Opinions on this combo?

[Eyegore]

Thinking about an Olympus TG6, Olympus underwater housing for it, and Sea & Sea strobe model YS-03.

Whadaya think?

 

[Chris Ross]

the YS-03 is TTL only, probably work OK for macro stuff, hit and miss with wide angle always better to have a manual option available. so that would be a YS-01 or an INON S-2000.

 

[Germie]

I never use TTL, so the YS-03 is no option. I still own the YS-02 which is manual.

 

[happy-diver]

The package is always the best when you get it much cheaper than list!

 

[outofofficebrb]

2nd @Chris Ross and suggest a strobe with manual option. It will serve you better in the long run and you will likely want manual at some point. You won’t have to re-buy.

 

[FezUSA]

I have the TG-4 and the YS-03 kit. I have captured some fantastic shots with it. However I've also got so many duds where the flash didn't fire at all, or the TTL was way off the mark. Recently it's been firing less and less consistently. I've upgraded to twin S-2000's on a dual handled tray. Leave next week for Bali so we'll see how the new kit works.

Advantage of the S-2000 is that you can put it in STTL mode and get similar results as the YS-03, but it also has manual mode. If I were starting from scratch I'd go with the S-2000 over the YS-03.

Below pics are a few examples of the TG-4 + YS-03 kit in a variety of different situations.

 

[Eyegore]

I dig this board for all the cool people on it. Thanks for your replies.

Here's a package deal I found: Olympus TG-6, Inon S-2000 & Orcatorch Focus Light Value Complete System

 

[FezUSA]

I dig this board for all the cool people on it. Thanks for your replies.

Here's a package deal I found: Olympus TG-6, Inon S-2000 & Orcatorch Focus Light Value Complete System

That looks promising. If you decide down the road to add a 2nd S-2000 you can, and then move (or upgrade) the focus light and put it on the cold shoe.

 

[WS007]

Olympus TG-6, Inon S-2000 & Orcatorch Focus Light Value Complete System[/URL]

I am not shure that the focus light is good at 1200 lumens. Certainly plenty for focus aid, but not enough for good video. I would prefer a more intense one that can be used also as a video light, such as the focuslights from Weefine (=Kraken) 3000, 4000 or 6000 (=lumen). Chris says that the small camera needs less light than the ones with bigger sensor. Then the Orcatorch may be enough (I do not have experience with the very small cameras).

Maybe you can find a package with just TG-6, housing and S2000 flash and add the focus light by yourself (similar to FezUSA's suggestion)...

Wolfgang

 

[FezUSA]

The used kit that I bought from a forum member on here came with a (small) 1000 lumen focus light. I think it will suffice for video of up close (< 1 or 2 ft maybe?), but will know for sure in the next week or so. I was leaning toward replacing it with a Kraken 2500 or 3500. The main drawback of that rig though is that it starts to become unwieldy with that much attached on what is supposed to be a relatively small and light set up. Those 2500 and 3500 (and bigger) lights might be better suited on one of the arms instead of a 2nd strobe. The other advantage of quite a few of the focus lights in the 1000 lumen range is that they have the ability to sense the flash of the strobe and temporarily kill the video light so that you don't get a hotspot. Particularly useful if you're using the red as your focus. The larger lights offer their advantages too, more light and UV options etc.

Each diver has to determine what their needs and use case are, and pick the best configuration based on that. I'm going from a single YS-03 on flex arm to dual S-2000 on ball/clamp arms and a 1000 lumen focus light on the cold shoe. After my next trip I'll know whether I'm upgrading that focus light or not and will hopefully have some idea of size!