Nikon's Creative Lighting System Underwater

Don Silcock · Issue 52, Jan/Feb 2010 · pp. 22–27

Products mentioned: Nikon SB900, Nikon SB80DX, Nikon D100, Nikon D300, Patima housing, Sea & Sea YS90, Sea & Sea YS30, Nikon SB102, Nikkor 70-180mm macro zoom, Sam Chae

Nikon’s Creative Lighting System Underwater by Don Silcock Prior to the digital revolution, in the days when we were all shooting film, the ability to use Nikon’s Through The Lens (TTL) flash system for macro underwater photography was a major bonus and in over 90% of circumstances it would deliver extremely accurate exposures. All that changed when Nikon released the D100, the DSLR camera that convinced most underwater photographers using Nikon equipment that it was time to “go digital”. TTL compatible third party strobes would no longer work with the new DTTL flash system and it looked like we had no option but to use manual for both wide-angle and macro. Not that I did not try though, and my SB80DX flash housing acquired more frequent flyer points than I had, on it’s return flights to it’s manufacturer, as I tried to get it to work reliably. I eventually gave up and moved on to using …