Customizing the E-PL1

[JackConnick]

The problem is with Sea & Sea not getting the strobe's electronics sync correctly with the Olympus type TTL, I do not think the problem is with the housings.

Phil Rudin

I'm (and my customers) are not having any problem with Sea & Sea D-TTL (on the YS-110a & YS-01) working with any of the Olympus cameras, DSLRs or P&S. It's an independent system and syncs fine.

Maybe I mis-understood you Phil, but I sell lots of these combos, indeed I think the YS-01 with the E-PL1 is a great set.

Jack

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Sorry Jack, my bad. This Sea & Sea thing started in another post where it was implied that the S & S YS-90DX would TTL with the Oly cameras using fiber optics which I don't believe it will do. At the time I said that S&S only had the one strobe (YS-110a/01) which would work in TTL with the Oly cameras.

The other related issue is that Sea & Sea according to slowhands post stated that the reason the DX model would not work was as a result of flare caused by the pop-up flash in Olympus housings. This is an issue with all housings using pop-up flash and fiber optics not just the Olympus housings and has to do with the electronics in the strobe not the housing.

In other works the S&S YS-90DX was never designed to TTL with an Olympus camera using fiber cables and as stated will work on some DSLR housings using conversion devices like the Athena conversion block.

Phil Rudin

 

[bmchugh]

I'm (and my customers) are not having any problem with Sea & Sea D-TTL (on the YS-110a & YS-01) working with any of the Olympus cameras, DSLRs or P&S. It's an independent system and syncs fine.

Maybe I mis-understood you Phil, but I sell lots of these combos, indeed I think the YS-01 with the E-PL1 is a great set.

Jack

I can confirm that the Sea & Sea 110a works fine in D-TTL with my E-520 with Olympus housing. I also use it with a 110 and works fine as well. The 110a is a much improved model however with TTL accuracy and recycle time. I have used it with little issue with the 50mm, 9-18mm, and 14-54mm lens.

Brian

 

[Dee]

Slow.....Thanks for all the info. I'm still working my way through the buttons but keep hitting snags!! Right now I have the FN set for My Mode but I can't find where to set up My Mode.

Can you tell me how to get there to set it up? When I go into Custom Settings>B>FN...all it lets me do is change the FN button. On pg. 73 in the manual it says to
1. 'select My Mode 1 or My Mode 2 and press > (view arrow)
2. Select Set and press the OK button.

Well, when I press the FN button nothing happens, I don't know if I'm in My Mode or not. But assuming I am when I press the > button, I just go to the view option to view the photos on the card.

That brings up another question....How can you have the FN button set for both WB AND My Modes?

Is all this easy and I'm just stupid?!?!

 

[JackConnick]

Shading rings are up on the site. Don't blame me for the price.

Jack

 

[slowhands]

..I have the FN set for My Mode but I can't find where to set up My Mode. Can you tell me how to get there to set it up?

OK, in that same B BUTTON menu, drop down 2 rows from Fn Setup to My Mode Setup. Press >. That gets you to MyMode1 and MyMode2, just pick one with the up/down arrows. Select it with >. Select SET, then OK. I think OK just copies whatever your present setup is into MyMode1 or MyMode2, so make it your most used setup.

The Circle button setup is between the setups for Fn and MyMode . I changed it to be Capture WB, instead of video START/STOP (the default). So as lighting changes, I will just hit Circle and expose something white to capture the right WB setting for the conditions. I think you have to have the White Balance set to Custom, not AUTO, for this shortcut to work. Make sure the mode dial is not in P, Scene or Art mode, because I think they override custom settings.

So, to summarize, I chose to set Fn to MyMode, and Circle to CWB -- subject to change after diving with it. I may revert to Fn as Capture WB and Circle as Video if it turns out I do a lot of video, I am not sure about that.

On pg. 73 in the manual it says to
1. 'select My Mode 1 or My Mode 2 and press > (view arrow)
2. Select Set and press the OK button.

Well, when I press the FN button nothing happens, I don't know if I'm in My Mode or not. But assuming I am when I press the > button, I just go to the view option to view the photos on the card.

To verify the MyMode is recalled, change the camera settings to something else. When you press Fn, it will recall the stored MyMode setting.

That brings up another question....How can you have the FN button set for both WB AND My Modes?

I can't. The most useful setting for Fn is for either MyMode or CWB, one or the other. I'll pick one when I see what I need most often. I'm till muddling with this and how to assign the Circle button. We'll see how it goes diving.

 

[Dee]

OK...NOW I get it! Whatever the camera is set on, ie; f/stop, SS, etc., is what is saved when I select SET. I was looking to choose the settings within the menu. I'm not home right now but will certainly be trying this later.

I don't know if I'll set the circle to CWB. I'll most likely be shooting in RAW so an WB can be adjusted if needed later. On the other hand, a simple button push would fix it right then. Decisions...Decisions!

Thanks for the help!

 

[davelew]

The problem is with Sea & Sea not getting the strobe's electronics sync correctly with the Olympus type TTL, I do not think the problem is with the housings.

I agree with this, I see nothing special about the housings that would cause problems with strobes.

On the other hand, I have seen strange strobe failures with optically fired strobes and my Olympus E-P1 / FL-14 flash. When the batteries on my Inon S-2000 were low, the strobe would fire a pre-flash but then not flash when the shutter was open. I don't have a ton of experience with the S-2000 and other cameras, but my old D-2000 never did this with Fuji or Canon cameras.

I'm using both a D-2000 and an S-2000 right now, but whenever I want a single strobe I turn off the D-2000 because it has larger controls that are easier to operate. For this reason, I don't have experience with low batteries on the D-2000, because with higher usage the S-2000 batteries always run low first, and I recharge all the batteries together.