'd be very sorry to lose your posts relating to the Turtle and the like. They can really help people. 

Best wishes

[stuartv 34]

15 hours ago, ScottAudette said:

Hi Chris, 

Not a prism, it looks like. Fired with flash. Tim, hit the nail on the head. Cleaned the glass and the trigger started working! LOL

-Scott

 

That seems like good and bad news. Good news that you go it working. How long have you had the housing and how many dives (ballpark) are on it? I'm just curious how "long" it took for the LED windows to get dirty enough to make the strobes not fire.

 

7 hours ago, Balage_diver said:

Dear all....

Just for close this case with Stuart stroy!

We never tell to anybody where can he or she buy the TURTLE products.  NEVER!!!!!   Just offer a dealer if somebody wants to test the TURTLE and live so far from Us!!!!    
We did it with Stuart case.   He would like to test the TURTLE and he told Us he lives in USA.   That's why we offer to him two dealer (Backscatter and Bluewater)  He choose one and test the product there.   Not buy it just test!!!!! 
He bought it form bluewater.. 

After he started his email bomb to Us with injurious style.. about his boughted package contain.  (Sorry but we could not seen what is in his box)

The last point when we close all communication  when he asked me about Our product! 

"Do you know your own products?"  This is cutted from Stuart mail!

It is very very offensive!

Sorry Stuart, but this is the truth!  

This is the last post what i have written here and I will never answer in the future here in this case!  Sorry!
Have a great dives to every  UWphotographers! 

And now we know the real issue. Thank you for posting this.

[ScottAudette 7]

5 hours ago, stuartv said:

That seems like good and bad news. Good news that you go it working. How long have you had the housing and how many dives (ballpark) are on it? I'm just curious how "long" it took for the LED windows to get dirty enough to make the strobes not fire.

I've got about 50 dives with this housing in the last 14 months or so. 

Edited February 12, 2021 by ScottAudette
fixed timeline

[stuartv 34]

2 minutes ago, ScottAudette said:

I've got about 50 dives with this housing in the last 14 months or so. 

Cool. Now we just have to wait for your report on how many dives you get with it before the strobes start acting up and you need to clean them again.  Hopefully, once every 6 months or so will be enough. Or, at worst, once, just before a dive trip.

[ScottAudette 7]

2 hours ago, stuartv said:

Cool. Now we just have to wait for your report on how many dives you get with it before the strobes start acting up and you need to clean them again.  Hopefully, once every 6 months or so will be enough. Or, at worst, once, just before a dive trip.

I've been using the strobes since July via electrical sync. ROCK solid. And will probably end up just diving that way. The FO is for the pool stuff I do with models. But time will tell ...

[TimG 62]

38 minutes ago, ScottAudette said:

I've been using the strobes since July via electrical sync. ROCK solid. And will probably end up just diving that way. The FO is for the pool stuff I do with models. But time will tell ...

I switched to fibre a few years ago from electrical sync. Just so much easier in terms of connections and reliability. And FO makes taking the strobes off the housing really easy both underwater and topside.

[adamhanlon 0]

Perhaps to draw a line under this:

1. It seems that (perhaps some) Sea&Sea YS-D2 and YS-D3 strobes seem to experience some issues with triggering. This is confirmed in other threads on the forum too, along with discussions with others within the industry. It is easy to lose sight that this is the actual issue that everyone seems to be experiencing. 

2. I would suggest that having to rely on the housing bulkhead glass being clean in order to get the strobes firing is rather unusual and rarely a factor that comes into the discussion. But then it depends, of course, on just how dirty they were! Real life suggests that it is almost impossible to keep them scrupulously clean all the time

3. It is well established now that good quality fiber optic cables are required to get many strobes to work. Using 613 fiber seem to be a minimum requirement, although the various 'home brew" versions seem to be equally effective. Thanks to the Wetpixel community for being so willing to share their experiences in making these.

4. We welcome manufacturers, distributors and retailers offering support for their products in the Wetpixel forums and we are keen for this to continue. Over the years, a significant majority of manufacturers and suppliers have generously provided valuable and timely assistance and advice to Wetpixel members. This is much appreciated by many members and the moderator team and we fervently hope that they will continue to share their time, experience and expertise.  

5. Whilst new products often offer compatibility challenges, may I suggest that those providing solutions ensure that the advice they offer is relevant and will assist those suffering from these challenges. With an issue as specific as the one that the OP is experiencing, providing additional non-relevant information seems to add confusion! 

Practically, apart from those that have already kindly shared their experiences, does anyone else have any experience of using the TRT strobe triggers with Sea&Sea FS-D3s?

[stuartv 34]

16 hours ago, adamhanlon said:

3. It is well established now that good quality fiber optic cables are required to get many strobes to work. Using 613 fiber seem to be a minimum requirement, although the various 'home brew" versions seem to be equally effective. Thanks to the Wetpixel community for being so willing to share their experiences in making these.

Just to refresh some data I posted earlier:

I did finally get the YS-D3 strobes to fire (seemingly) reliably with my UWT trigger, after I found that the LEDs were not pushed all the way up into the wells inside my housing. BUT, the surprising thing was that they worked with my Howshot (i.e. inexpensive) 613-core f/o cables, and the 613-core f/o cables that @bvanant sent me, but they did NOT work with the 1000-core cables or the thick solid-core cables that bvanant also sent me to try. Describing 613 fiber as the "minimum" seems like it might not really tell the full story.

[joncroweucl 9]

Hello all,

Panasonic GH5 user here with Retra Flash Pros. Looking for a strobe trigger work with the camera and HSS function on the strobe.

UWT site says their trigger states no HSS on GH5. 

Has anyone had his experience with O-Turtle manual trigger for Olympus and Panasonic with the GH5 and Retras with HSS?

Thanks all!