Powershot G9, Ikelite housing, Ikelite DS-125 substrobe

I'd like to hear from anyone who's using the above combination. I have all but the substrobe and would like to see some images taken with it & get opinions on the substrobe, how easy it is to use, etc.

Thanks,

Doug Sturgess
www.dougsturgess.com
www.pbase.com/dougstur​gess/travel

I used two DS-125s on my Canon 30D while in Grand Cayman earlier this month. The DS-125 is a great substrobe. It is powerful and easy to set up. It has manual settings, but by just putting it in TTL mode, you will get very nice images.

Ikelite strobes with Ikelite housings are great combinations. You can't go wrong.

To see some of my images, click on this link. Some were taken with a G7 in a Canon housing, others with the 30D in Ikelite housing with one or two strobes. Enjoy.

So, when you took this picture http://tailwind.smugmu​g.com …542_BPwGN#31367​2875_YtfFi and you don't need the flash output, do you have to turn toe strobes off manually? Are you shooting in RAW & white balancing afterward? I noticed most of the beginning images all have a blue cast.

Thanks for sharing. I hear Ikelite is replacing the DS 125 with the DS 160 out later in July. It has an LED modeling light which I assume would save a lot of battery power at night.

If I put the strobe on the Ikelite housing with the G9, TTL means you just focus & shoot like you normally would, right? Does it use the cameras preflash to fire or do you turn the onboard flash off?

Thanks.

dougsturgess wrote in post #5814842
So, when you took this picture http://tailwind.smugmu​g.com …542_BPwGN#31367​2875_YtfFi and you don't need the flash output, do you have to turn toe strobes off manually? Are you shooting in RAW & white balancing afterward? I noticed most of the beginning images all have a blue cast.

Thanks for sharing. I hear Ikelite is replacing the DS 125 with the DS 160 out later in July. It has an LED modeling light which I assume would save a lot of battery power at night.

If I put the strobe on the Ikelite housing with the G9, TTL means you just focus & shoot like you normally would, right? Does it use the cameras preflash to fire or do you turn the onboard flash off?

Thanks.

So many question! Where do I start?

The photo in question of the 5 tarpin was taken with the flash on. Because of the distance of the subjects, the flash had no effect on the image. As to turning them on or off, you can do that on each strobe. They have a 4 position switch, OFF/TEST/ON/ON w/ MODELING LIGHT. It is simple enough to turn them off. There is a second switch that selects the light output (1/2, 1/4, etc or TTL). I never used them in anything except TTL because the housing has a connection to the camera's hotshoe and can "talk" to the strobes to set power output.

Virtually none of those images have been manipulated, except to lighten or darken. I was shooting in RAW with the 30D, but since there is no way to know what the colors should be, there is almost no way to color balance the images after the fact. The blue cast to some images is just normal light as seen be the camera or human eye under the circumstances. Below about 10 feet, there is no more red light, and green goes pretty soon after that. The only time you see color in an underwater photograph is when you added light via a strobe. Most often, the blue cast is because either the flash didn't fire (quite rare, but possible if the batteries were getting weak and I didn't give the strobes time to recycle) or the object being photographed was too far away. One of the first things an underwater photographer has to learn is to get closer. Some of the people on this trip, who are exceptionally skilled and experienced underwater photographers, would tell me after a dive that they wanted to come up to me and just shove me in closer to whatever I was trying to capture. You just gotta get close.

I can't speak to any future offerings by Ikelite, but send an email to Bob Stubbs (he goes by Stubby) at ikelite@ikelite.com and ask him. He is the Sales Manager for Ikelite and a really nice guy. Don't forget to report back here about what he says.

About your G9, yes, you just point and shoot. TTL means that the strobe and camera are communicating via the Ikelite sync cord. It is pretty much just set it and forget it. There is no preflash from the camera, all though you can buy a slave sensor and trigger the external stobes via the onboard flash. But if you have an Ikelite housing, it makes WAY more sense to use an Ikelite sync cord and get the most reliable triggering system you can.

Regards

Thanks, Mark. If you get a chance, take a look at the images I've taken underwater with just the onboard flash. Most are with the G2 and some are with the upgraded G9 recently. www.dougsturgess.com

Already had looked at them, Doug. They are spectacular. If you are doing that well with just onboard flash, I expect some really great images from you.

Regards

Howdy... Im considering this exact set up. Im torn between the G9 and DX-1G. Both have pros and cons from what I can gather, the big pro for the G9 is True TTL. Are you happy with the UW macro shots? Anyone using the WA lens? Thanks.

Greg

sideways wrote in post #5816479
Howdy... Im considering this exact set up. Im torn between the G9 and DX-1G. Both have pros and cons from what I can gather, the big pro for the G9 is True TTL. Are you happy with the UW macro shots? Anyone using the WA lens? Thanks.

Greg

I would definitely go with the G9 & an Ikelite housing & add on a strobe if you can. You can use the G9 in & out of the water and you're able to take hi-res video @ 1024x768 which is great. From what I see, the DX-1G doesn't do that. The G9 has a macro mode and it has worked well for me in the past but is more difficult when you're underwater, i.e. currents, bouyancy, etc.

Here's the info I found on the DS-160 http://www.scubacam.nl …info.php?produc​ts_id=1375

Ikelite DS160 strobe cord package
[3944.90] €889,00

Available in august!


Ikelite is pleased to announce the diving community's new favorite underwater strobe--the Ikelite SubStrobe DS-160. Our world-famous SubStrobe DS-125 has been reinvented to include exciting new features such as:


- 160 watt-sec. power
- Built-in 5-watt LED modeling light
- TTL, Full, plus 9 fractional powers
- 1.5 second recycle time
- 225 full power flashes per charge


In addition to full compatibility with all current Ikelite digital and film TTL systems, we have added extra creative control with 9 fractional power settings in half-stop increments. A super-bright LED modeling / focus light exhibits negligible drain on the battery pack and turns off automatically while the strobe fires. A remarkable 160 watt-seconds of power is delivered in a blazing fast recycle time of 1.5 sec from full discharge--and even faster in TTL and fractional power settings.

de set is inclusive charger, battery, diffuser, synccord and ballarm

dougsturgess wrote in post #5819920
I would definitely go with the G9 & an Ikelite housing & add on a strobe if you can. You can use the G9 in & out of the water and you're able to take hi-res video @ 1024x768 which is great. From what I see, the DX-1G doesn't do that. The G9 has a macro mode and it has worked well for me in the past but is more difficult when you're underwater, i.e. currents, bouyancy, etc.

Thanks for the response Doug..

No...The DX has a lower res vid setting. I can't believe after as many times as I've read the specs on this I never noticed the times on each vid setting ...I sure hope that doesn't mean you can only shoot 12 second clips... Is the G9 the same?? Are you limited like that?? What are the max times of clips at the higher res? I can't decipher the spec sheet.


DX-1G video specs....
640X480: 30frames/sec. (12sec.), 15frames/sec. (24sec.)
320X240: 30frames/sec. (39sec.), 15frames/sec. (1min.16sec.)

One plus I see the DX having for UW shots are the wider angle, stand alone it's 24mm...add the WA lens and its 16mm, I think the G9 is normal 35mm, with WA 22mm.


Greg

The G9 is great. If you have an 8GB card, it will shoot approximately 65 minutes continuous video at 1024/768. It's awesome and the video I took underwater on my first trip using the G9 came out great. I did use the orange filter they sell for it and it does make a big difference in color quality.

Great web site Doug.

Thank you, Tom. I appreciate the feedback.